2006 Cleantech Venture Investment $2.9 Billion

Cleantech Category Grows 78% Over 2005 Total

ANN ARBOR, Mich.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Cleantech Venture Network^® reported today that North American venture capital investment in the cleantech category totaled a record $2.9 billion for 2006, representing a 78% increase over 2005 cleantech investment of $1.6 billion, and a 140% increase over 2004 investment of $1.2 billion. About $613 million was invested in cleantech in Q4 2006, a 22% increase over the Q4 2005 investment of $502 million. The fourth quarter 2006 was down from the record invested in Q3 2006 of $933 million.

Energy-related investment accounted for $2.1 billion, or 74%, of the total 2006 cleantech venture investment. This represented a 1.9x increase over the $739 million invested in the energy category in 2005 and a 2.9x increase over 2004 energy investment. The Energy Generation segment totaled $1.3 billion, a 2.1x increase from 2005. Energy Storage attracted $354 million, representing a 2x increase over 2005.

“While energy was certainly the top area of interest, some other categories posted good gains as well,” said Nicholas Parker, chairman and co-founder of the Cleantech Venture Network^®. Recycling & Waste deals totaled $192 million, a 2.9x increase over 2005, and Transportation investments hit $164 million, up 2.5x over 2005, indicating growing interest in other cleantech segments.

Cleantech Venture Network^® researchers will be presenting in-depth research data for North America and Europe as it relates to venture investing at the Cleantech Forum™ February 19-22 in San Francisco.

About Cleantech Venture Network^®, LLC

Technorati tags: Environment, Technology, Venture Capital, Finance, CleanTech

Venture Capitalists Flock to Green Technology

Companies producing environmentally friendly technologies are attracting more and more investment, according to a new report. As the nation’s energy crunch lingers on, small businesses in search of venture capital are finding it’s a good time to be green.

The money invested in North American companies producing green technology rose 35% in 2005, to a total of $1.6 billion, according to a new report by the Cleantech Venture Network.
In the fourth quarter of 2005 alone, green technologies, or “cleantech,?? made up 10% of all North American venture capital investment, totaling $502 million -- an 18% increase from the previous quarter.

“If you go back and look at the history of growth of emerging technology, like nanotechnology, cleantech is similar,?? said Craig Cuddeback, senior vice president of Cleantech Capital Group, an Ann Arbor, Mich.-based firm that organizes the Cleantech Venture Network. “But cleantech is broader than that. All the major energy companies are playing in this space now.??

Crediting an increased national awareness for cleantech -- which includes industries such as alternative energy, nanotechnology, water purification, air quality, and agricultural methods -- Cuddeback predicted that the recent strong growth may be part of a coming investment stampede in environmentally sound companies.

Although the report indicates that most of the “clean?? companies attracting venture capital still hail from the energy industry -- 35.6% of the total money invested -- large investments were also made in companies specializing in green materials and nanotechnology used in industrial and consumer electronics.

“If people take the word ‘clean’ too seriously or too literally, they will miss a whole slew of opportunities,?? said Rodrigo Prudencio, principal at Nth Power, a San Francisco-based venture-capital firm focused on the energy industry. Prudencio pointed out that clean technology as a concept includes anything that efficiently uses energy. His firm closely watches small businesses devising nanotechnology and material electronic innovations, which can be found in everything from electrical plants to cell phones.

“We’re very focused on small companies that will move faster than large companies with these solutions,?? Prudencio said.

Proven venture firms like Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, which gained notoriety for funding Internet boom standouts like Google and Amazon, are moving fast to snatch up clean and green innovators. The Menlo Park, Calif.-based venture-capital powerhouse announced in February the creation of a $100 million fund for backing green technology companies.

Cuddeback predicts the growth in green technology investment will continue to skyrocket. Cleantech Venture Network projects that North American green technology companies will require $3.4 billion in capital backing between 2006 and 2009.

Environment Headline News

Environment Headline News

Torrential rain and 100mph gales claim 10 lives as the winter finally blows in
Published: 19 January 2007
The violent storms that are becoming an increasingly common feature of Britain's unpredictable climate, killed at least 10 people yesterday, including a two-year-old boy.

American weather forecasters do battle over mankind's role in global warming
Published: 19 January 2007
A leading climatologist on the Weather Channel in the United States has caused a squall in the industry by arguing that any weather forecaster who dares publicly to question the notion that global warming is a manmade phenomenon should be stripped of their professional certification.

Hawking warns: We must recognise the catastrophic dangers of climate change
Published: 18 January 2007
Climate change stands alongside the use of nuclear weapons as one of the greatest threats posed to the future of the world, cosmologist Stephen Hawking has said

Snowdon will be snow-free in 13 years, scientists warn
Published: 18 January 2007
Those who originally named the peak spoke as they probably found it, calling it "Snow Dun", from the Saxon for "snow hill". But Snowdon may lose its snow cover within 13 years as a result of climate change, Welsh scientists say.

White House resists calls for carbon emission caps
Published: 18 January 2007
The White House has dashed hopes of a dramatic shift in climate change policy by George Bush, but says the President will lay out his strategy to combat global warming in next week's State of the Union address.

Carbon offsetting 'can be harmful'
Published: 18 January 2007
People who join the new fashion for buying carbon offsets will be urged by the Government today to check what they are buying before they hand over the money. Some schemes may be doing environmental damage in the developing world without curbing climate change.

Britain's Coasts: Troubled waters
Published: 18 January 2007
Britain's coasts harbour treasures from corals to porpoises. That's why some marine areas need special protection. By Kate Thomas

Watt a waste
Published: 18 January 2007
Helen Brown thought she knew all about saving energy. But a new device that shows exactly how much power her appliances really use had her reaching for the 'off' switch

Julia Stephenson: The Green Goddess
Published: 18 January 2007
Until now, I've been in two minds about the 2012 London Olympics. On one hand, I welcome any excuse for a bit of morale boosting razzmatazz. Sport, like music, is at best a uniting force that transcends race, class and creed. On the other, it's galling that we can provide more than £3bn for a sporting event while we shut down hospitals, post offices and schools.

American weather forecasters do battle over mankind's role in global warming

By David Usborne
19 January 2007

A leading climatologist on the Weather Channel in the United States has caused a squall in the industry by arguing that any weather forecaster who dares publicly to question the notion that global warming is a manmade phenomenon should be stripped of their professional certification.
The call was made by Heidi Cullen, host of a weekly global warming programme on the cable network called The Climate Code, and coincides with a stretch of severely off-kilter weather across the US this winter and moves by Democrats to draft strict new legislation to curb greenhouse gas emissions.

Specifically, Ms Cullen is suggesting that the American Meteorological Society (AMS) revokes the "seal of approval" that it normally extends to broadcast forecasters in the US in cases where they have expressed scepticism about man's role in pushing up planetary temperatures.
"It's like allowing a meteorologist to go on-air and say that hurricanes rotate clockwise and tsunamis are caused by the weather," she wrote in her internet blog. "It's not a political statement... it's just an incorrect statement."

Ms Cullen is not alone in trying to marginalise doubters, who mostly argue that recent rises in temperatures are caused by normal cyclical weather patterns. They were described as "global warming deniers" by former vice-president Al Gore in his recent film An Inconvenient Truth.
Most Americans need neither Mr Gore nor Ms Cullen to know that something is up with the weather, however. This year's "wacky winter", as headline writers now describe it, continues to serve up unsettling surprises, the most recent of which was snow falling on the beach in Malibu, California, on Wednesday.

The freeze in western states is expected to have eased by the weekend, but already it may have devastated California's citrus harvest with as much as 75 per cent destroyed by ice and frost. Freezing rain and snow paid a rare visit this week meanwhile to Texas and Oklahoma.
However, it is the eastern states that have experienced the strangest conditions - a six-week period of temperatures far above their normal range for the time of year. The unusual warmth has been a disaster for ski resorts in the area, some struggling even to produce man-made snow that will stick for a second, as well as for retailers trying to sell everything from winter jackets to snow shovels and duvets.

Cherry trees are blossoming in Washington DC and in some parks in New York, where the temperature reached a bewildering 22C (72F) 10 days ago, the daffodils are in full flower. When a few flakes finally fell in Central Park a week ago - so few they could not be measured by instruments - it was the latest recorded snow fall since records began in 1878.

All of this will be political grist to Democrats on Capitol Hill, who are gearing up to take advantage of their new position as the majority party to make climate change a legislative priority.

Nancy Pelosi, the new Speaker of the House, is expected to call for a new select committee purely to devise new laws on combating global warming, probably to be headed by Representative Edward Markey of Massachusetts. "It's an issue that the Speaker thinks is critical to address," her spokeswoman said.

Any new legislation is likely to include mandatory caps on greenhouse gas emissions by American industries, a path that the White House has vigorously refused to follow. Democrats will also explore creating a market in emission caps, similar to the one that already exists in Europe. Under such a system, individual industries would be able to buy exemptions to exceed certain emission limits or acquire them and sell them to other industries.

It is clear that Democrats are intending to seize the issue from under the nose of President George Bush and embarrass him for his refusal to give the issue more credence. However, White House aides have indicated that the President will give climate change an important place in his annual State of the Union address to Congress next Tuesday. But few observers believe he is ready to go as far as some Democrats would like in imposing mandatory emission ceilings.

Extreme weather

COLD

* In California, a state used to mild winter weather, residents of Malibu Beach and West LA woke up to a light dusting of snow on Wednesday. Farmers say the unusually cold temperatures have devastated the state's orange and lemon crop.

* Texas, meanwhile, has seen a vicious ice storm descend across much of the state, causing blanket power cuts and traffic chaos. At least 10 people have been killed in the state since the weekend, thanks to the abnormally cold weather.

* Sixty winter-related deaths have been recorded across nine states in total as moist air coming from the Gulf of Mexico has met head-on with icy Arctic air from Canada, spreading snow storms as far afield as California and Missouri.

WARM

* Eastern America has seen a spell of freakishly warm weather. In early January, New York had record temperatures of 22C as New Yorkers strolled through Central Park in T shirts in a month when the city is usually covered in snow.

* The ski industry in America and Canada has been hard hit by the lack of snow. Although a recent drop in temperatures has finally brought snowfall, ski resorts across the continent have had to make do with artificial snow for much of the season so far

Wal-Mart readies large-scale move into solar power

By Martin LaMonica
Staff Writer, CNET News.com

Retail giant Wal-Mart Stores is thinking big about solar power.

The company put out an RFP (request for proposal) last month to solar electric suppliers and expects to receive responses early this month, according to a representative. The move is part of a long-term plan to convert to renewable energy sources.

Wal-Mart is keeping the details of the proposal under wraps as the process is still ongoing.
However, one person who saw the proposal said that if completed, it could amount to a significantly large installation--on the order of 100 megawatts of power over the next five years.
"To put that into perspective, the solar system currently being installed at Google headquarters in California--the largest single corporate solar installation in history--is 1.6 MW, about 1/60th the size," wrote Joel Makower, a clean-technology consultant who saw the proposal but is not bidding on it.

Makower said the Wal-Mart proposal called for a system that could be replicated across its stores in five states and make use of available roofing space.

Wal-Mart has set up experimental stores in McKinney, Texas, and Aurora, Colo. These stores are already using renewable power sources, including solar and wind.

"We will continue to use the learnings from those stores to find ways to achieve our renewable energy goals in our other stores across the nation," said spokesman Kory Lundberg.

Corporations take a shine to solarAlthough Wal-Mart's bid may not result in any investment, the move is significant as an indicator of growing corporate interest in sustainable practices and technologies.

Installing solar power is a well understood--and potentially visible--way to use renewable energy. Aided by government incentives such as tax breaks, solar electric systems are becoming more cost-effective as solar companies devise new technologies and target specific markets.

Google is using a flat-panel solar power system installed by a subsidiary of Energy Innovations, a company that specializes in solar systems for flat roofs like those found in office parks.

Microsoft, too, has gotten into the solar game. Last year, it equipped its Silicon Valley headquarters with more than 2,000 solar panels capable of generating 480 kilowatts at peak capacity.

Electronics manufacturer Sharp last year started operation of a plant in Kameyama, Japan, which is capable of generating 5.2 megawatts of power through solar photo voltaics.

Renewable energy is central to Wal-Mart's environmental efforts as well. The company has a vice president of corporate strategy and sustainability, Andy Ruben, and its corporate policy is to reduce its "carbon footprint" and greenhouse gas emissions.

Its three specific, long-term environmental goals are: using 100 percent renewable energy; creating zero waste and selling products from sustainable resources.

In a speech in October of last year, Wal-Mart president and CEO Lee Scott provided more detail on the company's short-term goals (click for PDF), including a commitment to invest $500 million a year in energy efficiency and technologies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Scott said the company intends to reduce greenhouse gases from its retail locations around the world by 20 percent in the next seven years.

In the next four years, he said the company is working to develop building prototypes that will be 25 to 30 percent more energy efficient and produce up to 30 percent fewer greenhouse gas emissions.

(Clarification: Google is using a subsidiary of Energy Innovations, not the parent company, for installation of its solar panel system.)

Web 2.0 ways to pay for your eco-sins

By Elsa Wenzel

There are many online calculators for assessing how your lifestyle pollutes the planet; environmental nonprofits sponsor most of them, such as the Earth Day Network's Ecological Footprint Quiz. But learning about the downstream effects of your driving, computing, and shopping can give you guilt to last. Once you feel like the sky is falling, what are you supposed to do about it?

Among the various carbon pay-up plans, Be Green incorporates social networking. This project of Green Mountain Energy lets you set up a personal page to show off your progress. It quizzes you about your use of energy and transportation, draws a chart of your carbon consumption, and then lets you buy certificates that send cash to wind and solar energy or reforesting projects. My chart (above, right) reflects how I've given up my car this year but have indulged in many plane trips. I'm supposed to pay $195 to enter the pearly gates of carbon neutrality. Be Green remains in beta testing, so it's currently short on user profiles.

TerraPass was one of the original carbon offsetting services, which have been winning corporate allies, as seen in Travelocity's partnership with the Conservation Fund. Along the same lines, Sustainable Travel seeks to remedy the blight caused by your flight. The Sioux-owned NativeEnergy helps you to finance wind and solar energy services. Conservation International lets you give offset gift cards, such as $10 to make up for a cross-country road trip.blight caused by your flight.

Find toxic wastelands via Google Earth

ARLINGTON, Va.--The Environmental Protection Agency wants to make it easier for Google, Microsoft and other enterprising online mappers to spread the word about potentially hazardous sites in your neighborhood.

Agency representatives at a public meeting here on Wednesday unveiled what they billed as the first step in a new push to make the EPA's vast scientific data stores more readily accessible online for download and incorporation into popular applications like Google Earth and Microsoft Visual Earth.

The agency's ultimate goal is to boost public awareness of its activities--with a loftier aim of improving public health and the environment in the process--by allowing federal agencies, companies and even mashup artists to get their hands on the data more easily. Such data can play a key role in everything from land-use planning to real estate transactions, they said.
"We're extremely excited about this," said Pat Garvey, one of the project's managers. "We think this is really going to advance public access."

The pilot piece of that effort, posted early Wednesday morning, is a single XML file containing information on about 1,600 locales relegated to the Superfund National Priorities List. As required by Congress since 1980, the EPA uses that list to locate, investigate and clean up the worst-offending landfills, chemical plants, radiation sites and other areas known or suspected of releasing contaminants, pollutants and other hazardous substances.

By the end of the year, the EPA hopes to expand its offerings to include data on at least 100,000 sites from across its many different regulatory programs, including hazardous waste storage and treatment sites, air pollution trends and toxic chemical releases.

"We would strongly like to encourage large mapping application companies to create environmental (layers), and we hope this data promotes that in giving (them) the right resources," Garvey said.

It was Google, in fact, that may have driven the EPA to pursue the project in the first place. Last year, the search giant approached the federal agency in a quest for data on the National Priorities List, most likely to embed in its maps in some fashion. (Google representatives did not respond immediately to requests for comment about their specific plans.)

That request prompted some EPA representatives to suggest making agency-wide data more readily accessible. At a September meeting, they decided to make the NPL data their inaugural effort, with more data expected to come.

The EPA wasn't the first to think of the idea. The U.S. Geological Survey already makes data available through its Web site in a variety of formats, including XML and RSS, prompting user mashups based on items like live earthquake data.

The EPA Web site already serves up a variety of data to the public, but getting to that information often requires a number of queries to separate databases. Sometimes companies even have to file cumbersome Freedom of Information Act, or FOIA, requests to obtain certain data. By the time the EPA burns and ships off a compact disc to fulfill the queries, the data is often already out of date, Garvey said.

Now, anyone can access the XML file--no log-in required--and without the costs associated with fulfilling FOIA requests.

The EPA plans to continue updating a single XML file approximately once a month while archiving earlier versions in case users still wish to download them. Users may opt to sign up for e-mail updates alerting them of any changes to the files.

Agency representatives decided on the XML format because they viewed it as "very portable and translatable," but they're willing to entertain requests for other formats, said Dalroy Ward, who manages the project. The file includes the name, address and latitude-longitude coordinates of a site; the EPA program area in which it falls; and URLs to EPA Web sites providing additional information about the sites and programs in question.

"It's a significant step in my mind," said Larry Zarigoza, an official with the EPA's Superfund office, "to better understand what data we have that's out there."

Copyright ©1995-2007 CNET Networks, Inc. All rights reserved.

Green Technologies an Introduction

I must say I am mentally exhausted...I just finished watching the Al Gore documentary " An Inconvient Truth" and all I can say is " WOW". Not to spoiling the ending, I will refrain from discussing the actual movie, but all I will say is "Please, Please watch it".

Topics for this blog. Environmental technology or "green technology" is the application of the environmental sciences to conserve the natural environment and resources, and by curbing the negative impacts of human involvement. Sustainable development is the core of environmental technologies. When applying sustainable development as a solution for environmental issues, the solutions need to be socially equitable, economically viable, and environmentally sound.

Some environmental technologies that retain sustainable development are; recycling, water purification, sewage treatment, remediation, flue gas treatment, solid waste management, renewable energy, and others.

Green Life Technology will feature articles and interviews from the Green-Tech Sector regarding
Alternative energy
Green building
Green syndicalism
Hybrid vehicle
Solar power and many more...

I hope to shed some light on the " Green Tech" movement and hopefully together we can reverse our fate if Al Gore is right.