Category: Energy

Bruce V. Bigelow wrote:

One problem with being a stealthy company is the difficulty in setting the record straight.

The News-Star of Monroe, LA, reported yesterday that V-Vehicle, the San Diego-based startup automaker building a factory in Northeastern Louisiana, is “apparently testing prototypes of its mystery car,” but that may be overstating the matter.

The newspaper quotes David Hitchcock, V-Vehicle’s director of Louisiana assembly operations, as saying, “Our product has entered the testing and validation stage. A lot of the testing and validation conducted so far has been in a virtual environment, but we’ve moved on to the physical testing phase.”

V-Vehicle has disclosed few details since June, when the startup founded by former Oracle executive Frank Verasano announced plans to a develop and build a “high-quality, environmentally friendly, and fuel-efficient car” in Monroe. The announcement attracted attention in part because V-Vehicle has raised at least $75 million in venture capital from investors that include Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Google Ventures, and maverick investor T. Boone Pickens.

But as I reported at the time, V-Vehicle provided no details about the car itself, such as what type of fuel it will use or why the startup describes it environmentally friendly. Verasano told reporters V-Vehicle is trying to be protective of many details because of potential competition. I contacted V-Vehicle spokesman Joe Fisher to confirm details of the news report, and we got into the verbal dance (one-two, sidestep, one-two) that often occurs between reporters and their sparring partners in public relations.

The bottom line is that Fisher would not confirm certain details of the Star-News report. For example, when I asked if V-Vehicle is testing multiple prototypes, or just one prototype, Fisher told me, “We haven’t commented yet on prototypes.” He added that “entering the testing and validation stage” does not refer to prototypes. When asked what it does refer to, Fisher said it means the startup has begun engineering on test vehicles. But he declined to define the meaning of a test vehicle, saying, “I’m not sure that we’re going to go beyond” what V-Vehicle has said in its official statements.

I also asked Fisher if he could confirm another detail from the News-Star story, that V-Vehicle’s car will be “a gasoline-powered vehicle that will get 40-plus miles per gallon and costs about $10,000.”

Fisher responded, “We don’t talk about the price of the car or the fuel system. That’s just not something we have commented on.”

Fisher was willing to discuss aspects of its pending application for $320 million in government loans under the Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing program, which is administered by the U.S. Department of Energy. He confirmed that V-Vehicle has asked the DOE for a $70 million loan for engineering and a $250 manufacturing loan.

The state of Louisiana has pledged another $87 million through a state incentive package—providing V-Vehicle raises at least $350 million through other sources. Because V-Vehicle has raised about $75 million from its venture investors, Fisher says the federal loans (if approved) should carry the company over that threshold. Fisher says the company wants to provide more details, but intends to withhold additional information until the DOE acts on V-Vehicle’s federal loan application.

Until then, the only online source of information about V-Vehicle is on the Louisiana Economic Development website.

Wade Roush wrote:

Wilbraham, MA-based FloDesign Wind Turbine, whose radical jet-engine-like design for a new form of wind turbine has whisked it from the world of student business plan competitions to national prominence in under three years, says it has raised a big chunk of new cash and installed a new chief executive.

In an announcement today, FloDesign said it closed a $34.5 million Series B funding round in December. The backers include California-based Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield and Byers—the firm that supplied most of FloDesign’s Series A round—as well as three new investors, Goldman Sachs, Technology Partners, and VantagePoint Venture Partners. The latest round brings FloDesign’s total funding to about $40 million, not counting an $8.3 million Department of Energy grant awarded to the company last fall.

FloDesign also said that Stanley Kowalski, the company’s founder and original CEO, has taken the position of vice president, and that the CEO role has been filled by newcomer Lars Andersen. A 20-year veteran of the power generation and renewable energy industries, Andersen was previously president of the China operations of Vestas, the Danish firm that is the world’s largest manufacturer of wind turbines.

Andersen’s job will be to manage FloDesign’s transition from “a research and development organization to a leading renewable energy manufacturing company,” the firm said in its announcement. It’s commonplace, when manfacturing startups are nearing the commercialization stage and require more capital, for investors and directors to look for a new chief executive with more business development experience. That appears to be what’s happening at FloDesign, although neither Kowalski nor Andersen, who is traveling today, were available to comment on the transition.

Andersen trained as an engineer at the the Engineering College of Aarhus in Denmark and has held positions at ABB Power Generation in Switzerland and engineering consulting firm Black and Veatch in the US. In a prepared statement, Andersen said “I am very pleased with the prominent venture investors who are backing this company. It will be an exciting journey to build a world‐class company applying leading edge technology in the wind sector.”

FloDesign remains secretive about its wind-turbine designs—it hasn’t shown off its latest turbines in public, and the company’s website is password-protected. (A staffer once told me this was largely due to fears of intellectual property theft among partners at Kleiner Perkins.) But if the company has stayed true to its early design concepts, then its turbines feature tube- or cage-like enclosures that supposedly make them more efficient at extracting energy from wind than conventional open-fan turbines. The best open-fan turbines can convert only about 59 percent of the kinetic energy in wind into electricity, a phenomenon known as the Betz Limit.

Now here’s a bicycle I’ve always been patiently waiting for. A bicycle that charges its own battery with human power, has a booster and also is foldable. Isn’t that just too cool? Using its very own lithium-ion-polymer battery, the “BiCX” recharges with human power. The charging happens even while pedaling and also when free-riding down the hill, for instance. During one of the three modes, the bike uses the power stored up to pick up faster while slow pedaling. Also a major portion of the power is used during the booster mode when lots of power is supplemented. This is one good use of human power.



[yankodesign]

Wade Roush wrote:

Nexamp, a North Andover, MA, company that helps clients design, finance, build, and analyze clean energy projects, has raised $6.5 million in equity-based financing, a regulatory filing revealed today. The four-year-old company, formerly known as NexGen Energy Solutions, originally focused on solar panel installation projects, but has grown to offer other services such as feasibility studies, design and engineering, permitting, and construction. The investors in the funding round weren’t named,  and Nexamp vice president Jonathan Abe, reached by phone, said the company can’t comment on the funding until an official announcement is released next week. However, Nexamp’s directors include Michael Ware, managing director at venture firm Good Energies, which has offices in Washington, D.C.; David Martirano, a general partner at Point Judith Capital in Providence, RI; and Henri-Claude Bailly of Somerville, MA-based RCG Ventures.

GreenWire: A coalition of investors has forced the energy giant Royal Dutch Shell PLC to review its investments into carbon-heavy production in the oil sands of Canada at the firm’s annual meeting this spring.

Cooperative Asset Management and 141 other institutional and individual shareholders forced the resolution onto the agenda of Shell’s audit committee. The groups say the oil sands investments raise “concerns for the long-term success of the company arising from the risks associated with oil sands.”

“Given Shell’s level of commitment to oil sands, there is a greater obligation to shareholders to reassure how it would cope under a number of scenarios,” said Niall O’Shea, head of responsible investing at Cooperative Asset Management.

“What if carbon capture and storage proves too costly in the oil sands? What if sustained high oil prices and carbon regulation lead to switching away from marginal, high-cost, high-carbon sources? And then there’s the cost of cleaning up the locality. Companies must be more rigorous and transparent with their investors,” O’Shea added.

Shell, with its projects in Athabasca, has been one of the lead oil developers in Alberta, investments justified by the need to keep crude flowing, it says. The unconventional source represents less than 2.5 percent of its oil and gas production, it added in a formal response.

“The resolution is basically a request for further information around the economics and other aspects of our oil sands operations,” the firm said. “The resolution is submitted by shareholders representing some 0.15 percent of our total outstanding shares.”

The Anglo-Dutch giant will hold its annual meeting, the first for CEO Peter Voser, this May (Terry Macalister, London Guardian, Jan. 18). – PV

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2010Jan18: The U.S. wind corridor includes Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Montana, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, Wyoming.

Reference: National Renewable Energy Lab http://www.windpoweringamerica.gov/wind_maps.asp

Images are from the National Renewable Energy Lab. Colorado http://www.windpoweringamerica.gov/wind_resource_maps.asp?stateab=co; Iowa http://www.windpoweringamerica.gov/wind_resource_maps.asp?stateab=ia; Kansas http://www.windpoweringamerica.gov/wind_resource_maps.asp?stateab=ks; Minnesota http://www.windpoweringamerica.gov/wind_resource_maps.asp?stateab=mn; Montana http://www.windpoweringamerica.gov/wind_resource_maps.asp?stateab=mt; Nebraska http://www.windpoweringamerica.gov/wind_resource_maps.asp?stateab=ne; New Mexico http://www.windpoweringamerica.gov/wind_resource_maps.asp?stateab=nm; North Dakota http://www.windpoweringamerica.gov/wind_resource_maps.asp?stateab=nd; Oklahoma http://www.windpoweringamerica.gov/wind_resource_maps.asp?stateab=ok; South Dakota http://www.windpoweringamerica.gov/wind_resource_maps.asp?stateab=sd; Texas http://www.windpoweringamerica.gov/wind_resource_maps.asp?stateab=tx; Wyoming http://www.windpoweringamerica.gov/wind_resource_maps.asp?stateab=wy

Image Permission: These are the works of United States federal employees, taken or made during the course of an employee’s official duties. As a work of the U.S. federal government, the images are in the public domain.

A roof that generates electricity and looks like an architectural wonder will be used as a canopy along the Via Mazzini in Perugia. Designed by Wolf D. Prix, Design Principal and CEO of COOP HIMMELB(L)AU, the ‘Energy Roof’ will generate electricity for the city. The west wing of the roof captures solar energy while the east wing captures wind energy. Made up of three layers, this roof contains the energy generating unit in the top layer, the structural layer in the middle and a combination of laminated glazing and translucent pneumatic cushions in the bottom layer. The top layer contains photovoltaic cells that grab juice from the sun while five wind turbines place in the structural layer generate energy.

This stylish and freshly designed architectural wonder proves to be an example in the use of alternative energy and will be yet another pride to the Italian city of Perugia.

[Notcot]

For a while there, it looked like 2010 might be the first banner year for solar stocks since 2007. It still could be, although this week is showing that, if solar does make a comeback this year, it’s not going to happen with out some sudden and stomach-churning setbacks.

The first week or so of a […]

Ryan McBride wrote:

Segway, the maker of two-wheeled transporters of the same name, has been sold through a merger with a UK holding company for an undisclosed sum, and the firm’s CEO, Jim Norrod, has stepped down from his post after nearly five years in that role, a company spokesman confirmed today. Reports about the action at Segway have been swirling since yesterday, after chatter about the merger and management reshuffle surfaced on online forums earlier this week.

The Bedford, NH-based firm also confirmed the reports about the merger today on its blog, saying that the deal was completed on December 24. The acquiring company is backed by British businessman Jimi Heseldon, the chairman of Leeds, UK-based military container maker Hesco Bastion.

Norrod left the chief executive position at Segway last week, and the firm’s financial chief, Brian Cohen, has taken over Norrod’s responsibilities on an interim basis, said company spokesman Eric Fleming today. He said that the company will remain headquartered in New Hampshire, where most of its 85 employees are based. The new owner is also expected to provide an undisclosed amount of fresh capital for the operation.

Fleming declined to provide more details about information from a recent letter to shareholders that has appeared in online Segway forums this week. One of the shareholders who received the letter wrote that Tricia Laidler has been named CEO of the company and Wayne Mitchell of a UK Segway dealership has been appointed chief operating officer. Fleming would not confirm these details, however.

This does not appear to have been a profitable transaction for some of Segway’s investors, given that at least one shareholder commented on a Segway forum that his recently received shareholder letter says that all common stock in the privately held company has no exchange value in the merger transaction. Fleming wouldn’t comment on how investors made out in the merger. The company has reportedly raised some $176 million from high-profile investors such as Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, and Credit Suisse First Boston Private Equity, to name a few, according to reports in Mass High Tech and other publications.

The company’s sale is the latest episode in the story of a much-hyped technology that has fallen woefully short of expectations and lofty predictions about its impact on society. According to a retrospective piece on Segway last month in Wired, Apple founder Steve Jobs forecasted early in the last decade that the Segway would outstrip the personal computer in significance.

Dean Kamen, the famous inventor behind the Segway and other innovations, unveiled the transporter in 2001 with much fanfare, including this lofty feature in Time, headlined “Reinventing the Wheel.” Indeed, the Segway’s key innovations, such as its dynamic stabilization technology, are major feats of engineering. But the vehicles have never gained mainstream adoption. (They have, however, found a niche in the security and public safety markets—Fleming said that Segways are in use at more than 1,200 police installations and 525 tourist operations around the world.) Some have said the cost of the vehicle, which is in the $5,500 range, is too high for most people.

Still, Segways still have a shot at popularity as interest rises in modes of transportation that are friendly to Mother Nature. In April, Segway and General Motors announced a collaboration to develop a larger version of the two-wheeled transporter that has seating. The companies called the effort Project P.U.M.A (for personal urban mobility and accessibility) and said that the prototypes run on lithium-ion batteries and can be driven 35 miles between charges.

Kamen, the head of R&D firm DEKA Research in Manchester, NH, was not available at his office today. We’ll update our readers on any changes in the Segway story as we learn of them.

“A positive attitude”

A positive attitude increases our happiness, energy, and vitality. Attitude is everything! When we have a positive attitude we see things that are good in our lives, we feel grateful for what we have, and we are in a good mood.

How do you destress yourself with a positive attitude? Or better yet, how does a positive attitude increase our happiness, energy, and vitality? When we think positive, we think of the good things in our life, and that makes us feel good. When we feel good, we are happy, we have energy, and we have vitality.

Yes, our attitude can increase or decrease our happiness, energy, and vitality.

But you already knew that!

We have control over our attitude because we have control over our thoughts. Although, this is not something they teach us as we grow up. When I say, “they” I mean our parents and our teachers. Teachers meaning, school teachers, our friends, and our mentors.

I would jump for joy if we implemented, in our school system, how we can have control over our thoughts. We are the only thinkers of our thoughts, and learning to think what we want to is a habit that can be formed.

Just as the habit of our minds being on autopilot has been learned over 20, 30, 40, or more years (depending how old you are).

For many, many years, I have been teaching stress management and I meet a lot of people that believe they have a positive attitude. After working with many of these individuals, they discover that they may not be as positive as they think.

Finding out how positive we are, or are not, is very important to managing our stress. People with a positive attitude have less stress and people with a negative attitude have higher levels of stress.

How do you know if you have a positive attitude?

Let me ask you some questions to help you determine if you do.

1. Do you wake up grateful for your life and another day or do you wake up dreading the day and what you have to do?

2. Are you grateful for what you have, all day or do you complain and discuss what could be better in your life?

3. Do you express daily to the people you love, how grateful you are for them or do you forget?

4. Do you believe you can accomplish your goals or do you have doubt in having a better life than you have now?

5. Do you think of what you want and focus forward or do you do the same ole thing over and over again everyday?

6. Do you enjoy your work or do you have discontent for your job/career?

7. Do you enjoy the people you are with or do you get irritated by something or someone else?

8. Do you enjoy the places that you are at or do you have your mind on something or someone else?

9. Do you have faith in yourself that you can make more money or do you fear that life will always be “this way”?

10. Do you think of the things that are great in your life or do you wish that things could be better?

11. Do you look for opportunities in your obstacles or do you label things as “this is bad”?

12. Do you believe that life is working for you and your good or do you believe you have bad luck?

13. Do you have fun and are you playful or are you serious all the time?

The first part of the question indicates a positive attitude and the second part of the question indicates a negative attitude.

I am going to be brave and say, if you pick even one or two, of the second part of the question, chances are, you are more negative than you think.

Ayayaye!

That was brave.

If you disagree, bring it! Bring it to the comments below.

If you would like to learn how to destress yourself with a positive attitude, check out our Destress Your Attitude audio mp3.

I hope and pray that this is helpful…

Until next post, don’t forget to have fun and be playful!

Elizabeth

Denise Gellene wrote:

A flurry of financing deals made it a good week for San Diego’s life sciences industry. Get the highlights here.

—VentiRx Pharmaceuticals, which is working on drugs for allergies and cancer, raised additional funds of $25 million, bringing the total received in its Series A round to $51.6million. The company is based in San Diego and Seattle.

—Tandem Diabetes Care, a San Diego-based company developing insulin pumps for diabetics, has raised $52.3 million in a round of equity financing that began last May. Venture-based Tandem hasn’t revealed much about its new pumps. The company’s website says the equipment will enable diabetics to remain active.

—Bruce had an interesting chat with Keith Murphy, CEO of Organovo, a San Diego-based startup using modified inkjet printer technology to build human tissue from living cells. Murphy says the company’s ultimate goal is to build livers, kidneys and other vital organs for transplant patients, but immediate plans call for engineering blood vessel grafts for patients with peripheral artery disease.

—Genzyme (NASDAQ: GENZ) entered into a “mutual cooperation agreement” with San Diego-based Relational Investors, a $6 billion activist investment fund and owner of about 4 percent of Genzyme stock. Late last year, Relational co-founder Ralph Whitworth began to publicly call for changes at the Cambridge, MA-based biotech. Although Whitworth praised Genzyme’s appointment of former Schering-Plough executive Robert J. Bertolini to its board in early December, he called for “significant further improvements” in the board’s composition.

—San Diego-based Quidel (NASDAQ: QDEL) which makes medical diagnostic tests used at the point-of-care, is paying $130 million in cash to acquire Athens, OH-based Diagnostic Hybrids, a privately held maker of medical diagnostic tests for hospitals and laboratories.

— Adventrx Pharmaceuticals (AMEX: ANX) boss Brian Culley talked with Bruce about the company’s remarkable reversal of fortune. Investors are optimistic about ANX-530, a reformulated chemotherapy drug for cancer.

—Life Technologies (NASDAQ: [[ticker:LIFE]) the Carlsbad, CA-based provider of biomedical diagnostic equipment and laboratory supplies, has agreed to acquire AcroMetrix, a diagnostics controls specialist based in the Bay Area community of Benicia, CA. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

—SG Biofuels, a San Diego-based company focused on producing biodiesel and feedstock substitutes from the seeds of the Jatropha shrub, formed a strategic alliance with Life Technologies (NASDAQ: LIFE) the Carlsbad, CA-based maker of genetic diagnostic equipment, laboratory instruments, and other biotech supplies. Financial terms weren’t disclosed.