Is CleanTech Only About Money?

Let's Put the Clean in CleanTech

I was at a cleantech event recently, and the organizer asked the audience (about 300), "How many of you came by public transportation?" I saw two hands go up. And this was in California, where even the Governor's has reduced his Hummer collection by 50%.

Almost all those investors, entrepreneurs, students, job-seekers, inventors, and other members of the cleantech ecosystem drove their cars to the event. (Some of the guys from CalCars did come in their plug-in-hybrid.)

Everybody is eager to make money off cleantech, but few are willing to make the changes in their own behaviors that will contribute as much as new technology to slowing global warming. And this crowd was probably better-informed about global warming than your average bunch.

I am sure the transition from a carbon-wasting economy to a carbon-sparing one will create a lot of wealth. Probably it will increase the total wealth of society as a whole. (Especially if you take into account the costs our descendants would incur trying to deal with a warmer world if we don't do enough today.) But whiz-bang new technology can't control global warming by itself. We have to change our behaviors.

And one of the most carbon-intensive behaviors we have is driving ourselves everywhere whenever we want to. Even if we can afford it (even after the cost of fuel increases substantially, as it has to do) we have to live differently. I sort of feel those in the cleantech sector should set an example.

So plan your events in locations which can be reached by public transportation, and at hours when buses run.

If we commit to a less carbon-intensive future we can all get there together.

Why Does California Lead In Cleantech?

The Entrepreneurial Culture Meets Environmental Awareness

A recent article in The Economist noted that North America is the leader in venture investment in clean technology, and Silicon Valley is the leading region within North America. Last year VCs poured $2.9 billion into cleantech investments in North America (the figures came from Cleantech Network), four times more than in Europe. And of that $2.9 billion, about a quarter was connected to Northern California. Massachusetts came second with about 9%, Texas got 7%, and the rest of North America the other 62%.

Why does California lead?

1. It's a big state, with a lot of energy-hungry people and a lot of natural resources. There are counties in California that are bigger than Massachusetts. On the other hand, Texas is big too, and cleantech investing is just getting started there.


2. It's where the money is. Billions earned in electronics and dot-coms are being invested in cleantech.


3. Top-notch university research and government labs, including Stanford, Berkeley, Davis, Lawrence Berkeley, Lawrence Livermore, and others, generate technologies that entrepreneurs can use. And the region's business schools turn out entrepreneurial-minded graduates.


4. Lots of experienced venture capitalists are headquartered there.


5. Wide support for environmental concerns across political parties and social segments enables leadership in stricter environmental regulation. (California's CO₂ emissions have been level in recent years, while population has grown.)


6. It has The California Clean Tech Open -- a world-class business plan competition that gives budding entrepreneurs and clean technology businesses a chance at $600,000 in prizes and priceless recognition and encouragement.

The California Clean Tech Open represents the efforts of hundreds of volunteer organizers, backed by the financial support of private industry, non-profits, and government agencies. It's goal is to keep California in the lead in clean technology, to help small companies with good ideas get to the next level, and to save the world.

As an example of the unique capabilities of such an approach, next Monday the California Clean Tech Open and SRI International will put on a Technology and Entrepreneur Matching Event to bring the cutting-edge science of the regions labs and universities together with the creative energies of its potential entrepreneurs. New commercialization ideas and partnerships will result, if we're lucky.

It's working.

GCF Associates is glad to be a part of the CCTO Corps of Volunteers.

Calling All California Clean Tech Entrepreneurs!

The California Clean Tech Open is Here

This is the richest clean tech business plan competition in the West, with $600,000 in prizes in six categories.

"The California Clean Tech Open convenes the state's best and brightest minds to develop technological solutions to some extremely complex and important problems. This is a competition with no losers - all of California, and the rest of the world, benefit when natural resources are used more efficiently." -- Art Rosenfeld, California Energy Commissioner

The entry period ends 30 June, so find out more now. (Early bird reduced-fee entries due by 15 June.)

Technology and Entrepreneur Matching Event 4 June

To get potential entrants and other entrepreneurs together the California Clean Tech Open will hold a Matching Event on Monday 6 June at SRI in Menlo Park, 4pm to 7pm. (Details here.) Researchers and licensing officers from SRI, PARC, Stanford, Lawrence Berkeley Lab, Lawrence Livermore Lab, Sandia, EPRI, U. C. Berkeley, and U. C. Davis will present cool new clean technologies coming out of their labs. Now is your chance to meet them and find out what is new. And meet other entrepreneurs and potential entrepreneurs like yourself. You should register in advance at the CCTO site.

"The California Clean Tech Open Matching Event is a great way for entrepreneurs to find technologies that can set them apart in this ultra-competitive marketplace,” said Bob Cart, CEO and founder of GreenVolts, a utility-scale solar energy company. “Our collaboration with Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory has been a crucial part of our ability to deliver an ultra-efficient solar energy alternative to utility companies and is a great example of how a partner technology can help a young company stand out from the crowd.” GreenVolts was the winner of last year's competition in the Renewables category. They won $50,000 in cash and $50,000 in services, and garnered priceless exposure and recognition.

Maybe this year's winners will meet up at Monday's Matching Event.

A"maize"ing Confusion

Gripe of the Week--It's Not That Type of Corn!

Have you ever noticed that articles in the press about ethanol always feature a picture of an ear of sweet corn? Drives me crazy. Just to clear things up, here are notes to journalists.

There are different types of corn(maize). (Check here or here for a sense of the range of types in this long-domesticated crop.) "Sweet corn" (right, above) is genetically different from other corn: less of its sugar is converted to starch. We harvest it immature and eat it as "corn on the cob", or its shelled kernels as a vegetable.

Yellow dent corn (left, below) is a type where the harder endosperm encloses a starchy center, which shrinks as it dries, giving the characteristic dent in each kernel. This is the kind of corn most widely used in North America as feed and for producing ethanol.

Other types of corn, especially food-grade yellow and white dent and "flint" corns are used to make food products such as Fritos® and tortillas. "Flint" corn has a hard endosperm suitable for milling into grits or flour. Popcorn is another completely distinct type.

All of these types of corn, and many more for many other uses, were developed by indigenous Americans before the arrival of Europeans. Dent corn is a hybrid of two types developed by native Americans.

Insisting on accurate illustration may seem like a quibble. But it's as if you were writing an article about "oil" and the picture was of petroleum while the article was about cooking oil. Or vice versa. It makes the writer of the article (who may have had no role in selecting the accompanying illustrations) look like an idiot. It causes the reader to lose faith in the whole publication.