Featured State Opportunity – March 31, 2010

Iowa Power Fund - Power Fund money is appropriated to the office to be used in providing financial assistance to entities conducting business, research, or programs in Iowa: (1) To accelerate research and development, knowledge transfer, technology innovation, and improve the economic competitiveness of efforts. (2) To increase the demand for and educate the public about technologies and approaches.  For fiscal year 2010, the Board would like to see projects that build on Iowa’s strengths and successes in energy efficiency, renewable energy, and biofuels. Projects should also meet the eligibility criteria for financial assistance (as per Iowa Code Chapter 469.9). Application Due Date: June 1, 2010.

http://www.energy.iowa.gov/Power_Fund/docs/PF_ask_for_projects.pdf

Obama Administration Announces Comprehensive Strategy For Energy Security

(The White House, March 31, 2010) Washington D.C. — As part of the Administration’s comprehensive energy strategy President Barack Obama and Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar today announced more details of the Obama Administration’s efforts to strengthen our energy security.  President Obama and Secretary Salazar announced that the Administration will expand oil and gas development and exploration on the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) to enhance our nation’s energy independence while protecting fisheries, tourism, and places off U.S. coasts that are not appropriate for development.  Also included in the announcement are landmark car and truck fuel standards, key efforts being carried out by the Department of Defense to enhance energy security, and an effort to green the federal vehicle fleet. Click here to read more…

Great Green Hope: The Corporate Love Affair With Algae

By Todd Taylor

The summer of 2009 was dubbed the “summer of algae” as industry, venture capital and the federal government committed more than a billion dollars to algae-related projects. Some may wonder why all this attention and whether it is deserved?  If the interest of large oil, chemical and food companies is any indicator, the answer is yes. According to Mary Rosenthal, executive director of the Algal Biomass Organization, the leading algae industry advocacy group, major companies are interested in algae as a long-term feedstock that is 100 percent renewable, feeding off of readily available nutrients, using non-arable land and non-potable water. Algae provide companies a way to beneficially reduce their carbon footprint. Add to that the opportunity to grow green technology jobs and even a skeptic can see why the algae industry is important.  Click here to read more…

Pushing Your Projects from ‘No Go’ to ‘Go’ With Government Funding

By Susan Ward, CEO, ITECS Innovative Consulting

(Industry Week, March 15, 2010) Energy efficiency. Job creation. Alternative fuels. These are not only buzz words but key government initiatives that can be turned into potential grants or funding for your company — if you have the right project presented with the right strategy. Companies who successfully tap into government funding can gain a competitive advantage in bringing new technology to market, upgrading manufacturing facilities for energy efficiency and cost savings, and saving or adding jobs. But the government doesn’t just hand out money to make companies more competitive. One key to successfully securing government funding is showing that your project is in the national interest as well as your company’s interest. Read More

Reliant Energy And DOE Finalize $20 Million Stimulus Grant Agreement To Expand Rollout Of Smart Energy Solutions To Texas Residents

(Market Watch, March 31, 2010) Houston – Reliant Energy has finalized its contract with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) for approximately $20 million in funding to develop and deliver innovative energy solutions for Texas electricity customers. Reliant is the only competitive electricity provider in Texas to have been selected to receive a grant through American Reinvestment and Recovery Act.  ”We are grateful the DOE recognizes the value of our smart-energy suite of products, which will give our Texas customers the tools to better understand and monitor their electricity usage,” said David Crane, NRG Energy, Inc. President and Chief Executive Officer. “This is an early step in using smart grid technology to link our zero emission power generation to the electric vehicle infrastructure in Texas as the foundation for a clean energy future that is not dependent on foreign oil.”   Click here to read more…

Novomer Awarded $2.1M In Federal Stimulus Funds By U.S. Department Of Energy

(CNN Money, March 30, 2010) Novomer Inc., a sustainable materials company pioneering a family of high-performance plastics, polymers and other chemicals from renewable feedstocks such as carbon dioxide (CO2), today announced it has been awarded $2.1M in the first phase of a potential $25 million federal stimulus grant for sustainable materials production from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE).  Leveraging Novomer’s patented catalyst technology — developed at Cornell University — Novomer will produce sustainable polymers and polyols using waste CO2 as a primary raw material. Novomer has partnered with Praxair to supply the required repurposed CO2 and Kodak Specialty Chemicals, a unit of Eastman Kodak to support polymer process development and scale-up. At the end of the project, in addition to enabling commercial-scale manufacturing capabilities for sustainable materials with several contract manufacturers, it is expected that several products will be customer qualified requiring commercial scale production of PPC polymers on a global basis.  Click here to read more…

World’s Smallest Superconductor Developed

By Andrea Gibson

(ScienceDaily, March 30, 2010) — Scientists have discovered the world’s smallest superconductor, a sheet of four pairs of molecules less than one nanometer wide. The Ohio University-led study, published March 29 as an advance online publication in the journal Nature Nanotechnology, provides the first evidence that nanoscale molecular superconducting wires can be fabricated, which could be used for nanoscale electronic devices and energy applications.  “Researchers have said that it’s almost impossible to make nanoscale interconnects using metallic conductors because the resistance increases as the size of wire becomes smaller. The nanowires become so hot that they can melt and destruct. That issue, Joule heating, has been a major barrier for making nanoscale devices a reality,” said lead author Saw-Wai Hla, an associate professor of physics and astronomy with Ohio University’s Nanoscale and Quantum Phenomena Institute.  Click here to read more…

USDA Announces Availability Of Research, Education And Extension Grants To Address Major Societal Challenges

(USDA, March 23, 2010) Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced the availability of approximately $262 million in funds through the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) to address five key societal challenges. Roger Beachy, USDA’s chief scientist and director of USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) made the announcement on behalf of Secretary Vilsack during a webcast on AFRI.   ”By focusing our resources on achievable and measurable outcomes, USDA’s investment in science will help address some of America’s – and the world’s — most intractable problems,” said Beachy. “Today’s announcement demonstrates USDA’s commitment to supporting research, education and extension to bring about true change in areas like climate change, obesity, and bioenergy.”   Click here to read more…

Global Market For Biofuels To Reach US$ 61.5 Billion By 2015

(AZoCleanTech.com, March 29, 2010) According to a new report released by Report Buyer, by the year 2015, the biofuel market across the world will reach US$ 61.5 billion. The report, Biofuels – A Global Market Overview, projects that the market for biofuels will grow 12.9% CAGR from 2006 to 2015.  The demand for biofuels has grown significantly in the European Union and the United States. The European Union is planning to step up its annual biofuel production to approximately 10% of its liquid fuels by the year 2020.  A challenging target has set by the United States to manufacture approximately 8 billion gallons per annum by 2012 and reach 40 billion gallons by the year 2022.  Click here to read more…

Stimulus Snags: Recovery Board Trims List Of Problem Names

By Louise Radnofsky

(Wall Street Journal, March 29, 2010) Ouch. A month after the economic recovery board posted a list of “two-timer losers” – those who received stimulus money but didn’t report how they were spending it – the stimulus police said that 79 of the 389 names on the list had filed their forms and shouldn’t have been named and shamed.  The board says it got the names from the federal agencies responsible for administering stimulus money, and that senior officials and those agencies had certified the list as accurate.  Earl Devaney, the chairman of the board, released a statement apologizing for the error. “This mistake should not have occurred and I regret that it did,” he said. The board has posted a corrected list.  Click here to read more…

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