Talking Green

• Tensions rise over water shortages, 7-20-09, The World
• Climate change and water supply, 7-21-09, The World
• Water and cooperation in the Middle East, 7-21-09, The World
• Carbon accounting is big business, 7-20-09, Marketplace
• Big carbon appetite, 7-23-09, The World
• Amsterdam's green streets, 7-23-09, The World

25 Most Intriguing Cleantech Startups

1) Achates Power, San Diego, CA. Achates is testing a clean-burning diesel engine it plans to license to automakers next year. Conventional engines have one piston in each cylinder. Achates' design has two, an approach that delivers more power in less space, and that boosts mileage up to 100 miles per gallon. Key investors: InterWest Partners, Madrone Capital Partners, Rockport Capital Partners, Sequoia Capital

2) AltaRock Energy, Sausalito, CA. By boring wells as deep as four miles, AltaRock is confident it can tap geothermal energy almost anywhere in the U.S., not just in geologically active areas. In fault prone areas, such as its first project in California, the company must prove it can do so without causing earthquakes. Key investors: Khosla, Kleiner Perkins, Google, Advanced Technology, Vulcan

3) BioFuelBox, San Jose, CA. Using a micro-refinery loaded onto the back of a truck, BioFuelBox converts oil-laden sludge from sewage systems, industrial plants, and animal processing factories into clear, odorless diesel fuel. Its first project is to convert waste from potato-processing plants in Idaho into fuel. Key investors: Element Partners, Draper Fisher Jurvetson

4) Bridgelux, Sunnyvale, CA. Thanks to a dime-size chip embedded with tiny diodes that emit white light, Bridgelux believes it is on track to sell LED-based lighting comparable to 60-watt incandescent bulbs for under $10 that use a fraction of the energy and last for years. Key investors: DCM, El Dorado Ventures, Vantage Point, Chrysalix, Harris & Harris

5) BrightSource Energy, Oakland, CA. BrightSource is importing its solar thermal technology from Israel. There, using scores of mirrors to concentrate the sun's heat, its plants have been transforming heat from the sun into electricity for decades. Contracts with Southern California Edison (SCE_pe) and Pacific Gas & Electric call for BrightSource to build 14 plants in the sun-soaked Southwestern U.S. by 2017. Key investors: VantagePoint, BP, DraperFisher, Morgan Stanley, DBL, StatoilHydro, Google, Chevron

6) Clean Current Power Systems, Vancouver. Clean Current develops underwater turbines that can transform ocean tides into electricity. The French power-plant maker Alstom has signed on to commercialize this technology, starting in 2012 in Nova Scotia's Bay of Fundy, where tides cause water levels to rise and fall by some 50 feet. Key investors: EnCana Environmental Innovation Fund, Sustainable Development Technology Canada

7) Coulomb Technologies, Campbell, CA. In cities from San Francisco to New York and Europe, battery-powered cars can plug in at Coulomb Technologies' curb-side charging stations while parked. A secure hatch prevents the plug from being yanked until the driver O.K.'s the removal with a custom key fob. Coulomb's ChargePoint Web-based software handles billing, utility links, and helps drivers find charge points via mobile device. Key investors: Estag Capital

8) eMeter, San Mateo, CA. As smart meters pop up in millions of homes and businesses, utilities have to be ready to handle a flood of digital data. To help, eMeter offers a sort of rosetta stone: software that links some 20 million next-gen meters, helping them talk with utilities' often decades-old billing, operating, and maintenance systems. Key investors: Foundation Capital, DBL Investors. Siemens

9) Enphase Energy, Petaluma, CA. Solar panels pump out direct current, not household alternating current. The "iinverter" that makes this switch from DC to AC can be one of the most costly parts of a solar system. Enphase has managed to shrink the size and price of its inverters so low that each panel can have its own. This boosts overall power output and helps identify panel problems sooner. Key investors: Madrone Capital Partners, Bay Partners, Third Point Ventures, RockPort Capital Partners, and Applied Ventures

10) Fat Spaniel Technologies, San Jose, CA. Commercial businesses—not homeowners—have been the first and biggest buyers of solar panels and other advanced energy technologies. To help these big buyers, Fat Spaniel provides sensors, software, and services to manage their energy use and to automate the exchange of data with utilities and third parties such as carbon credit programs. Key investors: Ignition Partners, Element Partners, Chrysalix Energy, PCG Asset Managemnet, Applied Ventures

11) GreatPoint Energy, Cambridge, MA. Thanks to its proprietary catalyst, GreatPoint can transform coal into high-grade natural gas using far less energy than current methods. The approach also isolates most of the CO2 from the coal, making it a neat fit for efforts to stash the greenhouse gas underground. GreatPoint's first industrial-scale plant is going up in China. Key investors: Draper Fisher Jurvetson, Vantage Point, Kleiner Perkins, Khosla Ventures, Dow, Suncore, Peabody Energy, AES

12) GridPoint, Arlington, VA. GridPoint makes a software platform that allows utilities and their customers to manage more effectively a myriad of devices that both generate and use energy: rooftop solar, plug-in electric vehicles, smart appliances, fuel cells and other energy storage devices, and more. Key investors: Altira Group, Craton Equity Partners, Goldman Sachs, New Enterprise Associates, Perella Weinberg Partners, Quercus Trust, Robeco, Susquehanna International Group

13) Ice Energy, Windsor, CO. To help buildings lower their energy costs, Ice Energy's Ice Bear freezes water in a big tank at night, when electricity is cheap and plentiful. During peak heat periods in the day, air conditioner coolant runs through the ice blocks, cooling it down, and dramatically reducing the work the air conditioner must do. Key investors: Second Avenue Partners, Energy Capital Partners

14) InEnTec, Bend, OR. Using ultra-hot plasma, InEnTec can convert waste—medical, radioactive, industrial, municipal, and even old tires—into syngas for use in producing transportation fuels such as diesel and ethanol. In June, the company launched a venture with Waste Management (WMI) to transform waste from commercial and industrial sources into clean fuels and electricity. Key investors: U.S. Energy Dept. and private investors

15) MiaSole, Santa Clara, CA. Despite a rocky start that led to the ouster of its CEO in 2007, MiaSolé is a leading maker of thin-film photovoltaic modules using copper indium gallium selenide. Within two years, it hopes to be mass-producing modules on flexible polymers that can be used as roof tiles and can generate electricity as economically as gas-fired power plants. Key investors: Kleiner Perkins, VantagePoint, Garage Technology, Firelake

16) Silver Spring Networks, Redwood City, CA. Silver Spring, sometimes dubbed the "Cisco of the smart grid," creates technology allowing every major energy-using device to have an Internet address so it can be controlled by both building occupants and utilities to maximize efficiency. The company has garnered major investors, along with partners and customers such as ComEd, General Electric (GE), FPL (FPL), and PG&E. Key investors: Foundation Capital, JVB Properties, Kleiner Perkins, Northgate Capital

17) SmartSynch, Jackson, MS. SmartSynch is making electric meters smarter and cheaper, using public cellular networks and commodity chipsets instead of costly, proprietary technologies. By teaming with AT&T (T)—and its huge salesforce—SmartSynch is delivering power management and billing services to utilities, big commercial customers, and even an Indian tribe's wild-west theme park. Key investors: Credit Suisse, Battelle Ventures, Beacon Group, JP Morgan Partners, Nth Power, Siemens Venture Capital, and Duke Venture

18) SolarCity, Foster City, CA. To avoid the headaches and expense of buying and installing their own panels, homeowners or businesses can instead sign a 15-year lease with SolarCity, for no money down. The company designs the system, processes permits and tax incentives, and monitors electricity use. SolarCity has a new deal with U.S. Bank to finance solar systems for small businesses. The company designs the system, processes permits and tax incentives, and also monitors electricity use, even guaranteeing that customers save money on utility bills. Key investors: Draper Fisher, Elon Musk, FirstSolar

19) Solazyme, San Francisco, CA. Solazymeuses microalgae biotechnology—marine microbes—to produce clean and scalable fuels and "green" chemicals, among other things. It developed an algal-based jet fuel that last fall passed a test by a major independent lab, a feat the company says it will use to enter the jet-fuel market. Key investors: Braemar Energy Ventures, Energy Ventures, Harris & Harris Group, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Roda Group, VantagePoint Venture Partners

20) Solicore, Lakeland, FL. In the first quarter of 2009, Solicore produced thin-film lithium polymer batteries at the rate of two every three seconds. These million-plus batteries go into medical devices, sensors, smart cards, and other high-value applications. Its technology uses fewer toxic materials to comply with European Union laws. Key investors: Air Products, Braemar Energy Ventures, Draper Fisher Jurvetson, Emerald Technology Ventures, Firelake Capital, HQ CapiTech, Rho Capital Partners

21) Solyndra, Fremont, CA. Solar panels don't have to be flat black rectangles. Solyndra broke this mold by forming solar material into a cylinder, about the size of a fluorescent tube. The shape helps the tubes collect light from more directions. What's more, they're lighter, making them easier and less costly to install. Key investors: Argnonaut Private Equity, Artis, CMEA Capital, Madrone Capital Parners, MASDAR, Redpoint Ventures, Rockport Capital, USVP, Virgin Green Fund

22) Southwest Windpower, Flagstaff, AZ. For wind turbines, bigger is usually better. Southwest Windpowers' micro-turbines are just a yard or two wide, all the better to fit onto rooftops, in parking lots, or even along highways. The company has shipped more than 500,000 of its backyard windmills to date. Key investors: Altira Technology Fund, RockPort Capital Partners, and Chevron Technology Ventures

23) Tendril Networks, Boulder, CO. In the future, when even dishwashers will talk with the grid, Tendril Networks' software may play the role of operating system, giving consumers and companies a Web-based way to manager their devices, utility costs, and energy options. Key investors: Vantage Point, Good Energies, RRE, Appion, Access, Vista

24) Verdant Power, New York, NY. Six of Verdant Power's squat, slow-moving underwater turbines sat on the bed of the East River for much of the past year, converting the water's flow into electricity for a nearby community. The company hopes to scale up the operation, increasing the turbine count to 30 turbines and setting up a second site in Ontario. Key investors: Raptor Investors, NYSERDA, Sustainable Development Technology Canada and Ontario Ministry of Research and Innovation

25) Verdiem, Seattle, WA. This maker of enterprise software enables companies and government agencies to monitor and control energy use constantly by PCs on their networks, cutting waste. With Cisco (CSCO), Verdiem is developing tools to control power in entire buildings. Customers include Turner Broadcasting, Random House, and the cities of Chicago, Seattle, and Honolulu. Key investors: Kleiner Perkins, NCD Investors, Catamount, Angeleno Group

Note: 14 of these are based in California, and Kleiner has invested in 5 of 25.

Source: BusinessWeek

The Government Is Good at 3 Things

1) When it sees something Growing: it will Tax it.

2) When it sees something Moving: it will Regulate it.

3) When it sees something Broken: it will Subsidize it.

VC Readings

• Hey, Fred, the VC model is broken!, 7-6-09, The Funded
• VCs Head for the Door, 6-5-09, WSJ
• VCs Look for a Return to the ABC's, 7-6-09, NYT
• A Second(ary) Chance for VC, 7-6-09, BW
• Made Me: Why VCs sponsor other VCs, 7-7-09, BW
• Brazil: VCs Next Hotbed?, 6-28-09, BW
• The VC Model, The Funded, The Problem with Associates, 7-7-09, Many Niches Blog
• Is VC too Fat and Happy?, 7-8-09, Mark Suster Blog
• Do Young VCs have an Advantage, 6-8-09, NYT
• U.S. VC Industry Must Shrink, 6-10-09, Kauffman Foundation
• VC is Dead, Long Live VC!, 6-29-09, Seth Levine's Blog