At the Clean Tech Open in San Jose last week, The Real Story met and spoke with John Eichinger, the COO of Filtration Dynamics. John likened the value of water in the 21st Century to that of oil in the 20th Century, and gave us some insight into the technology behind the Filtration Dynamics model.

Imagine a wastewater filtration system that uses a centrifuge to clean agricultural and industrial wastewater, and can also be applied to municipal waste systems. John says that the system essentially converts energy-consuming wastewater treatment plants into energy-producing resource recovery plants.

For more information, see their website.

Click here to read original post.

Click here to listen to the radio interview.

Among the major breakthroughs that the clean technology movement can be credited with are several that take on the problem of water pollution.   Visiting theClean Tech Open last week in San Jose, The Real Story talked to Sharad Hajela, Chief Science Officer, and Alison Wellsfry, Product Development, of Crystal Clear Technologies.

The team talked to The Real Story about the creating not just clean water, but EPA-certified quality water by passing streams through their process, which involves an absorptive material that is readily and abundantly available. They described how to take water polluted with arsenic, selenium and the like, and turn it into low-cost, clean drinking water— taking off the table one of the big uncertainties in big questions in California’s future.

They even told a wonderful story about “mining” for copper by using the water running water through the mine, and accumulating the heavy metal through the Crystal Clear absorptive material—a completely different energy equation in an industry that is thousands of years old.

For more information about the technology behind the interview, visitwww.simplyclearwater.com. More from Clean Tech Open tomorrow.

Click here to read the original story.

The Real Story spent a day at the Clean Tech Open in San Jose, and had the opportunity to talk with Keynote Speaker Ron Gonen, co-founder of RecycleBank. As its name suggests, RecycleBank is a program that rewards its users for the amount they recycle. Already in operation in 25 states, RecycleBank provides its user with a recycle bin embedded with a computer chip. That chip allows the collection truck to “read” the volume of recycling bin and post a deposit to the user’s account, based on the amount of recycling done at the household level.

Where do people redeem their rewards? Ron tells us that RecycleBank has about 1000 different partners at this time, from Whole Foods to restaurants and consumer goods providers.

Ron’s point is that “eco” is not just about ecology, but about economy as well. In the RecycleBank model, recycling is good for the economy in that it reduces the need for land fill sites, a tax burden, and gives companies that buy the recyclables access to necessary materials, cheaply. For more information about RecycleBank, go to www.recyclebank.com.

Click here to read the original story.

Kansas City, Mo –  July 21, 2010 - The Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation today announced it is teaming up with the Cleantech Open, the world’s largest clean-technology business plan competition that encourages the development of innovation and companies. The Kauffman grant supports an expansion of the Cleantech Open, an organization that provides education, business planning and mentoring of early-stage cleantech entrepreneurs

“This emerging industry is essential to creating new jobs and boosting the economy,” said Lesa Mitchell, vice president of Advancing Innovation at the Kauffman Foundation. “The Cleantech Open has established itself as a leader in supporting clean-technology startup entrepreneurs who are addressing challenges to starting companies in this industry.”

The Kauffman Foundation will officially launch its Cleantech Open partnership at the Cleantech Open National Conference, to be held on July 22, 2010 in San Jose, Calif. The nation’s inaugural cleantech conference will feature Lesa Mitchell, Andrew Hargadon, senior fellow at the Kauffman Foundation, and Jonathan Ortmans, who will discuss the link between the Cleantech Open and Global Entrepreneurship Weeks.

The grant provides support for the second annual Cleantech Open Global Ideas Competition, a signature event of Global Entrepreneurship Week, Nov. 15-21, 2010, which annually introduces millions of young people around the world to entrepreneurship. The global competition aims to foster and highlight cleantech “big ideas” from forward-thinking entrepreneurs around the world, and to accelerate the discovery and development of groundbreaking cleantech solutions by working at a grassroots level. The support of the Cleantech Open furthers Kauffman’s commitment to accelerating innovations in the cleantech sector. In March of this year, the Foundation launched the Energy Innovation Network which provides links to technologies, entrepreneurs, finance, buyers and policymakers to make the pathway for energy entrepreneurs more transparent. The Foundation also is partnering with the federal government, businesses and nonprofits to hold regional energy innovation meetings over the summer and early fall to support energy entrepreneurs and high-growth energy businesses.

“We have been working closely with the Kauffman Foundation for two years now, and are delighted to have their support,” said Rex Northen, executive director of the Cleantech Open. “Our focus is on the intersection between entrepreneurship and cleantech: Entrepreneurship is undoubtedly the engine that sets the United States economy apart. Cleantech is the major economic opportunity for the coming decades, and we’ve been lagging. The Cleantech Open is the largest organization of our kind anywhere in the world, and our partnership with Kauffman will help us increase both our reach and our impact as we work together to accelerate cleantech entrepreneurship.”

About Cleantech Open

The Cleantech Open is the world’s largest cleantech business competition. Its mission is to find, fund and foster entrepreneurs with big ideas that address today’s most urgent energy, environmental and economic challenges. The program provides the infrastructure, expertise and strategic relationships to turn clever ideas into successful global cleantech companies. Since 2006, through its one-of-a-kind annual business competition and mentorship program, the Cleantech Open has enabled hundreds of clean-technology startups to bring their breakthrough ideas to fruition, helped alumni contestants raise over $260M, and created an estimated 1,200 green-collar jobs. Fueled by a network of more than 600 volunteers and sponsors, the Cleantech Open unites the public and private sectors in a shared vision for making America’s cleantech sector a thriving economic engine. For more information, visit www.cleantechopen.com , Facebook.com/cleantechopen, and follow @cleantechopen on Twitter.

About the Kauffman Foundation

The Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation is a private nonpartisan foundation that works to harness the power of entrepreneurship and innovation to grow economies and improve human welfare. Through its research and other initiatives, the　Kauffman Foundation　aims to　open　young people’s eyes to the possibility of entrepreneurship, promote entrepreneurship education,　raise awareness of　entrepreneurship-friendly policies,　and　find alternative pathways for the　commercialization of new　knowledge and　technologies. It also works to prepare students to be innovators, entrepreneurs　and skilled workers in the 21st century economy through initiatives designed to　improve　learning　in math, engineering, science and technology. Founded by late entrepreneur and philanthropist Ewing Marion Kauffman, the Foundation is based in Kansas City, Mo.　and has　approximately $2 billion in assets.　More information, visit www.kauffman.org, and follow the Foundation onwww.twitter.com/kauffmanfdnand www.facebook.com/kauffmanfdn.

About Global Entrepreneurship Week

With the goal to inspire young people to embrace innovation, imagination and creativity, Global Entrepreneurship Week will encourage youth to think big, turn their ideas into reality and make their mark. From Nov. 15-21, 2010, millions of young people around the world will join a growing movement to generate new ideas and seek better ways of doing things. Tens of thousands of activities are being planned in dozens of countries. Global Entrepreneurship Week was founded by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation and Enterprise UK.

REDWOOD CITY, CA – July 15, 2010 – Competition, has added energy and sustainability experts from Autodesk, CalCEF, Chevron, and Intel to its stellar line-up of keynote speakers and panelists for its upcoming National Conference, which will be held on July 22, 2010 in San Jose, California. These speakers join a roster of top thought leaders from the cleantech sector, including Dr. Kristina M. Johnson, Department of Energy; Lesa Mitchell and Jonathan Ortmans of the Kauffman Foundation; and Ron Gonen of RecycleBank. A complete list of keynote speakers and their bios is online here.

At the conference, the best in cleantech thinking will be supplemented by the best in cleantech innovation. 26 Cleantech Open alumni companiesare exhibiting at the event, including several that have already secured significant capital to advance them toward commercialization, such as Adura Technologies and Mission Motors. Alongside these proven innovators will be a selection of 70 startups from this year’s competition semifinalists , with technology ideas spanning the gamut of air/water/waste, energy efficiency, green building, renewables, smart power, and transportation.

Panelists recently added to an already deep bench of cleantech thinking include:

SARAH KRASLEY, INDUSTRY MANAGER OF SUSTAINABILITY, AUTODESK

At Autodesk, Sarah Krasley is responsible for making digital prototyping an ideal environment to enable sustainable design decisions by industrial designers and mechanical engineers. A proven design-thinker, Sarah blends more than 10 years of experience in design, environmental policy analysis, and marketing communications to influence and guide strategy.
Panel: The Next Renewable Energy Renaissance

PAUL HAMER, SENIOR CONSULTING ENGINEER, CHEVRON ENERGY TECHNOLOGY COMPANY

Paul Hamer is a Senior Consulting Engineer, Electrical Machinery and Power Systems, with Chevron Energy Technology Company, and has been with Chevron since 1979. Paul has worked on many refining, chemical, and oil production projects during his career with Chevron. In 2008, he was appointed a Chevron Fellow, Chevron’s highest recognition for individual accomplishment. He has contributed to the American Petroleum Institute (API) standards for induction and synchronous machines and the API recommended practice on electrical area classification.
Panel: Smart Decision-Making for a Dumb Grid

HARRY SIGWORTH, SENIOR CONSULTING ENGINEER, CHEVRON ENERGY TECHNOLOGY CENTER

Harry Sigworth is a Chevron Fellow and Senior Consulting Engineer in the Process Planning Group at Chevron’s Energy Technology Center. He joined Chevron, as a member of its solar projects group, in 1980. Since 1990, his work has evolved to strategic technical evaluations of future fuel use, renewables and other new energy technologies and their fuel needs in transportation, electricity generation, and related areas. This also includes future energy scenarios, technical/economic due diligence, and greenhouse gas mitigation options.
Panel: The Next Renewable Energy Renaissance

JOHN SKINNER, DIRECTOR OF MARKETING FOR ECO-TECHNOLOGY, INTEL CORPORATION

John is responsible for managing alliances and communications related to Intel’s “Eco Technology” thrusts: Energy Efficient Performance, Sustainable Manufacturing, Design for the Environment, and Policy and Industry Leadership. In this capacity, John is co-chair of the Climate Savers Computing Initiative marketing council, and supports Intel’s activities within The Green Grid consortium. John is a 24-year veteran of the computing industry, with significant experience in business development, marketing, and technology program management. John is a passionate advocate for the potential of technology to help address the challenge of climate change, and enable a more sustainable world. John is an active leader within the Intel Employee Sustainability Network, Sustainable Silicon Valley, and the Cleantech Open communities.
Panel: Smart Decision-Making for a Dumb Grid

KAREN ZELMAR, SENIOR MANAGER, PRODUCT LIFECYCLE, INTEGRATED DEMAND-SIDE MANAGEMENT PRODUCT DIVISION, PG&E

Karen Zelmar manages technical engineering, codes and standards, audits and metrics and analytics support for PG&E’s Integrated Demand-Side Management products division that includes energy efficiency, demand response and distributed generation product initiatives. Before joining PG&E, Karen worked at SunPower to develop lead generation programs for their solar commercial business unit. Prior to that, she worked in product management for the high-technology sector, leading product management and planning organizations for AOL in Mountain View, CA and Dulles, VA. Karen also directed the development of a suite of online and print mapping products at NAVTEQ.
Panel: Not Just CFL Bulbs: What’s Slowing Down Energy Efficiency Adoption?

ABOUT THE CLEANTECH OPEN NATIONAL CONFERENCE

The Cleantech Open National Conference is the first of its kind, placing a sharp focus on the intersection of next-generation clean technology and strategies to spur jobs in this crucial sector. The Conference will assemble the brightest and most talented minds in the industry to debate how cleantech entrepreneurship and innovation can infuse the global economy with sustainable energy and new jobs. To register for the conference, visit the Cleantech Open website.

CLEANTECH OPEN SPONSORS

The Cleantech Open is made possible by the generous support provided by Global Partner: Chevron; and, in California, Platinum Sponsor: PG&E; Gold Sponsors: Autodesk, The Cleantech Circle, Google, Southern California Edison, San Diego Gas and Electric, Wilson Sonsini Goodrich and Rosati; Silver Sponsors: Accretive Solutions and RoseRyan; and Program Sponsors: California Clean Energy Fund, Ernst and Young, and Korn/Ferry International.

USEFUL WEB RESOURCES

Cleantech Open blog — Facebook — LinkedIn — Twitter: @cleantechopen

The Cleantech Open is the world’s largest cleantech business competition. Its mission is to find, fund and foster entrepreneurs with big ideas that address today’s most urgent energy, environmental and economic challenges. The program provides the infrastructure, expertise and strategic relationships to turn clever ideas into successful global cleantech companies. Since 2006, through its one-of-a-kind annual business competition and mentorship program, the Cleantech Open has enabled hundreds of clean-technology startups to bring their breakthrough ideas to fruition, helped alumni contestants raise over $260M, and created an estimated 1,200 green-collar jobs. Fueled by a network of more than 600 volunteers and sponsors, the Cleantech Open unites the public and private sectors in a shared vision for making America’s cleantech sector a thriving economic engine. For more information, visit www.cleantechopen.com

Startups involved in renewable energy, electric vehicles, water and waste management, energy efficiency, the smart grid and green building exhibited what they hope will be the next big thing in clean technology at the first national conference of Cleantech Open.

Businesses that were competing in, or had previously competed in, the nonprofit organization’s national business competition were invited to the conference in San Jose, Calif., on July 22 to present their products to the conference attendees, who included their peers as well as government officials and potential investors.

Among the 2010 semifinalists were a number of solar and electric vehicle competitors, including eQsolaris, a startup from Los Alamos, N.M., that is developing solar cell technology that combines photovoltaic and concentrating solar designs.

President Robert Hockaday said that his company’s design will make solar significantly cheaper than fossil fuels, even in the short term.

“Current concentrated PV cell systems cost $2,000/kw. The target cost to be competitive with fossil fuels is $500/kw. Our eQarray micro-concentrator photovoltaic system will cost $280/kw,” he said.

The first product the company will market with the technology is a solar skylight – essentially, a transparent solar panel. To keep costs down, his company will use low-cost, low-purity silicon and recycled glass, which is extremely cheap in New Mexico, according to Mr. Hockaday.

Other cost-saving innovations he is planning for his products: self-packing to reduce shipping costs – “Transportation is 5 percent of the cost of a panel,” he explained – and a plug-and-play mounting design.

Niche products like the solar skylight and the development of more efficient, cheaper designs are “the answer to the Chinese,” he stated. “We can mass-produce panels cheaper than the Chinese price,” he declared.

Another solar company at the event was San Jose’s own Sunpods, a 2009 finalist in the renewable energy category. The company’s factory-assembled, solar-powered charging platforms can be used to charge electric vehicles and to provide electricity in farm fields and on construction sites, in military applications or at any remote site that requires power. When placed on a trailer, the platforms can be towed by a standard pickup truck.

SolarNexus of Berkeley, Calif., a semifinalist from last year, offers an integrated software platform for solar dealers and installers. Eric Alderman, who founded the company in February 2009, said it is the only software producer providing a comprehensive platform, including sales tools, tools for filing rebate paperwork, utility rates for quotes, and coordinating installation. He said that the product streamlines the process enormously and that the resulting cost savings can be passed on to the consumer.

Mr. Alderman is pleased with the support and networking opportunities Cleantech Open has provided his company and said he has found it “very valuable.”

“This is my fifth company, but I still learned a lot” from the training program, he said.

Anker Berg-Sonne from Boston-based PepperDash, a 2010 semifinalist in the energy efficiency category, agreed. “The networking is invaluable,” and “the coaching is fantastic.” The communications and marketing guidance are “helping us focus our message, which is so hard,” he added.

The exhibitors in the transportation category were among the most visible.

The sleek Mission One Superbike from San Francisco-based Mission Motors caught the eye of just about every attendee at some point during the day. The bike has a top speed of 150 mph, making it the fastest production electric motorcycle in the world, according to the company’s website.

Offered at $69,000, the Mission One has an estimated range of 150 miles per charge and recharges in under two hours at 240 volts, or eight hours at 120 volts. The company will hand-build in its office all 50 premier limited-edition bikes this year. All but a handful are already spoken for. Meanwhile, the company is designing the second generation.

Though the motorcycle doesn’t employ solar technology, two of the company’s founders met while working on solar cars: Forrest North, leader of the Stanford University Solar Car Team in 1998, and Edward West, part of the Yale University Solar Car team. Mr. North went on to work with Tesla Motors on its electric sports car.

The company’s prototype and business plan won it second place in the 2007 Cleantech Open competition.

Under Mr. North’s leadership, “Mission Motors made headlines when it unveiled its first product at the TED Conference in Long Beach, California, raced in the first zero-emissions grand prix at the Isle of Man, and broke the AMA electric motorcycle land speed record at the Bonneville Salt Flats,” the company said in a release.

The Arcimoto Pulse parked outside the lobby door invited attendees to climb inside the three-wheeled electric vehicle. Based in Eugene, Ore., Arcimoto is a 2010 semifinalist and a newbie in the EV field.

The unusual “inverse trike” design puts two wheels in the front and one in the back to reduce weight and optimize aerodynamics. Its thin, tapered shape is meant to imitate a raindrop, albeit one moving horizontally. In this design, the passenger sits behind the driver, which, the company says, results in a “driving experience that replicates the feel of a fighter-jet cockpit.”

With a 40- to 50-mile range on one charge and a top speed of 65 mph, it isn’t a rocket like the Mission One, but is highway-usable. The Pulse has a small storage space in back suitable for three or four bags of groceries and takes six to eight hours to charge at a standard 110/120-volt outlet. The motor is 62 horsepower with 80 foot-pounds of torque.

“Our electric motor is about 85% efficient on average compared to 25-30% for a typical internal combustion engine,” the company’s website says.

Targeted at $17,500, the Pulse could provide relatively inexpensive electric transportation that doesn’t feel like a golf cart.

Cleantech Open’s Mission

Founded in 2005 in the San Francisco Bay Area, Cleantech Open’s mission is “to find, fund, and foster the big ideas that address today’s most urgent energy, environmental, and economic challenges,” its website says. In the U.S. competition, hundreds of startups vie for a national prize package worth $250,000, but every entrant receives mentoring, “pitch” training, business development support and networking opportunities.

Through 2009, 191 teams have successfully completed the program; 100 more will do so this year. As a result of the organization’s support, its alumni startups, 80 percent of which remain economically viable, have raised more than $160 million in private capital and created 1,200 new clean technology jobs (through December 2009), according to the site.

“The Cleantech Open has created these jobs at a cost of less than $5,000 per job based on the organization’s spending to date. This is far below the cost estimated for job generation under state and federal programs or the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act,” the group says. Cleantech Open has set a goal of creating 100,000 high-quality green jobs by the end of 2015.

Rex Northen, executive director, emphasized the inclusiveness and comprehensiveness of the organization.

“There are other organizations that provide pieces of what we do, but we are the only ones, as far as we know, who bring together this network and have the focus on clean-tech entrepreneurship and deliver all this in a not-for-profit way. We do what we do for very low cost. We have great sponsors and volunteers. So there’s almost no one who can’t participate,” he said.

Cleantech Open plans to expand its network internationally through its “global ideas” competition, launched in 2009.

“We are very keen to develop a global Cleantech Open, build a network of networks,” Mr. Northen explained. “Someone in India could be licensing tech to someone in Thailand who could be receiving mentoring from someone in Europe and getting venture capital from someone in the U.S.”

The organization wants to enable more people to take advantage of clean technology, he continued.

“It is going to be the dominant technology of the next 20 or 30 years.”

Click here to read the original post.

VolumeWind utilizes laser sensing to help the wind power industry more effectively site wind towers and increase power generation efficiency. DIAL Emissions Monitoring deploys remote sensing of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and other substances to help the oil and gas industry reduce production-related pollution.

The technologies are under development at the Center for Advanced Sensing and Imaging (CASI), a USU research team that recently joined USURF’s Energy Dynamics Lab. CASI is funded by the Utah Science Technology and Research (USTAR).

“Both of these technologies are based on Lidar, which is short for light detection and ranging,” said Robert Barson, CASI executive director. “We’re literally using lasers to map the wind or analyze large volumes of air in real time for chemicals.”

VolumeWind

“Large-scale wind farms represented a $70 billion market worldwide market in 2009, yet fully operational wind farms consistently produce about 10 percent less power than as originally designed,” Barson said. “That’s like throwing away one wind turbine for every ten installed.”

Some lidar-based technologies are already in the market, Barson said. However VolumeWind will bring added benefits such as rapid scanning of large atmospheric volumes; full 3D wind characterization based on data rather than assumptions; and highly detailed “mapping” of local wind fields.

“When it comes to measurements and monitoring for siting and long-term turbine control, our technology is bigger, faster and cheaper than competing approaches,” he said. “We’ll be able to help wind farm operators close the productivity gap cost-effectively.”

Alan Marchant is the principal investigator developing VolumeWind.

DIAL Emissions Monitoring

DIAL stands for DIfferential Absorption Lidar, and the technology can detect methane vapor and particulate matter over a several square mile area. It uses short pulses of laser light to determine the location of airborne particulate matter.

According to Michael Wojcik, the principal investigator developing DIAL Emissions Monitoring, the oil and gas industry is under increasing government scrutiny for heavy emissions of air pollutants, such as methane and VOC emissions. “Since 2000 more than $73 million in civil penalties have been collected from the oil and gas industry, while more than $5 billion in capital improvements have been undertaken to maintain compliance with regulations,” Wojcik said. “It’s a large market we’re tackling.”

“In the market today you see limited-range, limited-use ‘sniffer’ technology as well as older, high-cost laser-based approaches,” he said. “We anticipate that an EDL-developed product will be significantly smaller, more mobile, offered at a fraction of the cost and have offshore capabilities.”

USTAR funding has been critical to the team’s progress, Barson said. “Through USTAR, we’ve been able to attract some top-level national experts to work with the existing talents at USU. It’s exciting to see some national recognition for our cutting-edge cleantech efforts.”

About the Cleantech Open

The Cleantech Open is the world’s largest cleantech business competition. Its mission is to find, fund and foster entrepreneurs with big ideas that address today’s most urgent energy, environmental and economic challenges. The program provides the infrastructure, expertise and strategic relationships to turn clever ideas into successful global cleantech companies. Since 2006, through its one-of-a-kind annual business competition and mentorship program, the Cleantech Open has enabled hundreds of clean technology startups to bring their breakthrough ideas to fruition, helped alumni contestants raise over $260M, and created an estimated 1,200 green collar jobs. Fueled by a network of more than 600 volunteers and sponsors, the Cleantech Open unites the public and private sectors in a shared vision for making America’s cleantech sector a thriving economic engine. For more information, visit www.cleantechopen.com, and follow @cleantechopen on Twitter.

About USURF and EDL

USURF is a nonprofit corporation owned by Utah State University (USU). Its purpose is to conduct applied research, engineering development and translate innovative technologies into real-world solutions. USURF employs 450 staff members in North Logan, Utah; Colorado Springs, Colo.; Los Angeles, Calif.; Albuquerque, N.M.; Washington, D.C.; Huntsville, Ala.; Bedford, Mass.; Houston, Texas; and Park City, Utah.

EDL was formed in 2009 to expand USURF’s value to USU and benefit to the nation by creating transformational, systems-level solutions to America’s energy challenges. EDL’s three primary business areas are clean and unconventional fossil energy, advanced electric transportation, and intuitive or intelligent buildings. EDL also has focused efforts in biofuels and wind characterization. Through these programs, EDL is leading the way in developing resources, technologies and systems that will be critical to the energy security of the United States in the 21st Century and beyond. For more information, visit http://energydynamicslab.com/.

About USTAR

The Utah Science Technology and Research initiative (USTAR) is a long-term, state-funded investment to strengthen Utah’s “knowledge economy” and generate high-paying jobs. Funded in March 2006 by the State Legislature, USTAR is based on three program areas. The first area involves funding for strategic investments at the University of Utah and Utah State University to recruit world-class researchers. The second area is to build state-of-the-art interdisciplinary facilities at these institutions for the innovation teams. The third program area involves teams that work with companies and entrepreneurs across the State to promote science, innovation, and commercialization activities. For more information, go to www.innovationutah.com or follow http://twitter.com/Innovationutah.

Click here to read the original post

The Real Story attended Clean Tech Open in San Jose last week, and talked to Danny Gilliland from Driptech, the manufacturer of low-cost drip irrigation systems for farmers in developing countries.

The idea behind the Driptech system, which runs creates water pressure from the gravity inside an oil drum, came to the company founder at Stanford, in a class called “Design for Extreme Affordability”. Looking for a way to provide a way for subsistence farmers in India and China to irrigate crops in the off-season, this simple system of precision-punched PVC tubing was designed at The Farm, and then field-tested in small plot farms in India for a year.

Can Driptech’s low-tech approach to water management be utilized for some of the Bay Area’s burgeoning organic farms? You bet. But you’ll have to take a number… there are a lot of farmers in India and China ahead in line. For more details, see their website.

Click here to read the original post.

The Real Story took a road trip to San Jose to meet some of the inventors and entrepreneurs participating in the Clean Tech Open, a conference dedicated to bringing ideas together with mentoring to create viable businesses in the clean tech arena.

Rex Northen, Executive Director of the Clean Tech Open, talks today about the history of the event, its goals, and some of the discoveries made along the way. Rex, who built both the mentor program and the investor program for the organization, has seen the concept for this conference grow into five regions across the United States.

He says that often, the hardest thing for someone with a great idea is to share it in the first place, then be willing to test it, stay flexible enough to modify it and work with others to execute it. The garages of the Silicon Valley have been hiding good ideas for years; an event like Clean Tech Open helps the technologists bring them into a supportive environment to explore their potential for production.

Click here to read the original post.

ViaCycle, a startup spun out of the Georgia Institute of Technology, aims to take the idea of bike-on-demand networks, strip out the pricey infrastructure, amp up the location-based services, and deliver a system that will let universities and municipalities implement bike sharing programs with more flexibility and lower cost.

The company, a semifinalist in this year’s California Cleantech Open, has developed a system that uses wireless communication networks, GPS and text messaging to track bikes within the network, allow administrators to set boundaries on the usage area, and provide services like calorie counting based on distance traveled. Rather than requiring specialized bike racks that unlock with the swipe of a smart card or kiosks for payment (as in many bike sharing programs around the world), users can lock or unlock a bike by sending a text message with their user ID and the tag for the bike.

The idea, explained viaCycle CEO Kyle Azevedo in an interview, is to get rid of one of the big hurdles for large scale implementation of bike sharing programs: the fixed infrastructure. Kiosks and custom bike racks or docking stations require users to find an open space to return the bike, and operators “have to take a guess” at where to put the gear. ViaCycle proposes a different tactic, which Azevedo explained simply: “What if we make the bikes smart?”

ViaCycle came into existence, ironically, after the Georgia Tech student founders lost a bid for a $100,000 Ford Foundation grant in 2008. Their proposal had been to set up a bike sharing program on the Georgia Tech campus, installing more than 200 stations using existing hardware. But when the funding didn’t come through, they realized “a cash strapped university wouldn’t go for that” level of investment for a bike sharing program, said COO Koji Intlekofer. So the following year, when another Ford Foundation grant opportunity — this one for $50,000 — came up, Intlekofer said they “put together an application for what we’d like to see, as students.”

Beyond the hardware, the other part of bike sharing that viaCycle has set out to rejigger is the business model. Intlekofer said the team “wanted to get away from advertising,” and develop a bike sharing model that could be “self-sufficient all on its own.” In the ad-supported model, advertising giants like Clear Channel and JCDecaux often strike deals with municipalities to operate bike sharing programs in exchange for advertising space. According to Intlekofer, these long-term deals — which can involve billboards throughout a city for 10-15 years — end up taking “a lot of control away from bike sharing itself.” There’s not much the city or users can do, he said, if the advertiser loses interest in the bike program.

That said, viaCycle hopes its real customer will be bike-share operators — not consumers — and operators can choose to put an advertising “skin” on the bikes rather than relying solely on subscriptions, usage fees or other pricing schemes. An operator would pay a fixed fee to access viaCycle’s management tool and backend infrastructure, while viaCycle would (according to the company’s website) “help support and maintain any of the sensitive electronic equipment located on the bike.”

At least a handful of possible pot holes lie ahead for viaCycle as it moves beyond the testing phase. Putting the smarts and a “couple pounds” of special gear on the bike and doing away with heavy-duty docking stations in favor of a lightweight automatic cable lock opens a major risk of theft, which could add cost and reduce reliability of the system. Azevedo said viaCycle has found the lighter-weight locks do the job in their field testing on the Georgia Tech campus, but a stronger lock could be used in urban centers.

There’s also the question of privacy. Tracking users’ every move via GPS and recording their calorie count means, as Azevedo acknowledged, “There are definitely going to be some privacy issues for people to work through.” But he emphasized that users personal information would always be anonymized for any location-based services. Plus, Intlekofer added, viaCycle will lay out in the user agreement how any collected data will be used.

At this point, viaCycle is focusing on field testing of its third-generation prototypes and collecting user feedback. The startup will soon be adding 10 of its bikes to Emory University’s existing bike share network, and then begin approaching potential customers. The 6-person team is doing its own circuitry and electronics work, while outsourcing some of the mechanical assembly to local businesses.

When it comes to financing, viaCycle has gotten by so far with that $50,000 grant from the Ford Foundation, an EPA grant and winnings from business plan competitions, as well as support from Emory University and Georgia Tech. But as Intlekofer put it, viaCycle’s now in the process of leaving academia and “transitioning to our own two feet.” Initially, said Azevedo, the viaCycle team thought there was “no way” they’d be able to get to where they are now without external funding. They wouldn’t rule out the possibility of seeking private investment, but they said viaCycle’s not hurting for cash.

Click here to read the original post.