VC investors clean up with clean energy

This post is brought to you by ? Curt Rosengren ~ Passion Catalyst TM ? ? “Love your work. Change your world.” Here’s a good sign that we’ll be seeing continued interest in the clean energy industry from the VC community… Venture backers of European clean energy startups reaped a 55 percent annualized return on their investments from 1998 to 2007, the London-based research group New Energy Finance said Tuesday. The analysis, which was commissioned by the European Energy Venture Fair to take place this weekend in Zurich, looked at returns earned by 37 venture capital and private equity investors in 129 early stage companies dealing in low-carbon technologies such as renewable energy, fuel cells, power storage since 1998. —

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VC investors clean up with clean energy

Bill aims to swap out old light bulbs with energy efficient bulbs

This post is brought to you by ? Curt Rosengren ~ Passion Catalyst TM ? ? “Love your work. Change your world.” There’s a bill in the US Senate right now aimed at aiming out old-style incandescent light bulb and replacing them with energy efficient bulbs. It looks like it has a good chance of passing. If the bill passes and Americans gradually switch out bulbs over the next seven years, the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee estimated annual energy savings would reach $6 billion. Energy-efficient bulbs could save more than 65 billion kilowatt hours of electricity a year, said Rep. Fred Upton, R-Mich., a House of Representatives co-sponsor of the bill. That’s the equivalent of 80 coal-fired power plants, Upton said. “This is more than just one light bulb at a time,” he said at a Senate energy committee hearing Wednesday. The legislation requires that light bulbs be 300 percent more efficient by 2020, said Rep. Jane Harman, D-Calif., another House sponsor of the legislation. The bill’s sponsors also would like light-bulb manufacturers to find a way to keep mercury from being released in the manufacture and disposal of the new energy-efficient bulbs. They’re also working on encouraging manufacturers to make the newer bulbs in the United States, Harman said, and would like to see the federal government, the world’s biggest buyer of light bulbs, switch to more efficient lighting. The legislation would require that 40-, 60-, 75- and 100-watt incandescent light bulbs be phased out by 2014. They would be replaced with the “curlicue” compact fluorescent light bulbs and other, more energy-efficient forms of lighting being developed. If it does pass, it will have a significant impact on the sum total of energy consumed by light bulbs worldwide. The article say that the US is the single-largest market for incandescent bulbs and accounts for nearly a third of the global market. —

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Bill aims to swap out old light bulbs with energy efficient bulbs

White Zombie electric car dominates gas-powered dragsters

This post is brought to you by ? Curt Rosengren ~ Passion Catalyst TM ? ? “Love your work. Change your world.” I’ve never been a big fan of motor sports, but here’s a story that makes me want to jump in my car, drive down I-5 to Portland, Oregon, and cheer on the White Zombie . On a recent Friday night at the Portland International Raceway, John Wayland scanned the dragsters, looking for an opponent for his geeky looking 1972 Datsun sedan. Finally, he challenged the owner of a souped-up 2005 Corvette, the hottest-looking car at the track, to a quarter-mile race. When the starting light flashed, the Datsun, known as White Zombie, shot silently past the Corvette and kept widening the lead as the two cars faded into the distance. “Oh man, right off the [starting] line he had me,” said the Corvette’s owner, Robert Akers, shaking his head. Electric cars are typically known for their fuel efficiency and environmental bona fides, not for their speed and muscle. But Mr. Wayland, 47 years old, is changing that, and has become something of a hero to a small group of hot rodders dedicated to humiliating gasoline-powered cars. The night White Zombie beat the Corvette, it also trounced two other “gassers,” as Mr. Wayland calls them — a blue BMW and a bright orange 1964 Pontiac Tempest. Check out the video that goes with the article. Just looking at it, you wouldn’t think the White Zombie would strike fear into the hearts of drivers of souped up muscle cars. In fact, it looks like it has no business being on the track…until it gets the green light. —

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White Zombie electric car dominates gas-powered dragsters

Wind power capacity growth strong in 2006

This post is brought to you by ? Curt Rosengren ~ Passion Catalyst TM ? ? “Love your work. Change your world.” Wind power grew by leaps and bounds last year, according to the Worldwatch Institute: The 15,200 megawatts of new wind turbines installed worldwide last year will generate enough clean electricity annually to offset the carbon dioxide emissions of 23 average-sized U.S. coal-fired power plants, according to a new Vital Signs Update from the Worldwatch Institute. The 43 million tons of carbon dioxide displaced in 2006 is equivalent to the emissions of 7,200 megawatts of coal-fired power plants, or nearly 8 million passenger cars. Global wind power capacity increased almost 26 percent in 2006, exceeding 74,200 megawatts by years end. Global investment in wind power was roughly $22 billion in 2006, and in Europe and North America, the power industry added more capacity in wind than it did in coal and nuclear combined. The global market for wind equipment has risen 74 percent in the past two years, leading to long backorders for wind turbine equipment in much of the world. [via the CNET Tech news blog ] —

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Wind power capacity growth strong in 2006