Cleantech
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The problem for many innovators outside Silicon Valley is the scarcity of dedicated, skilled business dragons equipped to fund innovative cleantech companies. So it’s good news that Adam Workman has just launched the North West Fund, dedicated to fi nancing investment in cleantech companies in England’s North West for projects requiring seed capital between £200,000 and £1.2m. Already, the North West Fund has invested £4m in 20 local businesses involved in all aspects of the cleantech innovation sector, following its launch in December last year.
Running out of petrol has long been a classic excuse for being late. But it’s one users of electric cars or cycles won’t be able to use. POD Point have installed 260 public street charging points for electric cars and mopeds across the UK, so you can drive from London to Glasgow without fear.
America is coming second best when it comes to being a global leader in clean energy investment. Last year the US invested $34bn, while China spent $54.4bn and Germany $41.2bn. It just goes to show the impact the recession has had on cleantech investment in the US.
For anyone involved in ambitious technology projects, one nightmare is seeing development costs spin out of control. Recent Oxford University research reveals the prospect of such a failure is two to three times more likely in technology companies than in construction. The research team at Said Business School place part of the blame on poor project management and claim many fi rms are not large enough to cope with unexpected costs.
Daimler-owned city car brand Smart is to launch an electric bike next year to take advantage of the growing European electric bike market, with over 700,000 e-bikes sold in 2010. Depending on the manner of cycling and the power level selected, a battery charge can last more than 62 miles, so is ideal for zipping around towns like London and up steep hills. Top Gear’s Stig should use it for a future program test drive around the congested streets of Rome.
WWW.CARBONWARROOM.COM
Motorists are always on the lookout for alternatives to ordinary petrol. There is ethanol, but that is not without its problems, and now scientists at ButylFuel LLC, an Ohio-based technology company, have come up with biobutanol fuel, which does not require modifi cations to car engines. ButylFuel is busy in the process of creating a commercially viable process to produce biobutanol from wood, corn, sugar beets, sorghum, cassava and corn stalks in order to replace petrol.
Are you looking for somewhere to invest in an innovative opportunity? Then try this year’s Centre for Sustainable Design Conference on Sustainable Innovation (October 24-25), which takes place at historic Farnham Castle in the heart of the Surrey countryside. The event should prove a profi table and productive opportunity to gossip and meet the world’s leading cleantech policy makers, including Dr Richard Miller, head of sustainability at the Technology Strategy Board, and Tomoo Machiba, senior consultant for the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
ISSUE 04. SEPTEMBER 2011
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