8/27 VentureBeat » GreenBeat

Please add updates@feedmyinbox.com to your address book to make sure you receive these messages in the future. VentureBeat » GreenBeat - News About Tech, Money and Innovation Green energy sector sees record patents August 26, 2009 at 4:39 pm A total of 274 new patents were filed for companies developing green and alternative sources of energy in the second quarter ended June 30 — the highest amount in the space to date, according to the Clean Energy Patent Growth Index. Fuel cell technology performed the best, with 156 patents — a dramatic spike from 42 in the second quarter of last year. Solar also saw a boost with 51 patents, up from 36; and the biofuel industry saw 13 patents, up from five. The numbers demonstrate a strong rebound from lackluster numbers in recent years. The only major division of cleantech not to see an improvement was wind power, down five. Tidal energy also saw a dip of two patents, but that business has yet to gain much traction in the U.S. regardless. Many of the recent patents were filed by automotive companies looking to churn out innovative fuel systems. Hybrid-electric manufacturers had a healthy presence. Honda led the pack in patents, followed by GM and Toyota, Nissa, Ford and Daimler in that order. Most of their patents concerned fuel cell and hybrid-electric projects. Aside from the automakers, General Electric and Panasonic made the top 10. The report from the Clean Energy Patent Growth Index could help the sector gain more momentum among investors. The National Venture Capital Association recently noted a sharp uptick in cleantech investing for the second quarter after a dismal first quarter. Potential backers like to see healthy patent pipelines, which could bode well for U.S. cleantech and its recovery in the third and fourth quarters. Perhaps somewhat surprisingly, Japan was the geographic region with the most (75) patents for clean energy sources. Given the influence of the car companies, this makes sense. California came in second place with 29, and Michigan, the unofficial new advanced battery mecca, in third. Gov't gives out $300M for advanced vehicles, 'Clean Cities' August 26, 2009 at 3:30 pm The U.S. Department of Energy just announced that it will provide $300 million in stimulus funds to 25 projects aimed at putting 9,000 more alternative-fuel vehicles on America’s roads, and building the infrastructure needed to power them, including 542 fueling and charging stations across the country. All told, these projects — now under the banner of the DOE’s long-standing “Clean Cities” program — could cut petroleum use by up to 38 million gallons a year — that’s nearly 1 million barrels of oil. The bulk of the funding will be used to accelerate adoption of hybrids, electric vehicles and plug-in electric hybrids, as well as natural gas and biofuel-powered vehicles. The refueling stations included in the plan will be designed to power cars running on natural gas, propane, biodiesel, ethanol and, of course, electricity. In order to receive the money, each of the projects named had to raise twice the matching funds, allowing for more capital-intensive projects. Instead of awarding money to companies tackling these areas, the DOE is funding local government organizations charged with greening transportation in their jurisdictions. It is also encouraging recipients to introduce fleets of advanced vehicles with industry partners in order to spur eventual commercial adoption. For example, the San Bernadino Associated Governments‘ were awarded $9.95 million to add 262 natural gas-powered heavy-duty trucks with the help of transportation vendor J.B. Hunt. The Maryland Energy Administration received $5.9 million to fund the purchase of 150 hybrid-electric trucks for use by Nestle and UPS among others. And the City of Chicago’s Department of Environment will add 554 alternative fuel and hybrid electric vehicles to the city with nearly $15 million from the DOE. You can see a full list of the funded projects here (the majority of them rely on natural gas). The strategy empowers local governments to support the projects that make the most sense for the region — a fairly novel concept. Municipalities are also among the largest owners of fleet vehicles, which, once converted, would allow the technology to spread faster than it might otherwise. So far, the stimulus money earmarked for the cleantech sector has been handed out directly to businesses, including the $2.4 billion it distributed to 48 advanced battery and transportation companies less than a month ago. The Clean Cities program is not a creation of the stimulus package. Kicked off 15 years ago, its goal has always been to cut the country’s petroleum consumption in transportation. It actually spawned the creation of several of the local government groups receiving the recent financing, including the Utah Clean Cities Coaltion and the New Jersey Clean Cities Coalition. There are more than 90 groups total, achieving various levels of activity throughout the years. Vice president Joe Biden originally announced the $300 million initiative for advanced vehicles back in April.   This email was sent to excelea@gmail.com.  Create Your Account Don't want to receive this feed any longer? Unsubscribe here.