Teams
Grand Prize (Top 5) Finalists
Catalyzed Combustion Technologies
CCT technology speeds up the rate of combustion in diesel engines to such an extent that an efficiency gain of 20% is achieved. The catalyzed combustion is so complete that unburned hydrocarbons and particulate matter are reduced by over 90%. The product is a high voltage, high frequency air activation kit aimed at existing engines. The retrofit kit saves a typical fleet owner $16,000 per year for each truck while at the same time earning significant CO2 credits. The ability to remove 20 tons of CO2 from each vehicle represents the most significant clean energy technology to date.
Covalent Solar
Today’s wind turbines have nearly reached their maximum possible efficiency and are limited to sites with a narrow profile of wind patterns. The patented FloDesign FD700 shrouded turbine will outperform existing turbines by a factor of three or more in a much wider range of wind resources. Our team’s experience applying "mixer-ejector" technology to such projects as the Stealth bomber, Gulfstream II and Comanche helicopter enables migration of mature aerospace methods to wind turbine applications. FloDesign will design, manufacture, and sell the FD700 to wind farm developers, industrial operators and utilities. With FloDesign, there is change in the wind.
NanoPur
To address the need for lower-cost, energy efficient desalination, NanoPur is developing a vertically-aligned, carbon nanotube (CNT) membrane which exhibits exceptional water permeability and already demonstrates salt rejection properties suitable for treatment of brackish water. Lab demonstrations indicate a conservative estimate of 30% energy savings can be achieved over incumbent RO membranes on a plant-wide basis. Building from demonstrated research results, we will optimize the salt rejection and anti-fouling characteristics by tuning the chemical functionalization of the CNT surfaces. We also have proprietary manufacturing process for large-area membranes using roll-to-roll CNT forest growth.
Sequesco
Reliance on fossil fuels leads to a number of problems including rising greenhouse gas levels and rapidly increasing energy prices. Biofuels can address these problems, however current photosynthesis-based approaches require either expensive infrastructure or arable lands, which can lead to disruption of food markets and the environment. Sequesco is developing a technology that converts CO2 into biofuels without relying upon photosynthesis. Sequesco's technology is a unique solution to the problems of both greenhouse gases and fossil fuels that can serve as a bridge between inorganic and biological renewable energy technologies.
Semi-Finalists
Dura Drilling
A drilling services company with revolutionary new microdrilling technology. We are focused on providing a suite of smaller, faster, cheaper drilling services to the geothermal industry and the conventional oil and gas industry.
Ethanol Boosting Systems, LLC (EBS)
Ethanol Boosting Systems, LLC (EBS) provides game changing engine technology for fuel efficient cars and light duty trucks. It breaks the paradigm that high efficiency can only be obtained at high cost or by compromising performance. The EBS approach uses a small amount of separately injected ethanol to enable replacement of present gasoline engines with much smaller, more efficient engines with the same or greater power. It enables an efficiency gain comparable to the diesel and the hybrid at less than one quarter of the incremental cost.
Energy Hub
EnergyHub is a technology start-up that lets consumers monitor and control their home energy use, reduce their electricity consumption, and save money. EnergyHub's "Home Energy Efficiency System" combines information with automation to reduce home electricity usage by 20%. The company has a working prototype, well-protected IP, and an experienced management eam with an established working relationship. We have already completed a seed round, including a grant from the New York State Energy R&D Authority.
Hundred
The market for “eco-friendly” yet affordable sporty vehicles is drastically underserved and expected to grow in excess of 20% per annum over the next decade. The Hundred is an innovative new car design based on a flexible vehicle platform. It will be the first commercial 100 mpg vehicle that is safe, affordable, and fun-to-drive. The Hundred is expected to enter commercial production in early 2012 followed by new models based on the same breakthrough platform design.
Husk Power Systems
Husk Power Systems (HPS) will provide power to millions of rural Indians in a financially sustainable, scalable, environmentally friendly, and profitable manner. Our technology converts rice husks into electricity. We produce, own, and operate 35-100 kW “mini power-plants” that deliver electricity as a “pay-for-use” service to villages of the Indian “Rice Belt.” HPS has successfully implemented pilot projects in two villages (Tamkuha, Dhanaha), powers 10,000 villagers, and is operationally profitable. HPS uses rice waste to generate revenue in three ways: selling power; refining the rice ash into pozzolanic material for building materials; and by selling Certified Emission Reductions (CER).
Innosepra
Capture of carbon dioxide from various sources including the flue gases of a power plant may be needed in the future to mitigate the effects of global warming. The current costs for carbon dioxide capture are high and can increase the power costs by 60-100% and cut the plant power output by up to 30%. InnoSepra technology can limit the increase in power cost to less than 35% and limit the decrease in power output to less than 18% thereby enabling significant reduction in greenhouse gases while mitigating the economic impact due to the capture of greenhouse gases.
NHThree, LLC
NHThree LLC intends to become the leading global provider of “green” anhydrous ammonia (NH3). NHThree’s proprietary “Solid State Ammonia Synthesis” (SSAS) approach allows us to manufacture ammonia using only air, water, and electricity as inputs. SSAS is more efficient, with lower capital costs than past approaches. If the electricity is green (e.g. wind), zero greenhouse gases will be produced. There is huge and growing demand for ammonia – including fertilizer ($10 billion US market), de-NOx treatments for fossil flue gas ($1 billion), and as an industrial refrigerant ($300 million). NHThree will sell low-cost ammonia and equipment to all of these markets.
Promethean Power Systems
Promethean Power Systems is developing a solar-powered commercial refrigerator which is economically viable in off-grid applications. Our target customers are businesses that operate in rapidly growing emerging markets where the lack of reliable electricity and the high cost of diesel fuel create a real problem for hundreds of thousands of business owners. Our refrigerator uses clean, quiet and chemical-free technologies unlike conventional refrigerators that use ozone-depleting chemicals and dirty, noisy diesel generators.
Pyrolitix Biofuels
Pyrolitix Biofuels will commercialize a novel technology that can convert cellulosic biomass, such as woodchips, grasses and agricultural waste, to aromatics that can be blended with or further converted to green gasoline. By adopting a thermo-chemical approach, as opposed to a biological approach, Pyrolitix Biofuels can keep its costs very low. Biofuel production does not require food-based crops such as corn and sugarcane. Unlike ethanol, green gasoline can be easily distributed through the U.S. University of Massachusetts , Amherst
Smart Cities
Smart Cities is designing Mobility‐on‐Demand vehicle‐sharing systems, deploying a fleet of foldable, electric scooters designed at MIT Media Lab. We aim to provide large-scale systems that satisfy the daily mobility needs of metropolitan populations and dramatically reduce fossil fuel consumption, carbon emissions, congestion, and noise and air pollution. Having identified an ideal market, we plan to launch our first system of electric shared-scooters in
Solaflect
Solaflect Energy has developed a breakthrough low-cost technology for the generation of concentrated solar thermal energy at commercial and utility scale. This technology, the “Suspension HeliostatTM”, is half the cost, half the weight, and constructs in half the time of its competitors. This disruptive, patent-protected technology so significantly reduces capital costs that today it can produce solar energy at prices competitive with fossil fuels. The company has an extraordinary and proven team, including successful serial entrepreneurs, as well as a fast growing pipeline of customers, partners, and prospects to begin the commercialization of its platform technology.
SweetWater Ethanol does not produce ethanol, but is a producer of a cellulosic liquid concentrate that lowers the cost, energy, and carbon footprint of producing ethanol. Our product is called CCF and is sold as a liquid feedstock to existing and new ethanol refineries, enabling processing at an advanced stage in the biorefinery and thereby eliminating many of the high energy consuming steps required when processing corn kernels into ethanol. Sweetwater’s patent-pending method and system lowers transportation costs 80% and reduces feedstock-processing energy 67% when compared to today’s primary corn-based dry mill production method.