Point of View – by Mia Javier

[cross posted on blog.cleantech.com]

If you drive a car, you are likely unaware of the processes various parts have endured. Door lock mechanisms and tie-down hooks on truck beds – to name a few examples – are covered with anti-corrosive coating to ensure product lifetime.

The manufacturing process associated with coating technologies, however, is so toxic that China and the European Union have implemented new regulations that prohibit traditional technologies including plating, zinc flake and hot dip galvanized. Such processes produce toxic fumes and hazardous waste by-product.

Cleveland-based, UK incorporated company, Greenkote, has developed a surface metal coating technology that not only replaces but outperforms toxic conventional coating technologies. The company has developed a proprietary process by which the coating product is diffused onto the metal, creating a dry process that eliminates toxic fumes and hazardous waste.

“Not only is the material environmentally friendly, the process is environmentally friendly,” Jim Thomson, the company’s chief financial officer told the Cleantech Group.

The process helps save on costs as well, Thomson told us, since the elimination of hazardous waste mitigates the need for cleanup management costs.

According to Thompson, Greenkote aims to license their technology to the component manufacturers or ‘Tier 1s’ that directly produce parts of original equipment manufacturers like VW Audi, Ford or Daimler.

“OEMs have a production part approval process where Tier 1 component manufacturers must work with companies like us on new coating specifications for the OEMs,” said Thomson.

It is in these coating specifications that OEMs aim to comply with regulation, according to Thomson.

According to Thomson, the largest user of their technology is VW Audi. Daimler has also accepted their technology and is in the process of putting in a parts order for Greenkote, Thomson told us.

While the company is breaking into the automobile industry, the company has its roots in construction parts, Thomson told us.

“In construction, there are a lot of fasteners in bridges and other construction structures,” Thomson said.

“We have done various bridges in the UK, projects in the Heathrow airport as well as a cricket stadium,” Thomson said.

Today, the company is raising £16 million to break into the North American, European and Asian automobile industries. The funding will be used to fund small pilot lines until the technology can be licensed to the Tier 1s, according to Thomson.

2009 company revenue was $7 million, according to Thomson and he expects that number to grow to $30 million in four years.

[cross posted on blog.cleantech.com]

Water systems typically espouse thoughts of boring, archaic, underground concrete and steel structures that mean little so long as clean water pours out the tap.

Indeed, most tax payers find the thought of water infrastructure investments puzzling when water prices are relatively low and proof of bad pipes are invisible (at least above ground).

But getting smart about water has suddenly become interesting.

As a global community, we know relatively little about a resource we rely so heavily upon. Governments are increasingly aware of their global water risk exposure and have engaged in various studies to get a grip on their water data. Just this week:

• The European Union (EU) released its 2009 follow-up report on water scarcity and droughts in the EU.
• The United States Geological Survey released a study on contaminants in groundwaterused for public supply.
• Sri Lanka released conference proceedings from its National Conference on Water, Food Security and Climate Change outlining various papers collecting water data.

The above illustrates how our water scarce world is in critical need of the deliberate collection and analysis of water. While the collection of some data sets will require significant investment (think data on everything from ocean temperature to air quality), there is plenty of existing data awaiting collection and analysis like SCADA, which stands for supervisory control and data acquisition.

While governments are getting a clue, so too is industry. To be sure, public-private partnerships will be critical in advancing sustainable, data driven smart water systems.

IBM, for example, is leading the charge with such projects including one with the Marine Institute in Galway Bay to collect data from a variety of sources aimed at informing a number of industries. The data collection is as impressive as it ambitious.

The project collects weather, water wave, tidal current and even seal floor mapping and topography data.

And according to Peter Williams, CTO of IBM’s Big Green Innovations, while IBM is developing the monitoring and control side of Smart Water, the company seeks partnerships with meters and sensor developers as well as companies addressing the networking and communications component.

SAP also offers enterprise level packages of software for water resource management and boasts 950+ customers globally.  While IBM competes with SAP in some areas, according to Williams, IBM also makes money implementing SAP.

The venture community is also paying attention smart water technologies including real-time water quality monitoring, leak detection technology, and SCADA driven software applications aimed at optimizing the water grid.

The technology geek and data wonk have certainly made this area of water sexy.

There is tremendous opportunity in this space – stay tuned for more!

[cross posted on blog.cleantech.com]

Corporations are faced with increased water risk exposure.

As drought, pollution and unsustainable water use practices gain visibility with stakeholder groups across the globe, communities are ever aware of precious water resources.

It is critical, therefore, for businesses to incorporate stakeholder engagement in their water resource management strategies.

Nitrate pollution in the state of California, for example, is gaining visibility and as a result, the agricultural industry’s fertilization practices are coming under increased scrutiny by surrounding communities.

To boot, agriculture’s overwhelming share of water use globally (and locally, in most cases) is the white elephant in the room for corporations in the food and beverage industry. How, for example, can sustainable water practices for such companies be meaningful if their wider supply chain of agricultural inputs is not engaged?

The right incentive structures remain to be seen.

Consumers, on the other hand, are increasingly aware of unregulated contaminants in drinking water by sources including but not limited to the pharmaceutical and chemicals industry. Indeed, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Regulation (UCMR) program is actively monitoring new, unregulated water contaminants in the U.S.

Public health departments are also increasingly aware of pollution, drought and storm water runoff impacts. Indeed, there is a generally push in the U.S. to address holistic approach to water policy, despite the great gains made by current legislation.

In March, the Ontario Centre for Environmental Technology Advancement (OCETA) and XPV Capital Corporation released a report featuring The Water Opportunity for Ontario. The province is actively positioning itself as a viable opportunity and indeed global leader in the water industry and is putting a stake in the ground around this precious resource.

Beyond North America, international awareness is gaining strength with organizations like the UN’s CEO Water Mandate, the UN Global Compact and the new Water Stewardship Certification. Since water shortages and disputes over water rights have historically created great political instability, I expect more organizations like these to crop up in the future.

Research institutions have likewise gained traction with approximately fifty large water resource centers receiving funding across various U.S. universities. One exception is the Water Resources Center Archives at the University of California-Berkeley, which may be dismantled by the University of California Regents—a move that has perplexed a community of stakeholders in a state in its fourth year of drought.

All said, corporations find themselves in a world where a significant portion of water risk management must be underpinned by stakeholder engagement.

For those in the food and beverage industries, engagement with its agricultural supply chain to manage use and contaminant impact is critical. For most others, protection of watersheds or raw sources of water must enter the water strategy calculus.

Successful water management strategies must get ahead of this curve.

[Cross posted on cleantech.com]

Sugar Land, Texas-based startup Dropiom is looking to help homeowners not only monitor energy usage, but enable rational, data-driven energy efficiency improvements to their residences.

Founded in 2009, the company has developed a system where wireless sensors transmit energy current and temperature data to a software program that identifies energy efficiency improvements, Dropiom’s Technology and Business Program Manager Michel Ghosn told the Cleantech Group.

Not only does the program identify improvements, Ghosn said, but it specifically outlines initial cost, cost savings, and return on investment of such improvements.

“While commercial solutions for large office buildings exist, no one has fully addressed the residential market where energy savings can run from $100 to a few thousand dollars per year,” Ghosn said. “Residential is a good niche market for us.”

According to Ghosn, Dropiom’s non-intervening sensors are installed on wires where electromagnetically, it senses current running through the wires. Unlike other residential energy management technology that measures total energy consumption on the main circuit breaker line, Dropiom said its system can monitor every line, which ultimately leads to more accurate analysis of data.

“On top of all this, the system includes wireless sensors that monitor temperature both inside and outside of the home,” Ghosn said.

The genesis of Dropiom’s technology, according to Ghosn, took root in a personal desire to manage energy use and implement efficiency measures in his own home. There was nothing he saw in the market that allowed him to monitor his energy usage and enable rational decisions around efficiency measures.

Coupled with Ghosn’s background in heating, ventilating, and cooling (HVAC) systems and engineering, this all came together.

To that point, Ghosn said measuring the ratio of heating and cooling against electricity consumption can determine the actual overall efficiency of HVAC units and fit for use. In this way, Ghosn said the software application can troubleshoot and walk the user through a logical flow of improvements based on costs and analysis of the energy usage profile.

The company is currently at the prototype stage, and is attempting to take it to the product stage, he said.

“At this point, there is no technical risk,” Ghosn said.

The company has filed a non-provisional patent, which it anticipates being granted by next year.

According to Ghosn, the company’s go-to-market strategy involves direct marketing in the first phase to build momentum and revenue. The second phase is expected to entail marketing to select retailers, he said.

Dropiom is seeking a $450,000 Series A round of funding to conduct field trials. The company is aiming to collect user feedback and expects to generate revenue within the first 12 months after funding, he added.

Dropiom is one of 38 potential new investment opportunities the Cleantech Group added to its innovation pipeline this week, available as an exclusive benefit forresearch subscribers. Clients can click here to search the database.

Interested in emerging cleantech innovations? Here are two new companies added to the Cleantech Group’s database this week also looking for funding:

• Newark, Calif.-based ZERE is seeking $10 million in Series A funding for working capital and to expand its business. The company is continuing to develop its zero emission combined heat and power technology that can utilize a variety of biomass wastes as a feedstock.
• British Columbia, Canada-based Envirocoat Technologies (a subsidiary of Prima Developments) is seeking $500,000 for production material and equipment, marketing and advertising as well as general working capital. The company has developed a ceramic coating that produces a unique thermal barrier for protecting commercial, industrial, and residential structures.

Seeking capital, partners or customers? Submit to the Cleantech Group’s innovation pipeline.

Browse past pitches here.