Clean Tech Investing

Last week I attended a conference on clean technology / energy investing here in Boston.  Like anything with a sustainability angle these days it was packed to the house with standing room only; although this time it seemed to be more an audience of practitioners as opposed to job seekers.

The two-hour session saw two VCs and an Analyst give their views on the past, present and future of the market.  The speaker I found most interesting was Jim Matheson, a partner at Flagship Ventures.  It is worth reading his background.  He's been doing clean tech investing for the past 9 or so years after having graduated from Harvard Business School.  Prior to that he was a Naval Aviator having been an instructor and adversary pilot at Top Gun (cue the sound track for the movie).  After listening to Jim's speech, two things are eminently clear:

       (1) Substantial height is not a requirement to be a Naval Aviator; and

       (2) Jim is a really smart guy who's been around the block on clean tech.

Jim addressed a number of points, including that there are huge opportunities in the clean tech/energy space because much of the existing processes and technologies are decades (if not more) old and are not designed for today's requirements.  But all was not rosy.  Jim pointed out that one of the biggest challenges today is that those with experience in energy and clean tech come out of utilities or other pseudo-government companies that 9 times out of 10 do not transplant well to startups.  He also talked about how the time horizons of VC funds (10 year funds) are not ideally suited to the time frames of clean tech / energy (sometimes 20-40 years).

As Jim was wrapping up he listed off a bunch of problems that he thought were worth solving (translations, things that he is interested in owning if they are successful) and I thought I would share that list:

       (1) How to make, transport and measure H2O

       (2) What to do about all the CO2 we produce

       (3) How to create more distributed electricity

       (4) How to store energy at large scale cost effectively

       (5) How to build and support electric vehicles

       (6) How to design and build sustainable products

       (7) How to use IT to manage energy usage

       (8) How to make the grid smarter, consumers wiser

       (9) How to use land more efficiently

       (10) What to do about all the waste we create

I've always been impressed most with VCs who publicly talk about the things they want to invest in (as opposed to what they have invested in).  And while this list isn't overly specific, it's such a rarity that it's worth publishing here.

I don't know Jim personally, but were I raising money for a clean tech / energy business I'd add him to the short list of folks worth talking to.

Energy Innovation Institutes

The Brookings Institute recently put on an event where they looked at energy and innovation in the US.  One of the panel experts was Dr. James Duderstadt, President (emeritus) of the University of Michigan.

Full disclosure: Dr. Duderstadt was President at U of M while I was a student there.  He was a huge champion of our work on the solar car team and, in fact, he was one of the folks who wrote me a recommendation to get into Harvard Business School.

Dr. Duderstadt makes a clear and compelling case the the money is available within existing budgets to radically change the energy mix in the US (via intense R&D) however the real question is whether there is the political will to allocate funds.

Watch this video to see the full case:

TED Always Makes Me Think

If you haven't yet watched any of the TED (stands for Technolgy, Entertainment, Design) presentations, you're in for a real treat when you do. TED is an annual conference that brings together the world's most fascinating thinkers and doers who are challenged to give the "talk of their lives" in just 18 minutes. Their best presentations are online at their website.

Last night I was watching a couple of the presentations and came across this one by William Kamkwamba who at just 14 built an electricity-producing windmill from spare parts and scrap to power his home in Malawi.

For a whole host of reasons William built a windmill (as opposed to some other form of energy generation). I find it amazing that in many ways we in the US are trying to emulate William (with alternative energy) as much as he is trying to emulate us. He's really an amazing person.

If you have 4 minutes, take the time to watch this video...you're be inspired, I promise.

Alternative Energy

Well, here's a photo you don't see every day. It's from the University of Michigan Solar Car Team blog. At the beginning of June, the team spent a few days of practice on the actual race route in advance of next month's North American Solar Challenge. In the picture, you can't see the actual car, just one of the support vehicles (the black hybrid SUV with the #2 on it). So here's a car powered only by the sun driving down the freeway and what's passing on the left? That's a giant blade for a windmill that will soon be producing electricity. How about that!?