Sunny Ahn's WebLog

It was announced yesterday that GreatPoint, a Cambridge startup focused on converting coal to natural gas, raised $100 million to build a demonstration plant.  The round was led by Citi Alternative Investments and Dow Chemicals Co as well as Suncor Energy and AES Corp.  This is a significant investment, as it is one of the largest venture capital rounds for any clean-energy firm.  While other firms have experimented in the conversion of gas into syngas, GreatPoint claims its processes are much cleaner for the environment.  The company hopes to build internally (rather than through acquisitions) and help Massachusetts become a center for environmental development and talent.

BT announced today that will provide a commercial service focused on assessing the amount of CO2 emission produced by various corporate IT departments.  The service is a comprehensive 5-week assessment that generally works from within a data center and works out.  The process uses questionnaires and asset inventory and a proprietary process developed by BT to calculate and evaluate emissions.  Kudos to BT – was actually a bit surprised of the initiative by a such a large corporate player – when I read that the company itself has reduced CO2 emissions by 60% since 1996 and has been recognized as the #1 telecommunication firm in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index for 7 straight years – they must have some idea of what they are doing.  Dinah McLeod heads up BT’s Global Services’ Sustainability Practice. 

Adam Denison of GM mentioned to me of an upcoming alternative transportation and energy festival happening in Boston from September 28-29, 2007 at Boston City Hall Plaza.  for more information, check out the website – http://www.altwheels.org/

Many of the automotive industry are sponsors, including GM, as well as some energy companies, including KeySpan and NStar.

Worth checking out if you are in the area – topics include hybrid, hydogen fuel-cell, ethanol, CNG, green buildings, biodiesel, wind power, etc.  Thanks to Adam for giving me the heads-up on this.   

It was announced today that Sony Corporation will launch nearly 75 recycling centers throughout the US.  Individuals can recycle Sony products for free and other branded electronics for a fee.  Certainly a good sign that corporate America is becoming more environmentally responsible as consumer electronics and computers have become a significant waste problem. 

As reported by AP, Japan is to launch its hybrid train today at Nakagomi station.  The train is expected to be 20% more fuel efficent and reduce greenhouse gas emissions up to 60%.  The key issue still remains the costs of train, estimated to be twice as much as a typical train of equivalent size.  Still, it is encouraging to see that countries are taking the global warming issue headon, even within transportation areas that are not considered heavy CO2 producers (trains represent less than 5% of all greenhouse gas emissions in the transportation sector).

A federal appeals count order Shell to suspend its drilling off the coast of Alaska.  The court wants more information as well as more discussion with the surrounding communities in Alaska.  Most concerning is the potential impact that the drilling will have on the local ecosystem, particular the polar bears and marine animals.  For more information, click on the article by the AP.

Not surprising, being green is the new focus area for venture capital investment.  For those interested, there is a “GoingGreen” conference to be held on September 10-12 at the University of California, Davis.  The conference will showcase approximately 100 green companies.  Check it out as topics range from photovolatics to animal fat-based alternative fuels. 

Earlier this week, Archer Daniels Midland, an agriculture company, and biotech firm Metabolix announced plans to sell a biodegradable plastic made from corn (it will be called Mirel).  The two companies will launch Mirel in a number of consumer based products ranging from gift cards to razor holders.  The main problem with traditional plastics, as many know, is that they remain in our environment for a long period of time versus a few months with Mirel.  Interestingly, according to an article by CNET, “the petroleum to make these plastics accounts for 10% of the oil the US consumes.”

While this new ‘green’ plastic is better for the environment than the traditional source, the issue of using corn certainly has its social issues, similar to that of corn-based ethanol.  In recent times, we have seen the price of corn rise dramatically – and while this might be good news for the corn market, this will impact those individuals that depend on corn for food.  This again illustrates that when we look at all our responsibilities [economic, environmental, and social], finding a truly sustainable solution is very difficult. 

Sony announced yesterday that it is going to launch TVs with a new organic electroluminescent screen by year’s end.   The screens have self-luminscent properties because of its organic nature, this require less power the traditional LCD because they don’t use a backlight.  Also the screen is thinner as well (3 millimeters), thus less overall materials used.  Good sign by large corporations making innovative enhancements that are environmentally friendly, economically smart (as more consumers will likely be interested if the product is equivalent to traditional LCDs) and socially acceptable.

I’m encouraged to see that almost every day now, our friendly Boston Globe is covering a story dealing with the environment.  In the second time in a few weeks, the Globe has reported on another story about methane, this time from an unlikely source, our trash.  As organic matter decomposes, powerful gases such as methane are created over time.  According the the article, here are some interesting points:

1. methane accounts for 9% of the US greenhouse gas emissions and 16% of the total emissions worldwide
2. Landfills make up about 34% of the methane released in the US
3. Some 425 American dumps, including 30 in New England, capture methane gas and use it to produce electricity
4. Nationwide, 750,000 homes receive their power and nearly 1.2 million residences get their heat from dumps