Colorado has a lot to offer cleantech entrepreneurs, from targeted grants, to easy access to NREL’s technology commercialization resources, to cleantech focused entrepreneurial programs at top research universities, to name just a few. There is no more supportive place in the country to launch a cleantech company, which gives local angels a distinct advantage when investing in this growing, and complex, industry. Colorado knows about investing in cleantech.

The only way the community could do more to support cleantech would be to scour the country for experienced, successful entrepreneurs, bring them to Colorado and immerse them in the local cleantech ecosystem, then provide guidance from industry experts as they develop business ideas around one of the numerous innovations emerging from local government labs and universities. Enter the Cleantech Fellows Institute, a Colorado Cleantech Industry Association (CCIA) program established to do exactly that. 

The Institute kicked off in 2012, with a class of 5 Fellows who had considerable entrepreneurial experience outside the cleantech industry. The Fellows knew how to start a business, but they didn’t know cleantech, so they spent 175 curriculum hours listening to 160 speakers, and took almost 30 cleantech related tours, to come up to speed. Each Fellow undertook a capstone project centered on a new cleantech business idea, and in the Institute’s inaugural year this exercise led to the creation of two seed-stage companies and one non-profit.

Under the direction of Executive Director Steve Berens, the Institute is now accepting applications for its second class of Fellows. This year the program is undergoing some changes based on lessons learned from the first class, including an expanded international component. The program will include a week during which delegates from around the world descend on Colorado to participate in the Institute’s activities and make connections between the cleantech communities in Colorado and their home countries.

Clearly, Colorado is putting a lot of effort into stacking the odds in favor of the Fellows and the cleantech companies they hope will emerge from the Institute. The VC community has taken notice, as evidenced by the 19 venture capital partners the program has brought on board to date. However, there is room for additional engagement from Colorado based angels, who have an advantage in their ability to participate throughout the process since the Institute is based in their own backyard. Interested angels can send an email to mailto:info@cleantechfellows.comto learn more and sign up for regular email updates.

Even with all of the support Fellows will receive through the Institute, cleantech remains one of the most challenging industries in which to start a new venture. The Cleantech Fellows Institute provides access to critical knowledge and a great support network, which will reduce risks in my opinion but it certainly doesn’t come close to eliminating them. The real determinant of the program’s ability to spawn successful cleantech startups is underway right now: the Fellows application process. The quality of the Fellows accepted into the program will have the greatest influence on how successful it is, and the ability of local angels to get to know the Fellows over the course of the program is an opportunity that should not be missed.

Jay Holman is Principal of Venture to Market LLC, a Boulder based consultancy providing go to market services for new ventures in the cleantech industry.

Cleantech Fellows Institute encourages new venture formation, job creation and growth of the cleantech industry

DENVER – (April 3, 2013) – As “Cleantech 2.0” blossoms from the lessons learned over the past decade, smart entrepreneurs and corporate executives are looking to leverage the lessons of the past and launch themselves to success in cleantech. The Cleantech Fellows Institute addresses a simple but compelling problem: more seasoned executives are needed everyday to bridge cleantech opportunities to a hungry global market. The objective of the Institute is to help experienced entrepreneurs and executives accelerate their transition into the cleantech sector, stimulating new venture formation, job creation and growth of the cleantech industry.
The Cleantech Fellows Institute is the premiere executive talent bridge and is accepting applications now through July 12, 2013. The program will run from mid-August to mid-December and combines seminars, guest speakers, lab visits, company tours and a capstone project. The rolling admissions process will provide prompt feedback to applicants from the entrepreneurial and corporate community.
“Executives with proven business building experience, a creative drive, and leadship abilities are encouraged to apply. “ commented Steven Berens, Cleantech Fellows Institute, executive director, “Each candidate must have a strong desire to transition into the cleantech industry through accelerated immersison, networking and technology exposure. Targeted executives include those who have built successful ventures in sectors such as aerospace, biotechnology, information, energy and enterprise technology.”
“I would recommend the Cleantech Fellows Institute to anyone interested in the industry and who wants to make a difference,” said John Tuttle, 2012 Cleantech Fellow. “The Institute team delivered an incredible program that tied together a deep curriculum, an impressive network of cleantech experts and a highly-valuable capstone project. The intensity of the program, combined with the dedicated network of experts, truly created an atmosphere of community.

When I finished the program, I really felt that I had built a network that would help me grow my business.”
“We are fortunate to engage with world-class C-level talent and thanks to our resources and partners we are are able to offer unprecedented access to our unique network to qualified professionals from around the globe,” said Berens. “In all cases, our Fellows graduate with the ability to succeed in cleantech, find backing and grow businesses that fulfill their passion for business creation and clean technology development.”
Anchored by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and the state’s premier research institutions, Colorado is a leader in energy generation, biofuels, energy efficiency, advanced transportation, smart grid, water and natural gas research and development. These areas of expertise will be featured in the Institute’s 2013 curriculum in conjunction with a focus on energy policy, market traction, international opportunities and business formation. Fellows will receive more than 150 hours of training including more than 25 company and laboratory tours from more than 140 speakers and input from 10 research institutions.
The key to the program’s success will be the executives’ exposure to near-commercial-ready technologies from regional sources. Working with the universities and energy laboratories, as well as a team of cleantech industry insiders, the executives will develop a deep understanding of the technologies being developed at each institution. Each executive will select a technology that sparks their interest and plan a capstone project to present in December 2013.
The Cleantech Fellows Institute was created through a partnership with the Colorado Cleantech Industry Association and is supported by NREL and Advanced Energy Economy (AEE), a national business organization of which CCIA is a founding partner.
Information on how to apply for the program is located at cleantechfellows.com/apply.

About Cleantech Fellows Institute
The Cleantech Fellows Institute is a targeted program to immerse experienced entrepreneurs and executives in multiple sectors of the cleantech industry. The program promotes the intersection of experienced executives and serial entrepreneurs with new ventures and technologies that ultimately create jobs and grow the cleantech sector. For more information, visit http://www.cleantechfellows.com.

Robert Welch is one of the Cleantech Fellows Institute’s invaluable Department Heads, co-leading the Technology Transfer curriculum. We asked Robert to share his thoughts about the program.

You have experience in energy efficiency, would you say you have had any “ah-ha” moments in your career?

The low price of energy in the US allowed quite a few wasteful practices to become commonplace.  When I noticed every building on a single campus was operating with their heating and cooling systems running simultaneously, I started to realize how widespread the opportunities had become.  When I discovered almost every data center is operating 20 degrees colder than required by the computer equipment suppliers, I began to understand huge opportunities were present in virtually every industry.

How did you get into cleantech?

My career started with providing control systems for coal fired utility power plants.  That led me to control systems for renewable energy systems including solar, biomass, and hydro.

You have been the Co-Department Head of the Technology Transfer curriculum.  What do you see as the biggest challenge in technology transfer? 

Most of the Universities and Labs do a great job with new innovations and extending current technologies into new applications.  However, they often are not very skilled at selling and promoting these new ideas to the outside world.

Conversely, entrepreneurs quickly recognize market opportunities, but it’s tough for them to search through hundreds of universities and labs to see if anyone has developed a potential solution.  CFI provides a great conduit to connect these segregated groups allowing them to discover powerful synergies, which can launch new companies and solve big problems in the market.

With your experiences and observing the Fellows’ progress with their capstone projects, any tips for cleantech entrepreneurs?

Be sure to consider global markets when looking for new opportunities.  Oftentimes, new products may not have the best ROI in the US due to our low cost of energy.  However, the same concept may be very successful for billions of people where the cost of power is 2 to 10 times higher than the US.

With over 160 speakers, 30 tours, and a robust portfolio of technology, what would you say is the single greatest benefit offered by the Institute to the Fellows? 

The biggest value I see is in the network of world-class experts, which have become closely linked to the Fellows.  The information these experts present in formal class sessions is high quality, current, and often ‘battle tested.’  However, when the Fellows need to acquire additional knowledge on a specific topic, this network can easily direct them to right expert and even provide the crucial advisor to guide their new company to success.

Debra Wilcox is our Advanced Transportation Department Head for the Fellows Institute. We asked Debra to share her thoughts about the program.

You were one of the integral members of the Cleantech Fellows Institute’s team of Department Heads during the inaugural session in 2012.  Looking back on the experience, what were a couple of program highlights for you?

At the time I was asked to be a member of the CFI team, I had an idea of what I thought the program would be.  My vision was far exceeded by both the participants and the content of the program.  The value of the program showed itself in the level of participation from the fellows, the staff and the many guests speakers attracted to the program. The program was about learning, not teaching and each session presented learning opportunities for fellows and presenters alike.

Your background in law, aviation, aerospace and energy is quite impressive.  What most excites you about the intersection of cleantech and aviation?

I am a strong proponent of bringing industry sectors together. Through those intersections participants learn from each other and those intereactions spark more innovation.  I believe that the Cleantech Fellows Institute has created an innovative culture, not unlike that described by the Edison Achievement Award in describing the work of David Kelley, CEO of IDEO, that is the “development of an innovative culture that has broad impact.” This innovative culture will continue to be the success of the program.

Cleantech is still a relatively new industry sector.  Aside from the aviation and aerospace industries, what other mature industry sectors could cleantech learn from?

Energy storage and transmission, energy extraction industries, water – availability and quality – and transportation will embrace cleantech solutions. These industries will integrate cleantech as part of improving their basic technologies.

If you had to take out your crystal ball and look ahead for cleantech in 2013, where do you think the industry is going?

I don’t think we need a crystal ball.  I think the sector has, in spite of negative press, been showing growth at least in Colorado and that will not change during 2013. There is a maturing process that naturally weeds out some technologies and companies. Others are surviving and growing. There was also an initial push for large projects – utility scale solar and wind projects. For better or worse those projects became the definition of cleantech, but it is much more.  We will see more technologies and companies focused on simple, but impactful cleantech solutions.

Eric Drummond is our Clean Energy Generation Department Head for the Fellows Institute. We asked Eric to share his thoughts about the program.

You have an incredibly varied background in the law, politics and energy. How do you tie these areas of expertise together to help support and grow Colorado’s growing cleantech and renewable energy industries?

I’m very big on collaboration and getting the best people around the table to devise and execute on projects. This collaborative model was something I was exposed to very early in my career when several of us assisted with the formation of one of the largest electric utility holding companies in the U.S. This effort lasted around three years, involved 4 states plus the nation’s capitol and required our group being directly involved with a number of state and federal agencies, and state federal legislatures. I relied on these types of experiences when I was Chairman of the Economic Development Commission and, ultimately, Mayor of my city. Collaborative and creative processes led to a record amount of private investment in our city and allowed us to regain control of our economic future.

I am enjoying supporting our Colorado-based cleantech businesses and assisting with attracting capital and other like-minded businesses to our state. In addition, I believe that it is both rational and lucrative to assist Colorado businesses in developing work in foreign markets where U.S. expertise is in the global forefront of providing energy in energy intensive and emerging economies, while doing so without adding to, or possibly decreasing carbon load in these markets. I generally believe that in the most robust markets in the world there is conscious participation at the highest levels between law, politics and business and I hope to continue to facilitate those kinds of interactions to benefit our nation’s economy and our global climate.

When you signed on as the Cleantech Fellows Institute’s Department Head for Energy Generation, you took on a huge task in a wildly varying sector of the energy industry. Given the sometimes challenging fits and starts in the area of clean energy generation, how did you develop the curriculum?

In terms of developing the Clean Energy Generation curriculum, I gave a great deal of thought to two things: 1) after over 20 years of practicing in energy and telecom and working on large, often cutting-edge deals, what would I most want the Fellows to know and, 2) would it be useful to employ the kinds of approaches that I use in representing my clients with the Fellows; that is, would it be effective to approach the development of the Clean Energy Generation curriculum as if the Fellows were my clients and with the view that I would want the Fellows to understand how to best take advantage of the business opportunities that often occur at the intersection of law, policy and business. Over the years my law practice has developed such that I spend most of my time advising C-suite level clients here and abroad on strategy, global markets and how best to interface with large utilities and possible strategics and, with that in mind, I set about developing curriculum hopefully to elucidate what is developing in solar, wind, biofuels, biomass, etc. In addition, while it did not always work, I was not reticent about seeking speakers for the program no matter where they worked or officed in the country.

Have you seen anything during the Cleantech Fellows Institute that really caused you to have an “ah-ha” moment?

I suspect I had two “ah-ha” moments. The first was in the weekly grind of calling and emailing prospective faculty and refining the curriculum when I thought, “this CFI initiative looks very much like a business start-up and I would go into business with my fellow CFI compatriots.” For over a decade, I had my own boutique energy and telecom firm – we were rated as being in the Top 15% of all U.S. law firms in our practice areas – and working with my other CFI founding colleagues very much brought back the experience of setting up and ultimately creating a thriving and competitive law firm in two cutting edge aspects of law and policy.

The second “moment” was more of a confirmation of something I’ve shared with my clients and colleagues: it makes no difference how much talent, how money or whether one has the best idea, if you cannot execute on the plan. Execution, and an ability to pivot, are essential to start-up endeavors and a skill that is often lacking with people attempting to start new businesses and other initiatives. All of the CFI staff executed the plan, both seamlessly and thoughtfully and, I believe, those actions led to a successful and enjoyable 17-week program.

Now that we are finally out of the election cycle, much will be at stake for the renewable energy and cleantech markets in 2013. What do you see as pivotal opportunities and challenges coming our way next year?

We will have a robust debate, both publicly and privately, with Congress and stakeholders, regarding the level and duration of current cleantech subsidies. In addition, I expect we will see novel means to finance cleantech projects that will be based on REITs, or financial products based on securitizing renewable energy assets, to develop additional pools of funding for cleantech project finance.

I suspect that FERC Order 755 will continue to drive the advancement of energy grid energy storage and frequency regulation in open markets. In addition, there will be substantial demand for renewable energy and cleantech services and products internationally especially in China, India, the EU and the Middle East.

In our final installment of our Focus on the Fellows 2012 series, we look to New Jersey native and Boulder resident, Duer Reeves. With a BA in Political Science from Williams College and an MBA in International Management from the American Graduate School of International Management, Duer’s background lies mainly in computer systems, spending the majority of his career in various roles at Sun Microsystems, a developer of enterprise computer systems.  Aided by Sun’s supportive internal learning and development culture, Duer moved among the company’s divisions from finance to manufacturing operations and planning, to marketing, and then to services.  His last move to the services division came with a change in location, which brought the Bay Area resident to Boulder, Colorado where he helped Sun open a new office.  When Oracle acquired the company in 2010, Duer decided to branch out on his own and take his passion for large data and analytics with him.  The ensuing years as a planning and strategy consultant were where his interest in cleantech really began.

Cleantech appealed to Duer because he recognized the application of his vast experience at Sun to the cleantech industry; he saw an abundance of data produced by the cleantech infrastructure but little actual application of the data.  “I learned by working at Sun that you can take data that traditionally has been a byproduct, in Sun’s case it was the data from the transactions system, and apply it to increase efficiency and make a profit.”

Duer immersed himself in Colorado’s ecosystem of VC’s and executives, and launched GreenLite Labs, a local business accelerator for web mobile internet companies that are engaged in the transportation or energy industries.  Around this time, Duer met Wayne Greenberg, Director of the Cleantech Fellows Institute and Chris Shapard, Executive Director of CCIA, the parent organization of the Cleantech Fellows Institute.

Through his participation in the Fellows Institute, it became clear to Duer that the program provided unprecedented insight into the cleantech industry and its opportunities, so he and his associates decided to put GreenLite Labs on the backburner so that he could focus on his capstone project.

Duer’s project focuses on the intersection of cleantech and large data, creating a company called WeatherCloud.  The concept is based on the vehicle translator initiative at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), which is designed to treat cars and trucks on the road as mobile weather sensors. It will then take the data, interpret it, and gain insight into the conditions of the road. WeatherCloud aims to significantly decrease highway-related mortality and increase the overall efficiency and safety of the transportation infrastructure.  Duer has incredible faith in large data and cleantech.  “All of this data exists, it is just how you can take techniques that have been pioneered in other industries and apply them to energy and transportation.”

Clearly passionate about bringing his project to fruition, Duer kindly credits the Fellows Institute for instigating the relationship that spawned between WeatherCloud and NCAR.  “One of the real strengths of the Cleantech Fellows Institute is the recognition that Colorado has a lot of foundational institutions, whether they are universities, research institutions, or national labs.  The Institute has provided the Fellows with access as well as impetus to dig into these institutions.”  But he doesn’t just leave it at that. He appreciates the network created by the Fellows Institute, people and organizations such as the Colorado Motor Carriers Association and the Department of Transportation, weather companies, attorneys with expertise in policy, regulation, and liability, as well as entrepreneurs skilled in startups, manufacturing and systems development.  “The quality of the curriculum that the Fellows Institute put together, as well as the quality of the faculty, has been a real plus.  The diversity of topics that were covered in the program, everything from the Denver Zoo Waste To Energy Program, to SolarTAC, Front Range Airport and the Engines and Energy Conversion Laboratory at Colorado State University – it was a tremendously broad curriculum and I think that CCIA and the Fellows Institute have done a great service, not only for the Fellows, but I think it has been a real benefit for the professionals who have participated as well.”

Duer is optimistic about cleantech but also recognizes the challenges of the decreased flow of equity to drive new ventures in cleantech.  “I think that one challenge that we all have in terms of cleantech is to continue to reach out both to adjacent industries, such as software, and also to adjacent geographies to start to attract more money into Colorado from both coasts and to nurture the investment culture in Colorado and cleantech.”

For the third edition of our Focus on the Fellows we are highlighting Tony Formby, a Vancouver, B.C. native who has lived throughout North America and played an instrumental role in the development of touch screen user interface technology before becoming an angel investor, focusing the majority of his attention on cleantech.

Tony started his professional life in Ottawa, working as an aid to the Minister of Justice and Attorney General.  After five years, he realized he had become jaded in his views and wanted different career opportunities.  So in his late twenties he moved back to Vancouver, teamed up with a partner, and entered into the restaurant business, owning two restaurants and running a third on behalf of the owners.  During the recession of 1980, the restaurant industry was hit hard and only one of Tony’s restaurants survived the tumult. Around this time Tony and his partner decided to move into the computerization of restaurant point of sales (POS) systems.  In 1985 they commercialized Squirrel Systems, the first PC-based, touch-screen user interface.  Today, Squirrel POS systems is used by heavyweights such as Apple, Holiday Inn, and Applebee’s.

After significant success with Squirrel Systems, Tony and his partner decided to sell the company and as Tony says, “I saw the opportunity to integrate flat panel display touch screens and customized mother boards with various controllers built into them to create a low profile computer system that could be used in a multitude of process control scenarios, for instance on factory floors or at hotel front desks.”  Truly an entrepreneur, Tony worked from home, had no employees, and created contracts with companies that needed products designed for them and then contracted out to a team of engineers and a manufacturer that shipped the product directly to the end user.

After another successful business venture, Tony was able to retire in 2002 and focus his efforts toward investing, with an emphasis on cleantech.  Tony attributes his interest in cleantech as a “…result of growing up in probably one of the most beautiful cities in the world and seeing how we in North America tend to waste energy as compared to Europe, where energy is much more expensive.”  Some of Tony’s investments include:

• CalCars, a group that was pushing car makers to create plug-in hybrids and did the first conversion of a Prius to a plug-in hybrid;
• RavenBrick, a Denver developer of thermochromatic window film;
• Rahr & Sons Brewing Company; and
• SunCentral, a company innovating natural light distribution within buildings.

Tony has a positive but realistic outlook on the future of cleantech.  He believes that over the next 10 years, wind and solar will improve and become price competitive, and that solar especially will have a great impact.  He compares the improvements in solar to the improvements in the computer industry in the 1980’s.  Personal computers didn’t exist until 1980, and before that, a company that needed computing would have to rent computing time from a company such as IBM or NCR.  “As the revolution of the personal computer forced the industry to change, the solar industry will continue to evolve, and as more people are able to purchase and install photovoltaics themselves, it will continue to change the dynamic of the grid.”

Tony also sees huge potential in storage.  “Once that little mystery is solved, it will bring into play all sorts of things like electric cars, dramatic changes to the grid, and a whole different relationship between utilities and rate payers.  Battery storage is probably the most important thing.”

Tony would also like to see a level playing field in which cleantech companies might compete.  “If companies using energy had to pay the true cost of that energy, I think businesses, and individuals, would change the way they use energy.  Solar, wind and other alternatives would become much more attractive.”  But as a seasoned businessman, he is realistic and acknowledges that things won’t change over night.  “People will eventually change their views but it will take time.”

Luckily for Tony, the difficulty of the industry is his favorite aspect.  He says, “You know that these technologies work.  But you also know that they need to work a little bit better. And you know that you have to be really clever about how you go about commercializing them. So it’s a real challenge, and when you get one to work, it’s really gratifying and rewarding because A, it works and you can make some money off it but B, you’ve also made a change.”

For his capstone project, Tony wanted to deal with a more expensive fuel than electricity so he decided to focus on drop-in jet and diesel biofuels and try to compete with barrels of oil that cost $80 to $90.  The idea is to take an intermediate feedstock that can be refined by an existing oil refinery.  This process takes advantage of the very efficient infrastructure created by the oil industry. Compressed natural gas and hydrogen fuels will have a harder time because the infrastructure needs to be constructed for them.  After some initial analysis, Tony realized that while oil seed would work well, there just isn’t enough acreage available to make a significant dent in the percentage of diesel and jet fuel used in the marketplace.  So, while Tony is still on the biofuel path, he’s now focusing on a different fuel – algae.

“My project involves a novel design for an industrial scale Photo Bio Reactor (PBR) for algae cultivation. Instead of using large open ponds to grow algae this design uses large thin (60ft X 60ft X 2 inch) clear bags, which are layered one on top of the other with spacing between the layers to drive sunlight between the layers. The structure to support this approach would be similar to a building superstructure made of high strength I beams. This approach is land and water efficient and it also provides a closed and controlled growing environment. This approach can be deployed where land is not abundant but where nutrients are – municipal wastewater plants, food processors, dairies, power generators, and breweries. The algae can be used for waste water remediation, renewable fuels, nutraceuticals, animal feed, and biomass power generation.”

When asked what he values most about the Cleantech Fellows Institute, he says the exposure he’s experienced.  There have been times in his career when he has thought, “I really wish I had known this before I went down this business venture.” And that is what the Fellows Institute is giving him, a broad, thorough perspective into this industry called cleantech.

For the third edition of our Focus on the Fellows we are highlighting Tony Formby, a Vancouver, B.C. native who has lived throughout North America and played an instrumental role in the development of touch screen user interface technology before becoming an angel investor, focusing the majority of his attention on cleantech.

Tony started his professional life in Ottawa, working as an aid to the Minister of Justice and Attorney General.  After five years, he realized he had become jaded in his views and wanted different career opportunities.  So in his late twenties he moved back to Vancouver, teamed up with a partner, and entered into the restaurant business, owning two restaurants and running a third on behalf of the owners.  During the recession of 1980, the restaurant industry was hit hard and only one of Tony’s restaurants survived the tumult. Around this time Tony and his partner decided to move into the computerization of restaurant point of sales (POS) systems.  In 1985 they commercialized Squirrel Systems, the first PC-based, touch-screen user interface.  Today, Squirrel POS systems is used by heavyweights such as Apple, Holiday Inn, and Applebee’s.

After significant success with Squirrel Systems, Tony and his partner decided to sell the company and as Tony says, “I saw the opportunity to integrate flat panel display touch screens and customized mother boards with various controllers built into them to create a low profile computer system that could be used in a multitude of process control scenarios, for instance on factory floors or at hotel front desks.”  Truly an entrepreneur, Tony worked from home, had no employees, and created contracts with companies that needed products designed for them and then contracted out to a team of engineers and a manufacturer that shipped the product directly to the end user.

After another successful business venture, Tony was able to retire in 2002 and focus his efforts toward investing, with an emphasis on cleantech.  Tony attributes his interest in cleantech as a “…result of growing up in probably one of the most beautiful cities in the world and seeing how we in North America tend to waste energy as compared to Europe, where energy is much more expensive.”  Some of Tony’s investments include:

• CalCars, a group that was pushing car makers to create plug-in hybrids and did the first conversion of a Prius to a plug-in hybrid;
• RavenBrick, a Denver developer of thermochromatic window film;
• Rahr & Sons Brewing Company; and
• SunCentral, a company innovating natural light distribution within buildings.

Tony has a positive but realistic outlook on the future of cleantech.  He believes that over the next 10 years, wind and solar will improve and become price competitive, and that solar especially will have a great impact.  He compares the improvements in solar to the improvements in the computer industry in the 1980’s.  Personal computers didn’t exist until 1980, and before that, a company that needed computing would have to rent computing time from a company such as IBM or NCR.  “As the revolution of the personal computer forced the industry to change, the solar industry will continue to evolve, and as more people are able to purchase and install photovoltaics themselves, it will continue to change the dynamic of the grid.”

Tony also sees huge potential in storage.  “Once that little mystery is solved, it will bring into play all sorts of things like electric cars, dramatic changes to the grid, and a whole different relationship between utilities and rate payers.  Battery storage is probably the most important thing.”

Tony would also like to see a level playing field in which cleantech companies might compete.  “If companies using energy had to pay the true cost of that energy, I think businesses, and individuals, would change the way they use energy.  Solar, wind and other alternatives would become much more attractive.”  But as a seasoned businessman, he is realistic and acknowledges that things won’t change over night.  “People will eventually change their views but it will take time.”

Luckily for Tony, the difficulty of the industry is his favorite aspect.  He says, “You know that these technologies work.  But you also know that they need to work a little bit better. And you know that you have to be really clever about how you go about commercializing them. So it’s a real challenge, and when you get one to work, it’s really gratifying and rewarding because A, it works and you can make some money off it but B, you’ve also made a change.”

For his capstone project, Tony wanted to deal with a more expensive fuel than electricity so he decided to focus on drop-in jet and diesel biofuels and try to compete with barrels of oil that cost $80 to $90.  The idea is to take an intermediate feedstock that can be refined by an existing oil refinery.  This process takes advantage of the very efficient infrastructure created by the oil industry. Compressed natural gas and hydrogen fuels will have a harder time because the infrastructure needs to be constructed for them.  After some initial analysis, Tony realized that while oil seed would work well, there just isn’t enough acreage available to make a significant dent in the percentage of diesel and jet fuel used in the marketplace.  So, while Tony is still on the biofuel path, he’s now focusing on a different fuel – algae.

“My project involves a novel design for an industrial scale Photo Bio Reactor (PBR) for algae cultivation. Instead of using large open ponds to grow algae this design uses large thin (60ft X 60ft X 2 inch) clear bags, which are layered one on top of the other with spacing between the layers to drive sunlight between the layers. The structure to support this approach would be similar to a building superstructure made of high strength I beams. This approach is land and water efficient and it also provides a closed and controlled growing environment. This approach can be deployed where land is not abundant but where nutrients are – municipal wastewater plants, food processors, dairies, power generators, and breweries. The algae can be used for waste water remediation, renewable fuels, nutraceuticals, animal feed, and biomass power generation.”

When asked what he values most about the Cleantech Fellows Institute, he says the exposure he’s experienced.  There have been times in his career when he has thought, “I really wish I had known this before I went down this business venture.” And that is what the Fellows Institute is giving him, a broad, thorough perspective into this industry called cleantech.

In our second installment of Focus on the Fellows, we highlight Tom McKinnon, managing director of InventWorks Inc. and Professor Emeritus at Colorado School of Mines.  Tom has followed a fascinating career path that has included work at NREL (when it was the Solar Energy Research Institute); TDA Research, a small contract research company; University of Colorado; Colorado School of Mines, researching combustion biofuels, “green” fire suppression, and new materials for lithium batteries; Fullerene Sciences Inc., a nanomaterials company; Novare Biofuels; and Boulder ElectroRide, which made high-performance electric motorcycles.  Tom even has experience on the legislative side from when he cofounded a bill for the Colorado ballot to place a small carbon tax on natural gas.

So how did Tom find his way to the field of cleantech?  Energy had been on Tom’s mind for quite some time, and the field of alternative energy was of particular interest to him but he wasn’t sure where to start.  Fate seemed to intervene when he went to a job interview in Boston during his senior year at Cornell University and shared a cab with a man who would eventually become his boss at SERI.  After a few years at SERI, he went east to get his PhD in Chemical Engineering at MIT, researching combustion, and then continued to follow a path in research and energy.

So, entrepreneur or academic?  “I would have to say both,” he says, “In our seminars, the stuff that lights me up the most is the stuff that has an academic nature to it.  I like to see things applied.  I am a widget-oriented person.  I make stuff.”

In addition to his academic interest in the cleantech and energy industry, Tom is also driven by the importance he places on reducing our carbon footprint.  “For me, the most important challenge that humankind faces is climate change.  Within cleantech is where I tend to focus my efforts, and in the past where I have entirely focused my efforts.”  His passion for applying technology and addressing climate change is a powerful combination and a great motivator.

Like many others, Tom would like to see the playing field in which the cleantech industry competes changed for the better.  He takes issue with people criticizing cleantech for being on the public dole while the incumbent energy industry has enjoyed a plethora of subsidies, direct and indirect, and the subsidies that cleantech does receive are a fraction of the size and are much less permanent.  For example, Tom points to the wind production tax credit (PTC) that may be allowed to sunset in the end of this December.  “If I could change anything, it would be to make a truly level playing field in energy and then let the best portfolio of technologies win.”

The other change that Tom would like to see is in the policies that encourage, or discourage, the growth of the cleantech market.  “We have the technology, we’ve had the technology for over a decade, and we have the money, we just don’t have the political will to do it.”

For his latest challenge, the Fellows Institute Capstone Project, Tom has set his sights on a technology that would increase accessibility to water for remote villages like those in Morocco.  The origin of this project comes from a dinner Tom had with a friend who works for an NGO in Morocco.  This friend described how women from many Moroccan villages spend a large portion of their day walking to and from a distant water source.  In some areas, villages can leverage a process called fog harvesting to obtain water but where it is more arid, that method is no longer an option.  Following an Institute HVAC webinar, Tom realized he might have found a solution using one of NREL’s desiccant-enhanced evaporative air conditioner (DEVAP) technologies.  A follow-up tour of NREL’s HVAC lab increased his confidence.

The basic idea that Tom has in mind takes a very concentrated salt solution, 30%-40% salt, and then exposes it to air so the water in the air will go into the salt solution.  Using solar thermal, you can then effectively boil the water out of the salt, concentrating the salt back to its original form and producing very pure water.  Of course there is still plenty of tweaking of the process left to do, but this is where the relationship between the Cleantech Fellows Institute and NREL comes into play. As part of NREL’s partnership in the Fellows Institute, they have offered in-kind support that includes the ability for the Fellows to work with the NREL scientists. Tom greatly appreciates the help he has received from NREL.  “The in-kind support will be extremely important so that I can access help from these experts.  The other great resource is simply the credibility attached to the NREL name.  When I make a pitch to a foundation to build one of these systems in the field, I can acknowledge that it is from NREL – and that carries a lot of weight.”

To say the least, the CFI capstone project is a challenge, especially in only 17 weeks.  But Tom is geared up to tackle the opportunity and in terms of what he values most out of the program, he places the Capstone Project at number one.  “People always perform best when there’s a little bit of pressure.  And we’ve got Capstone Department Head Steve Berens breathing down our necks!”