Green Tech News

LanzaTech turns industrial waste into fuel, raises $55M

LanzaTech, a biofuel company that turns waste gasses into fuel, announced Monday that is has secured $55.8 million in its third round of funding.

Creating biofuels and biochemicals from factory waste emissions is LanzaTech’s specialty. The company uses carbon monoxide emissions from steel mills, factories, oil refineries, and other waste sources to create ethanol, using a gas-liquid bacterial fermentation. LanzaTech captures  the carbon monoxide, pumps the gases into a bioreactor, and mixes with liquid. Bacteria … Continue Reading

Scientists turn seaweed into fuel with E. coli

The next time you get an order of miso soup, take a look at the seaweed lurking in your bowl. That same type of seaweed could some day power your car.

Scientists from Bio Architecture Lab, Inc (BAL) and the University of Washington in Seattle have found a way to turn seaweed into fuel with the use of genetically modified Escherichia coli, most commonly known as E. coli, the Scientific American reported. E. coli … Continue Reading

The coolest technology and moments from CES 2012 (slideshow)

Last week, four VentureBeat reporters and our videographer braved the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. They covered 1.861 million square feet of show floor, visited many of the 3,100 exhibitors, and sorted through the 20,000 new products that were launched at the event to find the most interesting stories and gadgets.

They also took a lot of photographs. Here are some of our favorite images and finds from the CES 2012 floor, including … Continue Reading

Flagship raises $270M for green & health technologies

Flagship Ventures, a VC firm focusing on technologies for healthcare and sustainability, has closed its 2011 fundraising efforts with $270 million in the bank.

The new Flagship Ventures Fund IV L.P. was set at $250 million, but investors exceeded that amount. Investors included all types of organizations from foundations to corporations to individuals, including a few new limited partners that had not contributed to previous funds.

Flagship’s portfolio companies seem to be tackling big, human-scale … Continue Reading

Solar-powered Kindle cover means you never have to plug it in again

If you’ve ever wanted a Kindle that you never have to plug in, SolarFocus has the accessory for you with its solar-powered Kindle case.

Green tech has dominated the conversation around cars, but now it seems these eco-friendly trends are edging into mobile at the 2012 Consumer Electronics Show, where SolarFocus is debuting its Kindle case. Taiwan-based SolarFocus has other solar-panel products that have USB ports, but its Kindle case might be the most interesting, … Continue Reading

The top 5 CES trends that will matter in 2012

If you couldn’t tell by the avalanche of product news hitting VentureBeat over the past few weeks, the next Consumer Electronics Show is almost upon us. The annual trade show, which has been held in Las Vegas for more than a decade, is where many of the world’s biggest electronics companies debut their new products, announce major news, and desperately try to remind us that they exist.

A flood of news is par for the … Continue Reading

Electric-car maker Fisker recalling Karmas due to battery issue

Electric car maker Fisker Automotive has issued a recall for 239 of its Karma vehicles, fewer than 50 of which have been sold to customers. The $96,000 luxury electric sedans have an issue with a hose clip in their battery units that could result in a coolant leak and possibly a fire.

All Karma owners have already been contacted by Fisker, and the company aims to have all the batteries replaced in customer cars before … Continue Reading

GMZ Energy turns heat into electricity, secures $14M in funding

Energy company GMZ Energy has received $14 million in its third round of funding, the company announced Wednesday. Mitsui Venture led the series C round, which included I2BF Global Ventures, Energy Technology Ventures, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and BP Alternative Energy.

GMZ Energy specializes in renewable and economically viable energy. “We have a solid state material that lets you generate electricity from heat. There are huge amounts of waste heat, and if that can … Continue Reading

A sunny day for Google, invests $94M in solar power projects

While the implosion of solar power company Solyndra has seemingly cast a shadow on the viability of the solar industry, that hasn’t stopped Google from investing $94 million in photovoltaic (generating power through solar radiation) projects in California.

Google says it’s investing the funds in four photovoltaic projects near Sacramento, Calif. which are being built by Recurrent Energy. The investment brings Google’s total clean tech portfolio to over $915 million. At this rate, Google’s clean … Continue Reading

Kinetic energy may power our home and gadgets starting in 5 years

In the next five years your shoe may be what powers the battery in your cell phone. Engineers are harnessing the power of kinetic energy and one IBM employee thinks widespread usage of the technology isn’t far off.

Harry Kolar, an engineer with IBM, described harvesting energy from human movements as bodies becoming “an energy-generating machine,” in a blog post about what energy changes may occur in the next five years. In essence, we create … Continue Reading

Why electric-car startup Aptera collapsed, a complete chronology

It’s not the best photo, but it means a lot to the 19 people in it.

Posed in front of a mirrored glass office building under a colorful logo, they are the final employees of the now-defunct electric-car startup Aptera Motors on the last day of its existence, Friday, December 2, 2011.

If there’s one lesson to be learned from the closing of Aptera, it may be this: Starting a car company takes a huge … Continue Reading

Ticketfly partnership makes music events more intelligent and more social

Ticketfly is rolling out new partnerships today that make the pre-concert experience more social for attendees, and eliminate a lot of the logistical headaches for venues and promoters.

Ticketfly partnered with technology providers Aloompa and Intellitix to make event management smoother at venues, with radio frequency identification (RFID) authentication of tickets and passes, ticket scanning, and box office tools, all of which are available on Android devices and the iPhone.

For attendees, Ticketfly partnered with … Continue Reading

GainSpan nabs $18M from Intel, NVP, Sigma, Opus to develop next-gen Wi-Fi chips

Chip developer GainSpan has raised a new $18 million round of funding to help the company create the next generation of ultra-low-power Wi-Fi chips.

GainSpan’s goal is to create incredibly low-power Wi-Fi modules and drivers that are suitable for all kinds of devices, including household appliances. On top of creating hardware, the company also develops embedded Wi-Fi software. The five markets the company said it focuses on are: healthcare and fitness, smart energy, industrial control, … Continue Reading

Siemens amps up its smart grid bid with eMeter startup acquisition

German electronics giant Siemens has just bought eMeter, a San Mateo-based startup focusing on smart grid technologies for utilities such as power and water.

eMeter, which is led by Veritas CEO and former Oracle executive Gary Bloom, gathers information from two-way meters. The data then travels to utility companies and allows them to make better business decisions, to understand peaks in demand and to read meters automatically.

Consumers can also use the information to find … Continue Reading

Tesla opens showrooms to show off its electric Model S cars

Black Friday shoppers on the market for an electric car might want to drop by a Tesla showroom this weekend. The company has put its vehicle technology on display, with prototypes of the new Model S Beta electric sedan appearing in stores around the U.S. and Canada.

The technology tour will be rolling out in selected cities across the country, showing off the vehicle’s drive train and electric motor, as well as the battery pack, … Continue Reading

Sun shines on Solaria as solar panel maker raises another $30 million

The future is looking bright for solar panel maker Solaria. The company just raised $30 million according to documents filed today with the SEC. Solaria makes crystaline solar panels and is based in Fremont, CA, with operations in Germany and the Philippines.

The advantage crystaline solar panels have over thin film (the more popular manufacturing technique) is they rely on optical concentrators which can deliver 30 percent more output from the same amount of surface … Continue Reading

Loosecubes updates its office-sharing portal with new review and ranking features

Loosecubes, a website that lets companies sublet empty office spaces by the day or week, launched new ranking features today aimed at gathering detailed review information from renters. That data will be used by the office-sharing startup to make its workplace listings more effective.

Renters can now review a space’s potential for productivity with categories such as noise and Wi-Fi strength. There are rankings for “coolness,” which include the overall vibe of the space and … Continue Reading