Last week was no different -- a number of solar and biofuel companies captured a pretty penny, as detailed below. Outside the solar and biofuel industries, this week also saw federal and local governments putting money into greentech endeavors:
Private
Range Fuels, a Colorado-based developer of cellulosic-ethanol technology, raised a whopping $100 million in new funding, according to VentureWire (see Range Fuels Fills Up on $100M). The company received $25 million from an unlisted investor and another $25 million from Khosla Ventures, a prior investor. Los Alamos Renewable Energy, based in New Mexico, received a $20 million investment from an undisclosed Silicon Valley-based firm along with local venture-capital firm Sun Mountain Capital, according to Venture Beat.
Los Alamos Renewable Energy, based in New Mexico, received a $20 million investment from an undisclosed Silicon Valley-based firm along with local venture-capital firm Sun Mountain Capital
The company, which will soon be called Sundrop Fuels, uses sunlight to create hydrogen, which could potentially be used as an alternative to solar-thermal. Coskata, an Illinois-based developer of cellulosic-ethanol technology, raised $19.5 million in a second round of funding, according to a regulatory filing, with backers including Khosla Ventures and Globespan Capital Partners. Earlier this year, Coskata announced a partnership with General Motors. The company hopes to produce cellulosic ethanol at half the price of oil-based gasoline.
Public
Nitol Solar, a Russian polysilicon producer, and Suntech Power, a Chinese solar-module provider, announced a deal in which Suntech will acquire up to $100 million of Nitol shares, which is a minority interest. A few days earlier, Suntech said it would offer $425 million in convertible senior notes in a private offering to "qualified institutional buyers," and anticipated using $300 million of the proceeds to expand its production capacity. The state of California introduced $394 million in funding for transit projects that include fuel-cell, hybrid and natural-gas buses, as well as infrastructure improvements and upgrades to the electric-powered Bay Area Rapid Transit system. The U.S. Department of Energy said it would invest $13.7 million over the next three years for 11 university-led projects to develop advanced solar-photovoltaic technology products and manufacturing processes.
More on the US scene can be found on www.greentechmedia.com
