1. July 2008 by Mykel Pereira.

EPYON B.V.

Delftweg 65
2289 BA Rijswijk
The Netherlands

Tel.: +31(0)15 285 53 33
Fax: +31(0)15 256 89 00

www.epyon.nl
info@epyon.nl

Epyon provides advanced ultra-fast charging solutions for electric vehicles which are used in critical business processes such as material handling, delivery of goods and transportation of people. Our fast charging solutions based on advanced lithium-ion battery technology enable electric vehicles to run 24 hours per day with an occasional recharge in 15 minutes during mandatory lunch- or coffee brakes. Epyon products are engineered to allow electric vehicle manufacturers the possibility to integrate fast charging into their product portfolio in an easy and plug-n-play manner.

History

Inspired by research on advanced energy storage media Epyon was founded in 2005 as a spin-off company from the Delft University of Technology. The company has its office in Delft, the Netherlands where it conducts it’s research and development and small scale production of chargers. Larger scale production is done together with partners in Europe and Asia.

Their management team consists of a mix of ambitious entrepreneurs and experienced business veterans. The Epyon organization is built on ambitious engineers and leading experts in the field of power conversion, energy storage and intelligent systems. Due to great effort of the whole team we have been able to grow rapidly to become a leader in our field.

Mission

Epyon wants to become a leader in providing ultra fast charging solutions for electric vehicles used in critical business processes to enable clean and reliable electric transportation in a 24-7 economy.

Technology

Epyon’s technology platforms provide the ability for super-fast charging: charging in minutes instead of hours.
Their technology is based on nano-technology lithium-ion energy storage media, state-of-the-art power conversion techniques and intelligent control systems which enable excellent battery life.

The technology advantages:

• Charge in minutes instead of hours!
• Battery cycle life enhancement through intelligent charge control
• Built on years of battery test data
• Small size chargers through advanced power conversion technology
• Maximum safety

Advanced energy storage and power conversion systems provide new possibilities for many industries. Epyon is an expert in the field of industrial and automotive class lithium-ion energy storage systems.

Epyon engineered solutions:

• Advanced energy storage systems
• Power conversion
• Energy management and control

Epyon’s fields of expertise:

• Hybrid and electric drive trains
• Industrial power systems
• Buffering & peak shaving
• UPS solutions
• Energy management systems

Posted in The Netherlands, Energy Storage Techs, Automotive Techs | No Comments »

1. July 2008 by Mykel Pereira.

Coskata Inc.

Coskata, Inc.
4575 Weaver Parkway, Suite 100
Warrenville, Illinois 60555
Main: 630-657-5800
Fax: 630-657-5801
info@coskata.com

About

Coskata, Inc. is a biology-based renewable energy company, with technology for the production of liquid fuels. Using proprietary microorganisms and transformative bioreactor designs, the company will produce ethanol for under US$1.00 per gallon anywhere in the world, from almost any input material (feedstock).
Process

Coskata is commercializing a proprietary process and related technologies for the conversion of a wide variety of input materials into ethanol. Coskata has an efficient, affordable, and flexible three-step conversion process:

1. Incoming material converted into synthesis gas (gasification)
2. Fermentation of the synthesis gas to ethanol (biofermentation)
3. Separation and recovery of ethanol (separations)

During gasification, carbon-based input materials are converted into syngas using well-established gasification technologies. After the chemical bonds are broken using gasification, Coskata’s proprietary microorganisms convert the resulting syngas into ethanol by consuming the carbon monoxide (CO) and hydrogen (H2) in the gas stream. Once the gas-to-liquid conversion process has occurred, the resulting ethanol is recovered from the solution using “pervaporation technology.”

Coskata’s proprietary microorganisms eliminate the need for costly enzymatic pretreatments, and the bio-fermentation occurs at low pressures and temperatures, reducing operational costs. In addition, the Coskata process has the potential to yield over 100 gallons of ethanol per ton of dry carbonaceous input material, reducing both operational and capital costs. Coskata’s exclusively licensed separation technology dramatically improves the separations and recovery component of ethanol production, reducing the required energy by as much as 50%.

Coskata Ethanol

Ethanol is a clean burning fuel, with the ability to be completely renewable and transform the global fuel market with its many positive attributes:

• Ethanol from renewable sources is environmentally friendly, reducing greenhouse gas emission levels substantially
• Ethanol is great for the U.S. at large, helping to alleviate dependence on foreign sources of oil and allowing for domestic fuel production
• Stimulates the economy and increases the value of domestic resources while creating jobs
• Ethanol is great for the consumer because it can reduce fuel costs

However, not all biofuels are created equal. Coskata does NOT make ethanol from food products; it makes the fuel from sources like municipal solid waste (trash), agricultural and forest residuals, bagasse and many other carbon containing input materials. Coskata’s process technology converts what has frequently reached the end of its useful lifecycle into renewable energy, while being energy positive.

Posted in Illinois, Biofuel Techs, USA | No Comments »

1. July 2008 by Mykel Pereira.

Range Fuels

11101 W. 120th Avenue, Suite 200
Broomfield, CO 80021
Phone: 303-410-2100
Fax: 303-410-2101

About
Range Fuels is a privately held company funded by Khosla Ventures, LLC, arguably the top venture firm in the U.S. focusing on alternative, clean (green) energy systems. Their leadership team melds experience from the fast-paced, high-tech world, and the technologically intense coal, coal gasification, and gas-to-liquids industries.

They convert biomass into fuel-grade ethanol using emerging clean energy technologies. Biomass includes all plant and plant-derived material, such as wood, switch grass, corn stover, and miscanthus grass – making it a renewable energy resource that produces no net greenhouse gases.

Range Fuels can produce more ethanol for a given amount of energy expended than is possible with any other competing process. This key difference is a result of their ability to convert all – not just some – of the biomass used, along with their modular facilities, which bring the conversion process right to the biomass source. Their approach is highly flexible, efficient, cost effective, and scalable.

Technology

Range Fuels has invented a two-step thermo-chemical process to produce cellulosic ethanol. Even if these words are foreign to you, the positives are sure to resonate: the process is self-sustaining, produces virtually no waste products, emits very low levels of greenhouse gases, and produces high yields of clean ethanol.

A Design Driven by Efficiency
Their focus on efficiency goes beyond how they produce ethanol – it also extends to where they produce it. Their distributive design lets them bring systems to sources where biomass is most plentiful, instead of having to transport biomass to a central processing site. This reduces transportation costs and related transportation fuel consumption. Their modularity also allows the system to grow as more biomass becomes available. Simply adding another module – which is easy to ship and install – immediately doubles the output. They put their systems where they are needed, in just the size that is needed.

Nature’s Way

Range Fuels’ entire approach is based upon the invention of eco-friendly technology. The best evidence of this is that they produce more ethanol per energy input than competing technologies. Nature likes this. Especially since everything going in is plant and waste material that serves no useful purpose. We call this conversion “waste to value,” and this thrust is what motivates us to keep working our hardest.

The Two-Step Thermo-Chemical Process

Step 1: Solids to Gas
Biomass (all plant and plant-derived material) that cannot be used for food, such as agricultural waste, is fed into a converter. Using heat, pressure, and steam the feedstock is converted into synthesis gas (syngas), which is cleaned before entering the second step.

Step 2: Gas to Liquids
The cleaned syngas is passed over the proprietary catalyst and transformed into mixed alcohols. These alcohols are then separated and processed to maximize the yield of ethanol of a quality suitable for use in fueling vehicles.

A Simple Process
Because Range Fuels’ process utilizes a thermo-chemical process, it relies on the chemical reactions and conversions between forms that naturally occur when certain materials are mixed under specific combinations of temperature and pressure. Other conversion processes use enzymes, yeasts, and other biological means to convert between forms.

Feedstock Flexibility
The Range Fuels process accommodates a wide range of organic feedstocks of various types, sizes, and moisture contents. This flexibility eliminates commercial problems related to fluctuations in feed material quality and ensures success in the real world, far from laboratory-controlled conditions.

Tested and True
Range Fuels’ technology has been tested and proven in bench and pilot-scale units for over 7 years. Over 8,000 hours of testing has been completed on over 20 different non-food feedstocks with varying moisture contents and sizes, including wood waste, olive pits, and more. This technology will be used in their first plant planned for a site near Soperton, Georgia.

Posted in Colorado, Biofuel Techs, USA | No Comments »

1. July 2008 by Mykel Pereira.

Mascoma Corporation

Corporate Office
1380 Soldiers Field Road
Second Floor
Boston, Massachusetts 02135
General: 617.234.0099
Fax: 617.868.0408
Email: info@mascoma.com

Research Facility
16 Cavendish Court, Suite 2A
Lebanon, NH 03766
General: 603.676.3320
Fax: 603.676.3321
Email: info@mascoma.com

Mascoma New York
679 Ellsworth Road
Rome, NY 13441
General: 315.356.4780
Fax: 315.356.4787
Email: info@mascoma.comAbout

Mascoma Corporation was founded in late 2005 with initial funding from Khosla Ventures and Flagship Ventures in early 2006. A Series B round of funding was closed in November of 2006 and a Series C round of funding was closed in May of 2008.

Mascoma has subsequently received several state and federal grants, including:

* A $14.8MM grant from the State of New York for the establishment of a demonstration plant.
* A $4.9MM grant from the U.S. Department of Energy for organism development.
* Part of the $125MM U.S. Department of Energy Bioenergy Science Center Grant led by Oak Ridge National Lab.
* A $26 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy for the establishment of a demonstration plant.

Mascoma is aggressively pursuing the development of advanced cellulosic ethanol technologies across a range of cellulosic feedstocks. As part of their strategy of technology discovery, development and deployment, they are aggressively patenting numerous technologies and forming a broad set of research and commercial partnerships.

Their corporate and engineering offices are located in Boston, Massachusetts; the R&D labs are headquartered in Lebanon, New Hampshire; and our demonstration plant is in Rome, NY.

Technology

In the current economic and political climate, there has been enormous attention focused on the need to develop sustainable and renewable sources of transportation fuel. Ethanol has a significant and growing role in this development, providing a cleaner, domestically-produced, renewable energy solution.

However, the current generation of ethanol production in the U.S. utilizes corn and other edible feedstocks. Mascoma is committed to developing sustainable, viable, next generation ethanol from cellulosic feedstocks.

Mascoma’s industry leading R&D team is focused on developing biofuels from non-food biomass wood, straws, fuel energy crops, paper pulp and other agricultural waste products. Processing ethanol from cellulosic biomass minimizes the environmental impact of fuel ethanol production.

In nature, no organism is capable of quickly and cost-effectively producing and fermenting sugars from cellulosic biomass. Mascoma’s research laboratories are now developing a new generation of microbes and processes for economical conversion of cellulosic feedstocks into ethanol.

Mascoma’s organisms and processes are designed to:

• Rapidly break down the components of biomass
• Convert a range of sugars and polymers of sugars to ethanol
• Thrive in a manufacturing environment

With Mascoma’s next generation of processing solutions comes a complete rethinking of the way in which we fuel our economy.

Posted in New Hampshire, New York, Biofuel Techs, Massachusetts, USA | No Comments »