Smart Energy News

New York, N.Y. – Ener1, a maker of lithium-ion batteries for hybrid, plug-in hybrid and pure electric vehicles, announced on Friday that it has raised $55 million in a private placement of debt and equity with a group of investment funds managed by Goldman Sachs.

Ener1 (Nasdaq: HEV) also announced the sale of $10 million in convertible notes to its strategic partner ITOCHU.

Ener1 makes rechargeable lithium-ion batteries and battery systems for energy storage in the U.S. and South Korea. The company said it will use the new investment funds partly to support its plan for installing additional electrical vehicle battery pack manufacturing capacity at its three Indianapolis facilities.

The company recently received funds from the U.S. Department of Energy, under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, to support the installation of 260 megawatts (or capacity for 11,000 electric vehicle battery packs) in Indianapolis.

In addition to the auto industry, the company makes products for the military, grid storage and other sectors. Ener1 also develops commercial fuel cell products and nanotechnology-based materials and manufacturing processes for batteries and other applications.

Ener1 website

San Jose, Calif. – Cisco, the Internet technology company, has agreed to acquire Arch Rock, a privately held, San Francisco-based developer of wireless IP technology for smart grid applications. The acquisition complements the recently announced strategic alliance between Cisco and Itron to develop products that enhance smart-metering technology, Cisco said.

Founded in 2005, Arch Rock offers technology that allows utilities to connect smart meters and other distributed intelligent devices over wireless mesh networks. The company’s investors include New Enterprise Associates, Shasta Ventures, and Intel Capital.

Arch Rock is attributed with being a leader in developing an Internet protocol-based standard for smart grid applications that is an alternative to the ZigBee system for wireless home area networks. As a result of running on IP standards, which already are in pervasive use, Arch Rock’s technology is considered far more “extensible” than the less widespread ZigBee standard.

“This acquisition further positions Cisco (Nasdaq:CSCO)as a strategic partner to utilities working to better manage power supply and demand, improve the security and reliability of energy delivery, and optimize operational costs,” said Laura Ipsen, senior vice president and general manager of Cisco’s Smart Grid business unit, in an announcement.

The deal is expected to close sometime before the end of this year, after which time Arch Rock team will become part of Cisco’s smart grid business unit. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Arch Rock website

Cisco website

Lebanon, N.H. – Mascoma, a privately held developer of biofuels, announced on Wednesday that it has acquired SunOpta BioProcess, a Canada-based developer of fiber preparation and pretreatment technologies for biofuels production. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.

SunOpta BioProcess is a division of SunOpta (Nasdaq: STKL), a manufacturer of natural and organic food and environmental mineral products.

In the announcement, Mascoma said the combination creates a company with comprehensive capabilities for converting non-food cellulose (wood chips, energy crops and organic solid waste) into ethanol and “high value co-products.”

Founded in 2005, Mascoma has raised over $100 million in venture capital. The company’s bioprocessing method converts non-food biomass feedstocks into cellulosic ethanol through the use of a process that eliminates the need for expensive enzymes and additives.

Mascoma is producing cellulosic ethanol on a demonstration scale at its facility in Rome, N.Y. Its affiliate, Frontier Renewable Resources, is developing a commercial scale production facility in Kinross, Mich.

Investors in Mascoma include, among others, General Catalyst Partners, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, VantagePoint Venture Partners, Atlas Venture, Pinnacle Ventures
Flagship Ventures, and Khosla Ventures.

Mascoma website

SunOpta Bioprocess website

Washington – The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Tuesday released a joint proposal for a system that would rate new autos based on their fuel efficiency and environmental performance, including greenhouse gas and air pollutant emissions.

Using a traditional A-through-F grading system, the rating approach would apply to cars with only gasoline engines, as well as hybrid, plug-in hybrid and all-electric models. For cars that run to some degree on electricity, the rating system would translate electricity consumption into miles-per-gallon equivalent. The proposed label designs for EVs also include energy use expressed in terms of kilowatt-hours per 100 miles.

The proposed label designs expand on the content of the current label by including new information on fuel consumption, tailpipe carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and smog emissions. The information would also be available through a new web-based interactive tool that can also be accessed by smart phone.

The Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 requires the EPA and DOT to rate available vehicles according to fuel economy, greenhouse gas emissions and smog forming pollutants.

The two federal agencies are currently requesting public comments on the proposed new rating system.

Fuel Economy Label information website

Washington – In a speech about the state of the U.S. economy delivered from the White House oval office on Monday, President Obama cited “redoubling our investment in clean energy” as one of the key steps identified by his administration to promote growth and hiring in the short term and the nation’s economic competitiveness in the long term.

The president provided no specifics during the brief speech about the plan for new clean energy investments, but said he would be addressing the proposal—along with tax incentives and other economic iniatives, “in the days and weeks to come.”

Over the last 20 months the Obama administration has been making significant grants, tax incentives and loan guarantees—some $68 billion total—to clean energy, smart grid, and energy efficiency businesses and initiatives. Those funds have come from the so-called stimulus appropriated in 2009, as the U.S. financial system crisis worsened, through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. But those funds are about to phase out.

Meanwhile, the U.S. economy appears to be teetering on the brink of taking the second slide toward a double-dip recession, a situation that prompted the president to deliver his comments. Other steps that the president said he would like to take include extending tax cuts for the middle class that are set to expire this year; rebuilding more infrastructure; and further tax cuts to encourage businesses to put their capital to work creating jobs in the U.S.

Text of the president’s speech