Biomass Biz Gains Traction

The word biomass is becoming more familiar locally as two companies tying their success to that concept recently announced major developments. Biomass is used to describe the use of natural materials as a replacement for petroleum-based products. These materials are seen as less costly and more earth-friendly. In Camarillo, CoolPlanet BioFuels is in the research stage of creating an alternative to gasoline with a fuel made from plants. The company recently received a major boost when it was announced it would get a share of $300 million from Energy Technology Ventures. In Santa Clarita, meanwhile, BioSolar has made major steps of its own by completing tests by Underwriter Laboratories of its materials used in making backsheets, a component used on solar panels. The testing is necessary to get UL certification before solar panel manufacturers can use the backsheets. Using biomass for the backsheets eliminates the use of toxins in the manufacturing and disposal process, said BioSolar CEO David Lee. “Bio-based does not mean they are inferior,” Lee said. “These are not biodegradable and they are more durable than petroleum (based backsheets).” While it has taken Lee longer than expected to get to the UL testing stage, the company remains on track and will get its product into market at a time when the U.S. solar market is on a pace to reach $34 billion by 2014, according to a report by MarketResearch. Stimulus dollars Funding of renewable energy from federal stimulus dollars is accelerating research and development that may result in driving down the cost of solar panels by as much as 50 percent over the next five years, a report from SBI Energy, a MarketResearch subsidiary, concluded. Biofuels, the space that CoolPlanet operates in, are also expected to grow. By 2020, worldwide revenues are forecast to reach $71 billion, according to clean tech market intelligence firm Pike Research. The Pike report also pointed out the role large energy corporations play in bankrolling biofuel research and development. The sources of funding for CoolPlanet certainly fall into that category with Conoco Phillips as one of the three partners in Energy Technology Ventures. Another investor in the company is GE Energy Financial Services, part of an $8 million round in November and also a participant in Energy Technology Ventures. Executives from CoolPlanet declined to be interviewed. GE Energy Financial Services spokesman Andy Katell refused to make a representative of the investment firm available. Plants into fuel With CoolPlanet’s technology, low-grade plant material such as woodchips, crop residues and non-food fuel crops can be turned into a fuel with a byproduct that can be used as a soil conditioner. The company was founded by Mike Chieky, a serial entrepreneur in the tech industry whose previous startups are zinc battery manufacturer ZPower and Transonic Combustion, developer of a more efficient fuel injection system. Like CoolPlanet, those companies, too, are located in Camarillo. The city may be a place where Chieky has become established and where he is comfortable doing business, said John Fraser, a management assistant in the economic development office. Having CoolPlanet, ZPower and Transonic fits well with a strategy to find clean tech companies to locate within the city. “We are excited to have these companies that could make a big imprint on the alternative energy stage,” Fraser said.