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USDA, DOE: $18M Solicitation for Biomass R&D

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) are making $18 million available for R&D of biomass-based products, biofuels, bioenergy and related processes. USDA will provide up to $14 million and DOE will provide up to $4 million (FY’07). The $18 million solicitation will fund projects in the following four categories (the share of overall funding is noted in parenthesis): the development of technologies to convert cellulosic biomass into intermediaries for biobased fuels (45 percent); product diversification (30 percent); feedstock production (20 percent); and analysis for strategic guidance (5 percent). Maximum award amounts will not exceed $1 million. Eligible applicants include state and federal research agencies, national laboratories, private-sector groups and nonprofit organizations. Consortia of two or more groups also are encouraged to apply. The closing date for pre-applications is July 11, 2007. Preapplications must be submitted electronically through Grants.gov. Prospective grantees whose pre-applications have been selected for further processing must submit final applications within 45 days of the notification. Meanwhile, the GAO (Government Accountability Office) released a report that concludes the DOE doesn’t have a solid plan to get biofuel vehicles into the market. It notes that less than 1% of fueling stations in […]

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Veolia to Acquire Thermal North America

Veolia Energy, a unit of Veolia (NYSE: VE), announced it will acquire Thermal North America, Inc. from TNAI Holdings. With an enterprise value of $788 million, the acquisition is Veolia Energy’s largest in North America to date. TNAI is the owner and operator of the largest portfolio of district energy systems in the US, serving more than 1,100 customers with a mix of energy products – electricity, steam, hot water and chilled water. TNAI operates in 11 major U.S. cities – Atlanta; Baltimore; Boston; Kansas City; Las Vegas; Los Angeles; Oklahoma City; Philadelphia; St. Louis; Trenton, NJ; and Tulsa, Okla. Founded 80 years ago, Veolia Energy already operates 682 district energy systems, and manages 4,000 MW of cogeneration plant capacity for its customers. The European market leader, Veolia Energy is focused on growth in North America, China, and the Middle East. Veolia Energy entered the North American market in 2003, and has operations in Boston, New York, Houston, Las Vegas, and Montreal.

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Cycleenergy Closes EUR 6.7M Financing

Cycleenergy, an Austrian bioenergy group, closed EUR 6.7 million in equity financing for expansion of its biomass and biogas power plant activities in Central and Eastern Europe. 3TS Capital Partners and 3i led the round, with participation from a founding sharedholder, Ventacc. Florian Dietz, CFO of Cycleenergy said, “We have over 150 MW of capacity in our project pipeline. Closing this round of fundraising enables us to accelerate our business development plans in the region. This is the first step in a series of transactions that should allow us to invest over EUR 100 million in construction and acquisition of bio-power plants across CEE countries.” The company is currently completing construction of a 5.5 MW (nominal) woodchip fired biomass facility in northern Austria. The plant uses OCR technology and is expected to go online this summer. “Over the past two years we have analyzed various investment opportunities in cleantech, energy and environment sectors in Central Europe. Cycleenergy is now our first cleantech investment with more to come”, stated Pekka Maki, Managing Director of 3TS. “We are very pleased with the company’s strong management team and financial strength. 3TS has the experience and the resources to support Cycleenergy in becoming one […]

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Two New SRI Mutual Funds Launch

Calvert, the largest social/ environmental mutual fund family with $15 billion in assets under management, has launched an international small and mid-cap stock fund. The Calvert International Opportunities Fund (CIOAX)complements Calvert’s large-cap international stock fund and the Calvert World Values International Equity Fund. The Fund will invest mostly in stocks in developed countries, but up to 20% of the can be in emerging markets. It will select companies from the Citigroup/S&P World EX-US EMI Index, which includes companies in the $500 million to $30 billion range. The other new mutual fund is the Gabelli SRI Fund (SRIGX). It is a general SRI fund that includes stocks from a wide range of companies. Gabelli Funds, the Fund’s advisor, is owned by GAMCO Investors (GBL) and has over $29 billion in assets. GAMCO has been managing institutional clients socially screened accounts for 20 years and decided to make the product available to average investors. . The Fund will exclude investments in the top 50 defense companies, companies involved with abortion, and companies with greater than 5% revenue in tobacco, gambling and alcohol products and/or services. The Fund will invest in companies that have a positive overall environmental record.

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