CleanTech OC Daily - 4/2/12

Cleantech is dead! Long live cleantech!
An interesting debate over whether or not cleantech is dead or on the rise - one thing is clear, the industry is in flux.

Algae startup Sapphire Energy raising $144M

Founded in 2007, startup Sapphire Energy announced that they are raising $144 million in a Series C round from investors. The new capital will go towards building a commercial algae energy plant — the Green Crude Farm — in Luna County, New Mexico. With this $144M, Sapphire says it has raised more than $300 million in private and public funds to date.

Market For Deep Ocean Energy Heats Up

A technology using super-cold seawater as electricity is finally gaining momentum and military contractors are taking notice. Ocean thermal energy conversion (OTEC), creates electricity with the temperature difference between warm and cold seawater.