CleanTech OC Daily - 1/9/13

Quantum in $2.5M Contract With Santa Ana Truck Company
Lake Forest-based Quantum Fuel Systems secured a $2.5 million contract to provide natural gas fuel-storage systems for GreenKraft Inc., a Santa Ana-based manufacturer of commercial trucks and automotive products. The company has a renewed focus on fuel-storage systems and has taken a step back from other business lines. Quantum saw about $23 million in revenue for the first three quarters last year and posted a loss of roughly $32 million over the same period.

Digital Lumens Raises $10M for LED Expansion

Boston-based Digital Lumens has raised an additional $10 million in funding to expand into new sectors and international markets. The company has seen solid growth in its customer base boasting 500 large-scale installations of LED lighting and control systems for industrial facilities. With LED prices falling, there is opportunity for Digital Lumens to move in to additional markets, like retail and utility.

DOE Pushes For Truly Sustainable Biofuels

Just last week, the Department of Energy named five projects that will get a total of $10 million to find better ways to turn biomass into transportation fuels and other products typically made from petrochemicals. Here are the recipients, dollar amount awarded, and their projects according to the DOE:

• J. Craig Venter Institute (up to $1.2 million; Rockville, Maryland): This project will develop new technologies to produce enzymes that more efficiently deconstruct biomass to make biofuel. This work will be performed in collaboration with La Jolla, California-based Synthetic Genomics, Inc.


• Novozymes (up to $2.5 million; Davis, California): Through collaborative work with a team of partners, Novozymes will expand their existing capabilities to find new sources of enzymes which can be targeted to deliver more cost-effective solutions for deconstructing biomass into processable components.


• Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (up to $2.4 million; Richland, Washington): The goal of this project is to increase the production of fuel molecules in fungi growing on lignocellulosic hydrolysate. The Pacific Northwest National Laboratory will partner with universities and industry, including the University of Kansas, to complete the project.


• Texas AgriLife Research (up to $2.4 million; College Station, Texas): This project will employ state-of-the-art technology to develop a novel and integrated platform for converting lignin, a component of all lignocellulosic material, into biofuel precursors. The team includes scientists from Georgia Institute of Technology, University of British Columbia, Washington State University, and Texas A&M University.


• Lygos (up to $1.8 million; Berkeley, California): The overall goal of this project is to develop efficient, inexpensive methods and tools to convert biomass into common and specialty chemicals. This work will be performed in collaboration with San Francisco-based TeselaGen Biotech.