Engineering Algae-based Bio Fuel: Valcent CEO Glen Kertz (Part 7)

SM: Is there anything else you would like to discuss that is relevant to your company?

GK: There is another project that is driving part of our company economics. That is the high density vertical growing system; we are rolling it out as a commercial product. >>>

Mumbai Attacks

India seems to have now become a target for Islamic terrorist attacks and if the “success” of the current crisis is any indication, this could completely destabilize the economic development process for the country. India has the third-largest Muslim population in the world, with 154 million Muslims. If a Hindu-Muslim conflict blows up, we’re in for horrendous atrocities all over the country. And if the Pakistan-Afghanistan instability seeps into India, the world enters an intensely dangerous phase.

This is time for leadership at every level, local, regional, global, and in every sphere, from defense to intelligence to economics.

And it is going to be incredibly important for the world to not get sucked into a fear psychosis, and get paralyzed for the next decade.

The twenty-first century has brought us challenges that are getting increasingly daunting.

Are we going to get intimidated by these challenges, or are we going to preserve our faith and rise to the occasion?

I will repeat the message from my last post: Despair is an insult to the future.

Happy Thanksgiving

Readers, I wish you a very happy Thanksgiving.

And to those who are facing difficult times, I have this to say:

Despair is an insult to the future. >>>

Deal Radar 2008: Creative Water Solutions

Palm, corn and sugarcane may be getting a lot of headlines in the mainstream media as the world seeks alternates to fossil fuels, but as my interview with Glen Kertz shows, a huge variety of plant species can be used in Cleantech solutions. Today’s Deal Radar post discusses another use of plants in cleantech. Creative Water Solutions (CWS) uses sphagnum moss as a natural agent to condition, clean and clarify the water of swimming pools, spas and hot tubs. The company has two products available on the market – SpaNaturally and PoolNaturally, both of which are completely ‘green’ products, the first of their kind in this industry. >>>

Engineering Algae-based Bio Fuel: Valcent CEO Glen Kertz (Part 6)

SM: It sounds like you are still in the early stages of your startup in terms of the overall balance of technology. Could you address your reasoning for doing this in the public market?

GK: When I first had this idea the market was not what it is now. Back then I could not get the time of day from a lot of large funds and, I could not even get in the door of the building to talk to venture capital funds. >>>

Deal Radar 2008: PermissionTV

Today’s Deal Radar focuses on PermissionTV (PTV), a provider of white-label video platforms. The company announced a strategic reseller and integration partnership with Move Networks, a leading provider of Internet television services, last week. Under the deal, the two companies will be reselling an integrated online video platform to create and deploy interactive, HD-quality video applications. The deal is aimed at broadening the distribution channel for both Move Networks and PTV and helping the companies become market leaders. >>>

Engineering Algae-based Bio Fuel: Valcent CEO Glen Kertz (Part 5)

SM: To date the significant challenge with bio fuel refineries is that the feedstock has dried up. You are coming up with a solution that does not take away from an edible crop. There is plenty of uncultivated, open land in the US. Is that a fair summary of the issues?

GK: It is, and that is exactly why we are seeing so much interest in algae. Three years ago trying to get someone to invest a dollar was next to impossible. Now people are starting to pay attention. >>>

RWW Live: Health 2.0 Discussion This Afternoon

If you found my Forbes column last week interesting (Healing Health Care), pls listen to this podcast discussion at RWW.