September 4, 2006
Looking for alternatives | A small bevy of pioneering Maine companies are hoping to ease the energy-cost burden
Just more than a year removed from Hurricane Katrina, it's still shocking to see the final tally at a gas pump after filling your tank. It's still a swift kick to the wallet every time the oil man stops by your house. Worst of all, there's no end in sight. But whether you're a peak oil acolyte or just someone who hates shelling out more and more cash to stay warm or make the daily commute, it may be reassuring to know that some Maine-based companies are doing what they can to ease the burden of high energy prices.
Alternative energy companies are mostly the polar opposite of the monolithic traditional energy company; they're the upstarts in a world of 800-pound gorillas. That's certainly the case in Maine, where many innovators are toiling in relative obscurity, working on alternative energy projects in remote corners of the state. Mainebiz checked in with a handful of companies working on alternative energy projects through recent grant funding from the Maine Technology Institute. We were interested in what these companies are working on, and how they're aiming to tackle the challenge posed by rising energy costs.
The following are short profiles of those companies.
Ascendant Energy
112 North Shore Dr., Owls Head
Product: Ascendant Energy is developing solar power generators for commercial and residential buildings
Contact: 594-6303
www.ascendantenergy.com
Installing one of Chris Straka's solar cogenerators on the rooftop of a commercial building would set you back $50,000 or more. It's a hefty price, for sure. But Straka, CEO of solar power company Ascendant Energy in Owls Head, says his product, which converts the sun's rays into both electricity and heat, makes better financial sense than traditional fossil fuels.
While the price of electricity and heating oil will continue to rise, Straka says, those who set up solar power systems now will lock in low prices for the next 25 years. With new tax incentives from the state to ease the cost of installation and financing models that allow companies to pay for the systems over time, the financial picture gets a little more rosy. "Basically you've just turned yourself into your own energy company," Straka says. "The monthly payment on your solar system is actually less than the monthly payment on electricity and heat that you otherwise have to make."
And the cogenerator, he says, is more cost effective than any other solar product on the market: While others produce either electricity or heat, Ascendant Energy's cogenerator creates both at the same time by harnessing two different waves of light ˆ visible and infrared. (Ascendant also sells solar energy products, including one that generates heat for homes and another that provides small commercial buildings with electricity.)
With a $324,000 grant from the Maine Technology Institute, Straka hopes to have the cogenerator on the market by next summer. But first, he says, he'll use the grant money to test the product at the University of Maine's Advanced Engineered Wood Composites Center in Orono, which can simulate exposure to potentially damaging UV rays and high winds.
This fall, Straka will test a beta version of the cogenerator at "a large Maine-based retailer" that already has signed a letter of commitment to use the technology. (Straka says he can't specify the company until he's installed the technology.) And Straka anticipates that an increasing number of companies nationwide will sign up for his company's cogenerator once it's launched next year. "Between the [tax] rebates, the energy crisis, [Hurricane] Katrina and just the popular press embracing solar, people are recognizing that we have to diversify our energy portfolio," he says. "All of our eggs are in the fossil fuel basket."
And unlike wind farm proposals, for example, a company doesn't have to wade through rounds of regulatory approvals just to use the technology. "If you want to put solar on your roof, you can put solar on your roof," says Straka.
As the current energy climate continues to make the case for alternative energy, Straka's decision five years ago to switch careers looks prescient. Originally from Boston, he spent 18 years in the computer industry before an acquaintance convinced him that the growing solar energy market was loaded with opportunity.
But while Straka concedes that Ascendant Energy is just one of many solar energy companies competing for residential and commercial clients, he believes his company's technology outshines his competition. "Our value is that we're producing [more] value from a square foot of sunshine than anybody else will," he says.
Warp Drive Engines
PO Box 501, Harpswell 04079
Product: Warp Drive is developing an internal combustion hydrogen engine for marine and industrial use
Contact: warpdriveengines@gmail.com
www.warpdriveengines.com
Imagine a boat engine that just keeps running and running. No stopping at the fuel dock, no lugging along five-gallon jerry cans of gas. In fact, no gas at all: Instead, just a combustion engine running on hydrogen, an engine that grabs its fuel from the water sloshing around the boat's gunwales. It's the stuff of sci-fi paperbacks and post-apocalyptic Kevin Costner movies, to be sure. But for Chase Saunders, business development manager at Warp Drive Engines in Harpswell, it's not that far-fetched an idea. "We're so impressed by this technology, we know it will fit in someplace," he says.
That's because Saunders and his three partners at Warp Drive ˆ Paul Maguire, Dion Linkel and Josh Andrei ˆ are working to develop such an engine, wagering that a hydrogen-powered motor would have many applications in the real world.
An engine that runs on hydrogen isn't a new concept. For years, groups around the world have been touting the benefits of hydrogen as a renewable fuel. Japanese automaker Mazda recently unveiled a car that runs on hydrogen and, closer to home, the Chewonki Foundation in Wiscasset is putting the finishing touches on its new hydrogen energy system.
But Warp Drive, says Saunders, approaches the hydrogen engine concept differently than most, eschewing fuel cell technology in favor of an internal combustion engine that burns hydrogen. While not quite as efficient as a fuel cell, the internal combustion engine has at least one advantage: power. "Our engine is unique in that it's very powerful for its weight," he says. "A lot of the hydrogen [fuel cell] engines are having problems getting steady torque out of them, and they're also having backfiring problems. Our engine solves both of those issues."
Saunders says the engine would have use in the marine and industrial arenas, whether powering a boat or a fuel-efficient generator. But Saunders also notes that finding a market is secondary to getting a patent for the engine's technology, which is inspired by previous investigating of the concept by Jocko Johnson, a reclusive former drag-racing guru who lives in California's Mojave desert. A chance encounter with Johnson some years ago spurred Maguire and Linkel to begin developing their own highly efficient internal combustion hydrogen engine. "We are basically working on a next-generation design," says Saunders. "We're not making Jocko's engine, we're making an engine that's inspired by that technology."
Saunders and his partners hope to have a working prototype of the Warp Drive engine completed in two years. But how much that will cost, says Saunders, is anyone's guess. The company in July received a $10,000 matching seed grant from the Maine Technology Institute, which it's using to patent its hydrogen engine concept and begin working up a prototype. And Saunders says Warp Drive is casting about for more development money, including as much as $800,000 in funding from the federal Small Business Innovation Research program.
Still, Saunders says the company is just at the starting gates of the entrepreneurial race. "We're a very early-stage company," he says. "We don't have office space ˆ we work out of homes and garages. Any office space will be in the future for us."
Integrated Fuel Solutions
674 Airline Rd., Amherst
Product: Integrated Fuel Solutions is developing a kit to modify existing internal combustion engines to fuel-saving hybrid electrics
Contact: 584-3380, sabbadessa@aol.com
The Toyota Prius is the trendy car of the moment. The auto of choice for seemingly half of Hollywood, including actors such as Will Ferrell and Tom Hanks, the energy efficient, hybrid car is a hot seller on lots nationally, its sales driven by concern over global warming and rising gasoline costs.
But the impact of newly made cars with hybrid engines is limited, because there are an estimated 500 million traditional engines that remain in existence. But Stephen Abbadessa, the 38-year-old founder of Integrated Fuel Solutions in remote Amherst, east of Bangor, is working to develop a hybrid, gas-saving technology that could be attached to any existing internal combustion engine. "That's the best part," he says. "I can take what you've already got and make a hybrid out of it."
In the Prius and other hybrids of its type, a portion of the internal combustion engine's power is devoted to producing electricity. But Abbadessa's hybrid recycles energy from the waste of the traditional engine. "I take some of that 1,100 degree heat in the exhaust, run it through a micro-turbine and generate electricity that helps propel the car," he says. "It's all really simple stuff, but it's a novel application. It's like shrinking down a steam power plant and bolting it onto the back of a car engine."
Abbadessa says his hybrid kit could be fastened to a lobster boat as easily as an SUV, potentially saving the owner of each thousands of dollars in fuel costs. This isn't unknown technology: a professor at Union College in Schenectady, N.Y., worked with it more than a decade ago, but never took it past the prototype stage. And Abbadessa believes Audi is working to produce cars employing the technology by 2009. "I'm trying to beat them to market," he says.
Abbadessa has received a $10,000 Maine Technology Institute grant to develop his hybrid kit, and he figures he'll have to raise at least $15,000 more to complete that stage and test its endurance on a 1999 Chevy Blazer he has at the ready.
Abbadessa expects to need at least $500,000 to bring the product to market, but predicts investors will be more than interested in an invention that could be purchased by millions of cost-conscious drivers. "I've been worried about getting it validated," he says. "Once I do, I don't think there's going to be a problem [raising money]."
Abbadessa is working on his own; Integrated Fuel Solutions is a one-man shop. "Until I can prove that I have a good product," he says, "I'm not going to bring anybody else aboard." And what's the timetable for confirming the hybrid kit will work? "I was hoping to have it validated by the end of the year," Abbadessa says, "but it depends on how much money I can raise."
Alternative energy companies are mostly the polar opposite of the monolithic traditional energy company; they're the upstarts in a world of 800-pound gorillas. That's certainly the case in Maine, where many innovators are toiling in relative obscurity, working on alternative energy projects in remote corners of the state. Mainebiz checked in with a handful of companies working on alternative energy projects through recent grant funding from the Maine Technology Institute. We were interested in what these companies are working on, and how they're aiming to tackle the challenge posed by rising energy costs.
The following are short profiles of those companies.
Ascendant Energy
112 North Shore Dr., Owls Head
Product: Ascendant Energy is developing solar power generators for commercial and residential buildings
Contact: 594-6303
www.ascendantenergy.com
Installing one of Chris Straka's solar cogenerators on the rooftop of a commercial building would set you back $50,000 or more. It's a hefty price, for sure. But Straka, CEO of solar power company Ascendant Energy in Owls Head, says his product, which converts the sun's rays into both electricity and heat, makes better financial sense than traditional fossil fuels.
While the price of electricity and heating oil will continue to rise, Straka says, those who set up solar power systems now will lock in low prices for the next 25 years. With new tax incentives from the state to ease the cost of installation and financing models that allow companies to pay for the systems over time, the financial picture gets a little more rosy. "Basically you've just turned yourself into your own energy company," Straka says. "The monthly payment on your solar system is actually less than the monthly payment on electricity and heat that you otherwise have to make."
And the cogenerator, he says, is more cost effective than any other solar product on the market: While others produce either electricity or heat, Ascendant Energy's cogenerator creates both at the same time by harnessing two different waves of light ˆ visible and infrared. (Ascendant also sells solar energy products, including one that generates heat for homes and another that provides small commercial buildings with electricity.)
With a $324,000 grant from the Maine Technology Institute, Straka hopes to have the cogenerator on the market by next summer. But first, he says, he'll use the grant money to test the product at the University of Maine's Advanced Engineered Wood Composites Center in Orono, which can simulate exposure to potentially damaging UV rays and high winds.
This fall, Straka will test a beta version of the cogenerator at "a large Maine-based retailer" that already has signed a letter of commitment to use the technology. (Straka says he can't specify the company until he's installed the technology.) And Straka anticipates that an increasing number of companies nationwide will sign up for his company's cogenerator once it's launched next year. "Between the [tax] rebates, the energy crisis, [Hurricane] Katrina and just the popular press embracing solar, people are recognizing that we have to diversify our energy portfolio," he says. "All of our eggs are in the fossil fuel basket."
And unlike wind farm proposals, for example, a company doesn't have to wade through rounds of regulatory approvals just to use the technology. "If you want to put solar on your roof, you can put solar on your roof," says Straka.
As the current energy climate continues to make the case for alternative energy, Straka's decision five years ago to switch careers looks prescient. Originally from Boston, he spent 18 years in the computer industry before an acquaintance convinced him that the growing solar energy market was loaded with opportunity.
But while Straka concedes that Ascendant Energy is just one of many solar energy companies competing for residential and commercial clients, he believes his company's technology outshines his competition. "Our value is that we're producing [more] value from a square foot of sunshine than anybody else will," he says.
Warp Drive Engines
PO Box 501, Harpswell 04079
Product: Warp Drive is developing an internal combustion hydrogen engine for marine and industrial use
Contact: warpdriveengines@gmail.com
www.warpdriveengines.com
Imagine a boat engine that just keeps running and running. No stopping at the fuel dock, no lugging along five-gallon jerry cans of gas. In fact, no gas at all: Instead, just a combustion engine running on hydrogen, an engine that grabs its fuel from the water sloshing around the boat's gunwales. It's the stuff of sci-fi paperbacks and post-apocalyptic Kevin Costner movies, to be sure. But for Chase Saunders, business development manager at Warp Drive Engines in Harpswell, it's not that far-fetched an idea. "We're so impressed by this technology, we know it will fit in someplace," he says.
That's because Saunders and his three partners at Warp Drive ˆ Paul Maguire, Dion Linkel and Josh Andrei ˆ are working to develop such an engine, wagering that a hydrogen-powered motor would have many applications in the real world.
An engine that runs on hydrogen isn't a new concept. For years, groups around the world have been touting the benefits of hydrogen as a renewable fuel. Japanese automaker Mazda recently unveiled a car that runs on hydrogen and, closer to home, the Chewonki Foundation in Wiscasset is putting the finishing touches on its new hydrogen energy system.
But Warp Drive, says Saunders, approaches the hydrogen engine concept differently than most, eschewing fuel cell technology in favor of an internal combustion engine that burns hydrogen. While not quite as efficient as a fuel cell, the internal combustion engine has at least one advantage: power. "Our engine is unique in that it's very powerful for its weight," he says. "A lot of the hydrogen [fuel cell] engines are having problems getting steady torque out of them, and they're also having backfiring problems. Our engine solves both of those issues."
Saunders says the engine would have use in the marine and industrial arenas, whether powering a boat or a fuel-efficient generator. But Saunders also notes that finding a market is secondary to getting a patent for the engine's technology, which is inspired by previous investigating of the concept by Jocko Johnson, a reclusive former drag-racing guru who lives in California's Mojave desert. A chance encounter with Johnson some years ago spurred Maguire and Linkel to begin developing their own highly efficient internal combustion hydrogen engine. "We are basically working on a next-generation design," says Saunders. "We're not making Jocko's engine, we're making an engine that's inspired by that technology."
Saunders and his partners hope to have a working prototype of the Warp Drive engine completed in two years. But how much that will cost, says Saunders, is anyone's guess. The company in July received a $10,000 matching seed grant from the Maine Technology Institute, which it's using to patent its hydrogen engine concept and begin working up a prototype. And Saunders says Warp Drive is casting about for more development money, including as much as $800,000 in funding from the federal Small Business Innovation Research program.
Still, Saunders says the company is just at the starting gates of the entrepreneurial race. "We're a very early-stage company," he says. "We don't have office space ˆ we work out of homes and garages. Any office space will be in the future for us."
Integrated Fuel Solutions
674 Airline Rd., Amherst
Product: Integrated Fuel Solutions is developing a kit to modify existing internal combustion engines to fuel-saving hybrid electrics
Contact: 584-3380, sabbadessa@aol.com
The Toyota Prius is the trendy car of the moment. The auto of choice for seemingly half of Hollywood, including actors such as Will Ferrell and Tom Hanks, the energy efficient, hybrid car is a hot seller on lots nationally, its sales driven by concern over global warming and rising gasoline costs.
But the impact of newly made cars with hybrid engines is limited, because there are an estimated 500 million traditional engines that remain in existence. But Stephen Abbadessa, the 38-year-old founder of Integrated Fuel Solutions in remote Amherst, east of Bangor, is working to develop a hybrid, gas-saving technology that could be attached to any existing internal combustion engine. "That's the best part," he says. "I can take what you've already got and make a hybrid out of it."
In the Prius and other hybrids of its type, a portion of the internal combustion engine's power is devoted to producing electricity. But Abbadessa's hybrid recycles energy from the waste of the traditional engine. "I take some of that 1,100 degree heat in the exhaust, run it through a micro-turbine and generate electricity that helps propel the car," he says. "It's all really simple stuff, but it's a novel application. It's like shrinking down a steam power plant and bolting it onto the back of a car engine."
Abbadessa says his hybrid kit could be fastened to a lobster boat as easily as an SUV, potentially saving the owner of each thousands of dollars in fuel costs. This isn't unknown technology: a professor at Union College in Schenectady, N.Y., worked with it more than a decade ago, but never took it past the prototype stage. And Abbadessa believes Audi is working to produce cars employing the technology by 2009. "I'm trying to beat them to market," he says.
Abbadessa has received a $10,000 Maine Technology Institute grant to develop his hybrid kit, and he figures he'll have to raise at least $15,000 more to complete that stage and test its endurance on a 1999 Chevy Blazer he has at the ready.
Abbadessa expects to need at least $500,000 to bring the product to market, but predicts investors will be more than interested in an invention that could be purchased by millions of cost-conscious drivers. "I've been worried about getting it validated," he says. "Once I do, I don't think there's going to be a problem [raising money]."
Abbadessa is working on his own; Integrated Fuel Solutions is a one-man shop. "Until I can prove that I have a good product," he says, "I'm not going to bring anybody else aboard." And what's the timetable for confirming the hybrid kit will work? "I was hoping to have it validated by the end of the year," Abbadessa says, "but it depends on how much money I can raise."
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