CleanStart Perspectives with Lloyed Lobo

CleanStart Perspectives with Lloyed Lobo

Apr 29, 2021

Join us as we chat with Lloyed Lobo, cofounder and co-chair of the Traction Conference and cofounder and president of Boast.AI.

Lloyed Lobo is the cofounder and president of Boast.AI, a company developing software that automates the process of claiming R&D tax credits. He’s also the cofounder of the Traction Conference, a non profit initiative by Boast.AI & Launch Academy to bring founders and leaders from the fastest growing companies to share learnings on building, growing and scaling startups via weekly webinars and an annual conference.

Previously, Lloyed led sales, marketing and product for several venture-backed companies. Lloyed holds a B.Eng. in Software Engineering from Lakehead University.

CleanStart Perspectives are short online conversations to connect the greater Sacramento clean tech entrepreneurship community and share insights, experiences, and outlooks. Join us as we welcome our featured guests to share their perspective on what entrepreneurs and innovators can do to thrive and grow.

Register and we’ll send you the Zoom login information prior to the meeting time.

CleanStart Perspectives are recorded through Zoom.

CleanStart Perspectives on EPIC Funding from the CA Energy Commission

CleanStart Perspectives on EPIC Funding from the CA Energy Commission

Apr 29, 2021

Join us as we chat with Erik Stokes about the California Energy Commission’s EPIC Funding program.

The California Energy Commission’s Electric Program Investment Charge (EPIC) program invests in scientific and technological research to accelerate the transformation of the electricity sector to meet the state’s energy and climate goals. Join us as we chat with Erik Stokes about how companies can connect with the CEC and take part in the future of Epic Funding.

Erik Stokes is the head of the Energy Deployment and Market Facilitation Office at the California Energy Commission. In his 13+ years at the Commission, Erik has spearheaded numerous initiatives to advance low-carbon technology solutions. Over the past five years, Erik has worked to strengthen California’s innovation ecosystem for cleantech entrepreneurship. This included establishing a statewide network of incubator/accelerator programs, testing facilities and other entrepreneurial support services; as well as developing several non-dilutive funding programs for clean energy entrepreneurs including the world-renowned CalSEED program. These efforts have helped cleantech startups supported by the California Energy Commission attract over $1.8 billion in private investment.

CleanStart Perspectives are short online conversations to connect the greater Sacramento clean tech entrepreneurship community and share insights, experiences, and outlooks. Join us as we welcome our featured guests to share their perspective on what entrepreneurs and innovators can do to thrive and grow.

Register and we’ll send you the Zoom login information prior to the meeting time.

CleanStart Perspectives are recorded through Zoom.

CleanStart Perspectives with Sabya Das, Partner at Moneta Ventures

CleanStart Perspectives with Sabya Das, Partner at Moneta Ventures

Apr 9, 2021

Join us as we chat with Sabya Das, partner at Moneta Ventures.

Moneta Ventures is a venture capital firm based in Folsom, CA that invests in early stage technology companies. Sabya Das, partner at Moneta Ventures, will share insights on the current state of venture capital investment in early stage startups.

CleanStart Perspectives are short online conversations to connect the greater Sacramento clean tech entrepreneurship community and share insights, experiences, and outlooks. Join us as we welcome our featured guests to share their perspective on what entrepreneurs and innovators can do to thrive and grow.

Register and we’ll send you the Zoom login information prior to the meeting time.

CleanStart Perspectives are recorded through Zoom.

CR Flight for the Long Haul

CR Flight for the Long Haul

Apr 6, 2021

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (“drones”) have become very popular, not just with hobbyists but also with businesses and government agencies.  P&GE is looking at drones to inspect aging power infrastructure.  Communities use them for surveying land.  There are more and more applications for drones every day.  But one of the things holding back more development is the durability of the motors and the duration of the flights.  We have seen increases in flying time through motor efficiency, but operators still struggle with the durability required for a constantly operating motor. 

The free spining Armatur and rotor from CR Flight

So they took on the challenge and solved it by creating a Rotary Transformer which can basically double the output power, or increase thrust or load efficiency by 30% of any motor, generator, wind turbine, HVAC, etc. The durability of the rotary transformer even surprised them.  The counter-rotating parts produce several benefits.  Two blades on one motor mean the blades and bearing can spin slower, also, the bearings are not stationary enabling them to be cooled better. With the rotor and armature freely spinning creating a much cooler motor and there is no torque going into the motor’s mount. All of these combine to increase durability (longer motor life) and reduce weight significantly as you can use a much smaller motor to do the job.

Enter Start-Up CR Flight, which has developed a Rotary Transformer® creating smaller, more durable motors (1000 hrs), that will enable longer flights, using a clever design for powering counter-rotating props.  Founders Dr. James Richey, Jonathan Emigh, and Randy Wishart came together to work on Wishart’s idea of the motor where both the rotor and the stator rotated (making the stator into an armature). One prop is fixed to each, eliminating the need for a second motor to achieve the added lift with a second prop.  Emigh saw that it would not only produce more lift but also be more durable.  They validated the design with a crude prototype but realized they needed to be able to deliver power to the moving rotor, more than current slip ring manufacturers had solutions for.

The free spining Armatur and rotor from CR Flight

CR’s biggest challenge has been in increasing the understanding of what their Rotary Transformer Technology can do with any motor. The tests for standard motors show their max power, even though they can only run at 40-50% power without burning up. With their CR Flight Rotary Transformer design, they can pull much more power from the same motor and stay cool. They rate their motors on what they can run all day long, not what their max power is.  They need to demonstrate to customers directly to showcase well what they have achieved. 

CR flight has developed and tested 3 motors in conjunction with the Rotary Transformer in this setup and is looking to go bigger.  Once more customers understand the gains CR Flight has made in thrust efficiency, flight time, and durability, sales hopefully will soar. 

Check out more from CR flight.

Thomas Hall

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Thomas is the Executive Director of CleanStart. Thomas has a strong background in supporting small businesses, leadership, financial management and is proficient in working with nonprofits. He has a BS in Finance and a BA in Economics from California State University, Chico. Thomas has a passion for sustainability and a commitment to supporting non-profits in the region.

Sponsors

SMUD
CMC
RiverCity Bank

Weintraub | Tobin, Revrnt, Moss Adams, PowerSoft.biz, Greenberg Traurig

New Technology Could Boost Efficiency of Power-to-Hydrogen to 95+%

New Technology Could Boost Efficiency of Power-to-Hydrogen to 95+%

Mar 11, 2021

Israeli company H2Pro has raised $22 million from a group of marquee investors to scale-up its radical new way to extract hydrogen from water.  It claims to have a way to produce hydrogen at high pressure (50 bar) with 95+% efficiency (compared to 70% efficient current methods) and lower capital cost, which could mean a product price under $2/kg and maybe as low as $1.  (A kilogram of hydrogen is close to the energy in a gallon of gasoline or 114,000 Btu.  At $1/kg, hydrogen is equivalent to $8.80 per million Btu.  Natural gas at the wholesale level is going for $2.66/million Btu, for comparison).  

Currently, hydrogen at dispensers at refill stations is priced well over $16 per kilogram.  “Green” hydrogen from electrolysis of water is going for a wholesale price of $2.26/kg, and “grey” hydrogen produced from natural gas is priced at $0.79/kg.  The new H2Pro technology does not address the $14/kg added by the time the hydrogen gets to the dispenser.  Those costs are created by the expense of storing hydrogen and transporting it by pressurized tanker trucks.  The H2Pro process may not then be revolutionary, but its greatest feature may be the efficiency gain, making 35% more hydrogen available from the same renewable-based kWhs.  It opens up some more possibilities for using hydrogen.

There is considerable interest in blending “green” hydrogen into the existing natural gas pipeline system, maybe along with methane produced from renewable sources, to create a lower fossil carbon fuel that can contribute to decarbonization goals, if the hydrogen can be made inexpensively.  GE has announced its latest 64+% efficient gas turbine combined cycle plants can run on blends with hydrogen from 5% to as high as 95%.  However, hydrogen has a habit of leaking out of pipelines unless those pipes are specifically built to contain it.  Expect to see more on this topic if interest grows in the “blending” strategy for decarbonization.

Thomas Hall

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Gary Simon is the Chair of CleanStarts Board. A seasoned energy executive and entrepreneur with 45 years of experience in business, government, and non-profits.

CleanStart Sponsors

Weintraub | Tobin, BlueTech Valley, Revrnt, 

Moss Adams, PowerSoft.biz, Greenberg Traurig, Momentum,

College of Engineering & Computer Science at Sacramento State