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September 9, 2007

Going Green 2007 coming this week - We will be there to bring it to you.

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goinggreenGoingGreen 2007 is a green tech companies meet the movers and shakers in the corporate world. Green technology is growing rapidly and transforming the global energy, water, transportation, construction, and other industries. These are trillion dollar industries. We are going to be there to preview exciting new developments in energy for our readers.

We plan to gather video with important business leaders, new technologies and leading edge companies. Watch for our coverage this week. For more info on Going Green 2007 hit their site and see how big this event really is going to be.

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Ultimate Biodiesel Guide


August 31, 2007

Going Green Conference set for September in CA


Go Green or Go Home 2007

AlwaysOn GoingGreen 2007 Set to Create Industry Benchmark for Greentech Events AlwaysOn GoingGreen 2007

PALO ALTO, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Over seven hundred greentech professionals, venture capital and private-equity investors, and leading members of the press and blogging community will convene at University of California, CA from September 10 – 12 for the inaugural AlwaysOn GoingGreen 2007 event. Thousands more worldwide attendees are expected to participate ‘virtually’ as GoingGreen 2007 will be simulcast live from www.alwayson.goingon.com. This two-and-a-half-day executive event will features CEO presentations and high-level debates on the most promising emerging green technologies and new entrepreneurial opportunities. The purpose of this event is to identify and debate emerging trends, build high-level relationships and create new business opportunities for all greentech professionals.

Some of the distinguished panelists and speakers will include:

Nicole Biggart, Dean, UC Davis Graduate School of Management Barry Klein, Vice Chancellor, UC Davis Office of Research Ed Ring, Editor, EcoWorld William McDonough, Architect & Author "Cradle to Cradle" Susan MacCormac, Partner, Morrison & Foerster Raj Atluru, Partner, Draper Fisher Jurvetson Samir Kaul, Partner, Khosla Ventures Ray Lane, Partner, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers Bill Green, Partner, Vantage Point Venture Partners Moderator: Keith Johnson, Director Public Equity, Stanford Management Company Dennis Merens, Director North America, Dow Venture Capital Group John Sylvia, Partner, Texas Pacific Group Judson Hill, Managing Director, The Halifax Group Yair Cohen, Vice President, Elron Industries Ltd. Ajit Nazre, Partner, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers Michael Kanellos, Editor at Large, CNet Ron Hicks, CEO, Perform Wall, LLC Michelle Kaufmann, Michelle Kaufmann Designs Lyndon Rive, Founder & CEO, SolarCity Kevin Surace, CEO, Serious Materials Peter Hanschen, Partner, Morrison & Foerster Robert Walsh, President, LS9, Inc. Glen Nedwin, Chief Scientist, Dyadic John Melo, CEO, Amyris Biotechnologies Steven Perricone, CEO & Co-Founder, BioFuelBox, Inc. Michael Horwitz, Partner, Pacific Growth Equities Hunt Ramsbottom, CEO, Rentech, Inc. Frank Alix, CEO, Powerspan Corp. Joseph Culley, Managing Director, Janney Montgomery Scott, LLC Jeff Green, CEO, NanoH2O David Crowe, CEO, GeoPure Water Technologies Glenn Rink, President, AbTech Industries, Inc. Marc van den Berg, Partner, Vantage Point Venture Partners Tim Healy, CEO & Founder, EnerNOC Ken Oshman, Chairman, Echelon Corporation Paul DeMartini, Director Edison Smart Connect, Southern California Edison Louis Szablya, EVP & Managing Director, Utility Division, Gridpoint, Inc. Wayne Spittal, General Manager, Derceto Eric Wesoff, Greentech Media David Vieau, CEO, A123 Systems Saroj Sahu, CTO & Founder, Deeya Energy Alan Gotcher, CEO, Altair Nanotechnologies R.D. Titus, Director & Producer, "Who Killed the Electric Car?" Daniel Elliott, CEO, Phoenix Motorcars Tom Gage, CEO, AC Propulsion Steve Schneider, CEO, ZAP Ian Clifford, CEO, ZENN Motor Company Nancy Pfund, Managing Director, JP Morgan John Woolard, CEO, Bright Source Energy, Inc. Kevin Bolin, CEO, Enertech Environmental Darren Bouton, Manager, Sustainable Communities, Pacific Gas & Electric Co. Andrew Hargadon, Chancellor's Fellow, UC Davis Chandrakant Patel, Hewlett Packard Fellow Rockwell Bonecutter, Managing Partner, Accenture Data Center Technologies Peter Van Deventer, CEO, Synapsense Corporation Robert Johnson, CEO, Environmental Support Solutions, Inc. Jeff Lipton, Managing Director, Jefferies & Company, Inc. Steve Eichenlaub, Managing Director, Cleantech Investments, Intel Capital Keith Casto, Partner, Sedgwick, Detert, Moran & Arnold Tom Martin, Senior Vice President, PCG Asset Management Chris Sorrells, Managing Director, NGP Energy Technology Partners David Scott Lewis, SVP, Zytech Solar Pankaj Dhingra, CEO, Nanostellar, Inc. Michael Pak, CEO, Nanoexa, Inc. Jonathan Hoopes, Managing Director, Greentech Research, Think Equity Ray Rothrock, Managing General Partner, Venrock John M. Fedorko, Senior Vice President, Airtricity John O'Donnell, EVP, Ausra

In addition to engaging panels and lively debates, this two-and-a-half-day executive conference will feature CEO presentations from the hottest and greentech companies in the world. For a complete list of CEO Showcases visit: http://alwayson.goingon.com/permalink/post/6393.

For information on how to register and take advantage of our discount rate, please visit: http://alwayson.goingon.com/ecom/productview/7539.

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September 13, 2007

Aussie company lets light flow into buildings to make things just right!


PERSONALIZED ‘GREENHOUSE EFFECT’ FOR COMMERCIAL BUILDINGS

AUSTRALIAN ‘SUN LIZARD’ BEATS THE ‘TOO HOT, TOO COLD’ ROOM TEMPERATURE PROBLEM – AND MAKES IT JUST RIGHT

San Francisco, CA., September 11, 2007 - Just as a lizard can find the perfect spot in the sun or shade to control its body temperature, Australian award winning solar heating and cooling innovation Sun Lizard can help heat or cool offices and factories while cutting energy bills and greenhouse emissions. www.alternativefuels.com.au

Companies can run up large energy bills and contribute to greenhouse emissions for the sake of a few extra degrees in room temperature.

Heating and cooling accounts for more than half the energy consumption item in the average office building and a largely neglected solution sector in the green clean tech space, according to Sun Lizard creator Colin Gillam of Alternative Fuels and Energy (AFE)

The Sun Lizard heats and cools homes by using the principles of natural air movements, solar energy, and heating cooling dynamics.

Gillam said that as buildings become generally more energy efficient, just a few degrees can make the difference between comfortable and uncomfortable room temperatures.

The Sun Lizard uses the sun to heat or cool without any negative effect on the environment and cuts energy bills at the same time.

The roof-mounted Sun Lizard allows the home to breathe by reheating warm air in winter and letting hot air escape in summer and drawing in cool air from outside. It can be retrofitted to existing buildings or incorporated into new buildings.

AFE is a BSI delegation company and has brought the Sun Lizard to the Always On GoingGreen event at the University of California, Davis [September 10-12, 2007] to meet investors, manufacturers, and distributors for the US.

“With 230 installations in Australia, we have proven there is real scope for growth in the solar thermal technology sector and innovative products like the Sun Lizard will lead the way,” Gillam said.

“It’s a unique way for companies to help cut greenhouse gas emissions while achieving comfort in their work environment all-year round,” Gillam said.

The Sun Lizard appeared on Australia ABC TVs ‘New Inventors’ program in August 2007 and won the evening’s award as best invention over two competitors (see http://www.abc.net.au/tv/newinventors/txt/s1986999.htm)

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August 31, 2007

Greenest Host Announces Launch of Zero-Emission Web Hosting Services


Clean Technology Startup Offers 100% Green Solar-Powered Web Hosting for Business and Consumers AlwaysOn GoingGreen 2007

SAN DIEGO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Greenest Host, a pioneer of green powered Internet services, today announced worldwide availability of its 100% solar powered web hosting plans. Like most web hosting companies, Greenest Host offers a suite of services that allow users to host websites, register domains, host email accounts, and build their own custom web presence. What makes the company unique is their green technology data center, which operates 100% of the time on clean solar energy.

The company has combined cutting edge green power technology with custom, easy-to-use account management software, point-and-click website development tools, and world-class ecommerce software. For the first time, consumers and small businesses have the freedom to sign up for a green technology web hosting account, build a web presence, and know that with every web visitor’s click they are reducing carbon emissions. And for every new account created through the end of 2007, Greenest Host will donate $5 to the Environmental Defense Fund – up to $500,000.

“The idea for such a venture developed out of our firsthand experience with data center operations. Ask any data center operations person how power and cooling-hungry most web servers are,” said Mike Corrales, President and CEO of Greenest Host. “When we ran the numbers, we were astounded by how much pollution can be reduced when switching to green technology hosting. Greenest Host literally produces zero carbon emissions.”

“It is important to note that this is NOT a green solution because we are buying [tag-tec]Renewable Energy Credits[/tag-tec] or carbon offsets,” said Corrales, “it is energy from the sun that powers our web servers and data center cooling day and night. We are not paying a penance for our emissions sins, we are just not committing the sins in the first place.”

Greenest Host is also sponsoring the Green Power Inside “Million Green Powered Website” campaign, where the goal is to convert one million websites to clean power, resulting in pollution reductions equivalent to:

* 2,000 passenger cars not driven for one year
* 1,070,000 gallons of gasoline not burned
* 21,900 barrels of oil not burned
* 1,200 households not using electricity for a year
* 240,000 tree seedlings grown for 10 years
* 7,900 acres of pine or fir forests storing carbon for one year
* 77 acres of forest preserved from deforestation
* 48 railcars of coal not burned
* 3,200 tons of waste recycled instead of landfilled

Greenest Host web hosting plans start at $14.95 a month. More information about Greenest Host, it’s state-of-the-art clean powered data center, and its web hosting plans are available at http://www.greenesthost.com.

Greenest Host is changing the Internet web hosting landscape one website at a time, by offering zero emissions web hosting. The company powers all of its state-of-the-art servers and data center cooling with 100% clean solar power 100% of the time.

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September 12, 2007

Ausra secures Series A funding to build and operate utility-scale solar thermal electric power plants


Khosla Ventures and Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield & Byers back technology and utility veterans in making renewable energy price competitive with fossil fuels

AlwaysOn GoingGreen Conference, DAVIS, Calif.—Sept. 10, 2007—Ausra Inc., the developer of utility-scale solar thermal power technology, has secured more than $40 million in funding from Silicon Valley venture capital firms Khosla Ventures and Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield & Byers (KPCB). The company has assembled a world-class team of solar power scientists, power project developers and financiers to make reliable, large-scale solar thermal power a reality today for electric utilities.

"Worldwide, the electric power industry creates 40 percent of total carbon emissions, and electricity use is rapidly growing. Ausra's technology serves a critical need for utilities seeking large-scale affordable sources of clean power to meet the dual challenges of economic growth and carbon constraints," said Vinod Khosla, founder of Khosla Ventures and Ausra investor and board member. "Ausra's technology replaces smoke with mirrors by eliminating fuel use for power generation, and sets a new benchmark for the cost and scale of solar power."

Ausra's power plants drive steam turbines with sunshine. Locally manufactured solar concentrators made of steel and glass focus sunlight to boil water, generating high-pressure steam that drives conventional turbine generators. New thermal energy storage systems using pressurized water and low cost materials will provide for on-demand generation day and night. Ausra's core technology, the Compact Linear Fresnel Reflector (CLFR) solar steam generation system, was originally conceived in the early 1990s by founder David Mills while at Sydney University. Mills later worked with Graham Morrison to develop the idea between 1995 and 2001.

Ausra aims to expedite the utility industry's transition to clean energy, helping utilities meet renewable portfolio standards while keeping rates low and the power on for consumers day and night. "Economic development around the world, coupled with recognition that carbon emissions must rapidly be eliminated, has created an enormous market opportunity for companies that can deliver solar power at large scale and at reasonable cost," says KPCB Partner and Ausra investor and board member Ray Lane. "Solar thermal power is the main event in renewable energy, and Ausra has the deep expertise and a simple, yet effective, design to fully capitalize on the opportunity to deliver the majority of our future power needs."

"We had been working on a wide range of alternatives and kept finding that simpler, cheaper approaches outperformed higher-temperature, more sophisticated designs," says Ausra Chairman David Mills. In 2002, Mills and Morrison founded Solar Heat and Power Pty Ltd. in partnership with Ausra CEO Peter Le Lièvre, and SHP built a successful trial 1 megawatt system in 2004 for Macquarie Generation in New South Wales. A following 38 megawatt CLFR solar field is expected to be complete by 2009.

It was Ausra Executive Vice-President John O'Donnell who brought the founders and investors together in October 2006. They clicked, and Ausra was formed in late 2006 to take the technology to large-scale commercial deployment in the U.S. and worldwide. Le Lièvre recalls, "We found in Khosla Ventures and KPCB a vision that matched ours – a deep understanding of the market and fearlessness about bringing a fundamentally new technology to large scale."

Mills is known internationally for his academic advancements in non-imaging optics, solar thermal energy and concentrator systems. Morrison ran Australia's premier solar test facility and is an expert at both solar collector and solar radiation modeling. Le Lièvre has 20 years of experience as an industrial designer specializing in technical development and financing new ventures. Chief Development Officer Robert Morgan and Chief Commercial Officer Glen Davis are recognized power industry experts, having come to Ausra after significant careers with AES and their consultancy Agile Energy. Together, Morgan and Davis have nearly half-a-century of experience in working with utilities to build and manage large-scale power projects around the world.

About Ausra Ausra, Inc. develops and deploys utility-scale solar thermal power technology to serve global electricity needs in a dependable, market-competitive, environmentally responsible manner. Located in Palo Alto, Calif., Ausra is a privately held company funded by Khosla Ventures and Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield & Byers. To learn more about Ausra and solar thermal power in general, visit www.ausra.com.

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