Comment Log Display

GreenTech Motors (GTM) submits these comments to express strong
backing for proposals to allocate AB 32 Cap and Trade Auction
Proceeds to support funding of cleantech startups and small
business enterprises.  Specifically, GTM recommends that proceeds
be dedicated to support the funding of 1) high efficiency clean
energy prototype technologies being developed by small businesses,
2) marketplace demonstration of these technologies, and 3) programs
to build a bridge over the ‘Valley of Death” that currently
prevents promising startup technologies from successful entry into
the marketplace. 

From Hewlett Packard to Apple, small businesses and garage-borne
startups have engineered breakthrough technologies that have played
a crucial role in making California the largest economy in the U.S.
and equivalent to the 8th largest in the world.  California
cleantech small businesses and startups, however, are facing a
trending decline in cleantech investment, do not have the financial
resources, the pre-existing revenue streams that large industrial
enterprises enjoy or the luxury of large budgets necessary to
develop prototypes and validate, integrate and demonstrate them.
Nor do they have the large industry legacy of networking access to
infrastructure, distribution channels or utilities.

At a recent Growth Capital Conference in Los Angeles, venture
capital and angel investors advised cleantech startups in the
audience that the U.S. has reached the end of the current
investment cycle – similar to the period following the Dot Com
bubble.  Clean energy startups were advised that cleantech had lost
much of its luster over the past few years and that it would be an
unlikely proposition as well as extremely difficult to secure angel
or venture capital investments for cleantech companies.   

As a result of these obstacles, funding of prototype and
demonstration of clean energy technologies presents a critical
opportunity to fill this gap.  Providing seed money and a framework
to overcome these barriers will go far toward more rapidly
developing solutions for reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions
and achieving AB 32’s 2020 objectives in the rapidly narrowing
timeline that the State of California faces.

A summary of GTM’s key points are as follows:
1.	Valley of Death Barrier.  In the State of California, there is
no single statewide mechanism in place specifically for small
startup companies (that GTM is aware of) that addresses the 'Valley
of Death' barrier faced by startups.  Given the scale of the
climate instability challenge, filling this gap presents a critical
opportunity to enlist the innovative capabilities of California
startups and small businesses and leverage them to solve this
problem and accelerate market penetration.
2.	Prototype Development and Demonstration.  Given the policy
demands for clean energy technology solutions, the inability to
secure sufficient funding to develop prototypes and demonstrate
them is preventing more rapid entry into the marketplace.  In GTM’s
case, a half-dozen potential demonstration projects (U.S. Air
Conditioning Distributors, City of Thousand Oaks water pumping
stations and the TAG Forum water utility districts) remain in
waiting due to the shortage of prototype development dollars. 
3.	Priorities.  GTM urges that special attention be given to energy
efficiency startups and small businesses for the following
reasons:
	Energy efficiency is the fastest deployable energy source
(AAAS Holdren) and offers to most rapid route to attainment of GHG
emissions objectives.
	Energy efficiency is the cheapest, easiest, fastest,
safest, largest and least risky energy resource.
	Energy efficiency is the single most important lever in
addressing the climate change issue. (McKinsey)
	No other energy resource matches the compelling economics
offered by energy efficiency.  (McKinsey) Electric motors represent
one of the largest untapped energy efficiency opportunities. 
Electric motor-driven systems are the
single largest consumer of electricity worldwide, accounting for
46% of global power use and consuming more than twice as much
electricity as lighting, the next largest end-use.   In the U.S.,
at a cost between $70 - $90 billion per year, electric motor-driven
systems account for more than 50% of the total electricity used
nationwide  — meaning, that half of all power plants in the U.S.
exist exclusively to generate electricity to operate electricity
motor-driven systems.  In the words of John Malinowski, Senior
Product Manager at Baldor Electric and Chairman of the National
Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) Motor and Generator
Section, for a single product category, electric motors place a
“staggering” amount of demand on the electricity grid. 

The global market is dominated by aging and inefficient motors. 
Nearly two-thirds of the existing global stock of running electric
motors are inefficient (classified as falling under IE1 or IE0/Eff3
efficiency standards).   In addition, the global stock of electric
motors is aging as many old motors installed into the
infrastructure in the 1970s and ‘80s are approaching the end of
their useful life while industries continue to operate less
efficient motors beyond their rated life.     

As a result, high efficiency motor systems present enormous
opportunities for cutting electricity consumption, capturing cost
savings and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

The potential savings of transitioning from inefficient to high
efficiency electric motor-driven systems by the year 2030,
according to the International Energy Agency (IEA), are on the
order of $2.8 trillion in reduced electricity costs, 42,000
terawatt hours (TWh) of electricity consumption and 29 gigatonnes
of reduced greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. 

GTM is based in Westlake Village, California.  Our company uses
aerospace engineering to develop clean energy solutions.  GTM’s
Large Air Gap Electric Ring (LAGER) technology was developed in the
garage of a Boeing engineer in Westminster, California.  It is an
extremely efficient, extremely compact and extremely lightweight
advanced electric motor.  The technology has been modeled at 63%
more heat loss efficient, 80% smaller and 85% lighter than
conventional motors. Finite element analysis (FEA) efficiency
simulation findings indicate a motor efficiency of 97.7% for a 20
horsepower (HP) motor.  This efficiency level exceeds the
efficiency of any other induction motor currently covered by DOE
and NEMA up to 500 HP.  Its efficiency density (efficiency per unit
of weight or volume) surpasses all same size electric motors
currently available in the marketplace and measured to date.   

Originally designed by aerospace engineers to endure the harsh
extremes of space and meet the exacting demands of the lighter
weight and smaller dimensions required for space-bound payloads,
the technology has been developed for data center cooling,
commercial HVAC as well as wastewater, groundwater, desalination
and freshwater pumping applications.  

Small business startups with garage-borne technologies like the
LAGER technology present a significant opportunity to the State of
California.  They represent a highly valuable State treasure,
resource and asset.  GTM strongly supports initiatives to leverage
this asset to the service of attaining California’s greenhouse gas
reduction emissions initiatives.