Green tech's plea: Show me the money--fast, please

Like a lot of green-technology companies, Tendril is waiting for the federal stimulus money to start flowing.

"I think it will act like a massive accelerator," said CEO Adrian Tuck, whose company makes sensors that consumers can use to monitor and control their consumption of energy.

Adrian Tuck, CEO, Tendril

(Credit: Tendril)

But echoing a common concern, Tuck also hopes that Tendril and other green-tech start-ups will not need to wait too long before the spigots open.

You know the cliche about time being of the essence? It's a refrain I heard again and again during the course of interviewing CEOs as part of a CNET News special report examining the progress and prospects of green tech.

The paradox is that the most interesting companies in the field often happen to be the very ones who don't have access to capital because of the economic crisis.

How much will an immediate cash infusion help? Plenty, according to Tuck, who says the public will see a quick payback from the coming investment in this nascent industry. For example, he predicts that for every $100 the U.S. Department of Energy invests, Tendril can save $100 for the consumer within 18 months.

"What we and others like us bring to the table is speed," he says.

But despite the confident tone that Tuck and other CEOs working in the green-tech industry voice, one big uncertainty remains: Will the money get into the hands of smaller, entrepreneurial outfits in the beginning, or will Uncle Sam prefer to deal with the bigger, established companies? How that question gets answered may very well decide the fates of many of the companies whose ambition is to change the world.

[William Crow]

One thing the stimulus bill does not require is...results. Easy money will lead to bad business and lost capital.

[mmichaels]

Who needs to offer a product that people are willing to buy or invest in on their own? Just hire a few good lobbyists and win the government lottery! Congratulations. Sounds too good to be true. On top of it, maybe the government will impose excise taxes on your competitors to really give you a leg up.

[duggerdm]

As someone who has tracked green industry development economics - I can tell you the DOE's record thus far is astonishingly bad. They appear clueless on both the required technical and economic feasibility analysis required for risk reduction in fund dispersal. We have watched 100s of millions of dollars go into algae oil development without even the most basic economic process sensitivity analyzes to direct research priorities and determine which companies are on the right track to even receive funding. Hopefully, we will see greater economic and technical analytical competence in the funding award processes in the near future. Otherwise the change promised will not have come.

[Dango517]

Had the Federal Government continued to fund Green Tech after the Arab oil embargo of the 1970's it is unlikely we would be in the mess we are in today. Despite those funding cuts during the Reagan Administration Green Tech did survive and has developed to the point where it is a viable solution to the world dependency on oil.

For the next four years it is apparent that the US Government will again be back on the right course rather then the fools path it has been on for the last 30 years regarding energy. The real issue at hand is whether the best course of action will be charted to sustain us well into the future. Very important choices are being made now that will shape our futures for decades to come. This is a National security issue perhaps even a survival issue whether small business gets its share of the funding or not is frankly an irrelevant concern. Considering it is much like someone wondering if they took their trash out while your house burns to the ground.