It was great to see an Australian company and a New Zealand company win a slot on the GoingGreenTop 100. There were also several Australian and New Zealand led companies attending the associated conference at UC Davis in Sacramento.

Derceto is a NZ company whose software saves energy and water by optimizing the pumping and sourcing of water and waste water. I first met Derceto when I mentored them as part of the ANZA Technology Network Gateway to the US Program (check out the 2007 Program) a few years ago.

At that time they had just secured East Bay MUD as a customer. In the intervening time they have accumulated 15 years of data in multiple installations around the world. Wayne Spittal took part in one of the panel discussions (thanks for Laura Shenkar's support).

Derceto’s selection is timely. The CEC says 19% of California’s electricity usage is for water and waste water related activities. More than a quarter of that is in supply and treatment. That usage must surely be a priority for Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s plan to reduce green house gas emissions in California. My back of the envelope calculation is that Derceto could save 2,000 GWh in California.  

Turning from efficiency to generation . . . . Ausra is a solar thermal generation company plucked from obscurity by Khosla Ventures and KPCB. Ausra have a low cost system using flat mirrors and Fresnel lens for utility-scale solar thermal concentrator power plants. They have finally launched their website (link) and announced a 175MW project in the permitting stage. Peter Le Lievre made a great presentation.

Bottom Line: Maybe I am biased, but there is some great technology on the other side of the world.