PROMETHEUS ENERGY CO.

Location: Bellevue & Tukwila     

Website: http://www.prometheus-energy.com

Founded: 2003

Key People: The three co-founders: Chief Executive Kirt Montague, an attorney, Chief Technology Officer John Barclay, who developed and refined Prometheus' technology at the University of Victoria, B.C., and President Cary Wasden, a former banker and energy financier with J.P. Morgan and other firms.

Key Innovation: Prometheus' main product is a plant that captures methane from landfills, stranded gas wells, wastewater treatment facilities, agricultural operations and coal beds and transforms it into liquid natural gas, which can be used as a cheaper and cleaner alternative to diesel fuel and propane. The process increases the overall efficiency of the system while making it cost-effective to operate on a small scale. The result is purified liquid natural gas that has greater than 97 percent methane.

Money Raised: $31 million. The firm went public Sept. 14 on the London Stock Exchange.

Measure of Success: Enough projects will be operating by 2007 to produce 55,000 gallons per day of liquid natural gas, Montague says. Recently the company installed its first plant in the Bowerman Landfill in Orange County, Calif., where it will produce 5,000 gallons of liquid natural gas per day to fuel Orange County Transit buses.

No. of Employees: 63

What's Next: This year the company will build out the rest of the Bowerman project, launch a project in the Kraków area of Poland, and establish a joint venture in India to capture methane from coal beds and stranded wells.

AQUAENERGY GROUP LTD.

Location: AquaEnergy is a virtual company in which the employees work out of their homes in Newcastle, Mercer Island, Denmark and elsewhere.

Website: www.aquaenergygroup.com

Founded: 2001

Key People: Alla Weinstein, president and CEO, has more than 20 years of experience at Honeywell International. She is also the first president of the European Ocean Energy Association. Chief Engineer Kim Nielsen is the inventor of a hydraulic wave energy system patented in Denmark. Denis Letourneau, Vice President of Engineering, was the ocean energy program manager for AeroVironment.

Key Innovation: A 70-foot-long hose pump connected to a buoy anchored offshore in water 150-250 feet deep. The vertical motion of the ocean causes the pump to expand and contract, pumping the seawater through a turbine, which is used to generate electricity. "After that it's not much different than hydro-electric power," says Weinstein.

Money Raised: About $5 million from individual investors, the European Commission and the Carbon Trust of the United Kingdom. The firm was acquired by Finavera Renewables of Vancouver, B.C. in 2003 in a stock swap.

Measure of Success: The company is obtaining permits to conduct a two-year pilot project off Neah Bay. Four buoys, each 18-21 feet in diameter, will be anchored in the water for two years while a variety of field tests are run.

No. of Employees: 7

What's Next: If the company's technology meets the expectations in generating electricity at competitive prices, the company will then seek funding to begin larger-scale production and selling energy.


GENESIS FUELTECH INC.

Location: Spokane

Website: www.genesisfueltech.com

Founded: 2001

Key People: Phillip Piffer (pronounced PYE-fer), the company's president, has 25 years of experience in the energy business with utility, oil and gas companies. Chief Technology Officer David DeVries is the inventor of the company's reforming technology. He was one of the original employees of Avista Labs (now called ReliOn).

Key Innovation: Genesis Fueltech has developed a fuel cell and recharger system that derives its hydrogen fuel from liquid methanol in a process called reforming. The company builds the reformer and control systems and markets them with fuel cells from other suppliers. In the reforming process, methanol is mixed with water and pressed through a membrane that separates out the hydrogen, which is used in the fuel cell to generate electricity.  

Money Raised: Some individual investors, mostly family, have put in an undisclosed amount, Piffer says. The company also has a grant from the federal Department of Energy to develop a new membrane system.

Measure of Success: The company's largest job to date was an $850,000 Army contract to develop a prototype that can be used by soldiers to recharge fuel cell batteries in the field, because methanol is easier to transport than gaseous hydrogren or multiple batteries. Genesis had sales of about $500,000 last year.

No. of Employees: 6

What's Next: "Efficiency is very high on the list of things we're trying to concern ourselves with," Piffer says. The company is looking at applications in backing up telecommunications systems, industrial handling, and even a hybrid vehicle battery.

IMPERIUM RENEWABLES INC.

Location: Seattle