The investment arm of Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) has joined an impressive group of investors backing biofuel startup CoolPlanetBiofuels.
The amount of Google’s contribution to the $20 million series B round was not disclosed. Google was not the lead investor, according to a VentureBeat story.
CoolPlanetBioFuels, based in Camarillo, California, is developing a technology that converts non-food biomass to fuel and carbon that can be sequestered.
The company’s thermal/mechanical processor converts direct inputs like woodchips and crop residues and non-food fuel crops into gas streams for catalytic upgrading to conventional hydrocarbon fuel.
The process also produces biochar, which can be used to sequester carbon and act as a soil conditioner. The carbon sequestration makes the fuel "carbon negative" according to CoolPlanetBiofuels.
The company is also developing one-step catalytic conversion processes that mate with the processor’s output gas streams to produce useful products such as eBTX (gasoline), synthetic diesel and proprietary high-yield fuels.
In January, GE (NYSE: GE), NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE: NRG) and ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP), announced that CoolPlanetBiofuels would be one of the first recipients of funding through a new joint invesment group.
The investment by Google Ventures follows recent investments in a weather-insurance startup and energy conversion technology company Transphorm.
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