Sources say EEStor has delayed the date for the testing of its barium titanate powder – a key ingredient in its ultracapacitor-based energy storage system. The tests, which will make sure the permeativity and purification of the powder is up to snuff and ready for mass production, are now scheduled for September. A third-party lab in Austin that has links with the University of Texas will likely do the testing.

In parallel with the lead-up to testing, EEStor is working on the power electronics and setting up a automated production facility. “They plan to go directly from test to production,” said a source. “Their noses are just down right now to get where they want to be.”

Feel Good Cars, which is an investor in EEStor and has a license to sell its energy storage system in the compact car market, is apparently still expecting to receive its first shipments of units in the first quarter of 2007.

The delay is disappointing but not at all unexpected, given the magnitude of EEStor’s claims. And the missing link, of course, is partnership and distribution agreements that would bring this technology to market. Perhaps this is going on behind the scenes, but I have difficulty believing the company can keep a secret for this long. I guess time will tell…

One more thing: If this tech truly passes its first major test, you can expect to see followup rounds of financing. Financing so far has been relatively low, and while Kleiners is involved in early rounds, further rounds will inspire some confidence.

I’ve got a story in today’s Toronto Star looking at Canadian venture capital investments in the second quarter of 2006. Investment overall fell by 25 per cent in the quarter, but investment in alternative energy, environmental and “other” emerging technologies rose substantially over previous quarters. For example, in the second quarter such investments represented 18 per cent of overall investment, versus just 6 per cent in all of 2005. That’s a three-fold jump.

In dollar terms, $87 million was invested in the second quarter alone, compared with $109 million for all of last year.

An anomoly? Not likely.

My latest Clean Break podcast through the Toronto Star is available today. I invited Sprott Securities analyst MacMurray Whale back to talk about how some of the alternative energy stocks on his beat are performing — including ATS Automation (Photowatt), Railpower, Carmanah Technologies, Ballard Power, Hydrogenics and Xantrex.

Cool company alert: Here’s a story on MIT’s Technology Review site about an Ottawa-based company called Advanced Biorefinery that has developed a transportable, modular pyrolysis plant that can follow logging operations around and convert their forest waste into a renewable bio oil. By converting forest “slash” on site, rather than trucking it out to a central processing facility, it dramatically improves the economics of using this biowaste as a feedstock for bio oil production. The reason: It’s cheaper to transport highly dense, energy-rich liquid than bulky, low-density slash.

Scientific American has this piece on offsets programs/initiatives, their benefits and their challenges. BTW, a Toronto company call Zerofootprint has launched its own offsets program targeting the publishing industry.

Nice article at CNET’s News.com about GridPoint and its intelligent energy management systems, which include an energy storage component that enables residential and business load-shifting. The company has struck an agreement with an unnamed utility that will get access to the storage systems within the homes of GridPoint customers to offset peak electricity demand.

Rob Day of Cleantech Investing raises an interesting point in this post about the recent restrictions imposed on air travellers after the London terror plot exposed last week. If liquids and gels are now banned on flights, what does this mean for direct-methanol fuel cell cartridges and their chances of replacing batteries for laptops and other electronic gizmos? Could terrorism rules limit the attractiveness of these longer-lasting fuel cells?

The Anchorage Daily News takes a look at VRB Power’s flow battery being tested at the University of Alaska Fairbanks Energy Center. The crew there is putting the battery through several years of aggressive testing to see whether it’s an ideal fit for solar and wind systems in remote communities.

ABS Energy Research in London, U.K., has a new report out that concludes that “the benefits claimed for wind power are not always what they seem.” I won’t go into details, but check out the company’s press release — via RenewableEnergyAccess.com — and let me know what you think.

Finally, the results of my latest poll that asks whether policies that promote corn-based ethanol are a good idea. Of the 92 who voted, 46 per cent said it’s a bad idea, while 38 per cent said it’s a decent strategy as long as corn is viewed as a transition over the longer term to cellulosic ethanol production that uses wood and agricultural waste and dedicated crops such as switchgrass. The rest — 16 per cent — think it’s a good idea to support a corn ethanol economy. Farmers, perhaps?

The Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corp.’s Net Zero Energy Healthy Housing pilot demonstration project is moving forward and reception has been overwhelmingly positive. After the program was launched on May 15 information packages were sent to 636 companies or groups interested in participating (201 from Ontario), sources say. By July 10 there were 72 formal expressions of interests. “This level of response was even beyond our wildest expectations for the project and is requiring some extra time in the processing of proposals,” according to a CMHC e-mail forwarded to me by a Clean Break reader. It indicates, the e-mail said, “a very positive reception and interest expressed by the Canadian housing industry…”

A selection committee spent July 20/21 reading through the expressions of interest and after “intense” discussion was able to whittle the project proposals down to a short list of 26 that will proceed to Phase II of the project. Those 26 will be contacted by mid-August to assess whether they’re “ready, willing and able” to proceed with their proposed projects, which represent a cross-section of the country. If so, they’ll be invited to develop and submit a detailed design and demonstration proposal.

It will be nice to see when the final projects are approved and what they will be. Canada needs to start seeing some high-profile sustainable housing initiatives to stimulate the industry and get homebuyers/owners excited.