Thursday tidbits

• Sustainable Development Technology Canada (SDTC) announced C$42.5M in new funding for a variety of Canadian clean technology companies. Tyler Hamilton of Clean Break has some good thoughts on the news. Earlier today, a reporter asked me why "Canada seems to be so active in cleantech compared to the U.S." Hmmm... Good question.
  

• Meanwhile here in the States, mainstream VCs continue to look into "interesting areas" like cleantech. See this article from Red Herring. Is cleantech "muddy water", per the "big fish" quote by Rob Chandra? On the other hand, the article puts the increased VC interest in cleantech in context, given the wide range of other investment areas mentioned, and the fact that "clean technology" isn't even mentioned while energy is only mentioned in passing... Such mainstream VC interest undoubtedly seems more noteworthy to the people inside the industry than to the people currently outside looking in...
  

• On the general topic of fuel cell markets and timing, here are some outspoken comments from the President and CEO of PolyFuel. "When," "how" and even "if" remain key questions for cleantech investors looking into various aspects of fuel cell markets, so Balcom's thoughts are interesting to read.

• Finally, as we often note, there are some fun things to think and learn about in the world of early-early-stage clean technologies. Here's today's fun story.