Putting Green Technology in the Black

Vinod Khosla, chief of a six-person VC firm in Silicon Valley, is putting his money behind green technology, funding projects aimed at making renewable energy profitable. He thinks the technologies he's backing are near where they can compete against oil without government subsidies now required to make them competitive. "I want oil to compete with us -- not the other way around," he says.

There's little about the building where Vinod Khosla runs his tiny venture-capital firm to suggest he's at the forefront of a global effort to revolutionize how the world gets energy.
Small signs point discreetly to Khosla Ventures and other tenants at the low-slung building tucked inside a quiet Silicon Valley office park. One of the USA's richest men, Khosla is sitting in a sparsely furnished conference room in a blue pullover and blue slacks. He sips tea as he describes how his children view his rising passion for renewable energy.
"They think it's cool Dad is saving the planet," he says with a grin. Then he pauses, uncomfortable with how that sounds, and adds that he's not a fan of such "grandiose" statements.
Yet, saving the planet is what Khosla and a growing number of financiers, entrepreneurs and political luminaries hope for as they chase new ways to wean the world from oil, coal and other non-renewable energy sources now threatening the environment...
Source: technewsworld.com