Start-up Team Algal takes inaugural Clean Energy Prize

The first Clean Energy Prize went to a start-up with roots at the University of Michigan and Michigan State University, connecting the state’s three major research centers of Detroit, Ann Arbor and East Lansing.

Downtown Detroit-based DTE Energy and the University of Michigan started the competition last year with the idea of helping fund Michigan’s emerging alternative energy start-ups. This year’s winner is Team Algal Scientific, which is headed up by graduate business students at U-M and MSU.

Team Algal Scientific’s technology uses algae to simultaneously treat wastewater and produce the raw materials for biofuels. It wins $65,000 in cash to help get its idea off the ground. The two runners up received $21,000 and $3,400.

The $65,000 for Team Algal Scientific is just the shot in the arm it needed get going. The start-up plans to use the cash to continue to develop its technology over the next couple of years, hopefully at the MBI International technology incubator in Lansing.

"It's what we need to get started and take the next step," says Robert Levine, chief technology officer at Team Algal Scientific and a PhD student at the University of Michigan.

Source: DTE Energy and Robert Levine, chief technology officer at Team Algal Scientific
Writer: Jon Zemke