At VentureBeat’s GreenBeat conference last night, Kleiner Perkins leader John Doerr touched on a lot of the themes he usually does: the necessity of putting a price on carbon, greentech as “the largest economic opportunity of the 21st century,” and the smart grid being a massive opportunity. But Doerr did make one very interesting statement that stuck in my mind (see Doerr videos from EETimes and the live stream of the event today on FORA.tv): If Kleiner Perkins had seen how bad the market was going to crash it probably wouldn’t have started it’s green initiative:

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When news breaks that a company is in talks to be acquired, pundits are often quick to point to it as a positive sign. But in reality, it all depends on the valuation and the price of the deal. Over the past couple of days the Financial Times and Reuters have reported that Ausra, the solar thermal startup with a Silicon Valley pedigree, is in talks to be acquired by three potential companies. Both reports cite sources that say the potential buyers are global conglomerates in the power generation business and that the discussions could result in a buyout or a majority investment. No word on a valuation or potential price.

At this point I agree with the Financial Times when it says the news is part of “the consolidation that’s sweeping through the solar industry.” Siemens announced last month that it’s buying solar thermal firm Solel and firms in other solar sectors are being snapped up as well (MEMC Electronic Materials, a company that makes silicon wafers for the solar industry, announced that it plans to buy up SunEdison, a pioneer of the solar as a service business model).

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The findings you’re most likely to hear this morning from a new report by the European lobby group Transport & Environment include these three hot-button points: electric cars could increase carbon emissions, could “speed climate change,” and may not reduce oil dependency.

But a closer read of the report reveals its basic premise shouldn’t actually be that controversial. Electric cars have a role to play in reducing greenhouse gas emissions from transportation, the group argues. But the electricity supply will have to be cleaned up by adding renewables (like solar and wind) to the power grid (with a push from government), and the cars “must be more energy-efficient than state-of-the-art conventional vehicles on a ‘tank to wheel’ basis” (which they already are) in order to realize significant environmental benefits.

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Something’s gotta give. In a time of uncertainty about the future supply and demand for fossil fuels, a surge of activity in energy technology and the prospect of stricter emission regulations barreling down the pike, the global market for transportation fuels is poised for disruption.

According to a new report out this week from technology and consultancy giant Accenture, one or more — but almost certainly not all — of a dozen low-carbon transportation fuels now under development could transform that market (which accounts for about half of global primary oil consumption and up to 30 percent of global carbon emissions) within a decade.

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Out of 10 solid greentech startup contenders vying for cash on the East Coast there could only be three winners of the Ignite Clean Energy business competition that took place on Tuesday in Massachusetts. Here they are: third prize, EGG Energy; second prize InnoSepra; and first prize IntAct Labs. The audience-voted People’s Choice Awards went to: third place HydroCoal; second place IntAct Labs; and first place Velkess.

Here’s some details about the winners:

IntAct Labs: IntAct Labs is focusing on the intersection of biotechnology and electronics — an interesting union that doesn’t often get a lot of attention. Possible applications for the company’s technology in that area include a microbial fuel cell — which harvests the excess electrons that bacteria generate as they metabolize organic matter — as well as biosensors and photoactive proteins. The company says its microbial fuel cell can treat wastewater without putting any energy into the system, which could lead to cheaper water treatment technology.

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What do 10 young companies building technologies as varied as fuel cells, solar manufacturing, battery subscription services, and coal gasification technology all have in common? They’re all finalists for the Ignite Clean Energy business plan competition in Massachusetts, and on Tuesday they will be competing for cash prizes in front of judges and an audience. While only three companies can win prizes ($35,000, $10,000 and $5,000 plus services), the entire lot shows a whole lot of promise. Here’s the 10 early-stage greentech startups in the running:

ARRIBA Solar: To help push down the cost of solar technology, the solar industry needs a manufacturing revolution, not just new materials, Josie pointed out last week in a profile about startup 1366 Technologies. Well, Arriba Solar, seems to have a similar approach and describes itself as a “process control company” with technology that enables solar makers to view the composition and thickness of solar cells during the manufacturing process in real time. More transparency means a more efficient process and more efficient solar panels.

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Chip equipment maker Applied Materials announced this afternoon that it is acquiring 7-year-old startup Advent Solar. Applied’s solar acquisition investments now total more than $1 billion, including $330 million for Italy’s Baccini and $483 million for Swiss solar wafer equipment company HCT Shaping Systems. But today’s announcement probably doesn’t represent a big uptick in total investments, according to Lux Research analyst Ted Sullivan. While the amount for the Advent deal is not being disclosed, it “was done very cheaply,” said Sullivan. “Investors did not get their money back — pennies on the dollar is a very safe assumption.”

That’s because Advent took a big hit at a bad time as a result of the credit crunch. “It was effectively acknowledged that Advent was a failed company,” said Sullivan. Right when the startup was ready to start manufacturing its cells for solar panels, the crunch hit. “They had to lay everyone off, shut down the fab, and switch to a quote-unquote licensing model,” Sullivan explained, which meant, “We’re essentially out of cash, let us recoup some of the cash and we’ll package up an IP portfolio for you.”

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One year ago, two key trends dominated the solar industry: economic uncertainty and scarce credit. If solar companies were to survive, they needed to scramble to adapt their strategies to both. Today, the economy is more stable and credit is freer, and so the industry faces two different trends. The first — a supply glut of solar products — has been in the making for years, and it keeps pushing prices down. The second is only beginning to emerge, but could take root: Demand has picked up for solar installations, especially in homes.

That’s the picture being portrayed in solar earnings reports, and the conference calls to discuss them this week. Real Goods Solar said on Thursday that its revenue in the third quarter rose 122 percent compared with the same period last year, including the addition of companies it’s acquired in the past year. Excluding those acquisitions, revenue still grew 41 percent. John Schaeffer, Real Goods Solar’s president, said a lot of the increase came from homeowners. In a statement, he noted that the company saw “the return of strong demand for residential solar” during the third quarter.

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Updated with additional comments from Ausra and First Solar: Ausra, the solar thermal startup backed by Kleiner Perkins and Khosla Ventures, said today it is selling its Carrizo Energy Solar Farm project, a proposed 177MW project still under development, to industry giant First Solar. Sale of the project, which is in San Luis Obispo, Calif., represents part of a major strategy shift Ausra announced earlier this year to focus on supplying equipment and technology, rather than developing massive solar plants.

Ausra secured a power purchasing agreement with California utility PG&E two years ago to sell 177MW of solar power from the planned Carrizo plant (it was expected to come online at partial capacity in 2010), but according to a release from Ausra, that deal is now “withdrawn.”

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“Inventing disruptive manufacturing innovations is every bit as hard as inventing new materials,” says Frank van Mierlo, President and co-founder of 1366 Technologies. Solar power, if it’s going to compete on cost with coal and other fossil fuels, needs both. It’s on that premise that 1366, a developer of new machines and processes that can be easily integrated into solar companies’ existing manufacturing lines, has based its business model.

Based in Lexington, Mass., 1366 spun out of MIT in 2007 and raised $12.4 million from Polaris Venture Partners and North Bridge Venture Partners the following year. It now has the distinction of being the sole photovoltaic company selected for the first round of grants under the Department of Energy’s high-risk energy tech fund, the highly competitive ARPA-E (Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy) program.

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