Mintz Levin Energy Technology

Energy Technology Connections Newsletter

Your Law Firm Link to Industry News

April 2016

A Note from the Editors

Our April edition of Energy Technology Connections brings you recent industry highlights and a list of upcoming energy industry events. In Leaders in the News, we profile WellDog for its work in providing cutting-edge technical services in the sustainable energy resource development sphere. Our Innovator Profile spotlights Aspen Aerogels and its impact on the energy market as the world’s leading manufacturer of aerogel insulation. For event highlights, we feature next week’s MIT Clean Energy Prize Showcase & Award Ceremony. In addition, we feature two events taking place in May, the World Energy Innovation Forum and Massachusetts Clean Energy Day.

For links to industry grant opportunities and stories from the business, policy, and research sectors of the energy and clean technology industry, please see our Energy Navigator.

Contents

Leaders in the News: WellDog

This month’s Leader in the News is WellDog, an energy-focused technical services company that developed its own chemical sensing systems to provide reservoir analysis services for coal, gas, alternative, and conventional resources. Sustainable production of complex resources require producers to efficiently collect and interpret high densities of data. WellDog steps into the process by providing accurate data with its phenomenal cross-disciplinary team of engineers, drilling and completion experts, and operational staff.

Since its inception in 1999, WellDog has proven to be a pioneer in sustainable energy resource development through the use of unconventional and innovative technologies. As a trailblazer in the reservoir monitoring industry, WellDog invented the first reservoir evaluation technology specific to unconventional natural gas. In fact, in early 2015, WellDog announced that it surpassed its operational milestone as it had installed over 1,500 downhole reservoir monitoring systems since 2010 — making it one of the leading installers of such systems in the world.

Even more exciting is WellDog’s continuous expansion of its product portfolio in new industry areas. In December of 2015, WellDog announced that it had established a new carbon services division dedicated to ensuring carbon dioxide can be sequestered safely and efficiently in geological formations. At this rate of expansion, WellDog is well-poised to further advance and innovate other untouched industry areas in the energy sphere.

Today, WellDog is continuing the push to supply its cutting-edge services to enterprises that focus on sustainability. In late March, WellDog announced that it had raised $4.25 million in new debt financing from Cash Resources Australia of Sydney, which will help pave the way for the company’s rapid growth in 2016. WellDog’s significant achievements have not gone unnoticed: in 2015, WellDog was ranked the 16th fastest growing private energy company in the United States by Inc. magazine and recognized as the 101st fastest growing technology company in North America by Deloitte. Congratulations to WellDog for its advancement of sustainable energy resource development — the Mintz Levin team looks forward to your continued growth and leadership in the energy sphere!

Return to top

Innovator Profile: Aspen Aerogels

This month we feature Aspen Aerogels, an energy technology company producing innovative, high-performance aerogel insulation used primarily in large-scale energy infrastructure facilities. Aspen has become a premier manufacturer of aerogel insulation products that offer two to five times the thermal performance of competing materials. Serving clients in a diverse array of industries, including oil and gas production and processing, liquefied natural gas shipping and storage, and building and construction, Aspen delivers products that save money, reduce energy use, preserve operating assets and protect workers.

Invented in 1931, aerogels are complex structures in which 97% of the volume consists of air trapped between intertwined clusters of silica solids, compromising the remaining 3% of the volume. As a result, aerogels are the world’s lowest density materials and also provide superior insulating properties as convection and conduction are both inhibited. While aerogels are typically fragile, Aspen has developed a technically and economically viable form of aerogel for industrial insulation uses. Aspen provides a wide range of industrial insulation products that incorporate this aerogel technology, including its two key product lines, Pyrogel and Cryogel, which were introduced in 2008 and have wide applicability throughout the energy infrastructure market.

The future is bright for Aspen as it continues to expand its production in order to meet the growing demand of its customers. The company maintains its corporate headquarters in Northborough, Massachusetts along with a manufacturing facility in East Providence, Rhode Island. In October, Aspen celebrated the completion of its third manufacturing line at the East Providence facility that will expand the company’s capacity by 25%. Aspen then announced in November that it will create more than 100 jobs with the construction of a second manufacturing complex in Statesboro, Georgia. We are excited to watch the continued growth of Aspen Aerogels — keep up the good work!

Return to top

Event Highlights

MIT Clean Energy Prize Showcase & Award Ceremony

Join the MIT Clean Energy Prize on April 30 for the Grand Final Showcase & Award Ceremony. At the Showcase, you’ll have an opportunity to meet this year’s finalist teams in categories including Renewable Energy, Energy Efficiency, and Infrastructure & Resources. At the Award Ceremony, prizes will be announced for each track as well as the $100,000 Grand Prize Award. You’ll also hear from keynote speakers, including Paul Bodnar, former Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Energy and Climate Change at the National Security Council, and Adam Cohen, Deputy Under Secretary for Science and Energy to the United States Department of Energy. Our own Eric Macaux is looking forward to serving as a judge for the Renewable Energy Track.

2016 World Energy Innovation Forum

There is still time to join us! Mintz Levin is returning as a sponsor of the World Energy Innovation Forum held at the Tesla Motors manufacturing facility on May 4–5, 2016 in Fremont, California. The Forum brings together the “who’s who” of the energy innovation sector, including leading investors, Fortune 500 executives, technologists, policymakers and entrepreneurs for two days of high-level presentations, conversations, and networking. The event will feature many key leaders in the energy innovation sector, all of whom will take to the podium to address pivotal energy issues and opportunities of our time. Attendees will get a much-coveted look at Tesla’s award-winning facility as part of a special VIP tour of the manufacturing floor, as well as a chance to test drive a Tesla.

Massachusetts Clean Energy Day

On May 19, spend a day at the Massachusetts State House where Massachusetts will showcase the growing vitality of the clean energy industry and the importance of consistent policy support as a means of catalyzing the state’s — and our region’s — economy. Massachusetts Clean Energy Day is open to the general public and will include a showcase, speaking program, and the Clean Energy Champion Awards. For NECEC members, there will also be meetings with Key Legislators.

Return to top

Energy Navigator

Please visit and bookmark our Energy Navigator to easily view all of the latest headlines from the most trusted publications reporting on developments in the energy and clean technology industries. It is housed on our blog, Energy Technology Matters.

Upcoming Events