Finalists were announced last night for the Regional Cleantech Open Business Competition, which highlighted the broad scope of clean technologies and competencies of the Pacific Northwest. Winners included a water purification system, materials for cooling electronics in data centers and an all-electric commuter vehicle.
From nanomaterials research at the University of Washington came finalist NANOCEL, with a microfluidic polymer cooling system for electronics. Nationwide 1.5 percent of total U.S. electrical energy is consumed just by data centers and nearly half of that stems from cooling the heat generated by dense, high-speed electronics.
