FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MONDAY, OCTOBER 14, 2013
Media Contact
Ellen Carey
ecarey@secureenergy.org
202.461.2382
#OPEC40
SAFE Announces Finalists for Emerging Innovation Award: Achates
Power Inc., Nostrum Energy LLC, and Virent Inc.
Finalists Will Present Their Technologies at Wednesday’s ‘OPEC Oil Embargo
+40: A National Summit on Energy Security,’ and the Winner will Receive
$125,000 Washington, D.C. —Securing America’s Future Energy (SAFE) announced today that the
following companies are finalists in its Emerging Innovation Award (EIA) competition:

Achates Power, Inc., a company that has developed radically improved internal
combustion engines that increase fuel efficiency, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and
are lower cost.

Nostrum Energy LLC, a company that developed an internally cooled Internal
Combustion cycle for engines that can double the thermal efficiency and triple the fuelto-wheel efficiency of a vehicle.

Virent, Inc., a company that is replacing crude oil by creating the chemicals and fuels the
world demands using a wide range of naturally-occurring, renewable resources.
The three finalists will present their technologies on Wednesday during “OPEC Oil Embargo
+40: A National Summit on Energy Security.” The audience vote at the Summit will be factored
into each contestant’s final score in the three-round competition, and the winner will be
announced at the end of the day. The first-place winner will receive $125,000 in prize money,
while the first runner-up will receive $35,000 and the second runner-up will receive $15,000.
"The key to solving America's oil dependence crisis is innovation in transportation fuels and
vehicle technologies. We need to continue becoming more efficient consumers, while working to
achieve a more diverse fuel base,” said Robbie Diamond, President and CEO of SAFE. “The
three finalists for our Emerging Innovation Award represent this approach perfectly, and I look
forward to seeing them pitch the audience on October 16th during SAFE’s OPEC Oil Embargo
+40 Summit.”
The three companies had the following to say about being named finalists for SAFE’s Energy
Innovation Award:
Achates Power, Inc.: “We’re absolutely thrilled to have made it to the final round of the Energy
Security Prize,” said David Johnson, president and CEO of Achates Power, Inc. “This
recognition further validates the significant potential for our clean, highly efficient and low cost
engines to reduce fuel consumption across a broad range of applications, including high-volume
passenger and commercial vehicles. We look forward to moving our demonstrated technology
from our laboratories to the next generation of cars and trucks.”
Nostrum Energy LLC: “We are honored to be recognized by SAFE for the Nostrum
technologies that revolutionize the internal combustion engine and increase the fuel efficiency of
not only new vehicles, but the millions of existing vehicles across the U.S. and around the
world,” said Kaushik Vyas, CEO, Nostrum Energy LLC. “There are 296 million vehicles on the
road today and as little as 13 percent of the energy from fuel goes directly to the wheels. We are
committed to stopping this substantial amount of wasted energy that contributes to oil
dependence and high emissions levels – and we are ready now.”
Virent, Inc.: “Virent is proud and honored to be recognized a finalist for the SAFE Emerging
Innovation Award” said Virent, Inc’s CEO Lee Edwards. “This distinction further validates our
Bioforming® technology as a breakthrough technology for to drop-in fuels and chemicals from
American grown biomass, thereby reducing our long and costly dependence on imported oil.”
“OPEC Oil Embargo+40: A National Summit on Energy Security” includes participants Dr. Henry
Kissinger, Secretaries Madeleine Albright, Leon Panetta, and James Schlesinger. Business
leaders Fred Smith of FedEx, Jeff Immelt of GE, Dan Akerson of GM, and David Steiner of
Waste Management will also be joining to the discussion to share their thoughts on the
opportunities created by the U.S. energy revolution and the solutions to end America’s oil
dependence.
For more information and to register for SAFE’s “OPEC Oil Embargo +40: A National Summit on
Energy Security,” this Wednesday, October 16th, please visit www.OilEmbargo40.org or join the
conversation at #OPEC40.
About Securing America’s Future Energy (SAFE)
Securing America’s Future Energy (SAFE) is a nonpartisan organization that aims to reduce America’s
dependence on oil and improve U.S. energy security to bolster national security and strengthen the
economy. SAFE advocates for expanded domestic production of U.S. oil and gas resources, continued
improvements in fuel efficiency, and in the long-term, breaking oil’s stranglehold on the transportation
sector through alternatives like natural gas for heavy-duty trucks and plug-in electric vehicles. In 2006,
SAFE joined with General P.X. Kelley (Ret.), 28th Commandant of the U.S. Marine Corps, and Frederick
W. Smith, Chairman, President, and CEO of FedEx Corporation, to form the Energy Security Leadership
Council (ESLC), a group of business and former military leaders committed to reducing U.S. oil
dependence.
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