2011.09.22 Tempest founder speaks on panel of leading NC clean tech entrepreneurs

Dr. Roddy Tempest, founder and chairman of Chapel Hill-based Tempest Environmental, was one of five clean technology entrepreneurs who were selected to speak Sept. 22 at the N.C. Governor's Entrepreneurship Summit in Durham.

On the panel were entrepreneurs who founded companies with some of the most innovative clean tech approaches in North Carolina, a state that is home to the Research Triangle, a clean tech hub.

The entrepreneurs spoke about reducing residential power consumption, generating power without smokestacks and producing biofuels with algae. Dr. Tempest talked about his more than 25 years of experience in water purification, reuse and conservation.

"We've become known as a company that can tackle impossible problems and come up with economical solutions," Dr. Tempest said.

Water purification technology designed by Dr. Tempest has provided clean drinking water to survivors of earthquakes, hurricanes, flooding and war worldwide. NASA picked the technology for planned long-duration manned space flights. In the White House, the technology reduces the risk of biological, radioactive and chemical contamination. And hospitals and prisons are interested in the technology to maintain their water supply during emergencies.

A system Dr. Tempest designed for the Duke Energy Center, one of the tallest buildings in Charlotte, cleans and reuses contaminated ground water and cuts the building's demand for city water in half.

Reuse and conservation are Tempest Environmental's main targets, because water is a limited resource.

"Every drop we have on Earth today is the same amount we had at the time of the Egyptians and before," Dr. Tempest said.

What drives Tempest Environmental, he added, is "How can we make things better for future generations with what we've got?"

Other panel members agreed that water is a precious resource.

"Water is a commodity that we better pay attention to," said Kimberly Jones, an algae culture specialist. "We put entirely too little credit on water resources."

Anne Claire Broughton, senior director of the SJF Institute in Durham and the panel's moderator, pointed out that Tempest Environmental's customized water purification and reuse systems for buildings and facilities also help decentralize the water supply nationwide.

Decentralization furthers national security, Broughton said. "It makes sense and it makes us safer."

Tempest Environmental is based in North Carolina's Research Triangle. The Brookings Institute recently ranked the region's clean tech sector the second fastest growing nationwide.

In the Raleigh metropolitan area, the number of clean tech jobs rose by nearly 14 percent to more than 16,600 in the past decade, according to a Brookings Institute report. The clean tech sector is an important element of America's next emerging economy, the report stated.

North Carolina could bolster its clean sector further through an ecosystem for innovation, panel members said. Such an ecosystem could include more collaboration between established companies and startups and better networking of investors and entrepreneurs.

Dr. Tempest said he would like to see North Carolina adopt tax credits as an incentive for water savings.