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BYD is an automotive company in name only for most Americans. That's because the Warren Buffett-backed Chinese company, named one of our Most Innovative Companies in China , has yet to sell any of its much-hyped electric vehicles--or any of its vehicles, for that matter--in North America (the company sells a gas-powered car in China).

Investors and cleantech entrepreneurs alike should take note of this pie chart from OnGreen , a just-launched online marketplace for cleantech startups seeking funds. The information is gleaned from OnGreen's beta site, which already has 350 companies seeking $1.9 billion in capital ($142 million is sought by companies that already have funding).

The Tata Group continues its ever-expanding quest to bring resources to low-income citizens of the world, this time with an announcement that it has joined up with MIT scientist Daniel Nocera, founder of SunCatalytix , to create power from water. Specific terms of the deal have not been disclosed.

Carbon capture and storage (CCS), a technique that captures carbon emissions from industrial and coal-fired plants and buries them underground, is understandably controversial.

Japan's ongoing nuclear crisis has triggered radiation hysteria all over the world--thyroid-protecting potassium iodine pills are flying off the shelves in the U.S, Geiger counters are selling out in Paris, and all of a sudden, everyone seems to care how close they are to a nuclear plant. Enter RDTN , a crowdsourced radiation site that aims to keep users up to date on exactly how high radiation levels are in Japan and on the West Coast of the U.S.

In the market for a hybrid supercar? Porsche is taking preorders for the 918 Spyder hybrid, a supercar first announced at the 2010 Geneva Motor Show. The vehicle was intended to remain a concept, but Porsche received such a positive response that it decided to put the supercar into production.

Earlier this month, we looked at the X-Ar, an exoskeletal support that attaches to the arm and shoulders, allowing users to keep their X-Ar-attached arms outstretched for hours on end. Now we have video of the gadget in action. The device, manufactured by Equipois, could prove invaluable to anyone who works with their arms all day--think surgeons, jewelers, and factory workers

For most electric vehicle drivers, so-called " range anxiety " shouldn't be an issue--drivers usually have enough foresight to stop at a gas station before gasoline runs out, so why wouldn't the same be true for EVs? Granted, there are fewer charging stations than gas stations currently on the streets, which is presumably why French automaker Renault is advertising a "get you home guarantee" for its electric vehicles. Autobloggreen reports that Renault will offer a replacement vehicle for stranded motorists while their EV charges up--assuming that the vehicle ran out of juice within what it deems a realistic range.

Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport is growing. In the coming years, the airport--the 15th largest in the world--expects to have 70 million bags passing through it any given time (a 40% increase from today)

University-backed research inspires a game where users crush virtual cigarettes--and, in turn, their own bad habit.

In the past few years, online crowdsourcing has emerged as an ultra-popular method of finding solutions to difficult problems such as infant mortality rates and out-of-control oil spills . Could crowdsourcing help Japan quell its nuclear disaster and help the country get back on its feet? The Global Innovation Commons , a repository of innovations that can be used because of patent expiration, abandonment, invalidity, or lack of in-country protection, has compiled a list of patent disclosures and open source technology that could be used as part of Japan's

A new education and grant service from Google aims to help nonprofits. Google has announced a new program for nonprofits , which they say will include a grant for adwords, exclusive tools, and collaboration forums

Last week, Fast Company had the chance to sit in on a venture-capital pitch session featuring a number of startups that have in the past participated in the Cleantech Open , a series of competitions that provides funding and advice to cleantech startups. Below, we look at three of the companies with the most compelling pitches. Fenix International This startup designs distributed, small-scale micro power generation and storage solutions in a box.

If SXSW serves as a barometer of all trends hot in tech, then group messaging and texting apps are one of the hottest trends--even by Austin, Texas, standards. These days, I can't open my email without seeing yet another pitch plaguing my inbox touting some slight variation on the group messaging formula.

Wildcat Discovery Technologies , a San Diego-based startup, thinks it has made a discovery that could, in one fell swoop, make your laptop battery, cell phone battery, and electric vehicle batteries all last between 25% and 65% longer. The key: a pair of new materials---a high-voltage electrolyte material and a high voltage cathode material--that provide vastly improved energy density compared to today's technologies (in technical terms, they have an energy density of over 675 Wh/kg while operating in fuel cells at five volts).