(Source: MARKETWIRE)Soane Energy LLC today announced that it has secured its first institutional round of financing. The round was led by Intervale Capital and also included CTTV Investments LLC, the venture capital arm of Chevron Technology Ventures. Soane Energy is focused on developing and applying innovative chemical solutions based on specialty polymers and surface science to help meet the worldwide hunger for energy in a practical, immediate and environmentally responsible way. The company's initial focus is on the oil sands market in Canada.

"The US Department of Energy projects that our reliance on fossil fuels will actually increase over the next two decades," said David Soane, Ph.D., founder of Soane Energy. "While alternative energy will fulfill our power needs of tomorrow, Soane Energy's technology can be applied today to improve the efficiency of oil and gas extraction and reduce the environmental impact of exploration and production."

Canada provides 19 percent of the U.S.'s foreign oil supply, making it the number one oil exporter to the U.S. Half of that oil comes from oil sands, which have an estimated developable reserve of 175 billion barrels. However, the oil sands extraction process is energy-intensive and inefficient. It also produces a byproduct of contaminated water, currently stored in manmade lakes (called tailing ponds) that cover over 130 square kilometers of the Canadian landscape. To comply with new environmental directives from Alberta's Energy Resources Conservation Board (ERCB), oil producers are seeking new recovery options that can make the oil sands production process more efficient, less costly and more environmentally friendly.

"The ERCB in Alberta has issued new directives with deadlines beginning in September 2009, which means that oil sands producers are looking for immediate and effective solutions to the tailings issue," said Charles Cherington, Managing Partner and co-founder of Intervale Capital. "Soane Energy offers a significant opportunity to address the tailings problem in a more economic and environmentally friendly manner."

Soane Energy is developing a portfolio of technologies based on polymer chemistry and microparticle science that will enable operators to improve the efficiency of producing oil from oil sands, while reducing the environmental impact of tailings ponds.