Micro-Steam Engine Tech Firm Seeks $150K in Crowdfunding for Alternative Energy Solution

Norwegian startup GasDecEngine Technology AS (GDE) announced that they are seeking financial assistance with their prototype development of a cheaper and cleaner energy source.

Since receiving a $180,000 government grant to build a market prototype, GDE launched a crowdfunding campaign to raise and additional $150,000 for the development of its micro-combined heat and power (micro CHP) steam engines – a device which will provide efficient energy on location with fewer emissions.



According to the company, the revolutionary design of the micro CHP will allow small businesses and homes to lower their energy costs, as well as their emissions and even enable them to generate a profit from the energy they produce.

“We will serve an international market with our two design patents,” said CEO and Cofounder Heiko Beilfuss. “Micro CHPs are perfect substitutes for the millions of boilers Europe replaces each year.”

Much of the energy sent to corporations through the grid is lost during the transmission. With micro CHPs able to produce energy on-site, combined with their ability to both create energy and capture their own exhaust to use as a heat source, they are a much more efficient way of producing energy.

“Our generators use fossil fuels 30 percent more efficiently than our competitors,” said Beilfuss. “We are the hybrid vehicle – the Toyota Prius – of energy generators.” In addition to creating energy efficiently, micro CHPs also produce excess electricity, which can be sold back to electricity providers in many markets.

The company aims to use the money raised through the crowdfunding campaign to build a demo CHP which they anticipate would be ready for public presentation by June 2015.

Those who contribute in this round of funding will receive varying levels of rewards. Contributors giving $249 will receive parts needed to build a miniature mechanism of the CHP engine.

Those giving $789 will receive three-dimensional and two-dimensional drawings and a license to build their own CHP engine. Those giving $4,479 will be considered an early adopter and receive a complete set of parts to build their own GDE micro-CHP engine and the rights to use the engine however they wish.

Contributors giving $9,200 will receive a fully assembled engine based on the prototype, which has the capacity to three kilowatts of electrical power and 17 kilowatts of heat. Supporters giving $25,000 will receive a copy of the fully functional and tested micro-CHP.