Updated by Staff

In case you missed the announcement over the Thanksgiving Holiday, eight small Colorado companies working on clean technology applications have won a total of $1.5 million in U.S. Department of Energy grants.

The companies’ nascent technologies range from cleansing power-plant waste and  sensors for improved power plant efficiency to harvesting energy from ocean tides and reducing peak demand in commercial buildings.

“Small businesses are drivers of innovation and are crucial to the development of a competitive clean-energy U.S. economy,” Energy Secretary Steven Chu said in announcing the grants. The Colorado companies were among 107 nationally receiving the 125 federal-stimulus-program grants worth $18 million. “Getting a grant like this turbocharges a project,” said Michael Masterson, chief executive of Broomfield-based Ald Nanosolutions Inc.

The Colorado companies that received small-business-innovation grants from the U.S. Department of Energy:

→ Smallfoot LLC, Boulder, $150,000 for wireless system to reduce peak energy demand in commercial buildings.

→ Syntrotek Corp., Boulder, $148,897 for sensors to help improve power-plant efficiency.

→ Ald Nanosolutions Inc., Broomfield, $150,000 for technology to improve battery performance.

→ Eltron Research and Development Inc., Boulder, $150,000 for a process that reduces the energy needed to produce paper.

→ Tusaar Inc., Boulder, $148,320 for a low- cost technology to remove heavy-metal contaminants from water.

→ Composite Technology Development Inc., Lafayette, $149,937 for the development of a light, durable blade for a tidal turbine.

→ Infotility Inc., Boulder, $146,440 for software to manage plug-in electric vehicles as part of the electric smart grid.

→ Tda Research Inc., Wheat Ridge, $450,000 for three grants for a biodiesel fuel process, a device to manage energy in hybrid and electric vehicles, and technology allowing power plants to use tainted water for cooling.

Source: U.S. Department of Energy