Go figure: a city in the middle of oil country is the epicenter for clean technology startups. The Austin Chamber of Commerce’s Clean Energy Council is working with private venture funds to invest in clean technology startups through the Texas ETF and Austin Clean Energy Incubator.

Four companies that received funding include:

-- AccuWater – seeded by the Central Texas Angel Network, AccuWater™ Irrigation Control is an intelligent, Internet-based irrigation system that curbs overwatering by 20 to 50 percent and virtually eliminates run-off
-- HelioVolt – a solar start-up specializing in the development of copper indium gallium selenide (CIGS) for thin-film solar panels recently secured $77 million to build a manufacturing plant capable of producing 20 megawatts worth of solar panels annually
-- Skyonic – a privately-held angel funded company that designed a proprietary technology, the SkyMine™ process to convert power plant emissions into commercial-grade chemicals that can be recycled into numerous industrial application
-- Xtreme Power – designs, manufactures and markets power systems products capable of storing, conditioning, and leveling electricity at extremely high efficiencies from 100KW through megawatt range. Currently, the company is working with the National Science Foundation as a clean power source for research at the South Pole.

Austin Energy is ranked as the top green energy program in the country by the DOE's National Renewable Energy Laboratory, and SustainLane ranked Austin as the top city for clean technology.

These investment pay back the city with jobs and tax revenue that can pay back the tax incentives several times over.

So take that Silicon Valley!