Paul Nelson

Paul Nelson has over 20 years of energy, entrepreneurial and technology development/research experience. Currently, he is the Managing Partner at Saoradh Energy, an advisory firm taking active roles in the design and growth of energy related ventures, particularly in distributed power generation and advanced vehicle fueling and charging infrastructure. Prior, Paul founded the Center for Revolutionary Solar Photoconversion, a research center among NREL, universities and industry, where he currently serves as a Senior Advisor. Paul maintains professional affiliations as a board member at the University of Colorado Deming Center for Entrepreneurship, a founding board member for Colorado Cleantech Industry Association, and an advisory board member for Green Garage Research Experience & Education. For his efforts in building university/industry partnerships in the renewable energy space, Paul received the Physical Science/Engineering/IT Business Advisor of the Year award from the CU Technology Transfer Office in 2008. Paul’s career in the energy industry began in 1989 at Julander Energy Company, where he led the business plan project for the Natural Fuels Company (NFC) joint venture between Xcel Energy and Colorado Interstate Gas Company, was lead author for the Colorado Oil & Gas Association’s first Natural Gas Industry Report, among other projects. During the 1990s, he held various positions at NFC, including sales management, vehicle/engine OEM interface, government affairs, operations management, and general management. In 2000, he founded Blue Energy & Technologies LLC, raised $10.5 million in strategic and venture capital and purchased NFC from Xcel Energy and a similar business from TXU Energy in Dallas, Texas. As the Blue Energy CEO, he expanded compressed and liquefied natural gas fueling and vehicle support operations in Colorado, New Mexico, Texas, and Wyoming. Mr. Nelson sold Blue Energy with positive EBITDA to ENRG Fuels in 2003 (a company founded by T. Boone Pickens), which subsequently became Clean Energy Fuels — the leading natural gas vehicle fueling company in North America, and is listed on the NASDAQ (symbol CLNE) with operations across the United States and internationally. Investors in Blue Energy earned greater than a 30% IRR on their investment with the IPO exit. Mr. Nelson holds a B.S. in Business-Finance, a B.A. in Chemistry with a minor in biochemistry, and in May 2010 received a research M.S. in Chemistry, all from the University of Colorado at Boulder (CU). He is a member of the American Chemical Society.