It's not the punchline to a joke. A rubber company, water company and a waste conversion company really are all on the list of companies grabbing the headlines this week.

San Leandro, Calif.-based Energy Recovery, which makes energy recovery devices for the water desalination industry, set terms for its upcoming initial public offering at 14 million shares.

Those shares are expected to sell on the New York Stock Exchange at $7 to $9 per share.

Over in Naples, Fla., Lehigh Technologies, a rubber recycling company, has reportedly raised a new round of funding from Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and Index Ventures.

The amount of cash was not disclosed, but the company is expected to use the funding for the construction of a new recycling plant.

And in the Netherlands, Ensartech, a developer of waste conversion technology, secured an undisclosed amount of funding led by Icos Capital, along with additional capital from Capricorn Cleantech Fund.

Ensartech said the cash would be used to finance the rollout of its waste smelting system, which it said can convert all types of waste into energy and clean base materials.

The rest of the roundup includes deals in solar, biodiesel, wind and more.

Deals we saw over the past week:

• San Leandro, Calif.-based Energy Recovery, which makes energy recovery devices for the water desalination industry, set terms for its upcoming initial public offering at 14 million shares, with 5.9 million from selling shareholders. The shares are expected to sell on the New York Stock Exchange at $7 to $9 per share. Backed by two Norwegian investment groups, Energy Recovery is using Citigroup and Credit Suisse as lead underwriters on the deal.
• New Horizon Capital is raising cash for its third U.S. dollar fund and a renminbi fund. The company said the investment of these funds would reach new energy fields, especially biomass based energy. The amount of the U.S. dollar fund is expected to be over $500 million and the RMB fund will be over 1 billion RMB (142.9 million USD).
• Shanghai Pudong Development Bank and IFC signed an agreement to collaborate in supporting energy saving projects that could help cut 3.5 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions in China annually. According to a joint statement,IFC said it would provide Shanghai Pudong Development Bank with a risk sharing facility of 500 million RMB, or US$71.4 million, which would enable the bank to fund energy saving projects in China totaling up to 1 billion RMB (142.9 million USD).
• Naples, Fla.-based Lehigh Technologies, a rubber recycling company, has reportedly raised a new round of funding from Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and Index Ventures. Financial terms were not disclosed. Lehigh is expected to use the cash to fund construction of a new recycling plant. Last year, the company raised $18 million in a round led by Natural Gas Partners.
• Germany's SMA Solar Technology announced plans to raise up to €150 million in an IPO on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. The company, which makes solar inverters, said it was aiming to raise between €100 million and €150 million, with the owners expected to sell up to seven million shares in the offering.SMA said the share sale would consist of up to 11.5 million shares, including an overallotment option of 1.5 million shares. Deutsche Bank and Citigroup are joint global coordinators on the deal, with Commerzbank and LBBW serving as co-lead managers.
• Netherlands-based Ensartech, a developer of waste conversion technology, secured an undisclosed amount of funding led by Icos Capital, along with additional capital from Capricorn Cleantech Fund. Ensartech said the cash would be used to finance the rollout of its waste smelting system, which it said can convert all types of waste into energy and clean base materials. The company said the first Ensartech plant is under construction in the north of the Netherlands, and that it plans to build five to 10 facilities internationally over the next few years.
• The Dovalue Capital China Fund was raised with 1 billion RMB (142.9 million USD). The fund will focus on new energy, new materials and environmental protection fields. The fund said US$50 million was raised by oversea investors.Dovalue said investment for any single project would not be less than 10 million RMB (1.43 million USD) and would focus on follow-on, pre-IPO stage companies.
• China Orienwise Group is raising its first private equity fund, which is expected to close in June with 300 to 500 million RMB (42.9 to 71.4 million USD). The fund will invest in manufacturing, new materials, new energy, energy saving and environment protection, and biomedical fields. China Orienwise said 70 percent of the investment would focus on growing or mature stage companies.
• Foshan, China-based China Flooring Holdings raised US$100 million from IFC and Morgan Stanley. IFC provided $20 million in equity and $30 million in long-term debt, while Morgan Stanley provided a $50 million investment. China Flooring Holdings plans to use the funding to support sustainable forestry in China and said its Nature Flooring brand would start to use 100 percent certified wood.
• Ji'an, China-based Jiangxi Tianren Group received US$30 million in funding from Blue Ridge China and KPCB China Fund. The Tianren Group develops organic fungicides and insecticides.
• SpectraWatt, a maker of photovoltaic cells for solar manufacturers, has been formed as an independent spinout from Santa Clara, Calif.-based chipmaker Intel. SpectraWatt received $50 million in funding commitments led by Intel Capital. Other investors include Goldman Sax subsidiary Cogentrix Energy, PCG Clean Energy and Technology Fund, and Solon (see Intel Inside solar cells: mixed bag?).
• Epyon, a Netherlands-based fast-charging battery developer, raised an undisclosed amount of funding from SET Venture Partners, Chrysalix Energy, and the management of Epyon. A spin-off company of the Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands, Epyon develops technology and intellectual property in the field of ultra fast charging of advanced lithium-ion batteries.
• Gate Global Alternative Energy Holding, a German biodiesel producer, is facing a restructuring. Gate's parent company, Fortune Management, a Swiss investment firm, said the biodiesel group would be transferred out of Fortune completely and would be restructured under the leadership of Alvarez & Marsal, a turnaround management firm. In March, Gate's 100,000 tonne plant in Ennis, Austria, declared insolvency.
• Lund, Sweden's Alfa Laval announced that it has acquired a minority stake in Ageratec, a Norrkoping, Sweden-based developer of process solutions for the biodiesel industry. Alfa Laval, a provider of specialty products and engineering solutions, said that Ageratec is working on a system that would eliminate the need for washing the biodiesel process, reducing water consumption.
• Oslo, Norway-based Statkraft raised its investment in wind in Sweden, buying an 11.8 percent stake in Laholm, Sweden's Arise Windpower. State-controlled Statkraft said Arise Windpower, which develops land-based wind projects in southern Sweden, has agreements with for the construction of around 300 turbines and the generation of 2terrawatts of renewable energy per year (see Statkraft takes stake in Arise Windpower).
• The U.S. Department of Energy announced $30 million in funding for three Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle, or PHEV, projects. The DOE said the three-year cost-shared demonstration and development projects would accelerate the development of PHEVs capable of traveling up to 40 miles without recharging, which the department said includes most daily roundtrip commutes (see DOE puts up $30M for PHEV projects).

Browse previous deals here.

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