At a cleantech panel discussion hosted by the Silicon Valley Association of Startup Entrepreneurs, Intel Capital managing director Steve Eichenlaub, who is leading a push by the corporate VC arm of Intel Corp. into cleantech investments, said he is exploring "important opportunities in areas much farther afield" than most of the chipmaker's 400 portfolio companies.

Of course, there are plenty of areas of cleantech investment that are closely related to the semiconductor field, photovoltaics being the most obvious one. But Intel Capital has not been shy about investing in areas that seem, at least on the surface, somewhat far afield from the chip world. In December, for example, it invested in Intrasoft Technologies, the operator of online greeting card site 123Greetings. Doesn't get much further away from semiconductors than that.

Already, Intel Capital has backed a "smart" meter company, said Eichenlaub, who wouldn't offer further details. Smart meters give consumers additional information about the amount of gas or electricity they consume. This awareness has been shown to decrease consumption by upwards of 30%, he said.

As it tends to do when announcing a new geography-based fund, Intel Capital will probably invest in a handful of cleantech startups to build up a head of steam before unveiling a big push. But don't be suprised to hear a more formal announcement on the cleantech front from Intel Capital in the near future. - Olaf de Senerpont Domis