Green Tech

Although hydrogen is the most abundant element in the universe, it's a royal pain to make.

Most industrial hydrogen producers currently make the gas by heating methane and water to 815 degrees Celsius and causing a reaction. Unfortunately, this process generates 9.3 kilograms of carbon dioxide for every kilo of hydrogen, so it's not environmentally friendly or cheap.

Other companies like Signa Chemistry have come out with chemical catalysts that can strip hydrogen from water.

Then there is electrolysis, which involves cracking water molecules with electricity. Electrolysis doesn't produce any greenhouse gases or chemical residues so … Read more

Mascoma, which hopes to make cellulosic ethanol out of old wood chips and weed-like plants, will hold a groundbreaking ceremony on Monday for its first plant that is expected to start producing fuel by the end of 2008.

The plant, in Rome, N.Y., will be capable of churning out 500,000 gallons of fuel a year when fully operational. While that sounds like a lot, it's small for the fuel industry. (Americans consume about 150 billion gallons of gas a year.) Thus, the plant will serve as a showcase for Mascoma's technology. The company, a spin-out of … Read more

The face behind the wheel of a hybrid car is most likely to belong to an upwardly mobile, physically active person with tech savvy, according to a report by Scarborough Research (PDF).

Forty-two percent of those polled earn six figures or more each year. The group is more than 20 percent likely than average to be at least 50 years old. Nearly a third hold a postgraduate degree, with the rate of college graduation more than doubling the U.S. average.

Only 14 percent of hybrid owners identify as Republican, while 38 percent are Democrats, and 34 percent call themselves … Read more

Ecotality plans to acquire Minit-Charger, a subsidiary of publicly traded Edison International, for $3 million in cash and stock, both companies announced Thursday.

Minit-Charger makes chargers for rechargeable lithium-ion and lead-acid batteries that can be used in electric light construction vehicles like forklifts. The Irvine, Calif.-based company includes Home Depot, Costco Wholesale, and Toyota Motor among its customers.

"It's the charging system, very complex, that allows batteries to be charged to maximum charge on minimum time. It has a complex electrical system that adjusts once every 300 times per minute for variances," Ecotality CEO Jonathan Read … Read more

Tesla Motors helped bring the concept of the all-electric vehicle back from the dead, but it appears they also have gas on their minds.

Speaking at the ThinkGreen conference in San Francisco, vice president of finance Mike Taylor told an audience that the GM Volt is "a really good way" of extending the range on electric sedans in a cost-effective way.

The Volt, planned to come out around 2010, contains a gas engine and an electric motor. The car runs on the electric motor and the gas engine recharges the battery. These sorts of vehicles, called range-extended electric … Read more

Digital TV will bring a new world of entertainment to consumers and generate a big honking pile of electronic waste.

Roughly 80 million analog TVs will get heaved out in 2008 and 2009, according to John Shegerian, CEO of Electronic Recyclers (ER), one of the largest e-waste recyclers in the U.S., and someone is going to have to dispose of those old TVs properly. The glass in the tube consists of about 22 percent lead.

Even without the digital TV mandate (which kicks in on February 17, 2009), the e-recycling business is booming. Roughly 65 million pounds of e-waste … Read more

People have wanted to turn sea water into drinking water for years. Unfortunately, it's not cheap.

The reverse osmosis process, which separates out salt with a membrane, costs about 50 cents per cubic meter of water. Reverse osmosis systems also have to be monitored so that the membrane doesn't get fouled or clogged. Last year, Ashkelon in Israel opened a $250 million plant that will ultimately churn out 100 million cubic meters of water annually.

Quos, a stealth company out of Chicago, has come up with a technique for removing the salt and other impurities without membranes, according … Read more

Incandescent bulbs are getting it from all sides these days.

Taiwan may soon join the list of national and state governments to impose regulations that lead to the demise of traditional incandescent bulbs. Neal Hunter, CEO of LED Lighting Fixtures (LLF), says there are rumors in the lighting world that Taiwan will pass legislation that would phase out incandescents by 2011 or 2012. Sporadic reports in Taiwanese papers have come out saying that the Ministry of Economic Affairs wants to get rid of incandescents too.

Taiwan will also promote LEDs as the light source of choice for the future, he … Read more

The U.S. Climate Action Partnership, a high-profile collection of 33 corporations and environmental nonprofits, pledged Monday to slash its greenhouse gas emissions by 90 percent by 2050, and demanded that no new coal power plants be built.

The only problem with that announcement was that it was a lie.

The story, picked up by the Dallas Morning News and other media outlets, originated from a phony press release issued by environmental activists Rising Tide North America. The trick was timed to coincide with the United Nations Conference on Climate Change in Bali, Indonesia.

The exploit aimed to throw egg … Read more