Green Tech

You would think a market projected to grow to $4 billion over the next five years would have a rock-solid way to measure its currency. Now, it has a least one standard.

The Voluntary Carbon Standard was released Monday, providing a much sought-after framework to account for voluntary carbon offsets.

Voluntary carbon offsets are a way for individuals or businesses to spend money to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. Pollution reduction credits of various flavors are already being figured into the business plans of many green tech start-ups.

If a corporation wishes to be carbon neutral, for example, it will … Read more

Members of OPEC announced Tuesday that they will contribute $750 million to a fund to study clean energy and technologies, according to Cleantech.com

The fund will put a particular emphasis on carbon capture and storage.

Saudi Arabia coughed up $300 million for the fund while Kuwait, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates each pledged $150 million. Abu Dhabi, a member of the United Arab Emirates, already participates in a clean technology venture fund.

In a statement, OPEC (according to Cleantech.com) said it would "stress the importance of cleaner and more efficient petroleum technologies for the protection of … Read more

First Solar, which makes cadmium-telluride solar cells, is having one of those years that corporate managers and investors dream about.

Revenues more than tripled in the third quarter to $159 million from a year ago while profits rose to $46 million, or about ten times what they were the year before. Plant expansion is occurring rapidly and the company's stock has gone from $20 to over $200 in a year. The stock price seems vastly inflated when you look at traditional price-earnings ratios, but it's not the first time people have bet big on a growth stock. It'… Read more

Who knew tackling global warming could be so fun?

A Boston-area entrepreneur has launched a Web site called Carbonrally that aims to marry online games and social networks with consumers' desire to shrink their carbon footprint.

Here's how it works. The company behind Carbonrally, Carbon Challenge, regularly posts a "challenge" that translates into a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. Choosing filtered tap water over bottled water, for example, translates into reducing 3 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions a week. (No plastic bottles involved.)

Individuals or teams can take up the challenge. Typically, it's the "dark … Read more

Volkswagen, the German car giant, will participate in a joint venture with Phoenix Motorcars to build electric vehicles for Latin America and India.

The plant for the venture, called Pristine International, will be built in Puebla, Mexico. It is unclear what kind of vehicles these cars will be. Phoenix, though, specializes in all-electric SUVs and Trucks. The company has taken orders for over 500 electric vehicles and hopes to start delivering some to customers in 2008. Earlier, it had hoped to get cars out in 2007.

Phoenix plans to insert batteries from Reno's Altair Nanotechnologies into its cars. Altair'… Read more

SolFocus has now raised a total of $63.6 million in series B funding to move into production of its solar power plants.

An extra $11.6 million in funding, announced Tuesday, complements the $52 million in series B funding the company announced in September. Altogether, the company has raised $95 million in venture capital.

SolFocus, which was spun out of Palo Alto Research Center (PARC) is perhaps the most high-profile company to pursue solar concentrators, where mirrors and lenses magnify light in order to squeeze more electricity from very efficient solar cells.

These solar installations--usually ground-mounted machines, are typically … Read more

Printer companies are under attack as more people become concerned about global warming and toxic pollution.

The solution? "Printer Vendors Need to Greenwash Their Image."

That unfortunate headline was the theme of an e-mail newsletter this morning from Lyra Research, a well-respected firm that tracks the digital imaging industry.

Apparently the writer didn't realize or care that "greenwashing" is a negative term. It describes how companies aiming to appeal to treehuggers are painting a green face, without necessarily cleaning up their act.

Picky consumers detest this trend, which makes it nearly impossible to tell which … Read more

After two years of studying the economic impact of climate change, asset management firm AllianceBernstein has come to a seemingly paradoxical conclusion: one of the dirtiest fuels around--coal--has a bright future.

Its findings, released Friday, are one of several reports issued by investment firms over the past two years which explore how industries can benefit or be harmed by climate change.

Apart from growing consumer demand for clean energy and green products, one of the most significant economic drivers is regulation over greenhouse gases.

Like many people following regulatory activity, AllianceBernstein analysts figure mandatory limits on emissions will happen--it's … Read more

Environmental marketing firm TerraChoice found that many retail products overstate their environmental attributes, a practice which risks causing skepticism among consumers.

The company sent people to big-box retail stores to find products labeled as green. In the process, it found that almost all of them committed at least one of what it calls "sins of greenwashing."

Most common was the "Sin of the Hidden Trade-Off," where manufacturers claim a product has a green feature, such as recycled paper content, but don't pay attention to potentially more important issues, such as global warming or water use. … Read more