Green Tech

Wave power prototype sinks in the sea

Finavera's AquaBuoy prototype is asleep in the deep.

The company placed a 72-foot-long buoy in the waters off of Oregon in September as part of an ongoing effort to assess the commercial potential for wave power. The buoy, however, sunk in 115 feet of water on October 27, according to a report on RenewableEnergyAccess.com.

"It seems to have something to do with the float section of the device," Myke Clark, a Finavera employee, told the Web site. After water started coming in, the bilge pump couldn't get rid of the water fast enough.

T'is … Read more

First Solar's stock: From $20 to $220 in a year

It's official. First Solar is the Google of solar companies.

The Phoenix, Ariz.-based maker of cadmium telluride solar cells and panels has soared past the $200 a share mark. It was up to $230 today and is currently trading at about $219.

Remarkably, First Solar had an initial public offering in the middle of November 2006. The stock went out at $20 a share, so effectively, it has gone up in value by 11 times in a little less than a year. Google went out at $85 a few years ago and is now above $700. The numbers … Read more

Solar ships coming to San Francisco in 2009

In two years, tourists will likely be traveling to Alcatraz on green energy.

Australia's Solar Sailor has come up with a way to make large solar panels that can also act like sails. Put one or more of the sails on a boat and the boat gets converted into a hybrid. The boat still has a diesel engine, but it mostly gets around on wind or sun power. A tour boat in Sydney Harbor has an array of eight small solar sails.

"It makes three runs a day and uses 1/10th of the fuel," says CEO … Read more

Bill Clinton: Green buildings key to fighting climate change

CHICAGO--Fighting climate change requires making the nation's homes, offices, and schools healthier and more energy efficient, former president Bill Clinton told thousands attending the Greenbuild conference on Wednesday. Sweeping efforts to reduce the carbon footprints of buildings, which emit three-quarters of most cities' greenhouse gases, can measurably benefit the environment, he said.

"The sale's been made," Clinton said. "Otherwise Al Gore wouldn't have gotten the Nobel Prize. Now what we have to do is...to prove that this is not a big bottle of castor oil that we're being asked to drink."… Read more

Shell extends biofuels deal with 'super enzyme' maker Codexis

Fuels giant Royal Dutch Shell said on Wednesday that it has expanded its development partnership with Codexis to build advanced biofuels.

As part of the five-year deal, Shell will take an equity stake in the 5-year-old company and a seat on its board.

Shell said the extension of the existing research with Codexis will focus on using non-food biomass sources to make "high-performance fuels."

Rather than target ethanol production through this partnership, Shell intends to make hydrocarbons from plants--that is, low-carbon liquid fuels that closely resemble existing fuels.

Codexis has a process that allows it to create what … Read more

Governors sign on to Climate Savers efficient PCs plan

The nation's governors are jumping on the bandwagon of energy efficiency in computing.

The governors of Minnesota and Kansas on Wednesday committed to buying energy-efficient PCs, part of a partnership between the National Governors Assocation and the Climate Savers Computing Initiative.

Launched earlier this year, the Climate Savers Computing Initiative is a group formed by Intel and Google to promote use of energy-efficient power supplies for PCs.

Gov. Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota and Gov. Kathleen Sebelius of Kansas said that new PC purchases for their states will meet the EnergyStar 4.0 rating, which could result in a 50 … Read more

Start-up Novomer uses CO2 to make biodegradable plastics

Update: the headline was changed to reflect that Novomer's process does not start with plant material and so does not produce a bioplastic.

Novomer, a Cornell University spin-off, has devised a method for making biodegradable plastics from the common gases carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide.

The company on Wednesday announced that Physic Ventures and Flagship Ventures have invested $6.6 million, which Novomer will use to commercialize its technology.

The plastics it intends to make could be used in a wide range of applications, including supermarket packaging, computer cases, plastic bottles, or foam to insulate buildings, said Novomer president … Read more

Fast-growing First Solar announces deals and plants

First Solar, those cadmium telluride oddballs, is on the move again.

The company said this week that it has signed a deal to supply Babcock & Brown with solar modules in a deal that will bring it a $1 billion in revenue between 2008 and 2009. Overall, First has contracts to install over 3 gigawatts of power through 2012.

To meet demand for the project, the company's board has approved a fourth manufacturing plant in Malaysia. Two are under construction, and the company announced a third manufacturing plant in April. Each plant will have four manufacturing lines. When up … Read more

Investor Vinod Khosla: Advanced biofuels are closer than you think

Start-up Range Fuels on Tuesday will host a groundbreaking ceremony in Soperton, Ga., where the company will build a plant that will make the fuel ethanol from wood chips.

If successful, the company claims it will be the first to build a commercial cellulosic ethanol plant, using a feedstock that's cleaner than corn--the primary source of ethanol in the U.S. today.

Green tech venture capitalist Vinod Khosla is one the investors in Range Fuels and a high-profile advocate of ethanol and other biofuels.

The numbers behind making ethanol from wood waste, rather than corn, are compelling, he says: … Read more