coal

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

GreatPoint Energy announced plans Thursday to build a plant to produce natural gas from biomass, coal and petroleum coke in its home state of Massachusetts.

The facility, which is expected to be finished in one year, will be located in Brayton Point at the research and development center of energy utility Dominion.

Massachusetts Gov. Duval Patrick was set to speak at a ceremony to announce the $25 million investment, which is benefiting … Read more

Ecotality is lending its hydrogen technology expertise to a municipal electricity project that aims to squeeze natural gas from coal without emitting carbon dioxide.

The company is partnering with the Arizona Public Service public utility company, which received $8.9 million in funding from the U.S. Department of Energy for its Advanced Hydrogasification Project (AHP), according to Ecotality.

Hydrogasification is a process in which natural gas is made from coal without releasing the pollutant carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.

For the AHP project, Ecotality will contribute its so-called Hydrality technology, a process it developed in conjunction with the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory … Read more

Fuels giant BP has committed a minimum of $25 million over the next five years to fund research on low-carbon emitting fuels at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

The partnership, announced on Tuesday, will focus on converting "low value" materials, such as petroleum coke and coal, into electricity, liquid fuels and chemicals. BP will also officially participate in MIT's universitywide Energy Initiative to develop greener energy technologies.

The work will focus on simulation technologies to speed up research on converting different feedstocks to fuels or electricity. Other research areas include gasification and synthetic gas technologies.

Renewable energies … Read more

Forget biodiesel. To put a dent in global warming, we are going to have to stop using coal, said Ed Mazria, founder of Architecture 2030 at the West Coast Green conference taking place in San Francisco this week.

"The only fossil fuel that can fuel global warming is coal. If you stop coal, you stop global warming. End of story," he said. Architecture 2030 is a non-profit that encourages builders, suppliers and architects to move toward making carbon neutral buildings by 2030.

The problem with coal is two fold: it spews a lot of carbon dioxide, among other … Read more

GreatPoint Energy, a company with technology that converts coal to natural gas, has secured $100 million to finance construction of commercial plants.

The third round of funding, first reported by CNET News.com, was led by new investors Dow Chemical, Suncor Energy, AES, and Citi division Sustainable Development Investments, Daniel Goldman, the executive vice president and chief financial officer of the Cambridge, Mass.-based company, said on Friday.

Wow. This one ranks right up there with the "Light Head Magnifer." If you thought the iPod hat cited yesterday was dorkworthy, you'll probably want to avert your eyes from the "BrimLight."

As its name indicates, this battery of five LEDs attaches to the brim of your hat, according to Book of Joe, lighting a 120-degree radius with a range of up to 30 feet. Those stats may be impressive, if you're really into lights, but they come at a rather brutal price of fashion victimization.

If you really need a coal miner's light … Read more

Canada's General Fusion has received $1.2 million in venture funding to conduct further research on its fusion reactors, according to VentureWire.

The company's ultimate plan is to build small fusion reactors that can produce around 100 megawatts of power. The plants would cost around $50 million. That could allow the company to generate electricity at about 4 cents per kilowatt hour, relatively low. (By contrast, roughly $250 million was spent on a 64-megawatt solar thermal plant in Las Vegas recently.)

General Fusion has adopted the Magnetized Target Fusion (MTF) model. In this scenario, an electric current is … Read more

Remember those fairy tales about trolls in the forest with magic potions that could make the hero invisible or someone fall in love? That's sort of what it is like to cover the clean tech world some days.

A number of start-ups have emerged promising a molecule that can simulate photosynthesis, a way to turn wood chips into ethanol, or materials for converting much more of the sun's energy into electricity.

Naturally, they never tell you what it is. Take GreatPoint Energy. The Cambridge-based company has come up with a catalyst that can convert coal, one of the … Read more