Green Tech

A sampling of green-tech news with quick commentary.

• Obama: Energy technology path to recovery - UPI.com
  Obama visits Nellis Air Force base's huge solar array and stumps for an export-driven clean energy economy over rising oil imports. In the same trip, he announced $467 million from stimulus act to speed development of geothermal and solar projects.
• GE eyes $1.5 billion in cleantech research by 2010 - Reuters
  GE is looking at green technologies to drive revenue growth and is hitting its own emissions reduction targets.
• For MTI, a dose of much-needed relief -- Times Union
  MTI, which had planned to have methanol fuel cell charger for gadgets, gets a lifeline from a federal research grant.
(Credit: Nellis Air Force Base)
• OutSmart Power pulls in $2M in startup funding - Mass High Tech Business News
  One of many companies focusing on getting better building energy data, OutSmart uses sensors to track and manage energy use.
• How GM is Making Electric Vehicles Relevant - Gas 2.0
  One of the key engineers behind the Chevy Volt says that GM, not auto start-ups, has the resources--distribution, etc.--to make electric vehicles the path to a cleaner car economy.
• Duke Energy: We Can 'Decarbonize' Without Painful Electricity Price Hikes - Climate Progress
  Column by Duke Energy's COO argues that carbon regulations, if done right, can move utilities to low-carbon energy sources. What he opposes is using regulations for other purposes, presumably something like health care reform.
• Solazyme Testing BlueFire Ethanol Cellulosic Sugars in Its Microalgae Renewable Oil Production Process
  Potentially interesting partnership where BlueFire makes sugars from municipal waste and Solazyme grows algae for fuel.
• Looking at Europe's Green Ways - NYTimes.com
  Good column examining how ideas and technologies on green tech are starting to flow across the Atlantic and, increasingly, to Asia.

A sampling of green-tech news with quick commentary.

• Bright Green: Solar Carbon Payback - Worldchanging
  A study calculates the difference between energy used to make solar panels and energy saved. Conclusion: solar panels of all types reduce carbon emissions in a few years.
• New Honeywell Service Helps Organizations Take Critical Step Toward Sustainability - Press release
  There are a lot carbon management software companies cropping up. Now, an established building management company is offering a greenhouse gas inventory system.
• Solar Shootout in the San Joaquin Valley - Renewable Energy World
  In the solar world, there's a raging contest between thin-film and polysilicon cells. Monitoring company Fat Spaniel is gathering data on two side-by-side solar installations.
• Green Roofs: Are They Worth the Expense? - New York Times
  New Yorkers say that street trees and white roofs are a cheaper way to go than Chicago's green roofs.
• 14 hours later, House Democrats hold the line on climate bill - Climate Wire
  Inside the sausage factory: at debate are ways to shield energy-intensive industries and consumers from higher energy prices. One passed amendment lets utilities adopt feed-in tariff for renewable energy.
• Cities Striving to Be Green - BusinessWeek
  Good snapshot on which U.S. cities are moving and shaking on sustainability and green technologies.
• LS9 and Procter & Gamble Launch Sustainable Chemicals Partnership - Press release
  Many biofuels companies have a potentially bigger opportunity selling bio-based plastics. This could be a significant deal for synthetic biology company LS9.
• Oracle Launches 'End-to-End' Smart Grid Software - Greentech Media
  The bulk of the revenue in smart-grid technology will come from utilities and guess who already has utility customers? Enterprise resource planning vendors like Oracle and SAP.
• Locke, Chu Announce Significant Steps in Smart Grid Development - Press release
  The Department of Energy boosts the size of grants that can be awarded for smart-grid projects in an effort to gel industry standards.

A sampling of green-tech news with quick commentary.

• Q & A: Steven Chu - Technology Review
  Energy Secretary Steven Chu talks about coming up with a new nuclear-power and waste management strategy and why hydrogen vehicles have four strikes against them.
• Waxman predicts committee passage as details emerge on climate, energy bill - GreenWire
  A House energy and climate bill makes progress through compromises, although it's not a done deal. Latest draft lowers carbon emissions targets and renewable electricity mandate while devising a system for dealing with emissions allowances.
• Husk Insulation Wins $200,000 MIT Clean Energy Prize: Building Better Refrigerators from Rice Husks - Xconomy
  The hottest green technologies popping out of universities these days are insulation from rice husks and energy-harvesting shock absorbers.

Energy Secretary Steven Chu speaking at MIT on Tuesday
(Credit: Martin LaMonica/CNET)
• Semiconductor Technology: The Potential to Revolutionize U.S. Energy Productivity - Press Release
  Yes, electronics consume huge amounts of juice but an energy-efficiency advocacy group argues that semiconductors are essential to efficiency gains.
• PG&E and BrightSource Sign Record Solar Power Deal - Press release
  Pacific Gas & Electric re-ups its purchase of solar thermal systems which will produce 1.3 gigawatts of electricity.
• Greentech's Top Ten Acquisition Targets - Greentech Media
  Semi-educated guesses on which green-tech companies could be gobbled up by larger brethren.

A sampling of green-tech news with quick commentary.

• Ocean Carbon: Dent In Iron Fertilization Hypothesis Previously Proposed To Address Climate Change - Science Daily
  The idea of seeding the ocean with iron to create plankton blooms and sequester CO2 takes a hit in this study which finds that not a lot of carbon reaches the deep sea.
• Don't Single Out Ethanol on Land-Use Changes, Says Trade Group Chief - The New York Times
  The EPA's proposal to include land-use changes when measuring the greenhouse gas emissions of ethanol has the industry and ag-friendly politicians riled up.

A turbine designed for schools or businesses.
(Credit: Optiwind)
• 2010 Ford Fusion Hybrid - Jay Leno's Garage
  Watch this video to hear Jay Leno and a Ford engineer run through the nifty efficiency technologies in Ford's new Fusion, including a different kind of internal combustion engine.
• Optiwind Accelerating Wind Turbine Taps New Energy Fields - Inhabitat
  Wind machine uses six turbines and a funnel to accelerate wind for midsize applications like schools and farms.
• Wave power device the 'anaconda' will be generating energy within five years - The Telegraph
  A snake-like generator could supply 50,000 U.K. homes, but ocean power is years behind wind.
• Ford, Magna Can Look to Startups for Electric Focus Roadmap - Earth2Tech
  Auto supplier Magna is struggling and may have trouble providing the goods for Ford's electric car production plans.
• Crap Happens: A Grist Special Report on How We Dispose of Our Poop - Grist
  All you wanted to know but were afraid to ask on using human waste for energy.

A sampling of green-tech news with quick commentary.

• Instant Messenger of the Smart Grid - Greentech Media
  Talk about convergence of energy, communications and IT: EnerNoc is using an instant-messaging protocol to update the energy consumption status of building equipment.
• Wind Turbine Output Boosted 30% by Breakthrough Design - CleanTechnica
  Rather than build bigger turbine blades, Leviathan Energy boosts output by placing objects on the ground to direct wind flow.

The Wind Energizer is a doughnut-shaped structure that directs wind flow upward to improve output of a wind turbine.
(Credit: Leviathan Energy)
• 'Sleep Talking' PCs Save Energy And Money - Science Daily
  A clever research idea: a prototype USB-connectable device that lets computer operate basic networking functions while in sleep mode.
• Interactive Graphic: Snug and Tight - The New York Times
  Ever hear of a "passive house"? Because it's so well insulated, its heating and cooling needs are far lower than that of a normal home.
• White House finishes review of ethanol draft rule - Reuters
  This wonky issue on how you count emissions from biofuels over the entire lifecycle could shake up the industry. New rules may consider land use in analysis.
• Shell's Barry: On Clean Coal and Carbon Capture and Storage - The Wall Street Journal
  When people say "clean coal," this is what we're talking about, for the most part. Shell is bullish on this technology.

A sampling of green-tech news with quick commentary.

• Home Green Home: Affordable Efficiency? - The New York Times
  Interesting development in western Mass. to make superefficient and affordable homes. Heavy use of solar energy, of course, but here's the best part: because the homes are so well insulated, they need only small heaters, rather than full-size furnaces.
• Obama's 100 Days: The 10 Greenest Acts - Earth2Tech
  Highlights of the Obama administration's efforts to promote the green-tech industry so far.
• Power Hungry: Reinventing The U.S. Electric Grid - NPR
  The public-radio powerhouse does a deep dive on the challenges and promises of modernizing the U.S. electricity grid.

Click on the image to go to NPR's interactive graphic.
(Credit: NPR)
• Analysts warn capital-intensive clean-tech firms face funding squeeze - BusinessGreen.com
  The new mantra in green-tech venture capital investing is "capital-efficient."
• WebEx Founder Backs Chint Solar, Contributes to $50M Round - Greentech Media
  Chint Solar plans to make solar cells from amorphous silicon, which is cheaper but less efficient than polysilicon.
• Smart Meter, Dumb Idea? - The Wall Street Journal
  Some argue that costly two-way meters aren't needed to deliver energy savings to consumers.
• CPower Secures More Than $10 Million in Series B Round of Financing - Press release
  A sign that venture capitalists are moving toward their comfort zone in clean tech: IT-driven efficiency, in this case demand response.
• NREL and Ford Team Up to Develop 'Cool' Cars - Press release
  A research project delves into applying thermoelectric methods toward using waste heat to cool the interior of cars.
• The Volt: Not Ready to Roll - The Washington Post
  Echoing the federal government's auto task force, columnist Charles Lane makes the case for why the Chevy Volt isn't going to save General Motors. He argues that the same fuel savings could come from hybrids, gas engines, and adopting smaller cars.

A sampling of green-tech news with quick commentary.

• Clean Energy's Dirty Little Secret - The Atlantic
  First it was concerns over lithium supply, now it's the rare earth metal neodymium. The bigger story here is national strategies for managing mineral supplies for economic, environmental, and security reasons.
• State wants to pull plug on energy-guzzling TVs - San Francisco Chronicle
  State regulators want to apply more stringent standards on TV energy use but consumer electronics industry association says it's going about it the wrong way. Old cathode ray tube TVs consume the least.
• Deciphering California's Efficiency Successes - New York Times
  California's per-capital electricity use has been steady since the 1970s, a credit to state-led efficiency programs. But a researcher argues other factors are at play so lessons to other states are limited.
• Pond Scum Gets Its Moment in the Limelight - Wall Street Journal
  A visit to the University of Texas' massive stash of algae strains.




• Why Warren Buffett is investing in electric car company BYD - Fortune
  Profile of ambitious Chinese company BYD which is expanding from small batteries to electric cars.
• Abound Solar Opens Factory, Claims Under $1/Watt Cost - Greentech Media
  A First Solar competitor opens factory to make solar cells from cadmium telluride.
• Norway turns to poo-powered buses - Cosmos magazine
  Methane, the main gas in natural gas, derived from sludge will power buses in Norway.
• 'Green Revolution' Trapping India's Farmers In Debt - National Public Radio
  Modern farming techniques are creating a thirst for water that Indian farmers are unable to keep up, creating real social upheaval.
• Bioethanol's Impact On Water Supply Three Times Higher Than Once Thought - Science Daily
  No doubt people will dispute these revised numbers, but it's still eye-opening: researchers find that it takes between roughly 200 and 800 gallons of water to make one gallon of ethanol.

A sampling of green-tech news with quick commentary.

• Oil Companies Reluctant to Follow Obama's Green Lead - The New York Times
  Despite the advertising, oil and gas companies see renewable energy as a side business that will take decades to displace fossil fuels in a significant way.
• Energy Secretary Chu: 'Agnostic' on Pickens Plan - The Wall Street Journal
  Chu favors fuel efficiency and biofuels over using natural gas as transportation fuel. One reason is that natural gas will be used more for electricity and heating.
• Rise of the Itty-Bitty Car: How Green Are the New Uber Compacts? - Earth2Tech
  Gasoline-powered subcompacts don't bring a radical jump in fuel efficiency, but electric-powered versions--some expected to be unveiled today--do.
• Are the Benefits of Plug-In Hybrids Overstated? - Greentech Media
  Mileage estimates vary widely for plug-in electric cars. Important point is that driving habits--i.e. not stamping on the accelerator--make a big difference.

Toyota's FT-EV, a concept car that will be the basis for an all-electric commuter car due in 2012.
(Credit: Toyota)
• EnergyHub ropes first round for home energy management dashboards - VentureBeat
  Companies that do home energy monitors seems to be sprouting everywhere, although few people in the U.S. use them yet.
• Momentum in ZigBee Smart Energy Fuels $8 Million in New Financing for Ember - Press release
  The company, which makes a Zigbee wireless chip, has gotten funding to further pursue smart grid market.
• Wind vs. Petroleum at First Offshore Energy Hearing - Environmental News Service
  Wind power, when offshore is included, could produce 20 percent of U.S. electricity load but faces competition for offshore drilling.
• Scientists try tapping 'ice that burns' - Greenwire
  In case you were worried about the planet running out of hydrocarbons, there's always methane trapped in ice to burn.

A sampling of green-tech news with quick commentary.

• Light Cycle: Recycling PV Materials - Renewable Energy World
  The European solar industry is taking steps to recycle the materials--some of it highly valuable metals--inside solar panels to avoid future e-waste problems.
• Enbridge gears up for green gas era - The Toronto Star
  Snapshot of efforts in Canada to put biogas from landfills, manure, and sewage into the natural gas pipeline to make electricity.
• Does carbon-eating cement deserve the hype? - Climate Progress
  If you're good at chemistry and want to dig into Calera's claims of carbon-consuming cement. Bottom line is that question of net energy balance is still not totally clear.
• MIT to Republicans: Lay off the Scaremongering on Climate Costs - The Wall Street Journal
  The debate of whether and how climate regulations will raise utility costs is going to be intense. Let's make it a fact-based discussion.
• Graphic Of The Day: Gasoline Savings For Plug-In Hybrids (PHEVs) - TreeHugger
  Department of Energy plots fuel savings from driving an electric vehicle--useful data for determining what premium you're willing to pay for a plug-in or all-electric car.
(Credit: Department of Energy)
• China Vies to Be Leader in Electric Vehicles - The New York Times
  After reading this, it's hard to see how China won't be a major supplier of electric cars worldwide.
• New storage system design brings hydrogen cars closer to reality
  Purdue researchers, funded by GM, find a way to store hydrogen in a powder, an advance they say could lead to 300-mile hydrogen cars.
• As Eco-Seals Proliferate, So Do Doubts - The Wall Street Journal
  For environmentally minded consumers, labeling is a serious challenge and greenwashing is rampant. This piece provides some guidance.
• Minnesota tests nation's first wind-to-battery storage - Minnesota Daily
  Xcel Energy is testing a one-megawatt, truck-size battery to store and smooth the flow of wind energy.