Clean Technology, Recycling, Renewable Energy

Nanosolar coatings are as thin as a layer of paint and can tranfer sunlight into power quite efficiently. Imagine the possibilities, from solar coated shingles to solar lined windows to solar powered cell phones and ipods. Solar powered buildings and homes might just become standard in the future thanks to this innovative technology by Nanosolar [...]

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by Lorna Li The Big Three Auto Makers in America – General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler – are spending millions to convince Congress not to pass a 35 mpg fuel efficiency standard in the new 2007 Energy Bill. A large group of auto workers and dealers have broken from the industry in order to support [...]

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The American Solar Energy Society reports that by 2030 one in four workers will be wearing green collars at work. The report estimates the creation of up to 40 million green collar jobs in the renewable energy and energy efficiency industries.    Giving that report a gentle push was the announcement last week that GE Power Generation in New [...]

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Principals have no real force except when one is well fed-Mark Twain For many years I’ve harbored a nagging sense of futility in what I’ll call my “environmentalism”. For every plea to help forestall another environmental catastrophe comes the growing, somewhat melancholy, understanding that long-term solutions don’t lie in constantly reacting to current crisis. The home improvement project will [...]

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These days, there seems to be an abundance of green alternatives to a myriad of products. Food, cars, clothing, energy, even web hosting. And for the most part, they don’t, unless you want to, trumpet their greenness. What about laptop cases? If you have a look, there’s plenty of them out there: Hemp, recycled tires, [...]

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At last week’s Point Carbon Conference in New York City (October 29-31), policy professionals and industry leaders met to discuss present and future trends in the carbon market and policy realm. Two important likely developments emerged: (1) the U.S. government will implement a cap-and-trade market system, probably by 2009, and (2) the energy sector will [...]

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By Lorna Li Climate change activism has taken to the streets this weekend. Saturday November 3rd was the National Day of Climate Action, which saw hundreds of student rallies on campuses across the nation. On Monday, November 5th, 3,000 students will descend upon Capitol Hill for the largest youth lobby on global warming ever – [...]

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“A matter of conviction – and then of business” KACO Solar, an international manufacturer of PV inverters announced on Wednesday their entire manufacturing process produces a net zero in carbon emissions. The announcement was aimed to stress the dedication KACO’s German parent company, KACO Garaetetechnik GmBH, has toward sustainable manufacturing processes and carbon emission reduction. KACO’s US operation works [...]

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by Lorna Li On Halloween, the Pew Campaign for Fuel Efficiency is sending out “Spooky Truth” Trick or Treat bags to every member of Congress, urging them to approve strong fuel efficiency standards for the 2007 Energy Bill. In June, the Senate passed the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) Standard – a strong, bipartisan compromise [...]

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The global market for wind energy grew by a staggering 32% in 2006 and 41% in 2005. Meanwhile the U.S. solar photovoltaic market grew by 33% last year despite supply chain constraints, but if you live in California, this may seem like a modest estimate to you. That landscape of energy production is shifting, creating [...]

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The 103rd World Series is here, the Boston Red Sox and Colorado Rockies both swinging at a shot to become the next world champs. So what does this have to do with green business? It has to do with Coors Field, home to the Rockies, which happens to be the first stadium to harness the [...]

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Green markets, in particular renewable and alternative energy, stand poised to grow into a $1 trillion market by 2030 according to analysis by Morgan Stanley. A report on Thursday in Reuters said the world market for “green” energy – including solar, wind, biomass. biofuels, tidal, and geothermal – is likely to face exponential growth in the coming decades in response to rising prices [...]

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Negotiating fairer trade, discussing new development policies and forging closer political, trade and investment ties between developing nations are all on the agenda as the second India, Brazil, South Africa summit begins in Pretoria.

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How many General Mills product developers does it take to envision a more sustainably produced Hamburger Helper? The geniuses came up with smoother noodles. Yes, that’s right. Smoother noodles, not the twisty kind, allow the product to settle more compactly in the plastic pouch and, thus, require a smaller cardboard box for the product. Voila! [...]

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It’s official. Global climate change is not our future. It is our present. It’s happening faster than scientists predicted, according to a new IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) report to be released in November 2007. Tim Flannery, climate change expert and author of The Weather Makers: How Man Is Changing the Climate and What [...]

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I recently completed a quiz at EcoFoot.org, one of several websites designed to give users an idea of their environmental footprint. Long story short, even though I’m greener than your average American, if all my fellow humans lived my lifestyle, it would require 3.5 planet earth’s to maintain. Sobering. A recent post in ScientificBlogging.com discuses [...]

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I’ve suggested before that of all the major companies out there, Johnson Controls is among the best positioned to become a real leader in the field of sustainability by virtue of their roll developing energy systems for buildings. They recently launched a blog about energy and have been slowly moving forward with various sustainability initiatives. [...]

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Speaking of walkability, the current issue of Fast Company highlights Chicago, Stockholm, Portand and Vancouver as Green Leaders in their 2007 Fast Cities index. Here’s why the leaders were chosen: Chicago: Since 1999, the city has planted 2.5 million square feet of heat-reducing rooftop gardens, more than all other U.S. cities combined. Mayor Richard Daley [...]

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Hold on to your hats! If you live on at least 1/2 acre and the wind blows at speeds of at least 10 mph in your backyard (find out here), then harnessing the wind for power may now be an affordable renewable energy option. The Skystream 3.7, available for $5,400 (US), can produce 240 KWh [...]

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That 7% is probably wishful thinking, but if this guy in Wisconsin is halfway right, then there’s certainly a future for this unusual technology originally designed to pull kiteboarders at high-speed across lakes and oceans. It’s very simple – if you can engineer a kite to pull on a cord with some degree of consistency, [...]

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“Enough about the climate problem. Let’s talk climate solutions.” Thus begins the new blog by Amory Lovins on Yahoo! Green. Prepare to have your assumptions turned on their heads as the co-author of Natural Capitalism and founder of the Rocky Mountain Institute shows us how “protecting the climate is not costly but profitable.” Mr. Lovins [...]

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Brilliant. That is about all I can say regarding the latest news of the recent push in Washington D.C. subsidize liquefied coal as a potential fuel source for vehicles. In this case, there is no need to make any remarks rooted in partisan leanings one way or another, as the proposal, supported by Peabody Energy, [...]

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Every time I see a major windfarm in California, regardless of the wind conditions it seems that half of the turbines are not spinning. I attribute this to the age of the windfarms around here (30 years or more) and an apparent lack of maintenance budget. But it’s still puzzling that we’re not doing more [...]

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There’s a great piece in this months Sierra Magazine highlighting the discussion on climate change between various leaders from Government, Academia, and Business. Opinions from everyone from Vinod Khosla to Al Gore are present. Check it out!

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TreehuggerTV’s little short today was too good not to pass on. Enjoy!

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If you only read the Financial Times once in a blue moon, tommorow might be a good day to pick it up. There’s a special “Energy Report” coming out which lays out the ‘pros and cons’ of alternative energy. Knowing the FT’s influence, this is going to be an interesting issue – one we may [...]

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The Orchard Garden Hotel is new hotel in San Francisco, adjacent to a parent property “The Orchard Hotel”. It claims to be the first “green” hotel in the area, and is indeed LEED certified, tobacco free, toxin free in the laundry and a few other things that are not especially remarkable. However, one practice that [...]

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The annual west coast celebration of counter cultural creative exuberance known as Burning Man will enjoy carbon offsets this year courtesy of a project known as, you guessed it, Cooling Man. The event features 30,000 (give or take) participants who gather in the Nevada desert in what is meant to be a “leave no trace” [...]

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Seattle’s Sub Pop Records will “go green” by buying green tags to fullfill 100% of the record company’s energy needs. It couldn’t be a more perfect match between alternative energy and one of the originators of the idea of “alternative” music (if that genre really means anything these days). The company president was “shocked” to [...]

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A new commuter rail line (RailRunner) opened up a couple of weeks ago that runs north and south from Albuquerque and will eventually connect to Santa Fe. This is significant news in and of itself – especially in the car dependant sun belt. But the most amazing thing about it is that the system will [...]

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