Well, the vultures might be circling, but they might have to wait a while to pick the bones of the CleanTech industry, which by many accounts, is still far from dead. Juliet Ellperin wrote in this month’s Wired, that the CleanTech boom has gone bust, comparing it to both the Internet bubble and the housing bubble. But a number of experts are forecasting significant growth for the renewable sector despite several mitigating factors.

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The price of oil is still one of the most important factors shaping the economy. It can determine not just how much you’ll pay for a gallon of gasoline but also how fast the American and the eurozone economies will recover. It even has a say in who will be the next American president. This [...]

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The following post is part of the course work for “Live Exchange” the foundational course on communication for The MBA Design Strategy Program at California College of the Arts. The rest of the posts are presented here. By Ryan Wilday As an industrial designer, and design strategist, I am a prolific user of paper. Whether [...]

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The Federal Aviation Administration is awarding $7.7 million in contracts to eight companies who will help the agency develop and approve sustainably-sourced “drop-in” jet fuels that can be used without changing aircraft engine systems or airport fueling infrastructure. The funds are being distributed by the Department of Transportation’s John A. Volpe Center. “These new green [...]

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This post outlines key considerations for property owners to evaluate when leasing their land for renewable energy development. There are pros and cons to leasing your property to a renewable energy developer and/or owner to earn revenue. It is important to understand how to navigate the complexities of benefits and risks when dealing with newly emerging renewable energy development land leases.

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It’s been a fantastic year for electric vehicle technology company, Mission Motors. In July this year, the company’s electric racing bike, the Mission R, (at right) won the TTXGP at Laguna Seca by a sizable margin; show-casing their technology against a competitive field of other EV motorcycle developers, while demonstrating comparable performance with gasoline-powered racing [...]

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Adam Capital Clean Energy Finance, a private investment firm, has agreed to lend $1 million to finance rooftop solar panels for 85 low-income homes in New Orleans. The loan is with Sustainable Environmental Enterprises of Louisiana, a community-development organization engaged in financing solar projects for disadvantaged communities. A joint press release from Adam Capital and [...]

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On Tuesday, while Israelis celebrated the release of Gilad Shalit, the Israeli soldier held captive in Gaza for five years by Hamas, the team of TaKaDu, an Israeli start-up had another reason for celebration. That same day their company was the “Company of the Year – Europe & Israel” in the prestigious 2011 Global Cleantech [...]

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“As much as I wish to be able to answer the members’ questions, I have been advised by my counsel that it is the better course for me to assert my constitutional right to decline to answer questions under the Fifth Amendment. While I hope to have an opportunity to assist this committee’s inquiry in [...]

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The White House is worried that the story of Solyndra, the solar power company that filed for bankruptcy protection after receiving $535 million in loan guarantees, will follow Obama through the 2012 election season. I’ve got a feeling it will stay with us even longer than that. Thomas Friedman once wrote that when historians will [...]

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Taking into account all of the opportunities for increasing IT energy efficiency, how can an organization best approach the challenge of making its IT operations more sustainable? Here are the key principles for a successful transition to operating IT as a utility:

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This post examines U.S. prospects for leading in green information technology, as a growing component of the broader clean tech market.

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We’ve covered San Francisco-based startup Mission Motors on several occasions over the past couple of years. The electric vehicle company earned its reputation for innovation with the Mission One all-electric motorcycle. In 2009, the Mission One broke the electric motorcycle land speed record, topping 161 mph on Utah’s Bonneville salt flats. But that was just Mission Motors getting [...]

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Airlines won final approval from a U.S.-based technical-standards group to power their planes with a blend made from traditional kerosene and biofuels derived from inedible plants and organic waste.

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A number of articles published this week paint a negative picture of electric cars based on a British study published earlier this month. The study attempts a comparative life-cycle assessment (LCA) of conventional, hybrid and electric cars and prompted “downer” headlines such as, “Electric Cars May Not Be So Green After All” and “More Bad [...]

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We know a lot about the sustainability performance of about 5,000 large companies. We know something about the sustainability performance of another 16,000 smaller companies and organizations. But, our world economy includes millions of economic entities. How can we get data on their social and sustainability performance?

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As foreshadowed by GE’s Ecomagination reach-out to start-ups, it is expected that start-ups and not large corporations will lead the clean tech revolution. As these small companies work to improve the future of humanity, they will need the support of clean tech incubators well versed in the intricacies of sustainable business development.

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By Matthew Madden By definition, disruptive technology usually results in a variety of unintended consequences. When considering the ancillary effects that would result from the widespread adoption of electric vehicles, the road taxes currently embedded in the purchase of a gallon of gasoline are generally an afterthought. Of course, TriplePundit’s coverage is the exception. While [...]

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By Tracy Taylor According to Clean Energy Trends 2011, a new report by Clean Edge, the growth of clean technology over the last decade rivals that of the internet and computers, and it is poised to continue the trend.  Clean Edge’s research revealed biofuels, wind power, and solar photovoltaics combined to create a $188.1 billion [...]

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Gas prices are again spiking, which is why it may be the perfect time to look in your trash can. Come again? Yes, what was a joke in Back To The Future is now coming true: Enerkem has perfected taking Municipal Solid Waste (aka landfill trash), along with agricultural and forest product residues, and turning [...]

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This post is part of a blogging series by marketing students at the Presidio Graduate School’s MBA program. You can follow along here. By Mark Sutton At the Affordable Comfort, Inc. (ACI) conference in San Francisco, an event for the home energy efficiency industry, a panel of high-level VCs posed the question: which company or [...]

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The following open letter is a part of the Presidio Graduate School’s Capital Markets course. For one of the course assignments, students write a letter to an oversight body, government entity or other appropriate institution. The topic: changing the sector of capital markets that relates to their chosen topic so it reinforces principles of sustainability. [...]

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Imagine a future where you drive your electric car to work, park, get out and walk away, and your car automatically starts recharging via a wireless connection. Such technology is being developed by a company called Evatran LLC, whose Plugless Power product should allow you to do just that. Since Google has installed and is [...]

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Despite surpassing the US’s installed wind capacity in 2010, 1/3rd of China’s installed wind capacity is not connected to the grid. China’s National Energy Administration (NEA) claims it will prioritize connectivity over renewables growth in its upcoming 5-year plan. The NEA has made public its focus on strategic wind energy growth through more hands-on energy [...]

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Yesterday, we examined the actual wind power being produced versus the wind power installed in China. With only 2/3rds of installed wind power connected to the grid, Chinese wind companies are losing money and opportunities to further diversify their energy mix. One of the major barriers to getting all of the installed turbines on the [...]

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China’s installed wind capacity is the second largest in the World, and their growth rates continue to dwarf those of developed nations. Yet wind energy still makes up a very small portion of Chinese energy production because 1/3 of it isn’t connected to the grid, and the other 2/3rds are heavily restricted. The problems hint [...]

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Last week, Triple Pundit enjoyed fly-on-the-wall status at a pitch session between cleantech entrepreneurs and a panel of cleantech investors from leading Bay Area firms. Thirteen entrepreneurs took their pitches to the podium, each were given two minutes to describe their product or service, and each then fielded questions from the panel. Once the Q/A [...]

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Better Place, the electric car company that has developed battery swapping technology for its vehicles, announced pricing on March 3rd for their entry into the Danish market later this year. The technology, which allows drivers to switch out the battery pack with a freshly charged one in under 2 minutes (a video demonstration of which [...]

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Will understanding the psychology, patterns, and economics behind over-consumption help us navigate the road ahead? The West Coast EPA is hosting a year long webinar series that highlights the link between consumption and the environment to do just that. By providing information and access to thought-leaders, they hope to expand the conversation on environmentalism. The series [...]

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Two new cars, the Nissan LEAF and the Chevrolet Volt – a battery electric and plug-in hybrid electric vehicle respectively – may together, one day, be recognized as the brave upstarts that launched a new chapter in automotive history. As the first of a new crop of mass market electric vehicles to hit dealerships, they [...]

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