Blog Feed

Blogroll Review: VW, Food, and $100 Billion
May 13, 2008
by Frank Ling - The People's Car - With the price of gas exceeding $4 per gallon in the US, there is surging interest in vehicles with higher mileage. It may not be until we see $5 or $6 per gallon that we see mainstream transition to hybrids and plug-in electric vehicles. - Several efforts at high mileage have already made the news. Here is another one. This one coming from our friends in Germany. - Volkswagen plans to introduce a 230 mpg car by 2010. It is described as a cross between a VW Bug and a bobsled. - Hank Green at EcoGeek writes: - The car's technology comes from it's unique shape and it's ultra-light body. The frame is actually made of magnesium, an extremely light metal, and the outer skin is reinforced with carbon fiber. The one cylinder engine is made of aluminum and sits on...
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"A Special Report on the Future of Energy" by Mother Jones
May 12, 2008
by Richard T. StuebiI've never been a fan of the periodical Mother Jones – it's always seemed a bit too “alternative” for me. That said, I was recently given a copy of the May/June 2008 issue – a special report on the future of energy – and was surprised by the quality and balance of the articles. - I particularly found “The Seven Myths of Energy Independence” by Paul Roberts (author of The End of Oil) to be a compelling read. To him, the seven myths are: - 1. Energy Independence Is Good - 2. Ethanol Will Set Us Free - 3. Conservation Is a “Personal Virtue” - 4. We Can Go It Alone - 5. Some Geek in Silicon Valley Will Fix the Problem - 6. Cut Demand and the Rest Will Follow - 7. Once Bush Is Gone, Change Will Come - I think many advocates are well-advised to really...
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Solar and Renewable Electricity Gain (Week Ending 5/9)
May 11, 2008
Author: Mark Henwood - - Broad market indices (Emerging Markets, EAFA, S&P500) all fell this week. Camino's PurePlay™ indices were mixed, commodities (ticker DJP) rose strongly. - - The PurePlay™ Solar index, comprised of 34 companies, reversed last week's 2.0% loss with a 0.9% gain. The index members were mixed with 13 stocks increasing and 21 stocks declining. In contrast to last week, two stocks (ENER and CSIQ) increased by over 20%. Energy Conversion Devices' eye popping 45.2% gain for the week was largely responsible for lifting the index. The company stock rose sharply in very heavy trading after its 7 AM press release on the 8th, and then more after their earnings call concluded later in the morning. The company reported great results for its Q3 with solar product sales up 193%...
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Give Me Your (Recycled) Heart
May 08, 2008
by Cristina Foung My favorite green product of the week: pretty much anything from Fire & Light, but specifically the glass heart. What is it? - This post is really in the spirit of Mother's Day (if you've forgotten, it's not too late – it's this Sunday, May 11th). So if you're looking for something beautiful and green to show your mom/grandmother/aunt/wife that you love her and you love the planet, Fire & Light makes beautiful stuff. The glass heart is a piece from their giftware collection (for the more practical moms, you can call it a paper weight or you could opt for something from their dinnerware collection). Why is it better? - Fire & Light makes their hand-poured colored glassware in conjunction with a partnership with the Arcata Community Recycling Center (and just...
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The Status of Carbon Sequestration
May 05, 2008
by Richard T. Stuebi - At a recent symposium on climate change solutions at Oberlin College, I heard a presentation by David Ball, who leads the Midwest Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnership (MRCSP) at Battelle Memorial Institute in Columbus. - His presentation was a fascinating collage of facts and observations about the status and prospects for in-situ sequestration of carbon emissions from coal powerplants and other large point sources. To wit: - CO2 must be sequestered deep underground to avoid cross-contamination with water aquifers, and also to find the low-density “spongy” strata underneath the impermeable “caprock” strata. This tends to be on the order of several thousand feet below the surface. In order to keep the CO2 underground at these depths, given the high hydrostatic...
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Only Renewables Gain Again (Week Ending 5/2)
May 04, 2008
Author: Mark Henwood - - Broad market indices (Emerging Markets, EAFA, S&P500) all rose this week. Camino's PurePlay™ indices were mixed. - - The Solar index, comprised of 34 companies, followed last week's 0.2% loss with a 2.0% decline. 15 stocks increased and 19 stocks declined. In contrast to most weeks, no stock increased or declined by over 20% and nothing caught our attention to report here. The solar ETFs both declined, 3.5% in one case and 2.2% in the other. With a 74% overlap I suspect this much difference is more random than a sustained trend - - The Renewable Electricity index managed a 0.4% increase with 8 stocks climbing and 15 retreating. Most notable on the increasing side was Energy Developments (ENE.AX) advancing 11.8%, continuing to recover from the 30% sell-off on April...
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Cleantech Blog "Power 10" Ranking Vol. I
May 01, 2008
I spend most of my day meeting and talking to companies in the cleantech sector. And those of you who know me know I have opinions on who is doing it right, and who is doing it wrong. So I thought it was about time to initiate the Cleantech Blog Power 10 Ranking of cleantech companies doing it right. Eligibility for inclusion in the ranking requires meeting a 6 point test. Suggestions for inclusions in future volumes are welcome. The 6 point test: - 1. The company is energy or environmental technology related - 2. I like their products - 3. The market needs them - 4. The company is smart about building their business - 5. I'd like to own the company if I could (for the right price, of course!) - 6. It is not already one of mine (my apologies to my friends Zenergy Power) I have included cleantech...
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Liquid (Green) Goodness for the 21 and Over
May 01, 2008
by Cristina Foung - My favorite green product of the week: VeeV Açaí Spirit What is it? - VeeV is a liqueur (yep, in the US you have to be 21+ to drink it) made from açaí berries – these berries come from the Amazon and are known as a superfood full of nutrients and antioxidents (far higher than levels found in pomegranates or blueberries, although those are delicious too). Why is it better? - First of all, if you're going to drink, you might as well drink right. VeeV is made from 100% all natural ingredients (besides açaí, it's got prickly pear and acerola cherry in there). It's quite tasty straight up or mixed with other liquid organic treats (I'm a fan of adding a little lime juice and a few mint leaves, myself). But more importantly, from berry to bottle, VeeV...
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The Secrets of Curitiba
May 01, 2008
By John Addison (4/30/08). Talking with the former Mayor of Curitiba and architect, Jamie Lerner, is like talking with Santiago Calatrava about designing buildings or having an imagined conversation with Frederick Olmsted about designing parks. Jamie Lerner designs cities. More accurately, he helps all create a strategic vision of cities for people, not cities for cars. I talked with Jamie Lerner at the EcoCity World Summit after he delivered his keynote speech to political leaders and urban planners from over seventy countries. As one of Brazil's most popular mayors, Lerner was elected three times. He helped transform Curitiba from collection of shanty towns to a beautiful and sustainable city of about...
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The Other Solar Energy
Apr 28, 2008
by Richard T. Stuebi - Ten days ago, I attended a one-day symposium on climate change solutions at Oberlin College. Speaking at the symposium was John O'Donnell of Ausra. - Ausra is a leading player in the field of concentrating solar power (CSP), which utilizes mirrors to focus sunlight on a heating element containing a fluid to produce a steam that drives a turbine to generate electricity. In other words, solar thermal electricity – a field that was highly active in the 1980's only to experience a 15+ year hiatus – is now coming back with a vengeance. Ausra claims that its CSP technology will soon be able to enable electricity production (in sunny desert climates, such as the southwestern U.S.) for about 8-10 cents/kwh. - Moreover, Mr. O'Donnell discussed how Ausra was working on integrating...
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Only Renewables Gain (Week Ending 4/25) + Solar ETFs
Apr 27, 2008
Author: Mark Henwood - - Broad market indices were mixed this week and so were Camino's PurePlay™ indices. - - The Solar index followed last week's 7.0% gain with a small 0.2% decline. The index members were also mixed with 15 stocks increasing and 19 stocks declining. Most notable in the group was Centrosolar (C3O.DE) which gained 26.2% for the week. The stock jumped on the 23rd after the company announced provisional results that were above expectations. Sales for the quarter were up 86% over the previous year and EBITDA almost tripled. One analyst suggested the stock was undervalued. - - Camino's Renewable Electricity index managed a small 0.1% increase with 8 stocks climbing and 15 retreating. - - Biofuels reversed last week's 1.5% gain with a 1.9% loss. There were 7 advancing...
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The Answer May Be Blowing in the Wind
Apr 24, 2008
by Cristina Foung My favorite green product of the week: Southwest Windpower Skystream 3.7 Wind Turbine What is it? - The Skystream 3.7 is a residential wind generator that hooks into grid-tied homes. It has an estimated energy production of 400 kWh per month (at 12 MPH or 5.4 m/s). Its rotor measures 12 feet and towers are available ranging from 34 to 70 feet. Why is it better? - The wind industry, ranging from offshore wind projects to residential turbines, has been steadily growing. Southwest Windpower manufactures the Skystream 3.7 which is the first all-inclusive wind generator with controls and an inverter built right in. For the average single family home, it can produce about half of all electricity needs (or course that depends both on how much electricity you...
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California High-Speed Rail
Apr 23, 2008
By John Addison (Earth Day 2008). Fiona Ma was nervous about getting on a train that was about to set a world speed record. Just before Easter 2007 in the countryside outside Paris, she saw the people lining the green and flowered route. The French were flying flags, waving, and cheering. Less reassuring were those of faith who crossed themselves as the new train accelerated past 200 miles per hour. The people blurred into a collage of spring time colors. The train vibrated much as when a jet plane roars down the runway and starts to ascend. Fiona hoped that this train would not leave the tracks. At three hundred miles per hour, the train was still on the tracks, accelerating. Out the window, only one image was distinct....
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The Best Fuel Cell Company You've Never Seen
Apr 22, 2008
I had a chat with Dr. Peter Podessor this week. He is the CEO of Smart Fuel Cells (XETRA: F3C.DE), the best fuel cell company that most Americans have never heard of. Cleantech Blog did an article on the problems with micro fuel cells last year, but we have never written much on the larger size methanol fuel cells that Smart Fuel Cell is developing. SFC is one of the longest running direct methanol fuel cell companies in Europe, but never has made much press in the US, despite the fact that the US is one of their largest markets. - It has been nearly five years since I last had the chance to speak with Smart Fuel Cell founder and then CEO Dr. Manfred Stefener, and a lot has changed. That is to say, unlike almost every other fuel cell company I know of, they have actually done what they said...
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Battery Breakthrough?
Apr 21, 2008
by Richard T. Stuebi - - I recently was sent an article about electric cars. It profiles the Lightning GT, a 700 hp electric sports car that can accelerate to sixty mph in four seconds. To me, the news is not so much about the Lightning GT as it is about the batteries being used in the car. - The claim is that the battery, a Lithium-ion (Li-ion) type called Nanosafe being developed by a company called Altairnano, is able to provide a useful operating range of 250 miles, a full recharge time of 10 minutes, and a useful life of 12-20 years through 15,000 charge/discharge cycles. - If a battery can produce this kind of performance, and if large-scale production can enable the battery pack to be profitably sold at a few thousand dollars, mass adoption of electric vehicles cannot be far behind....
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All Ships Floated (Week Ending 4/18)
Apr 20, 2008
Author: Mark Henwood - - All broad market indices rose this week. All of Camino's PurePlay™ indices rose also. - - The Solar index followed last week's 4.7% decline with a solid 7.0% increase. The advance was broad-based with 28 stocks increasing and 6 stocks declining. ReneSola Ltd (SOLA.L) led all gains increasing 32.1% for the week. On April 17 the company announced it was increasing its 2008 guidance for revenue and production. It now expects wafer production to be between 310 – 320 MW and sales to be between USD 530 - 550 million. With silicon at about 75% of the COGS for panels, ReneSola's sales/production numbers translate into a panel cost to installers of over USD 3,000 /kW. This doesn't represent any improvement in the grid-parity equation and signals continuing...
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Biokleen: Makes the 3-Second Rule Obsolete
Apr 17, 2008
by Cristina Foung - - My favorite green product of the week: Biokleen All Purpose Spray and Wipe Cleaner What is it? - Biokleen Spray and Wipe is a concentrated cleaner made with surfactants, wetting agents, and degreasers from coconut and/or corn, grapefruit seed, and pulp extracts, cold-pressed Valencia orange oil, linear sulfonate, and filtered water. It works on any water safe surface, including stainless steel, desks, kid toys, and more. Why is it better? - First of all, it's a solid cleaner – I've tried it on a variety of surfaces, including my desk, the inside and outside of a microwave, the top of the toilet tank, my car trunk and window (and my car's pretty dirty). In comparison to conventional cleaners, it doesn't have any noxious smell (in fact, it doesn't smell like...
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General Motors Looks Beyond Oil
Apr 17, 2008
By John Addison. “One of the most serious business issues currently facing General Motors is our product's near total dependence on petroleum as a source of energy. To address this issue, we have been implementing a strategy to displace petroleum through energy diversity and efficiency,” explained Dr. Larry Burns, Vice-President of Research and Development for General Motors, during his keynote speech on April 2 at the National Hydrogen Association (NHA) Conference. When Dr. Burns speaks, the industry listens because he directly influences the future of General Motors and of the auto industry. March was one of the worst in years for all vehicle makers. GM and Chrysler saw a 19% drop in sales;...
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Is Ethanol's Carbon Footprint Bad? It Depends.
Apr 15, 2008
In the cleantech and carbon worlds, the carbon footprint of ethanol, whether from corn or sugar feedstocks and fermentation processes, or enzymatic or thermochemical cellulosic sources, is always good fodder (or perhaps, "fuel") for debate. - And depending on which process and which study you personally ascribe to, the answer on how carbon clean ethanol looks depends. In most debates centering on corn fermentation, for example, the studies cite a range from say, 20 to 30% less carbon intensive than gasoline, to 20 or 30% more. This begs one very big question in my mind, what's the difference? How does the same ethanol in my car have a possible carbon footprint range that wide? - The true answer lies in the ground we walk on. When I started to read a few of the studies and articles about them,...
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Plug and Play PV
Apr 14, 2008
by Richard T. Stuebi - - It's notoriously the case that most photovoltaics installations are custom-tailored -- designed, engineered and installed -- specifically for each application. This, of course, dramatically increases the cost and hassle factor for a customer to implement PV. For awhile now, PV pundits have stressed that the technology needs to become "plug-and-play" in order to make it much easier and cheaper for customers to buy. - - Recently, Cincinnati-based Melink Corporation released a 500 watt ground-mounted PV system with an embedded inverter and a 3-prong electrical cord that plugs into an outside socket, allowing anyone to generate electricity from the sun and use it to help power their house. Called "INGRID" (get it? "In-Grid"), this system costs less than $5000, and can...
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Green Ratings
Apr 14, 2008
Food prices have rocketed 83% in the past three years. The World Bank just released the figures. If you are trying to raise a family in much of the world, you are already painfully aware of the crisis. There are a number of causes that are likely to be linked to a climate crisis caused by increased greenhouse gases: draught, groundwater scarcity, eroded soil, disease, and food being used to make biofuel. People ask if I could provide guidelines on green ratings. There are a number of wonderful organizations with helpful guides to reduce our emissions, often saving money in the process. The following are excellent: - Carbon Calculator & Going Carbon Neutral www.carbonfund.org - Green Guides http://www.treehugger.com/gogreen.php - Energy Efficient Homes, Appliances, Lights ...
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Only Renewable Electricity Stocks Advance (Week Ending 4/11)
Apr 13, 2008
Author: Mark Henwood - - Sustainable energy stocks followed the broader markets down this week with only Renewable Electricity able to show a gain. - - The Solar index followed last week's 14.5% advance with a 4.7% decline. The retreat was broad-based with only 4 stocks increasing and 30 stocks declining. Aloe Solar SG (AS1.DE) led the declines falling 13.1% for the week despite positive news on April 3 that it's production expansion was on track and it had received orders in 2008 for EUR 150 million. With First Solar (FSLR) also falling 3.5% the decline was not limited to the silicon world as some commentary alluded to. Without extraordinary news to push the sector down the relatively modest change for this highly volatile group seems to be primarily driven by broader market movements. ...
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A Beautiful Electric Blur
Apr 10, 2008
by Cristina Foung - My favorite green product of the week: Tesla Roadster What is it? - As John Addison mentioned in a Cleantechblog post last year, there are quite a few electric cars on the horizon. The Tesla Roadster is one of them. Now, finally in its regular production page, the Tesla shows that the electric car can be one sexy ride. This little number isn't just nice to look at, it's fast too – it goes 0 to 60 MPH in under 4 seconds. Why is it better? - According to one of Tesla Motors' white papers, the Roadster has a well-to-wheel fuel efficiency of 1.15 km per megajoule (that considers the entire life cycle of the fuel, from its state as a raw fuel to the point when it rotates the wheel of the car). Those units might not make sense to you right off the bat, but...
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My aura is...
Apr 09, 2008
by Heather Rae - for cleantechblog.com - One of three dealers of Benjamin Moore paint in my travel distance (which is getting shorter and shorter with the increase in gas prices) carries the new Aura line, as well as the EcoSpec low-voc line of paints. - Farther north, along Route 1, another dealer is weighing the costs of the investment in the new machines needed to carry the Aura line against the sales potential; this dealer carries the EcoSpec line and, as evidenced by the dust on the paint can, it's not a fast moving product. (And the sales guy told me so.) - Inland a bit and north, the third does not carry Aura or the EcoSpec line. For those unfamiliar with Maine, the progression up the coast and inland is an economic transition as much as geographic one. It's also a transition from...
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Ethanol Under Pressure
Apr 07, 2008
by Richard T. Stuebi - - A good friend of mine sent me a provocative email the other day: - "Last year, your government spent more than $8 billion of your tax dollars to achieve the following results: - Dramatically increase the emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases into the atmosphereAccelerate the destruction of the Amazon rainforestRaise the price of milk, bread, beef and other grain-dependent products by more than 20%Increase world hungerHow did they do this? Two words: ethanol subsidies. Did I mention that the amount of corn it takes to produce enough ethanol to fill the tank of your typical SUV one time could feed the average person for one year (350 days)?" - This is one person's "grabber" for an April 7 article by Michael Grunwald in Time magazine entitled "The Clean...
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