August 2009

British company Solar Botanic believes it has the answer to collecting wind and solar energy without devastating the aesthetics of landscapes.

Now in the development phase, Solar Botanic hopes to produce artificial trees capable of collecting energy.

No joke. The leaves take in sunlight like a real tree, but instead of using the energy through photosynthesis to make the tree grow, the light energy will go into the grid. Likewise, when wind rustles the branches, Solar Botanic trees will turn the kinetic energy created into more wattage.

In the same way, Solar Botanic hopes to make desert carpets, which would blend right in with nature while turning the scorching sunlight into electricity.

The danger surrounding the shipment of lithium-ion batteries is causing many to rethink the lithium-ion craze that has blossomed with hybrid cars, cell phones and laptops. When first introduced, lithium-ion batteries returned impressive specs that challenged the conventional battery and opened a window of opportunity for a better, longer lasting battery. But was the winning battery chosen too soon?

In early August, the Energy Department made a major push for US companies to get involved with lithium-ion battery production. To do so, over $2.4 billion of federally funded grants were awarded to build manufacturing plants for batteries. Most of the money was set aside for car manufacturers and battery and component suppliers in the Midwest region (predominately Michigan and Indiana).

The Energy Department hoped to accelerate growth in the US auto industry and maintain Obama's goal of getting 1 million plug-in vehicles on the road by 2015.

We’re in the final stretch now with less than half a billion dollars left to fund the now-famous Cash for Clunkers program. It ends tonight, with a report early this morning claiming that over $2.58 billion dollars has been promised to dealers participating in the program.

Dealers are excited about the program because of its immediate traction, pulling people into the showroom to purchase vehicles. But in many cases they’re also behind on the paperwork. Several detailed forms to fill out make the process tedious and on top of that the government is behind in processing claims.

That means dealers are essentially fronting the money until the government can catch up and pay its dues, assuming demand doesn’t outstrip the funding available. Cash for Clunkers originally started with $1 billion to give away and ended with an extension to $3 billion. Obviously most people will jump at the opportunity for free money and by using that lure, the program has acted as a sales magnet.

This is a classic result of the unintended consequences of human innovation.

The Asian carp came to the U.S. for placement in southern catfish farms. The carp feed off plankton, which helps keep underwater factory farms clean and production high.

But fish farms don’t have fences, and when floods hit the south, the Asian carp landed in nearby rivers and streams. Now they’re thriving in the mighty Mississippi River, and have been detected just five miles away from Lake Michigan in recent days.

The more time goes by, the more many begin to doubt the legitimacy of the funds and policies that were supposed to create jobs and that were supposed to resurrect the working class and that were supposed to heal the economy of a darkened recession. It is no surprise that people are getting anxious, and perhaps downright pessimistic about the current labor situation with the amount of inactivity happening in the job market.

When the stimulus plan was first signed and put into play, many thought it would make an immediate splash in the labor market, especially the green job market. Instead, all that has been seen is a minuscule ripple effect that is slowly making its way into certain sectors and states.

Sure, government incentives are pushing more spending and improvements in homes and businesses, but for the most part, unemployed laborers fear the outlook of the current economic situation, and for good reason.

BP recently announced an investment of $10 million in a new initiative to develop sugar to biodiesal methodologies. Essentially that means figuring out a way to convert sugar into fuel efficiently using microbial organisms like algae.

It’s good to hear that ranked by sales dollars, the third largest petroleum refining company in the world, BP, is making some movements toward sustainability. When it comes to algae though, Exxon has taken a strong lead with its investment of $600 million to develop hydrocarbons using algae processing.

It typically doesn’t take long for individuals to decide whether they’re warm or cold on the climate change debate, but governments are another story.

The political cogs are turning in neighboring Australia and New Zealand – just not in the same direction.

On Monday, New Zealand announced it would cut 10-20 percent of its greenhouse gas emissions by 2020. On the flip side, Australia’s parliament rejected a similar plan later in the week. The Aussie plan would have cut 25 percent of carbon emissions by 2020.

Meanwhile, quickly industrializing India just announced the creation of a $2.5 billion forest-protection fund. The trees put CO2 into the air, which protects the environment from the pollution that is said to be causing this whole global warming mess.

Dell has worked in the green space for a while now and it just announced a new initiative that will cut companywide use of electricity by 48 million kilowatt hours per year. That’s enough power to provide energy for over 4,000 American homes every year. Not only is that good for the environment, it also will save the company $5.8 million annually.

This is the type of move any company could take to become more sustainable without overtly affecting their core business. Some of the things Dell is changing are creating savings purely by making processes more efficient, but it’s also investing in solar power. 25% of the company’s energy needs are already met by renewable sources.

With the popularity of green job searches surging, CareerBuilder is finally making a move to offer a resource to hook up employers with prospective employees. The site, which was released yesterday, hopes to alleviate the pain of using advanced searches and artful keywords to find the perfect green job. But why so late? 

Obama, since taking his seat as president, has placed a huge emphasis on creating jobs that help solve the energy crisis and better the environment. In fact, according to the CareerBuilder press release, $98 billion of the economic stimulus plan has already gone or will go towards "energy and environmental projects."

The movement towards green jobs, however, has been developing momentum for quite some time. Over the last decade, the growth of green jobs has soared to an impressive 9.1 percent, compared to the 3.7 percent of the overall job market.

The popularity of the search for jobs in this developing market can even be seen on Google.

For the last several years, a majority of people who buy cars in the United States have done research on the Internet prior to purchasing. eBay motors is a major hub of activity when it comes to online car sales, but traditionally it’s offered lots of used products. GM is changing that now with a test in California where dealers will compete for online sales in an environment that puts customers in control.

Consumers will easily be able to see pricing and packages from other dealers in the area, and if they don’t feel the need to run a test drive, they can purchase directly from the site. There’s no need to physically visit the dealer at all during the selling process. That sounds great in a lot of ways, but would you consider buying a model like the Chevy Volt that you haven’t driven or interacted with prior?

The wind and sun provide compelling sources of renewable energy, but so far the challenge has been finding a way to convert it into usable electricity as efficiently as we convert fossil fuels. So far government subsidies have propped up the industry while it finds new ways to make the technology affordable for the masses.

With that goal in mind, eSolar just claimed a somewhat iconic victory with its just-finished 5 megawatt Sierra SunTower solar power plant. The solar power tower will provide energy to over 4,000 homes in California and makes its home in Lancaster, CA. That’s a modest piece of the population at best, but it certainly paves the way by demonstrating that solar energy can be harnessed efficiently, at least in places where the sun shines more days than not.

It works by reflecting the sun’s light toward a central spot using 24,000 mirrors. eSolar claims this is a leap forward because the Sierra SunTower:

Hybrid and all-electric vehicles have gained a reputation for boasting small spaces with great mileage. That isn’t attractive for those who have to move lots of people or cargo, and apparently GM hasn’t forgotten that segment of customers.

The company just confirmed rumors that it will be producing a Buick crossover vehicle in 2011 that takes advantage of GM’s plug-in hybrid technology. An earlier version of the crossover will also debut in 2010 that uses direct-injected gasoline engines and that’s expected to ring in at 30 miles per gallon.

This is a step in the right direction for GM because it puts them at the forefront of filling a need so far ignored in the auto industry. It’s also providing some synergies for the company as parts of the Chevy Volt’s makeup will be repurposed – chiefly lithium-ion batteries.

Kimberly-Clark is the company behind brands like Kleenex and Cottonelle, and it has just agreed to source at least 40% of its North American tissue fiber from “environmentally responsible sources”. That means a reduction in cutting down trees in old growth forests including North America’s largest, the Boreal.

That’s a good thing, and something Greenpeace has worked for since 2004 with its Kleercut campaign which sought to pressure Kimberly-Clark into doing business sustainably through a series of efforts that raised public awareness. Sometimes things change quickly though, and with Kimberly-Clark’s agreement to move toward sustainability Greenpeace has quickly removed much of its reputation-damaging content from its web sites.

Beyond that, Greenpeace has teamed up with the company to build out its plan to eventually source 100% its fiber from “environmentally responsible sources”. Suhas Apte, President of Environment, Energy, Safety, Quality and Sustainability at Kimberly-Clark says:

Nissan is playing a strong card in the electric vehicle market with its new compact car, the 2011 Leaf. Nissan is pushing some green symbolism, the car is supposed to prevent air emissions from driving, which creates a parallel with how plant leaves clean the air everywhere else.

What does that mean for you and I? It’s good thing for a couple of reasons, chief of which is more competition. The Nissan Leaf brings with it the potential to drive prices down for a product that right now is out of reach for most consumers. For example the Chevy Volt is circling around $40,000 and even with a $7,500 tax credit in the US that’s a hefty bill to swallow. Nissan isn’t coming out with exact pricing yet, but is indicating it will be in line with traditional compact cars.