Green Blog http://blog.tmcnet.com/green-blog/ Helping environmentally-conscientious business leaders choose environmentally-friendly solutions. en-us Copyright 2008 2008-04-16T08:54:14-05:00 hourly 1 2000-01-01T12:00+00:00 MyFax Offers Fax Users a Choice http://blog.tmcnet.com/green-blog/green-technology/myfax-offers-fax-users-a-choice.asp 35916@http://blog.tmcnet.com/green-blog/ As we approach Earth Day 2008 (April 22), companies are increasingly striving to prove their green “street cred.”
 
Internet fax service provider MyFax, is enticing office fax users to get rid of their old fax machines by donating them to charitable organizations such as Throwplace.com, E-cycling Central and others.
 
In return, MyFax will grant a free three-month Internet faxing subscription upon proof of receipt that the old fax machines have been properly disposed of.
 
 

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]]> green technology Faxgreen technologyrecycle MyFax myfax 2008-04-16T08:54:14-05:00 Tandberg Data Offers Recycling Rebate Program http://blog.tmcnet.com/green-blog/recycling/tandberg-data-offers-recycling-rebate-program.asp 35915@http://blog.tmcnet.com/green-blog/ Tandberg Data has announced a new program called Rebates for Recycling, a “green” initiative that helps IT managers save money as they help save the planet by reducing energy consumption.
 
Called Rebates for Recycling, the program provides incentives from $50 to $600 for those who sign up to recycle old, inefficient tape storage devices and replace them with new, high-efficiency tape storage products.
 
The offer is valid through June 30, 2008 and offers a variety of green discounts, starting with $150 toward the purchase of any Tandberg Data StorageLoader and $300 toward the purchase of any Tandberg Data tape library.
 
Existing customers of select Tandberg Data or Exabyte legacy products are getting a bigger incentive to purchase new energy efficient solutions with twice the discount: up to $600 on any Tandberg Data tape library.
 

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]]> Recycling rebaterecyclingTandberg tandberg Tandberg Recycling program recycling purchase 2008-04-16T08:46:39-05:00 Data Centers Find They Can't Afford to Not 'Go Green' http://blog.tmcnet.com/green-blog/data-centers-find-they-cant-afford-to-not-go-green.asp 35845@http://blog.tmcnet.com/green-blog/ In the data center market, the need for green technology solutions to reduce energy consumption is rapidly becoming imperative. That’s according to executives who gathered for a panel Wednesday during Computerworld’s Storage Networking World conference.
 
Going green is no longer just a matter of moral rightness or social responsibility, Computerworld reported. It is now becoming a business necessity for data center operations to know how much energy each device consumes and to find ways of reducing that energy consumption. It simply costs too much to not do so.
 
“If you use more energy [than presently] and it's more expensive, expect your costs to go up,” said Andrew Fanara, team leader for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Energy Star Product Specifications Development Group. “These problems will intensify.”
 
Last month, Computerworld reported, the EPA said it is working on a benchmark to help IT managers compare their own energy usage with that of other data center operations. A server specification should be complete by year’s end, with a green storage benchmark (in development by the Storage Networking Industry Association) expected even sooner.

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]]> Andrew FanaraComputerworlddata centerenergyEnergy StarEPAserver energy green Computerworld storage computerworld center 2008-04-09T15:23:01-05:00 Want More Energy For Computing? Burn Trash! http://blog.tmcnet.com/green-blog/want-more-energy-for-computing-burn-trash.asp 35795@http://blog.tmcnet.com/green-blog/ If your company has an extra $5,000 or so in its green technology budget, it might be worth considering a device the converts trash into energy with very minimal emissions. The device is called “the Gigapit,” and is made by startup Data Centigrade, Inc.
 
The Gigapit is small enough (the size of a small trash bin) to be installed in an office, where it works to turn trash into business-class energy, ByteandSwitch.com said in a Tuesday report. The minimal smoke produced can be piped into the “air pleneum”above the drop ceiling present in most offices, or out an open window.
 
“Depending on the type of waste being burned, a typical company can reduce its data center power bill by 20 to 40 percent in the first year,” ByeandSwitch.com quoted Data Centigrade’s CEO, Guy Montag, as saying. Fuel efficiency depends on what’s being burned, he added: "Paper isn't great. Food works a lot better. Pizza, burritos, pies — any of your pastry- or dough-based comestibles. Basically you just throw it all in there and ‘flame on!’”
 
The Gigapit is available direct from Data Centigrade for $4,995 each.

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]]> computingdata centerData Centigradeenergygreen techtrash trash Centigrade Gigapit energy centigrade gigapit 2008-04-02T17:25:51-05:00 IT Execs to Gather in Orlando for Green Enterprise Computer Event http://blog.tmcnet.com/green-blog/it-execs-to-gather-in-orlando-for-green-enterprise-computer-event.asp 35794@http://blog.tmcnet.com/green-blog/ If green technology is your thing (and it must be if you’re reading this blog), take note: later this month more than 400 executives from data centers and IT organizations will descend on Orland, Florida for the Uptime Institute Symposium 2008 (theme: Green Enterprise Computing).
 
The goal of the event, schedule for April 27-30, is addressing operational and strategic challenges associated with developing energy-efficient systems for data centers. Industry benchmarks will be a key topic covered.
 
Keynoters will hail from some pretty big players in the IT space: Dell, Microsoft, Yahoo, IBM, Intel, Sun Microsystems, VMWare and APC. The event is sponsored (as the name suggests) by the Uptime Institute, a Santa Fe, California-based think-tank and advisory firm that focuses on computing reliability and energy efficiency. 

For more about the event, click here.

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]]> computingdata centerenergy efficientITOrlandoUptime Institute event green 2008-04-02T17:13:06-05:00 Hybrid Batteries 'Benign' http://blog.tmcnet.com/green-blog/hybrid-batteries-benign.asp 35613@http://blog.tmcnet.com/green-blog/
I seem to recall reading something a few years back that said the disposal of these large batteries was going to be challenge – basically that they were going to crowd our landfills, leak and cause all sorts of problems (and you know there’s only going to be more hybrids on our roads over the next few years).

But as it turns out, that’s not at all true. According to an entry found at www.hybridcars.com/faq, these batteries are “fully recyclable.” As per the entry:

“The hybrid battery packs are designed to last for the lifetime of the vehicle, somewhere between 150,000 and 200,000 miles, probably a whole lot longer. The warranty covers the batteries for between eight and ten years, depending on the car maker. Battery toxicity is a concern, although today's hybrids use NiMH batteries, not the environmentally problematic rechargeable nickel cadmium. ‘Nickel metal hydride batteries are benign. They can be fully recycled,’ says Ron Cogan, editor of the Green Car Journal. Toyota and Honda say that they will recycle dead batteries and that disposal will pose no toxic hazards. Toyota puts a phone number on each battery, and they pay a $200 ‘bounty’ for each battery to help ensure that it will be properly recycled.
There's no definitive word on replacement costs because they are almost never replaced. According to Toyota, since the Prius first went on sale in 2000, they have not replaced a single battery for wear and tear."

So, obviously something led me to the wrong impression.

I would have to assume that the hybrid makers pass the cost of the recycling along to the consumer … could be part of the reason the sticker price on these cars (and their parts) is so much higher.

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(NiraliSherni on Mar 17, 2008 12:04 PM) This is very heartening news. I am sure that this would reassure a lot of people looking to purchase a hybrid vehicle or an electric vehicle that would also eventually require battery changes. This is good encouragement to people to go in for fuel efficient vehicles with lower emissions and lower running costs.

(Zeego on Mar 21, 2008 4:01 PM) Fantastic article!

]]> batteries battery hybrid going years Toyota 2008-03-15T20:02:15-05:00 Organic Retailer Touts Fuel Cell Powered Supermarket http://blog.tmcnet.com/green-blog/corporate-initiatives/organic-retailer-touts-fuel-cell-powered-supermarket.asp 35574@http://blog.tmcnet.com/green-blog/ Whole Foods is announcing the opening of the first supermarket in the world to use fuel cell technology to power its store.
 
According to a company news release, Whole Foods is leveraging fuel cell technology to generate half of the electricity to operate the store, and 100 percent of the hot water.
 
Whole Foods Market is a retailer of natural and organic foods has announced that their Glastonbury, CT store will use a fuel cell power plant built by UTC Power, a United Technologies Company with whom Whole Foods has signed a 15-year service and maintenance agreement.
 
For more details check out this news item.
 
 

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]]> corporate initiatives fuel cellgreengreen technologyWhole Foods whole foods foods Whole whole Foods power 2008-03-12T09:51:09-05:00 TMCnet Interviews ON24 CEO http://blog.tmcnet.com/green-blog/green-technology/tmcnet-interviews-on24-ceo.asp 35573@http://blog.tmcnet.com/green-blog/ TMCnet’s Mae Kowalke recently interviewed Sharat Sharan, president and CEO at ON24 to discuss Webcasting and the impact such technologies might have on the environment.
 
According to Kowalke, “New communications technologies like online conferencing are making collaboration among geographically-dispersed teams easier than ever before. Companies adopt such technologies for a variety of reasons, from wanting to reduce their travel budgets to seeking ways of operating more efficiently to getting in on the ‘green technology’ movement.”
 
One of the points Sharan drove home was the notion that in times of economic uncertainty, it makes sense to invest in technologies such as Webcasting to help reduce travel costs.
 
Said Sharan:
 
“There are indications that the economy will begin slowing and a recession is around the corner. More companies are already looking to reduce travel and cut costs. Combined with green mandates, I envision Webcasting gaining more prominence in 2008. Webcasting is an ideal technology that can be implemented quickly with immediate results. Companies reduce travel, which in turns reduces the amount of resources wasted, while providing cost-savings in return.”

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]]> green technology green technologyON24Webcasting reduce travel travel Webcasting reduce technologies webcasting 2008-03-12T09:44:49-05:00 Can Virtualization Green The Emerald Isle? http://blog.tmcnet.com/green-blog/green-technology/can-virtualization-green-the-emerald-isle.asp 35572@http://blog.tmcnet.com/green-blog/ SiliconRepublic.com is reporting that Microsoft’s server and tools business manager, Bill O’Brien, believes that adopting new virtualization technology — like that available in Microsoft’s new Windows Server 2008 — can save Irish businesses over 50 million Euros annually.
 
Said O’Brien:
 
“It’s estimated only five percent of businesses are virtualized today, that represents a tremendous growth potential and an incredible saving in terms of businesses expenditure on energy year-on-year.”
 
SiliconRepublic also quotes O’Brien as saying if every server in Ireland was upgraded to Windows Server 2008, it would remove more than two million tons of CO2 from entering the environment every year.

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]]> green technology green technologyirelandMicrosoftvirtualization server Brien businesses brien 2008-03-12T09:32:33-05:00 Become a Carbon Hero http://blog.tmcnet.com/green-blog/become-a-carbon-hero.asp 35361@http://blog.tmcnet.com/green-blog/ With more and more people becoming conscious of their environmental responsibilities these days, the focus on reducing global warming has escalated.
 
To this end, more people are looking for ways they can do their part to become green and reduce their carbon footprint.
 
Now, a new device that helps increase peoples awareness is helping them to become a 'Carbon Hero.'
 
That’s what Andreas Zachariah, a graduate student from the Royal College of Art in London and inventor of Carbon Hero and Oxford graduate student Nick Burch are saying about their product, the Carbon Hero.
 
The new device is a personal carbon calculator that detects movement using satellite navigation and displays a user's carbon footprint on their mobile phone.
 
Becoming more aware of ones own contributions, and the difference they can make by choosing a different method of travel, can have a positive impact on green initiatives.  
 
“If you go on a diet you want to see if all that effort has made a difference so you weigh yourself. The beauty of our system is that it’s easy; you have a ’weighing scale’ on you all the time giving you your carbon footprint. When you make the effort to walk instead of taking the car you can immediately see the result, so it feels more worthwhile doing it and you are more likely to stick with it,” Zachariah was quoted as saying in this ScienceDaily report.
 
And not only can this new device help users personally discover and adjust their impact on the environment but also, businesses looking at the benefits of going green, can find benefit in using Carbon Hero as well.
 
“Companies that use Carbon Hero could present the results in their annual report, together with other ways in which they are helping the environment. It is easy to document carbon emissions from heating and electricity; now with Carbon Hero, companies can also document CO2 emissions from business travel,” Zachariah was also quoted as saying.
 
Check it out for yourself at CarbonHero.net

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(Green Eggs Matty on Mar 4, 2008 2:00 PM) This is a great post -- I think the more environmental efforts can be included into our daily lives, leveraging every-day objects like cell phones, the better. It's tough to get people to raise their level of consciousness -- even to do things like be adamant about recycling in the office. So every little bit helps, and making it easy is surely one great way to go. Thanks, Matty Byloos Green Eggs and Planet

(Linds@Go Green on Mar 6, 2008 12:17 PM) This is a fascinating invention and remarkably effective, I am sure. I wonder how long it will be until this could be an offered, free feature on mobile phones? Would that ever happen? - Linds@Go Green Blog

(NiraliSherni on Mar 19, 2008 2:08 AM) Thanks for the free white paper.Carbon hero sounds like a good monitor to check your personal pollution quotient. This should bring about some awareness among people what impact they are personally having on the environment so that they can take steps to check it. Good innovation!

]]> carbon footprint carbon Carbon achariah saying footprint 2008-02-26T10:43:48-05:00 Green Technology the Answer to Pollution in Japan? http://blog.tmcnet.com/green-blog/green-technology-the-answer-to-pollution-in-japan.asp 35302@http://blog.tmcnet.com/green-blog/ Coal-fired power stations definitely don’t help in the fight against global warming, unless maybe they use “clean-coal technology,” as does a power station in Nakaso, Japan. That station, Financial Times in Japan reports, is run by a consortium of nine power companies and is being championed by the country’s trade ministry as a way to prove that the technology can reduce pollution.
 
Specifically, the ministry thinks that using “clean-coal” technology can results in CO2 emissions comparable to an oil-fired plant.
 
"For combating climate change, what is needed is substantive technology that leads to real reductions,” the Financial Times report quoted Takashi Mogi, an assistant director at the ministry’s environmental affairs office as saying. Mogi admitted, though, that such technology may not yet available: “It is not very easy to believe we will achieve that without the help of innovative technology that does not already exist.”
 
In its report, Financial Times indicated that, as wonderful as clean-coal technology is, Japan may be using this as a way of removing pressure to make more long-lasting changes. Japan has reason, the report noted, to pitch technology as the answer: the country has lots of technology.
 
“Japan is already at the cutting edge of energy-saving technology, even if environmentalists say it has lost some ground in recent years,” Financial Times said.
 
What do you think—is technology the answer to Japan’s pollution challenges? Or does it need to look at other types of initiatives to effect real change?

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(John Gillett on Mar 7, 2008 6:24 PM) Yes, technology is the answer to pollution in Japan, and elsewhere on the planet. With even the biggest industrial violators initiating green initiatives, it is only a matter of time before 1) clean, eco-friendly technologies replace the old and 2) technologies are developed to rpair damage that has already been dome. Clean coal technology is a start. The real challenge is a change in consiousness from short term profit to long term sustainability.

(NiraliSherni on Mar 17, 2008 12:09 PM) Countries use whatever technology is available to them to reduce pollution levels. In India for instanceCNG is a really popular concept and very well entrenched especially with public transport such as buses, taxis, rickshaws, etc. and even private transport.

]]> CO2coalglobal warmingJapanpollutionpower financial times technology answer technology Japan japan Financial 2008-02-21T13:01:50-05:00 Green Tech Not 'Sexy' Enough? http://blog.tmcnet.com/green-blog/green-tech-not-sexy-enough.asp 35092@http://blog.tmcnet.com/green-blog/ Green technologies companies, CNet News blogger Michael Kanellos said in a Tuesday posting, may face an uphill battle getting customers excited about their products because those products simply aren’t “sexy” enough.
 
Kanellos pointed out that solar and wind companies sell electricity-generating equipment… not exactly the most exciting thing around. Nor are new types of water filters or home biomass heating systems.
 
In other words, Kanellos suggested, the majority of green companies “sell commodities you need, but don't desire.”
 
That may be true, but then again maybe not. Some green technologies are exciting, at least for those among us who drool over new smartphones and other gadgets. Such technologies—like more efficient batteries, displays that are thinner than ever, and software that lets people conduct life-like videoconferences—may also be “commodities” in a sense, but they are also potentially of significant interest to technology early adopters and power users.
 
So here’s the question to you, dear reader: what constitutes a “sexy” green technology to you? What does it take for a green technology to make you say, “Cool!”? Let us know. Because there surely is more to green tech than solar panels.

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]]> batterycoolgadgetgreen techpowersmartphone green technology companies kanellos technologies Kanellos 2008-02-06T14:59:28-05:00 Encouraging Green Tech Development http://blog.tmcnet.com/green-blog/encouraging-green-tech-development.asp 35091@http://blog.tmcnet.com/green-blog/ This summer a group of outstanding doctoral students, post-docs and research faculty from University of California, Davis, will be taking part in a five-day “boot camp” sponsored by the Kauffman Foundation (and other organizations) designed to help move sustainable technologies ideas from the lap to the marketplace.
 
Applications are now being accepted for the second annual Green Technology Entrepreneurship Academy, July 7-11 at the Tahoe Center for Environmental Sciences in Incline Village, Nevada.
 
GreenBiz.com reports that the five-day event will cover “technology validation, market and financial strategies and communication skills.”

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]]> boot campdevelopmentGreen Techlabmarketuniversity 2008-02-06T14:49:05-05:00 American Business Worlds Worst Addiction- Paper http://blog.tmcnet.com/green-blog/american-business-worlds-worst-addiction-paper.asp 35027@http://blog.tmcnet.com/green-blog/  
Today, it’s entirely possible to keep a business document electronic throughout its entire life cycle. But if this is true, why then, are the average U.S workers printing more than a tree's worth per year?
 
The answer, as Renee Thomas, Director of Field Marketing, Esker, states in this TMCnet article, is an addiction to paper.
 
Just like a smoker who's addicted to cigarettes, Thomas explains, office workers seem to be addicted to hitting the print button.
 
And just as smoking has harmful effects on the smoker and those around them, this paper addiction is harming the environment for all. Damages extend from deforestation concerns, to green house emissions, waste, energy and water concerns.
 
 
Check out, "Four Steps (and 20+ Tips!) to Beating Paper Addiction" for steps to overcoming the addiction and help with putting your organization on the road to recovery.
 

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]]> addiction paper 2008-01-31T17:30:14-05:00 Intel Pledges Green For Green's Sake http://blog.tmcnet.com/green-blog/green-investing/intel-pledges-green-for-greens-sake.asp 34995@http://blog.tmcnet.com/green-blog/ TMCnet’s Stefania Viscusi has the latest on Intel’s purchase of over 1.3 billion kilowatt hours a year of renewable energy certificates as part of a multi-faceted approach to reduce its impact on the environment.
 
This commitment makes Intel the single-largest corporate purchaser of green power in the United States, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
 
The plan calls for Intel to purchase renewable energy certificates, which will comprise a variety of sources including wind, solar, small hydro-electric and biomass.
 
Intel has also successfully implemented energy saving strategies at their own facilities, and over the last 7 years, the company has invested in more than 250 energy conservation projects with resulting savings in excess of 500 million kilowatt hours.

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]]> Green Investing biomasscorporate initiativeepagreenIntelinvestmentsolarwind Intel intel energy green 2008-01-30T09:07:47-05:00 WSJ: US Seeks to Lower Green Trade Barriers http://blog.tmcnet.com/green-blog/government-initiatives/wsj-us-seeks-to-lower-green-trade-barriers.asp 34994@http://blog.tmcnet.com/green-blog/ The Wall Street Journal is reporting that diplomats representing several of the world's biggest economies will gather in Hawaii for discussions regarding a new international agreement to succeed the Kyoto Protocol.
 
According to the story, “The meeting isn't expected to produce any major breakthrough.”
 
However, the meeting is set against a backdrop where the U.S. and other industrialized nations are trying to convince up and comers, such as China and India to lower trade barriers and eliminate tarrifs.
 
According to the Journal:
 
Deploying existing clean-energy technologies more broadly throughout the developing world is widely seen as important to slowing the growth in emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. But getting developing countries to drop the tariffs won't be easy. China and India have their own fast-growing companies selling clean technologies such as wind turbines and solar panels around the world. Those companies often want to continue to be protected by tariffs.
 
President Bush included an item in his State of the Union speech Monday regarding U.S. commitment to creating a $2 billion global "clean technology" fund to deploy new green technology to countries such as China and India.
 
Bush’s proposal followed Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda's recent pledge to spend $10 billion over the next five years to help developing countries curb their emissions.
 
For more , check out the Wall Street Journal article in its entirety.
 

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]]> government initiatives governmentgreenKyoto china india India countries Journal india China 2008-01-30T08:34:14-05:00 Space Junk: The Green Problem No One Ever Talks About http://blog.tmcnet.com/green-blog/space-junk-the-green-problem-no-one-ever-talks-about.asp 34962@http://blog.tmcnet.com/green-blog/
Case in point is today’s article on CNN News about a U.S. government satellite that it expected to fall sometime this February or March, as a result of it losing power. According to the report, the satellite “could contain hazardous materials, and it is unknown where on the planet it might come down.” Gordon Johndroe, a spokesman for the National Security Council, was quoted as saying: "Appropriate government agencies are monitoring the situation." Sounds kind of like a warning to me.

"Numerous satellites over the years have come out of orbit and fallen harmlessly,” Johndroe said. “We are looking at potential options to mitigate any possible damage this satellite may cause."

Apparently there is some speculation that the government might shoot the satellite down using a guided missile system. According to the article, “NASA engineers successfully directed a safe de-orbit of the 17-ton Compton Gamma Ray Observatory,” in 2000, “using rockets aboard the satellite to bring it down in a remote part of the Pacific Ocean.”

According to the report, the 78-ton abandoned space station Skylab, which fell out of the sky in 1979, was the largest piece of space junk to plummet to Earth to date. It scattered its debris across the Indian Ocean and a remote section of western Australia. Apparently there are no incidences of anyone ever having been struck and killed by falling man-made space debris.

Not only does this space junk pose a slight threat property, and possibly people, on the ground, but it also poses a threat to manned space missions, like the U.S. space shuttle program, and manned space stations, not to mention research rockets. If a space station, or one of the space shuttles, ever collided with one of these objects as it was coming down, the result could be catastrophic.

There is growing awareness about the problem because as we launch more and more communications satellites, the number of big, heavy, and possibly dangerous space junk items is going to grow quickly. I should point out that the U.S. isn’t the only country responsible, Russia, China, India, Japan and France also all contribute to the problem, so its going to take an international effort to do something about it.
 
… and then there’s the minor point that no one has really come up with a viable solution to the problem!

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]]> space satellite satellites problem orbit debris 2008-01-27T13:41:37-05:00 California Rakes in the Green Tech Dough http://blog.tmcnet.com/green-blog/california-rakes-in-the-green-tech-dough.asp 34892@http://blog.tmcnet.com/green-blog/ It’s no secret in the business world that the climate is now ripe for investments in products or services deemed “green”—that is, environmentally friendly—to bear significant fruit. As noted in this previous post, Greentech Group reported significant business investments in green technology during 2007.
 
According to a San Francisco Chronicle report, the group also noted that, in the U.S., California received the largest amount of investment for a single state: $1.79 billion. That represents 45 percent of all green investments in North America.
 
“Silicon Valley has moved much more rapidly than any other place on the planet,” John Balbach, managing partner of the Cleantech Group, was quoted as saying in the San Francisco Chronicle report, explaining why the state got so much green tech dough. “It's the speed at which the innovation economy in California is able to shift from one field to another.”

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]]> Californiagreen techinvestmentNorth America green california group investments California 2008-01-23T10:12:02-05:00 Investments in Green Tech Exceed $5 Billion for 2007 http://blog.tmcnet.com/green-blog/investments-in-green-tech-exceed-5-billion-for-2007.asp 34891@http://blog.tmcnet.com/green-blog/ The business world took “being green” seriously during 2007, not only by espousing environmentally friendly practices, but also by putting their money where there mouths are. Reuters reported that investments in green technology by businesses increased 44 percent (the same percentage increase as in 2006), to more than $5 billion, last year.
 
That number comes from Cleantech Group LLC, an organization whose members include venture capital firms, investment banks and other investors, Reuters said. The group also noted that venture investments in alternative energy during 2007 (for both North America and Europe) was $5.18 billion, up from $3.6 billion the year before.
 
Reuters listed – green market segments in order according to how much investment each received: energy generation, energy storage, energy efficiency, recycling & waste. Water companies and “green” building firms also were recipients of investments during 2007.
 
Reuters predicted that investment in the green industry will continue to grow by 20-30 percent annually, with an increasing amount of money going to companies in China and India.

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]]> businessCleantech Groupenergygreen techinvestmentrecyclingwater green Reuters energy investments reuters billion 2008-01-23T09:55:53-05:00 Land Rover Unveils Green Concept http://blog.tmcnet.com/green-blog/automotive/land-rover-unveils-green-concept.asp 34699@http://blog.tmcnet.com/green-blog/ Green is a major theme of this year’s North American International Auto Show and Land Rover is bringing something to the party. The automaker unveiled the LRX hybrid concept, a three-door Rover, showcasing compact size, lighter weight and sustainability-focused technologies.
 
“The LRX concept delivers the powerful message that we are as serious about sustainability as we are confident about the continuing relevance and desirability of our vehicles,” says Phil Popham, Land Rover’s managing director. “LRX is in every respect a Land Rover, but it’s a very different Land Rover.
 
LRX is designed to be a highly fuel-efficient, turbodiesel hybrid, capable of running on bio-diesel. In combination with other Land Rover technologies, this powertrain could reduce fuel consumption by as much as 30 percent compared with other SUVs of comparable size, and reduce emissions as well.
 
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]]> automotive automotivegreen technologyhybrid carland rover Rover rover concept 2008-01-14T08:40:02-05:00 Honda Stays on Green Message in Detroit http://blog.tmcnet.com/green-blog/automotive/honda-stays-on-green-message-in-detroit.asp 34698@http://blog.tmcnet.com/green-blog/ Yesterday, at the North American International Auto Show, Honda announced the debut of the company’s CR-Z, a lightweight hybrid concept car, and the FCX Clarity, a hydrogen fuel cell vehicle set to begin marketing by summer.
 
The FCX Clarity is classified as a ‘zero-emissions’ hydrogen-powered fuel cell vehicle based on the Honda V Flow fuel cell platform, and powered by the highly compact, efficient and powerful Honda V Flow fuel cell stack.
 
Honda plans to lease the FCX Clarity to a limited number of retail consumers in Southern California by this summer. Early estimates call for a three-year lease term with a price of $600 per month.

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]]> automotive automotivefuel cellgreen technologyhondahybrid car honda Honda clarity Clarity 2008-01-14T08:28:24-05:00 GM, Coskata in Ethanol Deal http://blog.tmcnet.com/green-blog/automotive/gm-coskata-in-ethanol-deal.asp 34697@http://blog.tmcnet.com/green-blog/ General Motors has entered into a partnership with Coskata in a bid to promote a unique process for turning biomass into ethanol.
 
The Coskata partnership also builds on GM’s longstanding leadership in automotive fuels development and testing that included research and development of unleaded fuels in conjunction with the development of the catalytic converter, and early formulations of ethanol.
 
According to Beth Lowery, GM vice president, Environment, Energy and Safety Policy, “We believe ethanol used as a fuel, not just as a gasoline additive, is the best near-term alternative to the surging global demand for oil because ethanol is renewable and it significantly reduces CO2 emissions compared to gasoline.”
 
GM has already enabled its U.S. fleet to operate on E10, a blend of 90 percent gasoline and 10 percent ethanol.
 
According to General Motors, the company has about 3.5 million flex-fuel vehicles on the road in the U.S., Canada, Europe and Brazil. About 2.5 million are capable of operating on any percentage of gasoline and ethanol, up to 85 percent ethanol (E85). Another 1 million are in Brazil, where more than 90 percent of the vehicles GM sells run on 100-percent ethanol, known as E100.
 
Coskata is a renewable energy company promoting technology that uses proprietary microorganisms and transformative bioreactor designs, with the goal of producing ethanol for under $1 per gallon (USD) almost anywhere in the world, from a wide variety of input materials.
 
According to a company news release, Coskata uses patented microorganisms and transformative bioreactor designs, and a unique three-step conversion process to produce ethanol. The solution turns virtually any carbon-based feedstock, including biomass, municipal solid waste, bagasse and other agricultural waste into ethanol, making production a possibility in almost any geography.
 

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