Investments in clean technologies around the world grew 12 percent in the third quarter, totaling $2.23 billion across 189 deals, announced Cleantech Group.

It grew 12 percent compared to the second quarter ($1.98 billion - 179 deals) and 23 percent in Q3 2010 ($1.81 billion).

59 percent (111 deals) were in Series B or later rounds in Q3 2011, accounting for 81 percent ($1.81 billion) of investments.

"While financing remains constrained, it's still growing," says Sheeraz Haji, CEO of Cleantech Group. "Energy Storage emerged as our top sector, indicating continued strong interest in advanced technologies for grid-storage as well as for electric vehicles."

Both the IPO and M&A market were a bit slower in Q3 than in the first half of the year. 11 of the 14 IPOs in the quarter were in China, where four solar manufacturers raised $812 million.

M&A activity remained strong and significantly higher than last year - two giant acquisitions in the water and wastewater sub-sector were highlights. Ecolab acquired water treatment service provider Nalco Holdings for $5.4 billion, and Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing's Cheung Kong Infrastructure Holdings acquired British water utility company Northumbrian Water for $3.9 billion.

Energy Storage Leads

For the first time, energy storage was the leading sector by amount invested ($514 million), followed by solar ($350 million) and energy efficiency ($223 million).

Energy efficiency had the most deals, however, with 34 funding rounds, ahead of solar (33 deals) and energy storage (19 deals).

Here are the largest transactions in each of the top sectors:

Energy Storage: $514 million in 19 deals

- Bloom Energy (California): $150 million for solid-oxide fuel cell technology;
- Boston-Power (Massachusetts): $125 million for lithium-ion battery production;
- ClearEdge Power (Oregon): $73.5 million for silicon-based stationary fuel cells.

Solar: $350 million in 33 deals

- HelioVolt (Texas): $85 million for CIGS thin-film solar cells;
- OneRoof Solar (California): $50 million for residential solar/roofing systems;
- CaliSolar (California): $26 million for solar cells that can use non-pure silicon.

Energy Efficiency: $223 million in 34 deals

- Fusion-io (Utah): $61.5 million for efficient servers and workstations;
- SynapSense (California): $16 million for data center efficiency solutions;
- Elstat (UK): $15 million for energy management devices for commercial beverage coolers.

Transportation: $177 million in 15 deals

- Coda Automotive (California): $66 million for electric vehicles manufacture;
- INRIX (Washington): $37 million for predictive traffic services and solutions;
- SmartDrive Systems (California): $10 million for fleet management solutions.

Clearly, the majority of investments (76 percent) were in the US; Asia Pacific accounted for 14 percent and Europe & Israel, 10 percent.

North American companies raised $1.69 billion, up 17 percent from Q2 and up 59 percent from Q3 2010. The total of 128 deals disclosed marked a record high for cleantech VC rounds in the region.

California led with $654 million investment (39 percent), followed by Massachusetts ($176 million, 10 percent) and New Mexico (175 million, 10 percent). Investments in Canada dropped with only $33 million invested in 8 deals.

European and Israeli companies raised $230 million, down 34 percent from Q2 and down 32 percent from Q3 2010. The number of deals dropped to 40 from 44 in Q2. The largest deals were Nexeon ($65 million), Elstat ($15 million) and EcoEridania ($14 million).

Asian companies raised $303 million in 21 disclosed rounds. India ranked third after the US and UK in amount raised, while China ranked third in number of deals globally. The largest deals were Soma Enterprise ($110 million), Champions of the Earth ($52 million) and Changxing Wind Power ($47 million).

IPOs

There were 14 IPOs in Q3 totaling $1.7 billion, slightly down from the $1.99 billion in Q2.

The largest IPO was for Huaneng Renewable Energy, a subsidiary of China's Jingyuntong Technology, which raised $395 million on the Shanghai Stock Exchange.

Three companies filed for IPOs, all U.S. biofuels companies: Renewable Energy Group, Fulcrum Bioenergy and Mascoma.

Photo by Refracted Moments/flickr/Creative Commons

by Sonia Tracy

There is something about a vinyl record that presents a classic and timeless feel. Perhaps it is the nostalgia associated with it or even the crispness of the sound when it’s played. Whatever the case, the record will forever be a symbol of the golden ages of music.

But times have changes now, and the convenience of modern formats has trumped this feel – not to mention that not every record you might have lying around is a classic. Everyone has found themselves with more than one embarrassing addition in their collection that they will never listen to and just allow it to sit around, collecting dust.

Whether you want to lessen the load of your current record box or you have just decided to give in to digital music completely and get rid of all vinyl, you can do more than give them over to the local charity shop. Instead, why not try these cool upcyling ideas.

1. Cover Box

You can never have enough decorative boxes to help keep things organized around the house. In the past I have used plastic bins, but I love this idea. You take five covers and use a thick string to bind them. A standard hole punch will allow you to thread it through, and you can go around every side to make an attractive border. I would suggest using tape on the inside to help keep it steady while you put it together.

2. Record Bowls

This awesome idea from TLC Family shows how you can use your oven to mold the vinyl into useable (and very trendy) serving bowls. The trick is to be speedy in your reshaping, as they very quickly cool and harden. Make sure to hand-wash them, as they will melt in the dishwasher.

3. Vinyl Clock

Etsy user EyePopArt has an entire store full of brilliant pieces made from old records. But this one is really special: a psychedelic wall clock. You could make your own using a standard clock-making kit, which can often be found in craft stores.

4. Vinyl Strip Necklace

This necklace is made from a single strip of vinyl that has been remolded into an interesting wavy design and then attached to what looks like a bamboo chain.

5. Record Handbag

Do you like vintage fashion? Give it a new twist with this awesome hangbag design. The included original label is a nice touch, and I think it makes it a much more special piece than others I have seen that paint over it to match the color of the fabric used.

6. Painted Bowl

This is a great example of the bowl idea mentioned before. Instead of using the original black look of the vinyl, they have created an interesting retro design pattern to make it really unique. You would have to take care to use the proper paint so it wouldn’t fade with wash.

7. Surrealist Clock

Avid Salvador Dali fans will melt when they see this homage to the surrealist style. The design itself is extremely simple, with the ridges made by heating and reshaping the record. The way it is able to hang on the mantle is brilliant.

8. Record Book

Forget those leather-bound books of the past – this is where it is really at! The hard and protective cover of the vinyl allows you to keep your pages safe from water damage while offering a unique style all your own.

9. Record Book Ends

Now that you have a record book, why not give yourself a way to keep it on the shelf? With the simple heating and bending of a couple of records, you can have functional book ends for their side of your shelf. You can also use hot water instead of direct heat for the task. This will give it a smoother bend.

10. Vinyl Jewelry

Random Prefect on Etsy makes these awesome-looking necklaces, cutting shapes out of records, smoothing them and putting them on chain. They are real works of art and a great example of the adaptability of vinyl.

by Silvio Marcacci

A recent poll said 63 percent of Americans support renewable energy investment… in theory. But, in practice, Not-In-My-Backyard (NIMBY) opposition to new energy infrastructure prevents about 45 percent of renewable energy proposals from being built across the country, according to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

For instance, the Michigan chapter of the Raging Grannies, a national band of senior citizen environmentalists, wants to see the completion of a wind farm off the shores of Grosse Pointe, MI, right outside Detroit. But local residents are opposing the proposed farm. Sailboat owners claim the turbines create dead air, making it harder to sail. They also say and the turbines will be unsightly.

There is similar opposition to renewable projects all over the country. The permit process for the Cape Wind offshore wind project in Massachusetts took nine years, over the opposition of locals, including the late Sen. Edward Kennedy.

Off the coast of Virginia, the military is opposed to offshore wind, claiming turbines will interfere with their training. And in the Mojave Desert, a rare tortoise protected by the Endangered Species Act has slowed development of a massive solar farm.

And in Maryland, engineer and inventor Robert Bruninga, wanted to turn his unused boat dock into a solar field to provide electricity for his home. But the state denied his permit because, according to Maryland law, nothing is allowed on a pier unless it’s of aquatic nature.

Bruninga has been appealing to the state for a year and a half to make some sort of ordinance for solar panels on boat piers. Until then, he has to set up his panels on the ground in the back of his house, moving them every month because of the shade from the trees.

Patrick Earle of Takoma Park, MD, a science teacher, wanted to put solar panels on his roof, but needed to remove an old silver maple tree. But the Takoma Park arborist told Earle he would have to replant 23 trees in its place, or pay $4,000 into the city’s tree fund.

Earle learned the trees didn’t have to be planted on his own property and was able to get the city to reduce the number of trees to 15 if he planted bigger ones, so he went around town giving out free trees to his neighbors. Total cost: About $600. And now Earle and his family are proud owners of a rooftop solar array, providing about 75 percent of his home’s electricity needs.

You can watch the full segment by clicking the video below:

http://vimeo.com/29972082

Source: Clean Technica (http://s.tt/13rx5) Reprinted with permission from Cleantechnica

How smart? No one from the utilities admitted to failing grades, of course, but various company representatives using smart technology report measurable progress:

- Pepco’s Bill Gausman, senior vice president of strategic initiatives, told the opening session that his utility’s smart grid outage-detection system came up big during Hurricane Irene. The system had 150,000 meters reporting in, and managers equipped with this data were able to eliminate 600 truck-rolls in Maryland alone (which, using a back-of-the-envelope calculation, works out to some $90,000 in savings).

- John Stafford, vice president of sales at Sensus, said he initially underestimated the benefits of smart grid technology for consumers. He told the audience his own projected bias was that only a “lunatic fringe” would be interested in modifying their usage once empowered with consumption data. However, consumers are interested in using Web-based reporting portals, he said; adoption is in the 20 percent range. He cautioned the audience to guard against personal bias, and allow the actual data to speak for itself.

- Portland General Electric’s project manager technology support, Eric Spack, said his utility’s installation of smart meters will bring an estimated return on investment (ROI) of $35 million (net present value) in operational cost savings.

Two other companies offered interesting updates on their efforts:

Craig Kuennen, business transformation and marketing administrator for Glendale (California) Water & Power, described how GWP has deployed smart meters across its system, and is in trials for the rollout of CEIVA photo frames early next year that will allow consumers to not only share pictures over a ZigBee-enabled home area network, but also engage them with a water and electric management dashboard. Pretty cool.

Echologics’ Marc Bracken, vice president and general manager, presented a fascinating case study of how his company’s non-invasive acoustics technology enabled the Sewerage and Water Board of New Orleans (SWBNO) to detect and conserve thousands of gallons of lost water per day. The technology can accurately pinpoint leaks without the use of digging, and in one instance uncovered a significant leak underneath a sidewalk that was costing SWBNO an estimated $200,000 per year.

One of the more lively sessions at Autovation took place during a panel discussion among meter vendors. Aclara’s Paul Lekan, vice president of marketing (and one of the most entertaining personalities in the utility business, I might add) made a strong point about how great the new meters are, but that “it’s all about the data” – and how utilities manage the information they collect and leverage analytics to their advantage. He cited one utility his company has worked with that saw a dramatic change in customer service calls: before the new technology was installed, 90 percent of calls were inbound, and now that has been reversed by utilizing data to proactively reach out to customers.

The takeaway from Autovation: Deployments of smart technology may be longer-term bets, but for utilities that have deployed them already some of the payoffs are evident now.

Neil Strother researches the smart grid for Pike Research with a focus on smart metering technologies.

by Guest Author

Audi, Citroen, Jaguar, Lancia, Peugeot, Porche, Renault. These should all be familiar names to car aficionados – and fans of the BBC show Top Gear.

But what else do they have in common? All have recently launched electric concept cars. (And I have to say they are all quite stunning in terms of design. But they’re concept cars, so that is almost to be expected; things like car transport and practicality aren’t always taken into consideration). Most of these concept cars were shown for 2011, which means around this time last year – but what’s new for this year?

There are a good number of production electric cars either announced for 2012 or ones that have been in production already, like the Nissan LEAF, or the plug-in hybrid Chevy Volt. But more concepts are in the works, many of which were on display at the Frankfurt Motor Show this year (which just wrapped on September 25th).

One of the most unique comes from Audi: their Urban Concept (with its Urban Spyder variation – pictured above). They’re modern throwbacks – hearkening back to the wide-set axles of the Ford Model T, but with a modern twist, and a bit more of a sleek design. The motors are 2 e-tron electric motors.

Audi’s also released a new production electric vehicle, the A2. According to the guys over at Top Gear (my go-to car gurus), the new car has a

construction of aluminium frame with some added super-light and rigid carbon fibre. It’s engineered to accelerate a bit quicker than a regular diesel Audi hatch, thanks to a torquey 115bhp electric motor. It’ll go more than 100 miles on a four-hour 240V charge. It needs only that relatively quick recharge because its slimline 1150kg weight means it doesn’t need much electricity to accelerate.

Go more than 100 miles on a four hour charge? Sign me up! (Though…if someone else could pay for it, that would be nice…)

Renault had a rather unusual concept car at the Frankfurt show: the Frendzy has a “dual personality” and there’s a lot of talk about creating the perfect atmosphere for work or family with different colored lights (green and orange). Though it’s 100 percent electric, I can’t imagine it on the roads anytime soon. I liked the DeZir better…

GM (namely Cadillac) is putting the concept car Converj (from 2009) into production as the Cadillac ELR. The ELR will actually be using the same version of the Voltec that powers the Volt – a four-cylinder 1.4L generator. That makes it sound like the ELR is just the Volt re-skinned with a coupe body, but we shall see. Regardless, this one will need to show better sale margins: apparently the Chevy plug-in hybrid has sold less than 3,000 units this year. Hopefully the bells and whistles that typically come with a coupe will entice people to the true value addition that electric brings.

There’s also some news for European electrics – the Opel Ampera will be the first electrically driven car in Europe suitable for the everyday. The car promises about 300 miles reach with a full charge. For ~40 mile trips (60km), the car would run on electricity stored in the lithium-ion battery; after the battery is depleted, would run on electricity generated from an on-board engine generator (which is gasoline-powered… so a system similar to the Chevy Volt).

GM plans to put the Ampera into production in late 2011, offering it also with right-hand drive in the UK by Opel’s sister-brand, Vauxhall.

That’s only a few of the things that are going on with the electric car scene in 2011-2012, and things look promising. If the Dezir ever goes into production, get me in touch with Renault!

A couple of weeks ago, I came back to my office from a seminar in Seoul. When I stood in front of the elevator door, the light in the hall went out, along with the elevator sign lamp. The elevator indicators quickly recovered in few seconds. I thought that the lobby lights would also shortly be turned on, but the outage continued for over 30 minutes in my building.

I thought that there must have been big trouble, an accident, or even an act of terror, because I’ve never experienced such an outage lasting over several minutes in my 30 years of working in the South Korean capital. Unlike in some major North American cities, electricity outages are not common events for Seoulites.

That day, Seoul and other major cities in Korea experienced unprecedented and massive blackouts. The blackouts started around 3 p.m. and lasted for 30 minutes each as they rolled across areas of Seoul, Busan, and several other big cities. The news media reported widespread turmoil. Firefighters were swamped with hundreds of emergency calls from people trapped in elevators. Non-working traffic signals caused huge traffic jams. Hundreds of factories without backup uninterruptible power supply (UPS) systems were hit by power failures. The media also pointed out that some military bases also experienced outages, meaning that national defense was compromised during the incident.

The government attributed the blackouts to unseasonably high temperatures, about 5 degrees higher than the average 26ºC (79ºF) for September, which increased electricity demand for air conditioners. At the same time, some major power plants were in maintenance shutdowns at the time.

The aftermath continues. President Lee Myung Bak blamed the Korea Power Exchange (KPX) for failing to estimate exactly what the daily peak-hour demand would be. Citizens and commercial and industrial consumers are reportedly preparing lawsuits to recoup their losses.

The breakdowns were surprising because KEPCO,the sole utility in Korea, has boasted of its stable and advanced capabilities in power supply. In fact, Korea claims one of the shortest average blackout periods per-household-per-year in the world (16 minutes), along with Japan (11 min) — meaning that Korea is one of the most advanced countries in regard to grid stability. KEPCO often highlights the comparison on this measure with the United Kingdom (78 minutes), and the United States (138 minutes).

Several factors likely contributed to the blackouts. In part it was a man-made failure, brought on by faulty estimations of daily power consumption during a time of unexpectedly high temperatures. Some industry officials insist that current power-demand forecasting mechanisms should be re-calibrated. Others assert that new power-plant construction must be planned to meet growing electricity demand. In fact, according to the Ministry of Knowledge and Economy, Koreans tend to consume more electricity per capita than inhabitants of many developed nations (South Korea: 8.833 kWh; Japan: 7,818; Germany: 7,148; Great Britain: 5,607 kWh). One contributor to heavy consumption patterns in Korea is the low price of electricity ($0.072/kWh) as compared to the United States ($0.099), Japan ($0.173), France: ($0.122), etc. These demand and supply factors were undoubtedly interwoven in the recent outage.

One result is that people are now paying more attention to the newest solution: the smart grid. The stock prices of Korean domestic smart grid-related companies surged following the outage.

The smart grid presents opportunities for utilities and their customers to benefit from the efficient management of energy and advanced equipment and devices. Moreover, it offers significant opportunities to wisely manage a nation’s energy sources by potentially reducing the need for additional generation sources, better integrating renewable and non-renewable generation sources into the grid’s operations, reducing outages and cascading problems, and enabling consumers and businesses to better manage their energy consumption.

As shown in the table below, Korean players are following a systematic roadmap for the realization of advanced substation and distribution automation as a part of a full-scale smart grid deployment. Given the estimated level of technology self-assessment, South Korea is one of the front-runners in smart grid deployments.

Much of the direct impact of this outage will be to educate general consumers about the capability of the smart grid. I believe that this outage could be a meaningful tipping point for the Korean electricity industry.

by Zachary Shahan

Solar Decathlon 2011, a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) solar architecture contest, has wrapped up. While there is an overall winner, there are also winning teams for different topics (e.g. affordability, engineering, communications, home entertainment, and more). All of the winners are below, along with notes on why most of them won.

The overall goal of the Solar Decathlon competitors is to ”design, build and operate solar-powered houses that are cost-effective, energy efficient and attractive,” as my colleague over at Green Building Elements nicely summarizes.

Below are the big winners, followed by the final overall standings.

Overall Winner: University of Maryland (pictured above)

From the DOE:

Consistently appearing in first place in overall standings throughout the competition, the University of Maryland won the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon 2011. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu announced the competition results today before an excited audience that packed the main tent in the solar village.

“Maryland is a well-experienced team. After taking second place in 2007, they rested and regrouped in 2009 and came to West Potomac Park in 2011 focused and determined to win,” said Solar Decathlon Director Richard King. “In addition, Maryland’s Watershed is a beautiful house, judged first place in Architecture, which also performed impeccably in measured contests. This team mastered their strategies to ensure they excelled in all 10 contests.”

Architecture: University of Maryland

“WaterShed achieves an elegant mix of inspiration, function, and simplicity. It takes our current greatest challenges in the built environment—energy and water—and transforms them into opportunities for spatial beauty and poetry while maintaining livability in every square inch,” said Architecture Contest Juror Michelle Kaufmann.

Communications: Middlebury College

With exemplary communications materials, public tours, and website, Middlebury College received first place in the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon Communications Contest today.

“Middlebury College, this year’s winner of the Communications Contest, is a very authentic team that conveyed the best of New England architecture. This team’s holistic approach to communications was refreshing; they achieved in all aspects of communications—not just in one area,” said Ryan Park, director of business development for REC Solar Inc., who presented the award on behalf of the Communications Contest jurors. “This team made renewable energy technologies familiar to the public, which we believe will help people more easily embrace these technologies. And isn’t that what it’s all about?”

Affordability: Team Belgium AND Parsons the New School for Design and Stevens University (Tie)

“With its E-Cube now correctly valued at $249,568.09, Team Belgium (Ghent University) moved into the tie for first place with Parsons the New School for Design and Stevens University (which includes Milano School of International Affairs, Management, and Urban Policy at The New School).”

People’s Choice Award: Appalachian State

From the DOE:

Appalachian State University won the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon 2011 People’s Choice Award for its Solar Homestead today. This award gives the public the opportunity to vote for its favorite house. This year, 92,538 votes were cast. The award was announced at a Victory Reception in the solar Village in West Potomac Park—the last official event of Solar Decathlon 2011.

“The team’s passion and enthusiasm were contagious,” said Terri Jones, Solar Decathlon Communications Contest official. “The People’s Choice Award is a popular vote, and I believe the Solar Homestead house and team appealed to people on many levels.”

The Solar Homestead is a self-sustaining net zero-energy house inspired by the pioneer spirit of the early settlers to the Blue Ridge Mountains. The isolation of early settlers to the Appalachian region fostered a pioneer spirit in those who established self-sustaining living/working compounds on the frontier. The Solar Homestead fuses these values into a highly energy-efficient home, which remains true to these underlying principles by integrating renewable resources and innovative technology into a prototype that is adaptable, self-sufficient, rugged, affordable, and attractive.

Market Appeal: Middlebury College

“Self-Reliance left the jury very impressed, eclipsing our expectations across the board in livability and marketability,” said Brad Beeson, Market Appeal juror. “Middlebury College defined its market carefully—a young family of four with a modest income for the region—and demonstrated the fit for that target market with a very compelling video.”

Engineering: New Zealand

Wowing jurors with its attention to detail, craftsmanship, and unusual energy visualization system, New Zealand (Victoria University of Wellington) received first place today in the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon 2011 Engineering Contest for its First Light house.

“The New Zealand house was beautifully executed, with extreme attention to detail and craftsmanship and an intuitive tree-ring visualization system, which makes it easy to understand energy use throughout the house,” said Engineering Contest juror Dr. Hunter Fanney, chief of the building energy and environment division of the engineering laboratory at the National Institute of Standards and Technology.

Home Entertainment: Middlebury College

“We’ve been doing practice dinners for team bonding since last fall,” says Melissa Segil, team manager for Middlebury College. “It was so fun to use the kitchen, which is one of our favorite parts of the house.”

Energy Balance: New Zealand, Purdue, Tennessee, Florida International, Maryland, Illinois, SCI-Arc/Caltech (7-Way Tie)

Appliances: Illinois

Hot Water: New Zealand, Tennessee, Parsons NS Stevens, Appalachian State, Maryland, Ohio State, SCI-Arc/Caltech (7-Way Tie)

Comfort Zone: Ohio State

And the full final standings were as follows:

1. Maryland
2. Purdue
3. New Zealand
4. Middlebury College
5. Ohio State
6. SCI-Arc/Caltech
7. Illinois
8. Tennessee
9. Team Massachusetts
10. Canada
11. Florida Int’l
12. Appalachian State
13. Parsons NS Stevens
14. Tidewater Virginia
15. Team China
16. Team Belgium
17. Team New York
18. Team New Jersey
19. Team Florida

Congratulations to all who participated!!

by Christopher DeMorro

We can probably debate what counts as the world’s first “real” automobile, since the “De Dion Bouton Et Trepardoux Dos-A-Dos Steam Runabout” is more of a train without tracks than an actual car. This over-named vehicle is up for auction, and ran not on gasoline that would come to define the car…but on steam power.

The Dos-A-Dos Steam Runabout was built in 1884 by the combined efforts of Comte de Dion, Georges Bouton, and Charles-Armand Trepardoux. Dion found Bouton and Trepardoux getting paid a pittance to build small children’s toys. He commissioned them to build a full-size engine upon which one could ride. Their first effort was prone to catching fire, but in 1884 they came up with this contraption, named “La Marquise.”

It is the first conventional family car, in that it can be driven by one, seat four, and it was only nine-feet long. The real breakthrough was the vertical steam boiler design built with concentric rings for strength, which drove two rear wheels in a fashion like your average steam locomotive. The Dos-A-Dos could reach speeds of 37 mph on flat straightaways, and had a range of at least 20 miles. But by 1893, gasoline was seen as the fuel of the future, and steam power was put on the back burner (heh). Still, I find it fun to imagine a steampunk world where cars got along not on dead dino juice, but steam engines. The world would likely be a much different place.

This piece of automotive history is expected to bring between $2 million and $2.5 million when it hits the auction block this weekend.

by Andrew Burger

Capturing the carbon dioxide emitted from the myriad variety of industrial and commercial operations that use fossil fuels to produce power has been a “big idea” that’s really gone nowhere despite years of fossil fuel industry support, lobbying and many millions of dollars of government subsidization. Similarly, fuel cells and the “hydrogen economy” have long been touted as the energy system of the future, but that future still seems a long way off, if it will ever come about.

Fuel cells may hold the key to solving the increasingly urgent problem of how to capture CO2 emissions from coal-fired and other fossil fuel plants, at least that’s what fuel cell proponents assert and the US Dept. of Energy (DOE) intends to find out.

The DOE awarded $3 million to Connecticut-based FuelCell Energy (NASDAQ: FCEL) to evaluate the use of the company’s Direct Fuel Cells (DFC) “to efficiently and cost-effectively separate carbon dioxide (CO2) from the emissions of existing coal-fired power plants,” according to a press release today. If proven successful, carbon capture can then lead to finding the means to store, or sequester, the greenhouse gas.

The three-year research project will involve system design, cost analysis, and long-term testing of a multi-kilowatt DFC stack, with funding occurring in stages upon reaching certain progress milestones, according to the DOE. The project’s principal goals are to capture at least 90 percent of the CO2 from a coal-fired power plant’s emissions within the DOE’s cost targets. Achieving this could lead to a demonstration project with a DFC power plant installation at an existing coal-fired power plant, the press release explains.

“FuelCell Energy has over 80 Direct FuelCell power plants providing ultra-clean power and usable high quality heat at more than 50 locations globally,” noted Tony Leo, FuelCell Energy’s vice president, Applications Engineering and New Technology. “This award enables us to further expand the use of our existing commercial technology to develop an additional application with significant market potential, namely the ability for our power plants to economically capture carbon dioxide from the emissions of conventional fossil fuel-fired power plants.”

FuelCell Energy’s carbonate fuel cell technology separates and concentrates CO2 in a side reaction to generating electricity. According to the company, carbon capture research it has carried out has demonstrated the DFC “is a viable technology for the efficient separation of CO2 from a variety of industrial facility flue gases, such as cement plants and refineries.”

In addition to removing CO2, FuelCell Energy has also verified that its DFC technology can destroy some of the nitrogen oxide (NOX) emissions in flue gas streams and reduce the cost of doing so.

Fuel cell usage is spreading and becoming more diverse. Fuel cells are being used in municipal transit company buses. Auto manufacturers continue to develop and test hydrogen fuel cell vehicles. Waste-to-energy and co-generation applications are also on the rise, and fuel cells are also being tested as means of electrical power generation in the home.

The principal demand for FuelCell Energy’s hydrogen fuel cells has come from power generation companies, such as South Korea’s POSCO, that use them for electricity grid-support. They’re also used to produce electrical power independently at remote locations and those where the costs of power outages are deemed to outweigh the costs of buying, installing, and running a fuel cell system.

Last year, General Motors recycled 92 percent of all the waste generated in its manufacturing plants around the world and in doing so, has created a lucrative scrap recycling business.

Waste reduction and reuse efforts are now so prevalent at GM that the company no longer thinks of the material as "waste," says John Bradburn, manager of waste reduction.

The company makes about $1 billion a year from selling scrap byproducts, a new business that held its ground even during bankruptcy reorganization.

Over half its plants (76) produce zero waste, reusing or recycling 97 percent of its byproducts; the rest is used in waste-to-energy plants. GM's goal is to add 10 more "landfill-free" facilities this year.

10 of GM's non-manufacturing sites are also zero waste. Cardboard, for example, is a big part of their waste stream. One of its "landfill-free" suppliers came up with a patented technology that shears and separates cardboard boxes attached to wood pallets. The separation is necessary to manage each material with the least environmental impact and gain significant financial value. The technology not only enabled the GM facility to earn landfill-free status this year, but it also earns $20,000 a month from recycling its cardboard.

Another Michigan plant is using bio-based packaging foam (extruded cornstarch) from supplier Landaal Packaging Systems that blocks and braces products like sheet metal.

In May, we reported that GM recycled 227 miles of oil-soaked booms from the BP oil spill to make car parts for its flagship plug-in hybrid vehicle, the Chevrolet Volt.

GM now uses lifecycled design for all its vehicles, evaluating materials, the manufacturing processes used to build them, their energy consumption on the road and ease of recycling at the end of their useful life.

Recycled and bio-based materials are making their way into cars and trucks, including old vehicle bumpers, pop bottles, blue jeans and nylon carpet, and used tires. Some of those materials are starting to come from their own manufacturing plants.

In July, GM announced it would double solar installations at manufacturing plants worldwide by the end of 2015. Its venture capital arm, General Motors Ventures, invested $7.5 million commercial solar developer Sunlogics to do that.

Its venture arm also put $6 million into Proterra - a Colorado-based electric bus company - as part of an investment group led by venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers (KPCB).

Photo by LadyDragonflyCC/flickr/Creative Commons

by Zachary Shahan

Football teams, basketball teams and more have been putting solar panels up to power their stadiums. But not all have done so yet, of course…. Now, there’s a big push, created by the Ann Arbor-based Ecology Center, to get the University of Michigan to put solar power on its stadium, the largest football stadium in North America.

“The UM stadium has the potential to be the largest athletic venue in North America with solar panels, which is fitting with the University’s claim to be ‘the leaders and the best’,” said Monica Patel, policy specialist at the Ecology Center. “Even though the electricity generated won’t solve the climate crisis, it will go a long way in terms of solar energy education — just think of the awareness raised among the 100,000+ fans there on Game Day, and millions of others who tune in. The move would also give real support to Michigan’s growing solar energy industry.”

The Ecology Center has teamed up with Change.org and has a petition with over 3,000 signatures on the site now.

The petition targets University President Mary Sue Coleman, Athletic Director David Brandon, and Director of Campus Sustainability Initiatives Terry Alexander and, aside from collecting signatures online, activists will be collecting signatures at the stadium this year as well.

Here’s more from Change.org:

“What these activists have accomplished is really impressive,” said Jess Leber, a senior organizer for Change.org, the world’s fastest-growing platform for social change. “In just a few weeks, the Ecology Center has inspired thousands of University of Michigan community members to make their voices heard on solar energy. Change.org is about empowering anyone, anywhere to demand action on the issues that matter to them, and it has been incredible to watch the Ecology Center’s campaign take off.”

In 2009, University of Michigan students completed a feasibility assessment of a stadium solar project, estimating that an installation could divert 776 tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. The Ecology Center’s campaign is asking University officials to move beyond feasibility assessments by engaging with Michigan’s solar manufacturers and developing a project to offset some of the stadium’s electricity use and feed it back into the grid during times when the stadium isn’t used.

Nice. Good luck to the Ecology Center and the University of Michigan (solar power is a win-win-win)! And I hope we see much more like this in the months and years to come.

by Jeff McIntire-Strasburg

It’s starting to get cooler out, especially at night, and your thoughts may be turning to the pleasures of Fall: colorful trees, sweaters, and hot mugs of cider. Of course, you may also be dwelling on some less pleasant thoughts… namely, what it’s going to cost to heat your home this Winter. I don’t know if the almanac’s predicting as brutal a winter as last year, but we’ll definitely be running the heating system… and paying for the fuel to do it.

The Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance (NEEA) has picked this appropriate time to start promoting a technology that was new to me: the ductless heat pump. Their argument: this heating (and cooling) system is much more efficient and cost-effective than some of the decades-old technologies many of us still use, like baseboard and wall heaters. They’re having fun with their Going Ductless campaign by letting people know that “the 70s are calling, and they want their heater back,” giving users some graphic tools that allow you to place your picture in 7os-style settings, and sharing their “King of HVAC” videos (that’s one above). They’re even offering a $10,000 cash prize to Northwestern residents. They’re very serious about the technology, though, claiming that ductless heat pumps can save consumers 25 – 50 percent on heating bills when compared to older systems.

Still, I didn’t know much about these systems, so I started digging…

What is a ductless heat pump?

Essentially, they’re smaller-scale versions of air-source heat pumps. Also known as “mini-splits,” they consist of “two main components: an outdoor compressor/condenser, and an indoor air-handling unit. A conduit, which houses the power cable, refrigerant tubing, suction tubing, and a condensate drain, links the outdoor and indoor units.”

They seem like a good alternative for new construction, for replacing a ducted system (if you need to do that… I don’t know that the costs line up for optional replacement), or for replacing non-ducted systems. They run on electricity.

What makes these systems so efficient?

The Oregon Department of Energy lists three advantage of ductless heat pumps:

- They’re ductless (duh!): Since they’re not feeding heated or cooled air through ducts, much more of that air makes it into the room – the US Deparment of Energy notes that losses of heated/cooled air through ducts can account for as much as 30 percent of the energy consumption of those systems.
- Inverter technology: “Variable speed compressor models, usually labeled “inverter technology,” avoid on-off cycling losses and are able to provide usable heat efficiency on all but very cold days.”
- Zoning: Ductless heat pumps work a bit like space heaters, it seems; that means you can warm/cool specific areas of your home that you’re using, rather focusing on the whole house.

Finally, there may be incentives available for you to make the switch: NEEA has a list of Northwest-specific incentive programs, and the DSIRE database can help you in other US locations.

Disadvantage of ductless heat pumps

The US DOE notes that these systems can cost more per ton of cooling capacity: about 30 percent more than a central (ducted) system (but that doesn’t count the cost of ductwork), and twice as much as window units. That appears to only take into account upfront costs. DOE also notes that these systems must be properly sized and sited in order to achieve maximum efficiency and cost savings (but that strikes me as a qualification that applies to nearly any heating/cooling system). Finally, because this technology is still relatively new to the US, you may have trouble finding an installer (though, if you live in the Northwest, NEEA has a tool for locating qualified installation professionals).

As I said from the outset, this was a new one for me… if you know more about these systems, and their benefits (or downsides), share your knowledge with us in the comments.

Photo by NPR

by Joanna

Adding a touch of lipstick to your outfit will add some colour to your face and can even accentuate your smile. However, that glamour comes with a price.

The average woman will ingest about 6 lbs of lipstick in her lifetime. That’s a whole lot of unnatural ingredients to process in your body! To help you understand a bit more in what lipstick is made out of, here are some of the harmful ingredients you will come across in the product.

Toxic Ingredients

Lipstick is usually made up of wax, oil, pigments, dyes, alcohol, preservatives and antioxidants. And those are the more benign ingredients! The harmful ingredients you should look out for includes:

- Lead: This is the most common ingredient used in lipstick and can cause infertility, anemia, cancer, learning disabilities, mental retardation and behavioral problems.
- Coal Tar Derived FD&C Coloring: Red lipstick comes from pigments like Red no. 40 are made from coal tar. When ingested, it can cause nausea, attention deficit, headaches, skin irritation.
- Carmine: Is a coloring agent that causes skin irritations and allergies.
- Lake Colors: These artificial colouring agents are highly toxic. They come from carcinogenic sources and can cause cancer, skin irritation and allergies.
- Fragrance: It can cause dry, chapped lips and dermatitis.
- D4 and D5 siloxanes: Are toxic chemicals that exhibit in lipstick as well other daily items such as hair products, body lotions and home cleaning products. These chemicals are linked to damages to the female reproductive system in animals as well as developing uterine tumours. Not only are they toxic to humans, since it can travel in concentrated amounts of great distances by air, wildlife is also at risk to the pollutants. They can easily go back into the food chain and pose even more long term health risks to people.

This list shouldn’t scare you into thinking you can never wear lipstick again. It just means we need to be more mindful when choosing cosmetic product. The lipstick jungle is full of chemicals! To make things easy, run products and brands through the Environmental Working Group’s cosmetic database to learn their true ingredients before buying.

You can also check out our sister site, Feel Good Style, for lots of tips on natural makeup and DIY alternatives to store brand products!