Katie Fehrenbacher | posted on January 7, 2009

The annual Consumer Electronics Show (CES)— at which every new gadget debuting in the year ahead is trotted out for display in a football-sized stadium in Las Vegas — is upon us again. After spending days walking amidst rows of 82-inch flat screen TVs and pocketing useless tchotkes from hundreds of vendors at the show, you couldn’t imagine a more perfect event to embody the ultimate in consumerism and waste. But in 2008, CES introduced a “green” component, showcasing lower-power gadgets, solar-powered devices and recycled goods, in an attempt to make the show a little more palatable to the environmentally inclined. And in 2009, the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA), the trade group behind CES, is expanding that green aspect even further, trying to adjust to both increasingly eco-friendly attitudes and leaner economic times.

“CES is going greener this year,” says Jill Fehrenbacher, creator of theGreener Gadgets conference, which CEA purchased last year for an undisclosed amount. (Disclosure: she’s also my sister, and I organized a panel at the first Greener Gadgets). CES is folding “Greener Gadgets” content into the show in various places, including a panel on Jan. 10 that will feature Mary Lou Jepsen, CEO of Pixel Qi and founder and former CTO of the One Laptop Per Child project; and Jeff Omelchuck, the executive director of the Green Electronics Council. …read full discussion

Katie Fehrenbacher | posted on December 31, 2008

Dell recently made it clear in a blog post that it thinks rival Apple’s green laptop claims have a lot of holes. Well, the Texas-based computer maker, which has been making one of the most substantial efforts in the computing world to produce more eco-products and neutralize its carbon footprint, also has a few questions to answer when it comes to the validity of its green efforts.

This morning the Wall Street Journal’s Jeffrey Ball has a really interesting investigative piece that claims Dell is actually only neutralizing about 5 percent of the greenhouse gas emissions that go into making its products. That small figure will surprise many who listened to Dell announce recently that it had reached its carbon-neutral goal a good five months ahead of schedule.

And while it’s difficult to know how much Dell could boost that percentage, the WSJ article also points out that Dell is largely relying on renewable energy credits to offset its carbon footprint, which can be highly controversial. It was no secret that Dell was using renewable energy credits as part of its carbon-neutral plan, along with energy efficiency, but we are unsettled to hear that the company “is claiming carbon neutrality mostly by purchasing environmental credits,” according to the Wall Street Journal. …read full discussion

Katie Fehrenbacher | posted on December 30, 2008

We’ve brought you the victories and the disappointments of the year in cleantech, and now here’s a top 10 list that’s a little more personal: The top 10 Earth2Tech stories of 2008. The list is a combo of reader favorites — page views and number of comments — along with editor’s favorites, because there were some stories that made me glad to be part of this team this year. Let’s take a look at them in descending order, Letterman-style:

10) Video: Solar + Robots = AWESOME: This post is proof that you shouldn’t edit a green technology website if you can’t celebrate your geekiness. I shot this mini video of these robots stacking solar panels — digg loved it and so did you.

9) FAQ: Thin-Film Solar: You liked it because thin-film solar its confusing and you want to know more about the technologies, the players and the market.

8) 11 Companies Racing to Build U.S. Cellulosic Ethanol Plants:Yes, cellulosic ethanol companies were definitely racing through the first three-quarters of 2008, all claiming they’d be the first to produce cellulosic ethanol. Towards the end of the year that turned into more of a stroll, and in some cases, a crawl. Will the race be declared DOA in 2009? Biofuels sure don’t have the backing they used to and the corn ethanol markets are ugly. …read full discussion

Katie Fehrenbacher | posted on December 18, 2008

Electric vehicle makers in the U.S. have often complained that Asian firms are dominating the battery market, making it difficult to find battery options domestically — heck, even chip-maker Intel has been advised to look into the market partly because it’s so sparse. This morning, a group of more than a dozen U.S. tech companies say they are looking to solve that problem; they’re teaming up to build a plant to make next-gen electric vehicle batteries and asking the U.S. government for $1 billion to support the plan, according to the variousmedia reports.

If the method — U.S. firms join up to battle Asian dominance — sounds familiar to all you old-school tech-watchers, that’s because it is. The group is modeling itself on Sematech, a coalition formed by U.S. chip companies in the late ’80s to compete with Japanese firms. The car battery consortium, known as the National Alliance for Advanced Transportation Battery Cell Manufacture, comprises: 3M,Johnson Controls, Saft, FMC, EnerSys, ActaCell, All Cell Technologies,Altair Nanotechnologies, Eagle Picher Industries, Envia Systems,MicroSun Technologies, Mobius Power, SiLyte, Superior Graphite and Townsend Advanced Energy. …read full discussion

Katie Fehrenbacher | posted on December 15, 2008

Thin-film solar startup Konarka said this morning that the massive French oil and gas company Total has become its largest shareholder, investing $45 million for a stake of slightly less than 20 percent. Total says it aims to boost its crystalline silicon-based solar cell production, and particularly its thin-film solar products, through Konarka. The deal will also see Konarka develop components for products made by some of Total’s chemical subsidiaries, among them Atotech, Bostik, Hutchinson, Sartomer and Total Petrochemicals USA.

This is far from Total’s first foray into solar; its previous investments include a 47.8 percent interest in photovoltaic startup Photovoltech, a 50 percent stake in solar equipment maker Tenesol and a 25 percent interest in thin-film solar R&D company Novacis. But given Total’s massive footprint — the company is the fourth-largest publicly trade oil and gas company in the world and has close to 100,000 employees — its solar investments only account for a small part of its business. …read full discussion

Katie Fehrenbacher | posted on December 11, 2008

The news wires are reporting that president-elect Barack Obama has made some key staffing choices when it comes to fighting climate change, energy policy and creating green jobs. Obama is reported to have chosen Steven Chu, a physicist who heads up Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, as the nation’s Energy Secretary. Chu has beenleading the Lawrence Berkeley National Labs for the past four years and received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1997 for creating technology to cool and trap atoms with lasers.

Obama is also reported to soon name Carol Browner, former administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from 1993 to 2001 under President Clinton, as the nation’s “climate czar.”Nancy Sutley, currently energy official for the city of Los Angeles, is also expected to be named head of Obama’s White House Council on Environmental Quality. …read full discussion

Katie Fehrenbacher | posted on December 5, 2008

This week, Stirling Energy Systems submitted an application for certification (AFC) to California’s regulatory body, the California Energy Commission (CEC), for a planned 850 MW solar power plant, dubbed “Solar One,” in the Mojave Desert. This is the second large solar application the startup’s submitted this year — in June, Stirling handed in an application for a 750 MW solar plant, named “Solar Two,” that the CEC deemed “data adequate” in October.

While the CEC still needs to approve these projects, Stirling is at least a few steps closer to starting construction of the solar plants. If Solar One is approved, construction is supposed to start in late 2010 and take 40 months to complete, while construction of Solar Two could start in late 2009 or early 2010 and could also take around 40 months to complete. Solar One would be built on 8,230 acres of land in San Bernardino County, Calif., use 30,000, 25-kilowatt solar dishes, and will sell power to California utility Southern California Edison. Solar Two will use 6,500 acres of land in Imperial County, Calif., 30,000 25-kilowatt solar dishes and sell power to San Diego Gas & Electric.

In April Phoenix-based Stirling raised $100 million from Dublin, Ireland’s NTR, and in the process NTR took a 52-percent stake in the company, according to the Cleantech Group. Stirling’s technology, unlike most of the utility-scale solar providers, uses a combination of solar thermal concentration devices and engines to produce clean power. …read full discussion

Katie Fehrenbacher | posted on December 3, 2008

On the heels of announcing its first U.S. electric-vehicle charging network planned for California’s Bay Area, Better Place says this afternoon that Hawaii has signed on for the second U.S. network. The governor of Hawaii, Linda Lingle, and Better Place CEO Shai Agassi plan to make the announcement this afternoon (more on this after the event) about the partnership that has been rumored for months.

The Bay Area might have managed to eke out news of the first network, but it actually makes a lot of sense for Hawaii to turn to the widespread adoption of electric vehicles. Hawaii has some of the highest gas prices in the U.S. and has been aggressively courting ways to reduce fossil fuel consumption. The state has its Hawaii Clean Energy Initiative (HCEI), which is aiming to have 70 percent of the states electricity from renewable sources.

…read full discussion

Katie Fehrenbacher | posted on November 20, 2008

The Los Angeles Auto Show is here, and the theme this year is shaping up to be: its all about the electric vehicle infrastructure. There are three announcements out already about initiatives to build out charging infrastructure in cities and states on the West Coast from the Renault-Nissan Alliance automakers, Better Place and startupCouloumb Technologies.

First up, to kick off the LA Auto Show, Carlos Ghosn, President and CEO of Nissan and Renault, told attendees that Nissan will collaborate with the state of Oregon and utility Portland General Electric on an electric vehicle charging network. Nissan says it will make a supply of electric vehicles available to the state (no number named) and will help promote the charging network. The Oregon Department of Transportation will work on the specifications for the network and will find the suppliers to build the network. PGE is also working on the technology and has developed model charging station infrastructure that it has deployed in Portland and Salem. …read full discussion

Katie Fehrenbacher | posted on November 17, 2008

While California has been one of the most aggressive states in the U.S. to enact regulations to fight climate change, it will also be one of the first to get ready for the coming effects of climate change. On Friday, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed an executive order for the state to study how climate change and rising sea levels will shape state infrastructure, the water systems, building construction and land use.

The order calls for the state’s coast management agencies, as well as the Department of Water Resources, and the California Energy Commission to work with the National Academy of Sciences on a report due out Dec. 1, 2010 that looks at the effects of rising sea levels. The order also says state agencies need to factor rising sea levels into planned infrastructure construction and that the California Department of Transportation should examine which state transportation projects are vulnerable to climate change effects. …read full discussion