In a recent article, Business Week noted that Janine was named Environmental Hero of 2007 by Time. Through a research nonprofit called Biomimicry Institute and a for-profit consulting firm called the Biomimicry Guild, Janine brings interdisciplinary groups of biologists, engineers, and designers together to uncover natural phenomenon that can be replicated in corporate and commercial applications.

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With the price of fuel increasing, fuel has become the largest expense for airlines. Airlines can only increase their fares so far without turning their customers away completely. One of the ramifications for this development is that airlines are actively researching and testing methods to increase fuel efficiency and, in the process, reduce greenhouse gases.

In a recent article, Sustainable Industries highlights new green innovations in the air transportation industry.

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During the first day of the conference, the focus was on defining the green economy and demonstrating that taking care of the environment can mean the recovery of the economy as well.

On the second day, the focus shifted to sharing examples of green economy successes. I found these examples to be educational and inspiring. I’ve provided links to a few of these examples to allow you to explore the progress of these companies.

• Gamesa - a Spanish based, worldwide wind power company founded in 1996 “is engaged with the manufacturing, sale, installation and operation and maintenance of Gamesa wind turbines” in the USA, Canada and around the world. With a manufacturing plant in Pennsylvania, headquarters in Philadelphia, and three offices in Minnesota, Pennsylvania, and Texas, Gamesa has completed wind farms in Illinois, Pennsylvania, and Texas and has plans in progress for additional wind farms in other areas. Establishing this company in Pennsylvania is expected to add 1000 jobs across the manufacturing plant and the headquarters. Additional jobs will be found in other areas where they have offices and wind farms.
• Johnson Control - Originally founded to manufacture an electric thermostat in 1885, this global company, with 140,000 employees in more than 1,300 locations serves customers in 125 countries, has become a global leader in “automotive experience, building efficiency and power solutions.” Johnson Control has a fairly long history of sustainability and social responsibility and has a plan to be carbon neutral in five years. One of their most exciting energy efficiency projects will require 60,000 new employees in major cities around the United States to conduct energy audits and retrofit the buildings to increase energy efficiency, reduce greenhouse gases, and lower utility bills. You can scan job openings within North America and beyond.
• Terracycle - In 2001, two college students founded an innovative company that packages waste (fertilizer created from worm waste) in recycled waste (used soda bottles collected by students and community groups around the country). In 2004, Home Depot started carrying their product, now Whole Foods, Wal-Mart Canada, and many other companies carry a variety of products produced by Terracycle and distributed in recycled packaging. The company never manufactures their packaging. Instead they set up collection brigades for particular packages that have been previously used (a soda bottle, a yogurt container, a juice box, or a energy bar wrapper) and pays the senders a few cents for each item delivered. Take a look at Terracycle’s products to see how they’ve come up with viable products that are made from or packaged in recycled items. Voted one of the 100 most innovative companies in 2004, it’s still worth tracking their growing and expanding success! Explore their career opportunities to learn more about how they work.

Innovation is one of the keys to the green economy. Add inspiration to your life. Watch for innovations in your geographic area and your profession.

As the conference started this morning, it was immediately clear that this gathering was a bit different from most. The conference has been coordinated by Blue Green Alliance, a strategic partnership between the United Steelworkers and the Sierra Club. Not an alliance I would have imagined! Would you?

The groups that came together to convene this meeting include a number of other unions, environmental advocacy groups, businesses, foundations, academic institutions, selected cities and states. As noted by a number of speakers, at first glance these groups might not seem to have much in common…except for one thing. The environment and the need to find ways to reduce greenhouse gases.

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• Revitalize the manufacturing sector
• Drive green building
• Promote safer chemicals
• Realize the economic benefits of global warming solutions

I’ll be blogging while I’m there…I look forward to sharing what I learn.

These forums are created to bring together “clean technology entrepreneurs and investors, as well as corporate executives, professional advisors, and senior policymakers in an exchange of information about cleantech business and investment opportunities.” In addition to highlighting trends within the industry, they serve as a “matchmaker” between investors and entrepreneurs.

The San Francisco Chronicle reports the Cleantech industry is alive and well in California with companies winning $1.79 billion last year (45% of the nationwide total of $3.95 billion).

Outcomes from this week’s forum demonstrate there’s a nationwide and worldwide interest in Cleantech as well.

• Wal-Mart and the Cleantech Group have partnered to create an online system for green businesses to sell their products and services to Wal-Mart. After companies submit their proposal online, the Cleantech Group will review the submissions and make a recommendation to Wal-Mart about which proposals look most promising. The hope is that other companies will sign on to use this Cleantech Accelerator.
• The Cleantech Group is launching an operation in India to connect entrepreneurs and investors in India. The hope is that with less expensive, renewable fuel options, entrepreneurs in India will be in a better position to succeed.
• Representatives of Singapore and Abu Dhabi touted their regions as promising locations to do business as a cleantech company. Abu Dhabi has already created a venture capital fund of $250 million and is planning a city called Masdar Initiative that is powered by electricity from solar power.

As venture capital creates full functioning businesses, green jobs will follow. You can track the developments in the clean tech world by following what the Cleantech Group writes about in their newsletter.

Where will green careers develop? Clean tech (or green tech) includes creating alternative energy sources, finding more efficient ways to use energy, and designing and manufacturing products that are earth friendly.

If you are up for an adventure, check out the career opportunities with the Masdar Initiative in Abu Dhabi.

Kevin Doyle, the president of Green Economy, a Boston-based training, consulting, and research firm and coauthor of The ECO Guide to Careers That Make a Difference: Environmental Work for a Sustainable World, provides us with the best “State of the Green Job” summary I’ve seen.

If you are looking for clear-cut data about the number of green jobs and which industries provide the most green jobs, you are likely to be a bit frustrated by Kevin’s assessment of green employment.

Much like the recent GreenBiz’s State of Green Business report I wrote about recently, Kevin’s post highlights more questions than it answers.

The fact is the green economy is too new to quantify in any meaningful way. Not having clearly understood definitions of the variables that need to be measured is the biggest obstacle to solid statistics.

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The top ten cities are: Portland, OR; San Francisco, CA; Boston, MA; Oakland, CA; Eugene, OR; Cambridge, MA; Berkeley, CA; Seattle, WA; Chicago, IL; Austin, TX. If you enjoy a visual, an industrious blogger from Austin TX placed all of the data on a map for easy viewing.

I found this list to be an interesting resource for people who are looking for green careers, start a green business, or grow their green business.

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To come to this conclusion, GreenBiz.com examined 20 topics to create a GreenBiz Index to evaluate how “green” green businesses are these days. Turns out assessing each measure of green was a bit of a challenge. In most cases they weren’t able to find enough data to determine the impact green businesses are having on climate change.

(When you think about it, even a year ago most of us wouldn’t have even thought to ask how green a company was, let alone think about how to measure it! As time passes, we’ll have more indicators to track.)

Of the 20 indicators included in the GreenBiz Index:

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In a RenewableEnergyAccess.com article, Dawn Dzurilla of Gaia Human Capital Consultants wrote that renewable energy companies are adding green benefits to their employment packages to align the company’s stated values with their company culture and to attract talent from traditional industries to the renewable energy industry. Each benefit allows employees to become more sustainable in their personal actions, a benefit that is likely to be quite meaningful to those applying for and landing jobs in the renewable energy sector.

Green employment benefits tend to fall into five categories: work related, transportation, residential, personal/well being, and financial.

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Venture capitalists have begun funding greentrepreneurs who are inventing green-consumer products that the mass market consumer will purchase. We all know about the green car, the solar panel, and the CFLs. The question is: What will come next? What factors will influence consumers to adopt new products.

Three greentrepreneurs presented their product pitch to a sold out crowd:

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As a collective, the attendees discussed ways to “advance long-term investment, job creation, and financial growth within the green technology industry with a focus on engaging low-income communities.”

One of the critical issues to come out of the summit is the shortage of green laborers who have the skills to retrofit buildings, build new green construction, install solar panels and build wind farms.

This news has a number of implications for green careers of all kinds.

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As a green career consultant, one of the questions I hear most frequently is what’s hot in cleantech? In greentech? In renewable energy?

Although I can give green career changers my impression, I always encourage them to connect with experts in their fields of choice to understand the hottest trends and future directions. In my mind, those who live, breathe, and work in a field are going to know much more than someone looking at it from the outside.

Recently I clicked on a link from Inside Cleantech by the Cleantech Group to discover a gold mine of information for green job seekers who are getting up to speed on cleantech.

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