Green Options » grant

Arizona Project Uses Algae to Turn Coal Pollution Into Biofuel

Nick Chambers — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 19:13:07 +0000

Arizona Public Service, the state’s largest electricity provider, has secured $70.5 million in stimulus funds to expand an innovative project that turns carbon dioxide emissions from a coal power plant into biofuel using algae. While part of the funds will be used to scale up the algae processing portion, some of the funds will also be used to investigate the potential benefits of turning the coal into a gas prior to burning it for power.

The concept of creating two products — electricity and fuel — from the same process is known as cogeneration. In this case, the cogeneration also helps to reduce environmental pollution. It’s an idea that has been gathering support as a way to make coal less polluting while finding an additional revenue source to pay for the pollution control itself. In fact, a while back I reported on a similar pilot project in Oregon.

More Money for the Auto Industry

Lisa Wojnovich — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 23:43:09 +0000

Three more car companies received sizeable loans from the federal government yesterday, but don’t worry; it’s not another bailout. In fact, the$8 billion is just the start of a larger $25 billion project called the Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing Loan Program (ATVM for short) that was thought up back in 2007 and funded by Congress in late 2008 during the Bush administration. The project, overseen by the Department of Energy, is a federal grant and loan initiative bent on providing low interest capital to automobile manufacturers — as well as the makers of their component parts — to promote the development of new automobile technologies that guzzle less gas — and in some cases, no gas at all.

Georgia Using Stimulus Bill Funds for Lamest Renewable Energy Grants Ever

Levi Novey — Wed, 13 May 2009 20:27:26 +0000

Falling into the category of “I guess it’s better than nothing,” the state of Georgia has passed a bill that will use economic stimulus funds to provide retroactive grants to organizations that have already installed clean energy projects.

Why is this so lame? Thanks to the Georgia State Government, it’s just more of the same Republican policies that don’t work and aren’t an appropriate use of stimulative funds.

So say you live in Athens, Georgia and want to put some solar panels on your house. Can you apply for a grant to buy the panels and get professional help installing them? “Hell no! Put up those damn solar panels yourself, buddy, and then we’ll talk about reimbursing you. Oh yeah, and you need to own a business by the way. Once you start a company and install some solar panels– get back to us.”

>>Read the latest about discounts on solar power in Phoenix at 1bog.org

How is such a grant stimulative? It only puts money back into the pockets of companies who could afford it earlier or made the effort to install clean energy systems in the first place. Who’s to say they would use the money to develop more clean energy capacity?

Maybe I’m wrong, but I think this is one of the lamest renewable energy grants ever. It rewards those companies that didn’t need a helping hand in the first place. If anything, why couldn’t the grants both reward retroactive and future projects? And why can’t they also be distributed to actual citizens rather than just companies?

Way to go Georgia! Economy stimulated!

Photo Credit: Sea of Legs on Flickr under a Creative Commons license

Free Range Studios Offers Free Marketing for Worthy Causes

Julie Sammons — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 12:26:45 +0000

The sought-after studio behind famed viral videos “The Meatrix,” “Grocery Store Wars,” and “The Story of Stuff” wants to craft your next marketing campaign — for free. Known for their humorous approach to sustainable social media, the talented team at Free Range Studios invites you to compete for some top-shelf promotional assistance.

“Through Free Range’s 2008 Gratitude Grant program, we are offering up to $15,000 worth of design and/or strategic communications services from our menu of core offerings: strategy consulting, identity design, web design, print design, and online movies.

So what do you want to “ink” this year? A new campaign strategy? A website? A fresh logo? A never-before-seen Internet tool? As long as you have a concrete goal and a concrete goal to make a positive difference for our planet and its people, we encourage you to apply.”

Eager to join the ranks of previous grantees such as the Global Footprint Calculator or ChangingthePresent.org? Act fast and submit your organization’s eight-question application form by 5:00pm on Thursday, May 1st.

A small business success story of its own, Free Range is committed to helping fellow social change agents succeed. Even non-contestants come out ahead by downloading Free Range’s fantastic PDF guides to effective communication strategies.