Green Options

If you’ve been a reader of Gas 2.0 for any length of time, you’ll know that we’ve been reporting on algae biofuel for, well, that entire length of time. Yet, seeing as the blogosphere is apparently full of nothing but pathetic liars (thank you Ms. Palin), I’m sure you’ve been on the seat of your pants wondering when the shining beacon of television news would truly validate algae’s potential.

Fear not intrepid reader, seems that the MSM has finally discovered algae too. During a recent installment of their “Energy Fix” segment, CNN has latched on to algae biofuel as the next big thing in renewable energy. Regardless of the laughability of the anchors, the segment is actually worth watching if for no other reason than to get a close up look at OriginOil’s Helix Bioreactors.

Besides, you know it’s gonna be good when the segment is hosted by an anchor named Poppy Harlow. Video after the jump…

Trying to determine how to best build your list of followers can be a challenge and a raging argument is going on right now with the Twitterati on quality versus quantity. Is it better to follow lots of people and have lots of followers or does the quality of the follower matter

You’ve done it.  I’ve done it. We’ve all squawked at the lack of green-ness current gadgets have to offer. In fact, Greenpeace has built an entire campaign around it.

After announcements last month that Tesla will be laying off some employees, scaling back the release schedule of the upcoming Model S, and restructuring the company’s management, Tesla has now announced that they have secured an additional $40 million of funding from “almost all current major investors.”

Step outside Chicago’s Museum of Science and Industry’s back door and you’ll find a fully functioning, high-tech, modular, green wonder house.  The project, called Smart Home: Green + Wired, showcases ways to go green, both major and minor.  Inside the 2,500 square foot prefabricated home, you’ll find re-covered thrift store furniture surrounding a dining room table made from a slab of a fallen Michigan ash tree.  The wall-mounted LCD screen controls not only the enertainment for the house but monitors the energy consumption of the entire house.  Landscaping consisting of native prairie plants nearly eliminates the need for irrigation.

A new hybrid inorganic/organic material could usher in solar cells that absorb all solar wavelengths.

The new polymer could also enable much more efficient charge separation since electrons dislodged by light in the material remain free much longer than in conventional solar cells used in solar powered battery chargers.

The inorganic/organic hybrid polymer material can be made into polymer blends that can “absorb essentially across the entire solar spectrum–they go from about 300 nanometers down to about 10,000 nanometers,” said professor [...]

After its successful launch of the first commercial scale algae biodiesel plant in the U.S., PetroSun is setting its sights on a new partnership to develop an algae biofuel facility in China.

Shanghai Jun Ya Yan Technology Development Company has developed an agreement with PetroSun whereby it will provide $40 million (US) for the construction of an algae farm facility inside China and split profits with PetroSun 50/50 in exchange for PetroSun’s propriety technology and expertise.

Along with planned ethanol and biodiesel output, the press release states that the facility will be producing “other commercial products” from the algae. I’m guessing that means livestock feed supplements made from what’s left of algae carcasses after they’ve been squeezed for oil and turned into ethanol — but maybe they have another surprise up their sleeves?

A coal fired power-plant in Oregon has started a pilot project to curb pollution by using algae to harvest greenhouse gases and make fuel and other useful products.

The power plant in Boardman, Oregon, is the state’s only coal-fired facility — and also the the state’s largest single emitter of carbon dioxide. To deal with this problem, Portland General Electric and Columbia Energy Partners have started a pilot project to turn the otherwise nasty emissions into biodiesel, ethanol, and even livestock feed.

The United States has good reason to take pride in its recent green technology achievements. A look at world-wide wind energy production alone should give Americans cause to brake into the famous “We’re number one!” chant. However, there are a number of truly remarkable, environmentally-friendly technologies that have so far, at least for the most part, passed the US by.

#1: High-speed trains

America, this is what a train should look like. These streamlined vehicles rocket between destinations at around 190 MPH (300 km/h) in at least eighteen countries outside the US. And they’re getting even faster. This week, Kawasaki made headlines with plans for a new 217 MPH (350 km/h) train in Japan. High-speed trains make long-distance travel fast, comfortable, and more hassle-free than flying. You sit back with a book, a beer, or a sandwich and relax, watching the scenery whiz past. Seriously, what’s a red-blooded nation like the US doing without a form of transportation that actually encourages beer drinking?

Although there is not currently a nation-wide high-speed train system in the US, things are looking up. In 2000, Amtrak opened the Acela Express, a 150 MPH (240 km/h) train serving Boston and Washington DC. More exciting yet, Californians will get to vote this November on whether to build a 220 MPH high-speed train connecting Sacramento and San Francisco in the north with Los Angeles and San Diego in the South.

In a major coup for the city of San Jose, CA, Tesla Motors — of Roadster fame — has chosen a 90-acre lot in an industrial area of the city as the site of its new manufacturing facility and headquarters.

Back in June, the Governator himself was lamenting about the prospect that Tesla Motors — one of the state’s own shining green corporate stars — might pass up California in favor of New Mexico as the location for its future facilities.

But, after some serious wheeling and dealing, Schwarzenegger convinced Tesla that California was the right place to build by promising beucoup tax incentives and major financial help. His package included a government-funded lease-to-own option that would save Tesla from purchasing $100 million of equipment up front, and waive $8 million in taxes to boot.

Above and beyond the state’s financial incentives, the deal with San Jose involves a 40-year lease in which Tesla has the first 10 years rent-free and all development fees rebated in the form of tax credits. Gotta hand it to Tesla, they certainly know how to work the system.

The highly anticipated Eee Box from Asus launched last month, giving gadget geeks one more eco-alternative for their computing needs, whether for business or pleasure. Slimmer than a paperback novel, the Eee box mounts onto the back of any VESA LCD display to save space.

Not only is this nifty little set up space saving, but according to the company, it’s time saving as well. They claim that it takes only 7 seconds from booting up to getting online.