Rooftop falcon-cams and electric-car chargers on streetlights may sound like things out of the future, but for the city of San Jose, California, the future is now.

Okay, I’ll admit it. Having grown up on the East Coast, for much of my life all I knew of San Jose was that Dionne Warwick apparently didn’t know how to get back there.

But take one look at the LEED Platinum-certified City Hall; the Falcom-Cam that keeps watch of once-endangered Peregrine Falcons that now nest annually on the building’s roof, and; the electric car charging station across the street, and you’ll get a peak into the future of urban sustainability.

The thing about San Jose, Mayor Chuck Reed said to me during a phone call we had last week, is that “innovation just happens” happens in the Silicon Valley. Obviously not every city has the advantage of such a robust technologically innovative base, but like any other city, the hard part, explained Reed, is implementing policies to facilitate the development of that innovation.

Read more of this story »

On the first sunny day in the Bay Area in nearly a week, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom announced the installation of electric vehicle (EV) charging stations in front of San Francisco City Hall , in another step forward in making the Bay Area the “EV Capital of the U.S.”

The high-profile charging stations are part of a nine-step policy plan announced back in November by Mayor Newsom, San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed and Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums, to transform the Bay Area into the “Electric Vehicle (EV) Capital of the U.S.”

“Electric vehicles are the future of transportation and the Bay Area is the testing ground for the technology,” said Newsom, adding that the city began using plug-in hybrids in the city’s fleet last year. “Now, for the first time the public can plug-in to the next generation of cars and take them for a drive in San Francisco,” the Mayor said.

Read more of this story »

Imagine cars with no tailpipes and no direct carbon emissions into our atmosphere — powered by an electrical energy system getting cleaner by the year through Renewable Portfolio Standards in effect in California and across the nation.

More than a decade ago, I was one of the original owners of the EV1, an electric vehicle produced by General Motors (GM). When GM discontinued the series and reclaimed all of the EV1s, it was a major setback for the American car industry. Instead of leading the charge to create a new generation of vehicles - America fell behind.

Last year we woke up. Four dollar a gallon gas was the catalyst. The price has gone down since the spike, but I think most Americans understand we need to reduce our dependence on foreign oil and one of the keys is more fuel-efficient vehicles.

Today, San Francisco took an important first step toward creating the electric vehicle infrastructure of the future. This morning I unveiled the installation of electric vehicle charging stations in front of San Francisco City Hall. These stations - called Smartlets - are on loan to the city from Coulomb Technologies.

>>Read the rest of Mayor Newsom’s post at gas2.0

Image: Tim Hurst

For San Jose, converting 100 percent of public fleet vehicles to run on alternative fuels and electric vehicles is part of the city’s 10-point “Green Vision“, a 15 year plan of action, including such laudable environmental goals as reducing per capita energy use by 50%; switching to 100% clean renewable energy; recycling or reusing 100% of wastewater, and; creating 25,000 new jobs in the clean tech sector alone.

Part of the economic engine needed to achieve the aforementioned job growth in the clean tech sector is helping entrepreneurs move their ideas from the back of a cocktail napkin to the front page of the business section. Enter: The Clean Tech Open.

Spawning Clean Tech

Expanding to the Pacific Northwest and Rocky Mountain regions this year, the Clean Tech Open is a contest that awards early stage clean tech businesses with critical support in their formative years.  Early stage startups are invited to enter in six competition categories: renewable energy, transportation, smart power, energy efficiency, green building, and air/water/waste management.

In addition to the recognition/exposure, regional winners are awarded with packages that include: $50,000 cash, office space, legal services, accounting, insurance, public relations, recruiting, software, and other business essentials. Regional winners are also now entered into the national competition with an even larger purse.

“We’ve seen some exciting products and companies come out of the Clean Tech Open in previous years,” said Reed, citing the company GreenVolts and their concentrating solar photovoltaic technology as an example of how a company can take the spoils of winning the Clean Tech Open and really springboard into the marketplace.

Some argue that the key to creating a sustainable future on this planet will be found in developments in urban sustainability. How can hundreds of thousands or millions of people live, work, and play in such a confined space without having a collective footprint that spreads well beyond the city limits?  San Jose believes it has found some of those answers, but certainly not all.

And as for those Perergrine Falcons that have nested on the roof? Mayor Reed told me that the pair of adults is watching over four eggs, so he is hopeful.

Images: dbdbrobot via flickr; Clayton Cornell, gas2.0.

2008 has been a year signifying economic depression culminating in the worst holiday retail season in years. However it has also been a year of entrepreneurs burgeoning a variety of exciting new green businesses. Ecopreneurist has covered many of them over the course of the year. Here is a review of our favorite Ecopreneurs of 2008.

1. Van Jones - Pioneer of the Green Collar Economy

Van Jones is undoubtedly the Ecopreneur of the Year. He has spoken out against our unsustainable economic model that is based on consumption not production, run on debt vs. savings and thrift, and environmental destruction vs. preservation. But he has also shifted the rhetoric to one of hope by building a new economy with clean energy power centers and a clean enemy corps.

Read Jennifer’s post  Van Jones’ Ecopreneurial Vision for the full story.

2. Derek McLeish - Transforming Carbon Emissions into Fuel

Carbon Sciences’s CEO Derek McLeish tells us that his company is the developer of a breakthrough technology to transform CO2 into the basic fuel building blocks required to produce gasoline, diesel fuel, jet fuel and other portable fuels.

Reenita gives you the full story in her post A Breakthrough Technology to Transform CO2 into Fuel

Read more of this story »

The Australian government has given the green light to a plan to establish one of the world’s largest electric car recharging infrastructures, powered entirely by renewable energy.

The A$1 billion ($676 million) project could see the establishment of as many as two million recharging points, as well as more than 500 battery swap stations, where drivers can exchange depleted batteries without the need to wait for a recharge.

Read more of this story »

The Project works by teaming up with existing players in the car industry to establish large-scale electricity recharge grids (ERGs), made up of electric cars, batteries, charging points, and renewable energy power stations. Earlier this year, the company announced it had teamed up with Renault-Nissan to roll-out an impressive network of 500,000 recharging stations across Israel by 2010. Now it has announced plans for similar electric car projects in Denmark and San Francisco, with more in the pipeline for the near future.

A key benefit of the planned ERGs will be their role in driving demand for renewable energy. In Israel, most power comes from coal or gas, but the project plans to use solar energy generated in the country’s Negev Desert to power the batteries.

Read more of this story »

Over 40,000 electric vehicles (EV) are currently used in the United States. Most are used in fleet applications, from maintenance to checking parking meters; these EVs are mostly limited to 25 mph speed and 20 mile range. A growing number of fleet EVs, however, are early trails of a new generation of freeway-speed EVs that will be available to the mass consumer market in 2010.

Mitsubishi is on target to sell its electric vehicle in the U.S. in 2010. The i-EV is a friendly looking sub-compact which easily handles freeway speeds. It’s expected 100 mile-plus range per charge will meet the needs of urban dwellers and most in suburbia. The drive system uses three permanent magnetic synchronous motors which receive power from a 16kWh lithium battery stack. Tokyo Electric Power is currently testing ten i-EV

Nissan’s and Renault’s famous CEO, Carlos Ghosn, plans to be selling electric vehicles in the U.S. market in 2010. He anticipates more cities following London’s model of expensive congestion fees, with fee exemptions and preferred parking for zero-emission vehicles. In many markets, Nissan will offer electric vehicles with permanently installed lithium batteries that will be trickle charged. Nissan owns 51% of Automotive Energy Supply Corporation, which plans to be producing lithium batteries for 10,000 vehicles annually by 2010. Plant expansion has begun to produce lithium batteries for 60,000 electric vehicles annually.

By 2012, Ghosn plans to have a Renault-Nissan alliance offering a wide range of electric vehicles in many major markets, charging ahead of all competition. Economist Article

In Israel and Denmark, Renault and Nissan will partner with Project Better Place. to sell electric vehicles without batteries. Project Better Place will lease batteries that can be quickly exchanged at many locations. The exchange will take no longer than a traditional gasoline fill-up, appealing to motorists needing extended range. The battery lease will cost a fraction of what most now spend on gasoline.

Popular in Europe, Think will bring its electric vehicle to the U.S. Think city reaches a top speed of 65 miles per hour and can drive up to 110 miles on a single charge. Think city meets all European and US federal motor vehicle safety requirements. At the Geneva Motorshow earlier this year, Think announced a strategic partnership with energy giant General Electric, also an investor in Think. By 2011 look for a larger TH!NK Ox. Think has also established partnerships in the US with battery suppliers A123 and EnerDel. Think has established a U.S. headquarters and will begin sales in the U.S. before 2010. A123 Technology Review Article

In 2009, the smart ev may be available in the U.S. The cars 70/70 specs are appealing for city drivers: 70 mile range, 70 mile per hour freeway speed. Daimler’s smart ev is in trail in the UK with the Energy Saving Trust, Islington and Coventry Councils, Lloyds Pharmacy, EDF Energy, BT, and other fleets. To achieve a range of 72 miles, it is using the Zebra sodium-nickel-chloride battery which has caused maintenance difficulties in some U.S. fleets.

The cityZENN is planned for a top speed of 80 mph and a range of 250 miles. Powered by EEStor barium-titanate ceramic ultracapacitors, the cityZENN will be rechargeable in less than 5 minutes! Venture capitalists are betting that stealth EEStor is real. On Friday, May 30, ZENN Motor Company announced that it had raised another $15 million dollars.

Most major auto makers continue to believe that most U.S. customers will insist on ranges exceeding 250 miles and a national infrastructure of fuel refilling (or recharging) in five minutes. Even as GM announces factory closings and plummeting sales, CEO Richard Wagner states that GM is committed to bring the plug-in hybrid Chevy Volt to market by the end of 2010. If it can deliver at under $30,000, the vehicle will offer tough competition to some of the smaller EV players.

As Toyota solidifies its number one global market share leadership, it also remains on target to deliver a plug-in hybrid to the U.S. market by the end of 2010. It is likely to have an all-electric range of 40 miles and a gasoline range 10X that amount. Watch Toyota use an expanded line of hybrid vehicles to unset GM, making Toyota the market leader is the U.S.

May rained on every auto maker’s parade in the U.S., except Honda, which set sales records with its fuel efficient Civic. Honda is passing Chrysler to become the #4 seller in the U.S. Honda is rumored to be bringing a new hybrid to the U.S. next year priced in the mid-teens. This will give hybrids a big boost in market share from the current 3% of total vehicle sales.

While I was giving a speech at the Fuel Cell 2008 , Honda announced that it would lease 200 Clarity FCX hydrogen fuel cell cars for $600 per month, including maintenance. In June, it will start selecting from 50,000 who have expressed interest in the 270-mile range four-door sedan. The FCX Clarity is aerodynamic and beautifully styled. Honda’s new hybrid is likely to have a similar body style.

Some critics have dismissed electric vehicles as golf carts for retirees and sport car toys for millionaires. These critics have missed a fundamental market shift that started with the success of hybrid-electric cars, light electric vehicles, and with e-scooters. Customer enthusiasm for electric vehicles is the result of many factors:

• Oil Prices
• ZEV Cities & Congestion Tax
• Electronic drive simplifies auto design
• Vehicle weight reduction with electric accessories and components
• Reduced maintenance because of few mechanical components
• GHG Regulation
• Battery technology advances that reduce cost and weight
• Increased battery safety
• Success of hybrid-electrics

At the FRA Renewable Energy Investor Conference (my presentation handouts), I led a panel discussion about electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids. Major private equity and project finance investors were optimistic in sessions about electric vehicles, solar power, wind power, and carbon trading. Many expressed discouragement in the biofuels sessions, but at the same time saw increased opportunities with bioenergy and bio-methane from landfills.

In a few years, millions will be driving full-featured freeway-speed four-door sedan electric vehicles. Look for a shift away from foreign oil to riding on local renewable energy.

John Addison publishes the Clean Fleet Report and speaks at transportation and energy conferences.

For San Jose, converting 100 percent of public fleet vehicles to run on alternative fuels and electric vehicles is part of the city’s 10-point “Green Vision“, a 15 year plan of action, including such laudable environmental goals as reducing per capita energy use by 50%; switching to 100% clean renewable energy; recycling or reusing 100% of wastewater, and; creating 25,000 new jobs in the clean tech sector alone.

Part of the economic engine needed to achieve the aforementioned job growth in the clean tech sector is helping entrepreneurs move their ideas from the back of a cocktail napkin to the front page of the business section. Enter: The Clean Tech Open.

Spawning Clean Tech

Expanding to the Pacific Northwest and Rocky Mountain regions this year, the Clean Tech Open is a contest that awards early stage clean tech businesses with critical support in their formative years.  Early stage startups are invited to enter in six competition categories: renewable energy, transportation, smart power, energy efficiency, green building, and air/water/waste management.

In addition to the recognition/exposure, regional winners are awarded with packages that include: $50,000 cash, office space, legal services, accounting, insurance, public relations, recruiting, software, and other business essentials. Regional winners are also now entered into the national competition with an even larger purse.

“We’ve seen some exciting products and companies come out of the Clean Tech Open in previous years,” said Reed, citing the company GreenVolts and their concentrating solar photovoltaic technology as an example of how a company can take the spoils of winning the Clean Tech Open and really springboard into the marketplace.

Some argue that the key to creating a sustainable future on this planet will be found in developments in urban sustainability. How can hundreds of thousands or millions of people live, work, and play in such a confined space without having a collective footprint that spreads well beyond the city limits?  San Jose believes it has found some of those answers, but certainly not all.

And as for those Perergrine Falcons that have nested on the roof? Mayor Reed told me that the pair of adults is watching over four eggs, so he is hopeful.

Images: dbdbrobot via flickr; Clayton Cornell, gas2.0.