California-based company Cereplast has revealed that it is developing breakthrough technology to transform algae into bioplastics, and predicts that it could replace 50% or more of the petroleum content used in traditional plastic resins.

Cereplast already makes plastic from renewable material such as corn starch, tapioca, wheat and potatoes, but is keen to trumpet the advantages of the new approach.

According to Frederic Scheer, Founder, Chairman and CEO of Cereplast, “Algae-based resins represent an outstanding opportunity for companies across the plastic supply chain to become more environmentally sustainable and reduce the industry’s reliance on oil.”

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Here’s a feather in the cap of renewable energy supporters.

When the (baseload, coal and nuclear) power went out after storms in Muskegon, a mobile renewable energy unit came to the rescue.

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A two year study led by the University of Leeds in the UK aims to develop a system that can harness kinetic energy from marching soldiers.

The $1.5 million plan will focus on finding a way to convert human energy into usable power for military field applications. It is part of the larger “battery-free soldier” project that also includes development of solar and body heat-harvesting technologies for the military.

Soldiers carry around electronic equipment such as large flashlights, and power sources in the form of batteries can weigh as much as 10 kilograms of a foot soldier’s usual 75 kilogram pack. Clearly, having a power source they can carry around will be beneficial. Research leader Professor Andrew Bell of Leeds says,

“As well as the obvious green issue of using so many batteries, [the system] could also reduce a soldier’s pack weight by around 15 per cent. And this technology could potentially have lots of applications in civvy street too.”

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Earlier today the Zwentendorf nuclear plant in Austria reopened as a solar power station, making it the largest facility of its kind anywhere in the country.

Following its completion over 30 years ago, the plant’s operation was fiercely contested - culminating in a 1978 national referendum forcing it to close. Since then it has lain dormant as a visible testament to Austrian concerns over nuclear energy.

Now, following a €1.2 million investment the plant has reemerged as a major renewable energy production facility.

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Major US renewables company Astonfield is set to invest a massive $2 billion in India over the next five years, the largest single cash-injection in renewable energy ever seen in the sub-continent.

The deal will generate about 1,000 MW of power, most of it from solar sources.

Much of the proposed $2 billion investment will go towards building solar-photovoltaic powered projects with a capacity of 500 MW.

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There is enough energy stored beneath the earth’s surface to power all of our energy demands thousands of times over. The problem is, it’s thousands of feet beneath us. Out of sight. Out of mind. But what if we could get to it? What if we could harvest that power?

That’s the task at hand for Jared Potter. Jared Potter, CEO of Potter Drilling, is developing technology that his father, Robert Potter, initiated over 30 years ago while working at the Los Alamos National Laboratory. Robert Potter worked on developing Hot Dry Rock (HDR) heat mining, which, simply put, is a method of harvesting geothermal energy by pumping water into hot, crystalline rock via an injection well. The water is superheated as it flows through open joints in the hot rock reservoir, and is returned through production wells. At the surface, the useful heat is extracted by conventional processes, and the same water is recirculated to mine more heat.

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San Jose, CA - Achieving a goal of 100 percent energy independence is a little closer for San Jose thanks to a momentous move by the City Council today. The City Council authorized the City Manager to negotiate and execute a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to develop potential lease terms and guidelines for developing an organics-to energy bio-gas facility.

The bio-gas facility, planned to be constructed and operated by Zanker Road Biogas, will be based on a 40-acre site near the San Jose/Santa Clara Water Pollution Control Plan. The proposed facility would also be bound on either side by two solid waste recovery and recycling facilities owned and operated by Zanker Road Resource Management, Ltd.

The MOU, which was authorized today, will set forth the guidelines and work-plan for the potential lease terms of the bio-gas project. Pending successful negotiations for the MOU, San Jose will issue a lease to Zero Waste Energy Development Company, Inc., a partnership between GreenWaste Recovery and their sister company, Zanker Road Resource Management.

This project would also see the cooperation of GreenWaste and Harvest Power, Inc., a company that provides leading technology and project development capabilities for harnessing the renewable energy in organic waste.

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Experts say only a fraction of the Sahara, probably the size of a small country, would need to be covered to produce enough energy to supply the whole of Europe. Written by David Adam at the Guardian.

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The Kremlin’s order to ramp up renewable energy has set targets of 2.5% by 2015 and 4.5% by 2020. That translates into 45.2 billion kiloWatt hours of renewable energy production by 2020, based on the country’s current electricity production.

To reach these goals, the government will fund small hydro, tidal, geothermal, wind, solar and biomass energy facilities. Wind energy, for instance, is slated to expand from 12 MW (2005) to some 7000 MW by 2020.

Developing Russia’s economically recoverable renewable energy could cut some 990 million tons of CO2 emissions a year, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). (PDF) To put that number in perspective, it would be the equivalent of preventing two-thirds of the CO2 emissions of the United States from entering the atmosphere. This estimate, as well as Russia’s renewable energy statistics, doesn’t take into account large hydroelectric projects, which already account for 21% of Russia’s total energy.

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According to a new study conducted by the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, The average installed costs for photovoltaic cells (in real 2007 dollars) went down from $10.50-per-watt in 1998, to $7.60-per-watt in 2007.

What’s most amazing about this report is that it appears to validate a whole slew of state and local solar initiatives. The researchers found that—despite the many, many reported advances to solar cell efficiency—most of the savings during this nine year period came from reductions to installation and external hardware costs.

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Sun Well Solar—a subsidiary of the notoriously poor CD and DVD manufacturer, CMC Magnetics—has announced today that it is one month ahead of schedule in the ramp-up of its new photovoltaic production line.

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Green pet care products are healthier choices for your family because they’ll likely be less toxic for your home, your pet and the environment.   While buying organic food and treats is easy, it can be challenging to source other eco-friendly pet care products.

Recently, I’ve discovered Marmalade pet care, a pet product design firm that emphasizes renewable/recyclable materiality.   The firm addresses ‘good design’ practices with “domestic sourcing; sustainable materials; efficient production and eventual recyclability of the product.”

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“Green” speed bumps that will generate electricity as cars drive over them are to be introduced on Britain’s roads. The hi-tech “sleeping policemen” will power street lights, traffic lights and road signs in a pilot scheme in London that could be rolled out nationwide.

Speed bumps have long been the bane of motorists’ lives, but these will capture the kinetic energy of vehicles.

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More wind power was installed in the EU than any other electricity-generating technology in 2008, according to data released yesterday.

The European Wind Energy Association (EWEA) produced figures showing wind power provided 43% of new capacity – or almost two gigawatts (GW) – compared with 35% for gas, 13% for oil, 4% for coal and 2% for hydro power.

The EWEA’s claim that wind power is the fastest growing technology in Europe for the first time came as it emerged that the US overtook Germany last year – before Barack Obama entered the White House with his “green” agenda - to become the world’s number one wind power installer. with his “green” agenda - to become the world’s number one wind power installer.

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One of 30 wind turbines in the Kentish Flats wind farm, which produces up to 90 MW of renewable energy for the UK.

Another 5,000-7,000 wind turbines could generate enough electricity by next decade, concludes a British government energy department study.

The Department for Energy and Climate Change study concluded that another 5,000-7,000 wind turbines could be built off the coast by 2020, generating 25 GW of energy, equivalent to 25 large coal-fired power stations. The new capacity would be on top of 8GW already being built or in planning, making a total of 33GW.

The results of the year-long research into the geology, birds and marine life goes even further than the Carbon Trust, a company set up by government to help businesses reduce carbon emissions, which last year said the UK could build a total 29GW of off-shore wind.

However, the announcement was clouded by claims from the energy company E.ON that the economics of what is the UK’s biggest current off-shore wind project, the London Array off the coast of Kent and Essex, were “on a knife edge”.

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Australian researchers have figured out a cool new way to tackle the threat of global warming, by setting up a network of ‘talking’ fridges.

But wait, the idea isn’t as crazy as it might sound. The fridges feature cutting-edge technology enabling them to communicate with each other via a network to share and store energy from renewable energy sources such as solar panels or wind turbines.

According to inventor, Sam West, “The fridges are designed to talk to each other, negotiating when it’s a good time to consume electricity and when it’s better not to.”

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Tremont Electric has launched a portable energy generator that allows users to charge handheld electronic devices simply by going for a walk.

The nPower PEG, launched at last week’s 2009 CES event, works on the principle of electromagnetic induction to create a 100% renewable energy source for everything from iPods to mobile phones. To get a charge, users simply connect the PEG to their mobile device and lay it vertically, either against their hip, or in a bag, while they go for a walk or a run.

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The occurrence of another battle between Russia and Ukraine over gas and the resulting restriction and even cutting off of supplies to some parts of Europe should give us cause for wider concern, even if the dispute, as seems likely, will be resolved in a matter of a week or so.

Britain currently derives only about 2% of its gas supplies from Russia, but as we all know, natural gas supplies from the North Sea are dwindling. Central Asia has gas supplies and pipelines are being built, but not only are we obviously talking about a fossil fuel here, we are also talking about our continuing reliance on energy supplies from other parts of the world, which may not be or remain friendly to us. At least one recent study, by Deloitte, indicates that even the oil industry is realising that things have to change to focus on renewables and it is becoming recognised that energy security is a serious concern.

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Unfortunately, you still can’t have any of those things (although the Nikes did appear on eBay, briefly, and sold for $1300 US), but maybe you can have something better:  a real, honest-to-goodness Mr. Fusion!

The “Mr. Fusion” reactor mounted to the back of Back to the Future’s famous DeLorean hovercar produced the car’s fuel by extracting chemical energy from common household garbage.  While the 1985 movie version of Mr. Fusion put out enough power to juice the good Doctor Brown’s flux capacitor all the way to the year 2015, the 2008 version will probably only get a few miles down the road.

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A team of researchers at Baylor University, Texas, have figured out a way to make car parts from coconuts, opening the door to the replacement of environmentally damaging plastic with an abundant, renewable resource.

The team have also created biodiesel from coconut oil, and are confident the new fuel could be an economically viable substitute for gasoline, as well as a vital source of income for more than ten million coconut farmers worldwide struggling on tiny annual incomes, typically as little as $500.

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