CleanTechnica

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For those of you who are bettin’ folks, traders on the Chicago Climate Exchange view the Democrats as more bullish on cap-and-trade systems. So if you’re betting on a Democratic victory, you’ll want to buy those contracts now, in anticipation of a price spike on Nov. 5 (Politico).

Toyota Prius sales have topped 1 million and dealers in most markets simply can’t keep them on the shelves (Wired).

California is building a high-speed train from San Francisco to Los Angeles to be completed by 2030 (gas 2.0).

A joint biofuel effort was announced Thursday involving Air Bus, JetBlue, Honeywell, and Aero Engines that plans to study ways to make commercial aviation fuels out of second-generation feedstocks such as algae (Green Tech Blog).

A new wave of nuclear power plants in the U.S. is likely to cost $5 billion to $12 billion a plant, two to four times previous estimates, driving up electricity bills for consumers and inevitably reigniting public concerns about the costs and benefits of nuclear power (The Wall St. Journal).

Photo credits:

Karl Gunnarrsson via flickr Creative Commons License

compicpie via flickr Creative Commons License

Bistrosavage via flickr Creative Comons License

I am a nuke. There, I got that out into the open. I am also an environmentalist in the sense that I care very deeply about the planet that we all share, want to use it resources wisely so that many future generations can also enjoy it and believe that humans have the power to make the world essentially uninhabitable. I do not have faith in humans, but I do understand that they can be incredibly good, incredibly bad and are generally somewhere in between on the spectrum.

“Belief” and faith are also not words that I apply to our inventions or creations. Some of them are good and beautiful and some that share many of the same basic building blocks are ugly or useful only for evil purposes. Our job as people who want to live on a clean planet and to share the joy in doing so is to think, evaluate and choose, not to “believe”. We should not accept other people’s lists of dogmas at face value; there are many people in the world who are not particularly upfront about their agendas when they suggest that we make certain important choice.

Whenever I hear someone tell me that I need to spend my money a certain way, I am immediately suspicious. In my 48 years on the planet, I have often found that those people have sales or marketing jobs and are looking for a way to “close a deal” even if they have to resort to scaring their potential customers. Read the rest of this entry »

300 garbage collection trucks in California will soon be fueled by the same trash that they haul. Landfill gas will be purified and liquefied, producing up to 13,000 gallons of liquefied natural gas (LNG) daily.

This facility at Waste Management’s (WMI: NYSE) Altamont Landfill in Livermore, California will begin operation in 2009. It comes with a price tag of $15.5 million, with grants providing $1.4 million.

Cleaner Fuel

Waste Management is the largest waste management company in North America and operates the largest US fleet of heavy-duty collection trucks. The company has a goal to reduce fleet emissions by 15% by 2020. Read the rest of this entry »

The average Chicagoan spends an hour and a half commuting to and from work each day. With the second largest public transportation system in the country, one million people ride city buses each day. Mayor Daley considered both facts when he devised a plan aimed at easing congestion, commuting times, and air pollution in the central business district. A $153 million federal grant can help make this plan a reality.

Priority Given to Buses Over Cars

The first part of the plan entails creating a 100 mile bus corridor with dedicated bus lanes during peak hours. Kiosks selling bus tickets allow passengers to quickly board buses and many routes will run express, resulting in fewer stops. Traffic lights will be programmed to turn green for buses, helping to keep them in motion. Hybrid buses will be used, reducing pollution in these heavily populated areas.
Read the rest of this entry »

Well, Billboard beat me too it. It’s probably better that way–because they focused on a few bands I didn’t even know existed. I was going to do a piece on Jack Johnson and his ability to create music from a studio powered by the solar panels that cover the roof, and create change from a sustainable lifestyle powered by his words and actions. Then I decided I’d branch out to include more bands, since Jack isn’t the only musician with sustainable style. Then I found this Billboard article.

I wasn’t too bummed, because as I alluded to earlier, it did open my eyes to Mana and their Selva Negra Foundation, and Missy Higgins and her carbon neutral tour. The article also highlighted the other things their top ten green bands, or “Green Ten”, are doing to share their music and their ideals. Like, The Roots giving away autographed compost bins, or Radiohead’s desire to travel only when needed, and to partner with Best Foot Forward when they do, or Serj Tankian’s Sky Is Over website, or a whole fleet of biodiesel buses, etc… (I’ll let you read the article for more).

I was also happy that Billboard did leave out one of Jack’s most important “green” features, so that I could be left with a little writing of my own…
Read the rest of this entry »

This was too good to pass up. It’s a tale of intrigue, exciting new technology, and a secretive business deal that could change the automotive industry as we know it. Canadian electric car company Zenn Cars already sells city-only electric cars, but they claim they’ll sell a new model in 2009 that can go 80mph with a 250 mile range.

So what makes Zenn Cars special among the EV contenders? They’ve thrown their money behind a different kind of battery. Solid-state super capacitors (not technically batteries) supposedly last longer, store more energy, and cause less ecological harm than lithium-ion or lead-based batteries. This is where the story gets interesting. Read the rest of this entry »

(Picture courtesy of PedalPub)

Bikes in Cleantechnica!?
Of course! Isn’t the goal to consume less non-renewable energy? Just because we’re doing so with the good old bike doesn’t mean it is not worthy of the technology title–especially with the advances in bike technology highlighted below. And although I’ve long agreed with this quote from author Elizabeth West, “Progress should have stopped when man invented the bicycle,” I am glad that–at least in the bike world–it did not.
After the break, I’ve highlighted my four favorite advances in the bike world. For the record, it pained me not to include Fat Tire–but that’s more of an advancement in the beer world (as well as an advancement in my world).
Read the rest of this entry »

What lessons can be learned from this tiny car, that Europeans are calling Un-American?

When my husband and I look for a parking spot on the crowded Chicago streets, we often joke that our tiny Smart car would have many potential parking spots. Our joke can now become a reality as the Daimler Mercedes-Benz Smart car hits the American market. This car might help show Americans that bigger is not always better.

With nearly 1 million car sales in 36 countries, this car has made quite a splash over the last 10 years. The US Smart car will range in price from $11,590 to $16,590. In the US, there is a waiting list with 40,000 people who have forked out a $99 deposit. This exceeded the expectations of most, with many people doubting that the car will be popular on this side of the pond.

The car is a contradiction of everything that I think of as a typical American car. This two passenger car is a mere 106 inches in length and has a 3 cylinder engine. It gets about 40 miles per gallon, which I found slightly disappointing. Roughly half the length of an SUV, there are significant advantages to parking a car of this size.

Many people are calling for a cultural change to respond to the environmental challenges that face society. This car demonstrates European moderation, while providing a comfortable ride (for two). Could this car begin to undo the American mentality that bigger and more powerful is always better?

If nothing else, this car helps reduce the land area needed for parked cars and reduces the gas consumed to power it. The driving experience in urban areas is a bit more relaxed due to a larger choice of parking spots and increased mobility through congested areas.

It is too early to tell how popular this car will be in the US, or if we are willing to give up size and power for convenience and savings.