[social_buttons] After less than a year of construction, the Sierra SunTower Plant that’s touted the first of its kind in the USA was finally officially launched by eSolar. Located in Lancaster, California, this is the first eSolar concentrating solar thermal power plant with 24,000 mirrors instead of the company’s usual … [continued]
[social_buttons]It seems like only yesterday that we covered an invention of “Green” cement at Cleantechnica: The latest scheme for getting rid of the greenhouse gas comes from Stanford Professor Brent Constanz. The Geological and Environmental Sciences Professor has invented a new type of cement that is carbon neutral—a huge innovation … [continued]
In the 1970’s, the U.S Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs hosted a comprehensive research project on home solar retrofits. The idea was to improve energy efficiency in Air Force housing, which at the time numbered over 150,000 units. The lessons learned from the model solar home were soon buried … [continued]
The distinctive “alligator tree,” or sweetgum tree, may hold the key to a more efficient process for making cellulosic ethanol from biowaste. The sweetgum’s unusually rough bark gives it the reptilian nickname, and it is easily identifiable by the spike-festooned, gumball shaped seed cases hanging from its branches. But what … [continued]
Barnacles, algae and other marine biofilm can reduce a ship’s fuel efficiency by up to 40%, and the U.S. Navy is working on a way to keep its hulls clean without using expensive chemicals. Up to now, the Navy has been relying on biocides to keep the pesky hitchhikers at … [continued]
Image credit: KYZ at Flickr under a Creative Commons license [social_buttons] In the “green” space, credibility is crucial, and things are changing rapidly as investment washes in and out of the sector, companies make big eco-commitments, or they slink away from their environmental goals. A great way to stay up … [continued]
[social_buttons] NASA claims it’s currently planning what would be the greenest building in the federal government. To be called the Sustainability Base, this is slated to be one of NASA’s most ambitious eco-friendly projects. The $20.6 million building will utilize current alternative energy technologies such as water recycling systems, fuel … [continued]
[social_buttons] Necessity is the mother of invention, and real needs will grow with climate change. The most fundamental of these is the need for fresh water. Despite predicted long-term water stress across a wide swathe of agricultural states like California, we will have to find ways to grow the food … [continued]
Some automotive entrepreneurs are feeling like when it comes to getting DOE funding, it’s who, not what you know. The $2.4 billion in federal funding for advanced battery and vehicle electrification announced this week boosted battery manufacturers that had prior relationships with the DOE, while some lesser-known innovators were left … [continued]
[social_buttons] It’s an odd week for fuel sources. On the heels of a Mountain Dew powered engine, UK supermarket Tesco is getting flack for turning meat into energy–yah, you read that right. The food chain is burning 5,000 tons of inedible meat for fuel. The biomass processing is being handled … [continued]
