CleanTechnica

Company Invents Recyclable Paper Bottle

Ariel Schwartz — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 01:24:54 +0000

I loathe plastic water bottles, but for some reason many otherwise rational people seem to love them. Fortunately, a company called Brandimage may save the day and reduce plastic waste with their paper bottle.

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Race for Scotland’s $15 Million Marine Energy Prize Begins

Ariel Schwartz — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 00:06:41 +0000

Solving our energy crisis requires serious manpower— and serious incentives. That’s why Scotland has launched the $15 million (€10 million) Saltire Prize Challenge to create commercially viable wave or tidal power.

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UK Giving Away “Intelligent Fridges”

Ariel Schwartz — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 23:31:24 +0000

Live in the UK? You may be the lucky recipient of a free “intelligent” refrigerator. 3,000 fridges that adapt power usage based on the demands of the electrical grid will be given away by the government next year. According to a report from the UK Department of Energy and Climate Change, the dynamic demand fridges could potentially save 2 million tons of carbon each year and £222m.

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Bonded Logic Insulation Made from Recycled Jeans

Amiel Blajchman — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 21:51:43 +0000

What do you do with your old jeans when you’re done with them? If you’re one American manufacturing company (Bonded Logic), you make household insulation out of them.

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Construction of Florida’s Largest Solar Plant Begins

Timothy B. Hurst — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 19:24:01 +0000

Florida Power & Light, the state’s biggest utility, broke ground today on what it says will be the first utility-scale solar investment in the state — and the first hybrid solar facility in the world to combine a solar-thermal field with a combined-cycle natural gas power plant.

Consisting of 180,000 mirrors spread out over 500 acres, FPL’s 75-megawatt Martin Next Generation Solar Energy Center is situated on the Atlantic coast just north of Palm Beach County.FPL’s new facility is The Martin Next Generation Solar Energy Center will use less fossil fuel when heat from the sun is available to help produce the steam needed to generate electricity. It also matches solar power with an existing combined-cycle natural gas plant, so that when the sun is not shining, the natural gas can take over the work of powering the turbines.

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Iberdrola Adopts Wind Industry’s First Company-Wide Avian and Bat Protection Plan

Timothy B. Hurst — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 18:47:12 +0000

Oregon-based Iberdrola Renewables has adopted what is arguably the most holistic policy to protect avian and bat populations in the wind energy industry. The plan is modeled in part after the 2005 avian protection plan template (pdf) developed by the Edison Institute and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to address the impacts of transmission and distribution lines on birds.

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BP to Help Commercialize Clean Energy in China

Jerry James Stone — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 09:53:23 +0000

BP and the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) have agreed to establish the Clean Energy Commercialization Center (CECC), a joint venture in Shanghai investing some $73 million to commercialize Chinese clean energy technologies.

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IBM Predicts Solar Sidewalks in 5 Years

Ariel Schwartz — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 04:53:16 +0000

According to IBM’s annual “Next Five in Five” report, thin-film solar cells will be embedded in driveways, sidewalks, paint, rooftop, and windows within 5 years.

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GE Ends Development of Incandescent Bulbs, Focuses on LEDs

Jerry James Stone — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 01:55:33 +0000

According to Clean Break, General Electric has dumped all plans for revitalizing their century-old incandescent lightbulb. Instead, it plans to focus on light-emitting diodes (LED) and its organic counterpart — the OLED.

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Asthma Inhalers Scheduled to Go Green, Become More Expensive

Ariel Schwartz — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 23:03:28 +0000

Come December 31, all albuterol inhalers in the U.S. will be a little bit greener— and a lot more expensive. The inhalers will stop using chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) that damage the ozone layer, and will be powered by hydroflueroalkane (HFC) instead. While the new inhalers will benefit the environment, they will also cost $30 to $60. CFC inhalers cost only $5 to $10.

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