With $200, a full machine shop and some mechanical savvy, you can now build your very own XR3 plug-in electric vehicle. Robert Q. Riley Enterprises, a product design firm in Glendale, Ariz., is selling plans for its three-wheeled, two passenger diesel-electric hybrid — the … Read More »
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Craig Rubens
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We haven’t heard if the wind-powered VW Bug Rep. Devin Nunes designed for Democrats last week has moved out of committee yet, but engineers from Stuttgart University are way ahead and say they have successfully tested their wind-powered Ventomobile. The Ventomobile, with its … Read More »
EEStor, maker of the supposedly killer energy storage device, might soon plug its “electrical energy storage unit” (EESU) into the grid to help solve renewable energy’s intermittent power generation problem of when the sun doesn’t shine and the wind doesn’t blow. MIT Technology Review reports … Read More »
The Daily Sprout
By Craig Rubens
Aug. 5, 2008, 5:30pm PT
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Ontario Poised to Steal California’s Cleantech Crown?: The Canadian province has lured numerous cleantech startups north with billions in infrastructure upgrades, municipal clean power purchases and green collar job training – VentureBeat. Romm Calls Obama’s Proposal “A Real Energy Plan”: Romm writes unequivocally: “This is … Read More »
Even hypermilers, the fiercely efficient drivers who stretch a tank of gas as far as humanly and automotively possible, might chafe at Nissan’s latest attempt to increase the efficiency of their cars. The Japanese auto giant unveiled the ECO Pedal yesterday, a “driver assistance” … Read More »
Presumptive Democratic nominee Barack Obama laid out a vision of America’s energy future yesterday in a speech from Lansing, Mich., in the automotive heartland. Speaking at Michigan State University, Obama presented his New Energy for America Plan in which he added several new concrete goals … Read More »
Silicon Valley Startups and Titans Bask in the Sunlight: While solar startups are scrambling to secure funding and prove their technology, tech giants like Intel, Applied Materials and National Semiconductor don’t intend to let the multibillion dollar potential of the solar industry pass them by – … Read More »
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The “hydrogen hybrid eco-exotic” sports car, the Scorpion, is a small step closer to the roads, Ronn Motors claims, with today’s announcement that the firm has signed a contract to have Gaffoglio Family Metalcrafters do all the carbon fiber body work for its … Read More »
Ah, compromise, that cornerstone of Democracy. A new, bipartisan effort, advanced by the so-called “Gang of Ten” (five Republican and five Democratic senators), aims to break the deadlock that has recently sunk every attempt to find new energy solutions in the Senate by marrying the … Read More »
Congress is out for the summer, so in case you’re still frustrated that they haven’t gotten around to renewing those vital production and investment tax credits make sure you chat up your representatives when they’re home for vacation. If Congressional antics and inaction had … Read More »
Partisan pranks kept Republican Representatives at the House in protest of the Democrats’ vote to leave for summer vacation without calling a vote on offshore drilling, Politico reports. Democrats voted to adjourn at noon but Republicans refused to leave, staying even after the lights … Read More »
By Craig Rubens
Aug. 1, 2008, 12:28pm PT
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Energy continues to dominate presidential politicking and Obama proposes a $1,000 energy rebate that he says could alleviate the stress of high energy costs. But when fighting energy costs we’ve also got to mind emissions, something that worries some about a potential running mate for Obama … Read More »
The California Public Utility Commission (CPUC) set a broad range of regulatory goals yesterday to help boost the state’s energy efficiency standards and renewable energy production. The regulator also set a deadline of 2011 for state utility PG&E to propose a new … Read More »
DOE Puts $36M More into Carbon Capture: The U.S. Department of Energy announced today that it is granting $36 million to 15 different projects researching carbon capture from coal-fired power plants. The DOE is still looking to invest over $1 billion in carbon capture in … Read More »
When it comes to renewable energy, it seems we have a new Do-Nothing Congress up on Capitol Hill. The Senate yesterday failed once again to renew the investment and production tax credits that facilitate millions of dollars of private funding into solar and wind energy … Read More »
By Craig Rubens
Jul. 31, 2008, 10:00am PT
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The California Clean Tech Open is broadening its horizons and will be taking its clean tech business plan competition to the mountains to accept submissions for the first Colorado Clean Tech Open in Spring of 2009, CCTO Programs Director Brian Prayer announced last night. Members … Read More »
By Craig Rubens
Jul. 30, 2008, 7:30pm PT
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Green Chemistry Startup Segetis Grabs ex-Dow Exec: Khosla-backed Segetis has hired industrial bio-products expert Jim Stoppert, a former Cargill and Dow executive. The stealthy Segetis intends to use agricultural products to make materials traditionally made from petroleum – CNet. Researchers Develop Feedstock Pretreatment to Boost Ethanol … Read More »
Energy storage startup EEStor has been very quiet about its technology, so when CEO Richard Weir told us back in January that the company’s high-tech battery could do “a helluva lot,” we considered ourselves lucky to accrue such detailed intel. We got a little more yesterday … Read More »
The Big Muddy could soon be a bit greener with some hydrokinetic turbines from Hyrdo Green Energy. The Houston, Tex.-based startup tells us it is planning to have the first commercially operable hydrokinetic energy project in Mississippi River waters up and running by September. … Read More »
Gadget geeks can now manage the energy consumption of their home and gizmos with a new set of tech toys from energy management startup Tendril. Tendril’s suite of hardware and software, called the Tendril Residential Energy Ecosystem (TREE), records your home’s electricity use … Read More »
PG&E Taps Silver Spring Networks for Smart Grid: PG&E, one of the country’s largest utilities, has picked Silver Spring Networks to provide smart grid services for some 5 million customers through the utility’s SmartMeter program upgrade – Press release. EEStor Gets Third Party Verification on Energy … Read More »
The days of cheap and easy carbon credit projects are over, according to a new report from energy research firm New Carbon Finance. Specifically, abatement projects for two very potent greenhouse gases — HFC-23 and N2O — have been almost entirely tapped out because offsetting … Read More »
The LED lighting market keeps consolidating as bigger companies buy out the smaller startups. Lighting Science Group (LSG), an LED manufacturer, said today it’s acquired all of the assets of LED developer Lamina Lighting for $4.5 million in cash; the deal … Read More »
The intersection of the semiconductor and solar industries has yielded yet another investment — this time it’s from Intel’s VC arm Intel Capital, which is investing $12.5 million into Voltaix, a manufacturer of chemicals and gases used in both chip and solar … Read More »
L.E.D.’s Time Has Come: The switch to super efficient, long-lasting L.E.D. lights is already happening and the big three light makers – GE, Philips and Sylvania – are racing to get a lead – NYTimes. South Korea To Invest $193M in Renewable Energy: South Korea plans … Read More »
Second Rotation, the startup that will give you cash for your outdated gizmos, has rebranded and relaunched its buyback site under the new name “Gazelle.” This change doesn’t mean a lot when it comes to the service, as Gazelle will still pay you cash … Read More »
Austin Energy plans to ask its local city council for approval to build a $2.3 billion biomass power plant in East Texas, the Austin Business Journal reports. Nacogdoches Power has agreed to construct and operate the plant and sell power to Austin … Read More »
Xantrex, a Vancouver, British Columbia-based maker of power electronics for renewable energy systems, said today it’s agreed to be acquired by Schneider Electric, a French energy management firm, for C$15 ($14.66) a share, or C$500 million ($488 million), in cash. The buyout … Read More »
The idea behind an energy dashboard for your house is that by displaying your home’s energy consumption you will change your behavior to save energy. But what if your home could change your behavior for you? Agilewaves, which makes the so-called Resource Monitor, has … Read More »
By Craig Rubens
Jul. 26, 2008, 12:30pm PT
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Another week another conference. This week saw the E2T team in San Jose to attend the Plug-In 2008 conference where a variety of electric car players, from Detroit heavyweights to Silicon Valley startups, bumped elbows and discussed the dilemma of electrifying our auto fleet. In case … Read More »
By Craig Rubens
Jul. 25, 2008, 10:06am PT
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SunPower is headed to the land of freshly minted carbon regulation, didgeridoos and wombats with its acquisition of Australian Solar Sales, announced late yesterday. Solar Sales, a solar systems integrator and distributor, has been a customer of the Silicon Valley-based … Read More »
Electric car maker Aptera Motors announced late yesterday that it has raised more than $24 million in a Series C round, which it will use to move its three-wheel electric Typ-1 into production. Google.org’s investment in the electric vehicle maker, unveiled earlier this … Read More »
There seems to be a lot more media attention covering “cow power,” than actual viable cow power plants out there. But a team of researchers at the University of Texas at Austin say that biogas made from manure could provide as much as 3 percent of … Read More »
By Craig Rubens
Jul. 24, 2008, 5:30pm PT
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Gas, Oil, Wind and Wave All Want Offshore Space: Wind companies have been trying for years to secure offshore locations but now with a new push to open up American shores for drilling, the federal government is trying to streamline the process – MarketWatch. Arctic Oil … Read More »
The Western Climate Initiative, a consortium of seven states and four Canadian provinces, yesterday issued a draft of their proposed plan to institute a regional cap-and-trade system on carbon emissions. The group’s proposal would have states start monitoring emissions in 2010 and reporting them … Read More »
The dream of taking the contents of our trash cans and putting them into our fuel tanks has moved one step closer to reality with BlueFire Ethanol’s announcement that they’ve been granted permission to build a waste-to-fuel ethanol plant next to a landfill … Read More »
By Craig Rubens
Jul. 23, 2008, 5:30pm PT
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Solar Subsidy Expiry Fueling Solar Boom: The expiration of the investment tax credit is fueling a record number of solar projects looking to get in before the federal funds are gone. With a last-minute, one-year extension likely, we might see a similar scenario again next year … Read More »
By Craig Rubens
Jul. 23, 2008, 4:15pm PT
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The world of small-scale wind got even smaller this week after Marquiss Wind Power completed its acquisition of Cirrus Technologies. Marquiss gains intellectual property from Cirrus’s seven patents in wind energy and Cirrus founder John Roskey will serve as Marquiss Wind’s chief … Read More »
Shares of power electronics maker Xantrex closed up 19 percent Wednesday after the power electronics maker announced that it’s in exclusive negotiations to be acquired. CleanBreak estimates that a deal for the Burnaby, British Columbia-based company, which makes solar power inverters, … Read More »
Andy Grove, the former chairman of Intel turned plug-in vehicle advocate, challenged the attendees of the Plug-In 2008 conference on Tuesday to put 10 million plug-in hybrid electric vehicles on the roads in four years. Those plug-ins should be retrofitted from vehicles with poor mileage … Read More »
British PM Wants to Be “Electric Car Capital of Europe”: Gordon Brown announced he wants to electrify England’s car and is talking to a number of companies, including GM and Project Better Place, to get more electric cars and infrastructure to come to the UK – … Read More »
Coulomb Technologies just announced a partnership to deploy smart charging stations in the city of San Jose, and already the Campbell, Calif.-based is looking for its next locale. During a demonstration of the startup’s charging system (video embedded below), VP of engineering and software … Read More »
Among its many other green ambitions (solar, small-scale wind, marine turbines), the city of San Francisco is trying to prove its a good spot for electric vehicle startups. Mayor Gavin Newsom has been on a crusade to electrify the city’s cars, but has been searching for … Read More »
By Craig Rubens
Jul. 21, 2008, 5:30pm PT
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Thomas Friedman’s Metaphor for the American Addiction to Oil: “When a person is addicted to crack cocaine, his problem is not that the price of crack is going up. His problem is what that crack addiction is doing to his whole body. The cure is not … Read More »
High gas prices are hitting Americans in the pocket book and they seem ready to fight back with their votes. A report from campaign consultants James Carville and Stan Greenberg earlier this month showed that voters care more about reducing gas prices than addressing energy … Read More »
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