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What most people don’t realize is that a chunk of the crude oil that goes into an oil refinery doesn’t end up anywhere near a car’s fuel tank. It ends up making chemicals. Read more »

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Recently, I’ve been pondering the role that lists play in my life — from Twitter’s “playlists of people“ to Umberto Eco’s thoughts on lists as a cultural tool for “facing infinity” to my own ideas about the use of “someday list” for lingering tasks — which should […] Read more »

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Who are you and what do you do? My name is Jennifer Woofter and I run Strategic Sustainability Consulting (SSC). We’re a boutique consulting company that works with small- and medium-size organizations that want to “go green.” I spend about one-third of my time on billable […] Read more »

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Quick: What’s the newest hybrid sensation that combines video games, television programming and social aspects? Is it: X: 1 vs. 1oo on Xbox Live A: Twittering With The Stars B: Donkey Kong’s Digg for Dollars If you said “X”, then you’d be right. Of course, savvy […] Read more »

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Imagine you’re watching a movie via Internet-based VOD, one of those flicks you choose purely for the action scenes. Problem is, the dialogue is horrendous. What do you do? Skip ahead, of course. Such skipping can be a major technical challenge, however, especially if your VOD […] Read more »

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I did it. I broke down and bought a Blu-ray player. In the middle of the worst recession of my lifetime, I spent nearly $300 on a gadget that I didn’t really need. And you know what? I love it. But not everyone is ready to […] Read more »

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In a word, the draft energy bill unveiled yesterday by House Democrats, is “terrific.” That’s according to Erik Straser, who leads cleantech investment for Mohr Davidow Ventures. “Who knows if this will resemble what actually gets passed,” he said, “but we actually have a roadmap here […] Read more »

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While there is funding available for U.S. cellulosic ethanol companies in the form of grants or loan guarantees from the departments of both Energy and Agriculture, these days, it doesn’t come close to matching demand. And without help from the federal government, some projects may never […] Read more »

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The economic stimulus package opens up a world of opportunities to clean technology startups. With billions of dollars in grants, direct loans, loan guarantees and a host of incentives for smart grid and efficiency technology, renewable energy, and electric-car battery research, development and manufacturing, it might […] Read more »

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With many of the next-generation ethanol makers being forced to drag their heels on plant construction during the downturn, it’s becoming rare to hear about progress on cellulosic ethanol plants. But here’s a small step for a small demo plant: Next-gen ethanol maker ZeaChem says it […] Read more »

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The Indium Problem: Doping silicon photovoltaic cells with indium can push efficiency up to around 40 percent — but the metal is rare enough that the world’s reserves would be exhausted within a decade if we continue using it at current rates. — Fast Company How […] Read more »

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In an inauspicious building on a strip of offices in Menlo Park, Calif., I recently met with the team behind ZeaChem, a 25-person startup that’s using a common microbe found in termite guts and regular soil to breakdown trees and plants into the next-generation of ethanol. […] Read more »

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Helping to produce more coal to run turbines and power plants sure doesn’t sound like a clean aim, but a startup called Laurus Energy says its coal gasification technology can produce a gas that releases less carbon when burned than natural gas and costs between $2 […] Read more »

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Guess what, guys — the location-based mobile model of the coffee coupon getting pinged to your phone as you walk by Starbucks is tired. Location is all about adding relevancy to applications already being used. That was the contention of Mobilize’s LBS panel. Thank you, let’s […] Read more »

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The shift to more electric vehicles on the roads means we’ll need more lithium to make batteries. And companies with innovative ways to mine the metal could end up being hot commodities themselves. Monday morning, lithium extraction startup Simbol Mining is announcing that it’s raised $6.7 […] Read more »

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Presidential hopeful Barack Obama’s green energy platform has gained him fans among that industry’s most powerful players — its investors (see chart below). According to the presidential campaign donation database of the Center for Responsive Politics, the investors backing cleantech companies are backing Obama as well, […] Read more »

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If you’re sick of staring at error messages when checking out a MySpace video slide show via a mobile, then Moblyng may be for you. The company translates Flash content into stills and video that can be viewed on a mobile phone. Right now it’s focused […] Read more »

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Whenever the contents of my daily gadget bag changes I try to remember to post it here on jkOnTheRun and a recent post on fellow Houstonian Kent Newsome’s blog reminded me it was time to update my daily kit.  Here is what I now carry with […] Read more »

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Russell Beattie has a nice post today on the long term impact of Microsoft Live efforts. He calls it Monopoly 4.0. One thing missing from his story: this graphic. Enjoy. Read more »

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What you read is not what you blog? I get that feeling after reading Cory Doctorow’s comment over on Boing Boing about Bruce Sterling’s Wired column this month He takes an amazing, science-fictional view of how an internetworked world is likely to upend the creaking, corrupt […] Read more »