Sundance Channel

Green tech finds, 9/22/11

Jeff McIntire-Strasburg — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 18:10:28 +0000

Roads that charge your electric car, biofuel from orange peels, and sucking CO2 out of the air - your green tech finds for the week. Look out, Volt! The plug-in Prius is here: Car hackers have been converting the Toyota Prius into a plug-in hybrid (like the Chevy Volt) for years. The Japanese automaker has finally gotten in on the trend and released a plug-in version of its popular hybrid for the 2012 model year. That's it above. (via Greenwala) Charge your electric car while driving it: The concept of "electrified roadways" that could charge electric vehicles while they're moving has been around for decades, and Japanese researchers may have now come up with a viable model. "Electrified metal plates are buried under roads, which 'up-convert' energy via a radio frequency to a steel belt inside a car’s tires, as well as to a plate sitting above the tire." (via smartplanet and @greenamericatv)

Green tech finds (12/23/10)

Jeff McIntire-Strasburg — Thu, 23 Dec 2010 19:19:26 +0000

Because green tech never takes a holiday... your finds for the week.

Biodegradable Styrofoam: Styrofoam is a great insulating material... but is made from a nasty chemical mix that doesn't break down. AeroClay blends milk proteins and clay to create the insulation benefits of Styrofoam (along with strength and light weight) without the waste impact. (via Springwise)
Are wind turbines good for crops? Preliminary research from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Ames Laboratory suggest that might be the case... see the video above. (via GreenTech Pastures)

Green tech finds (4/15/10)

Jeff McIntire-Strasburg — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 21:50:36 +0000

Your pre-Earth Week green tech finds...

Wind farms and weather: Wind power's one tool in our arsenal against climate change, but large-scale wind installations can end up creating their own "micro-climates" with unique weather effects. (via Greenopolis)
Greener summer road construction: Doesn't mean you'll get around it any faster, but the Missouri Department of Transportation is using warm-mix asphalt for road work (which requires less heat, and thus creates lower carbon emissions) while looking into materials consisting almost entirely of recycled glass.

Disaster Declared: Alaska’s Yukon River Chinook Salmon Run Fails

Sundance Channel — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 16:39:15 +0000

There has been a commercial "fishery failure" for Alaska's Yukon River Chinook salmon due to low salmon returns, Commerce Secretary Gary Locke has formally determined.

Algae Research Expected to Yield Green Jet Fuel, Diesel, Gas

Sundance Channel — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 14:48:10 +0000

To create green aviation fuels, diesel, and gasoline that can be transported and sold using existing fueling infrastructure, the Obama administration is investing up to $78 million of economic stimulus money in biomass technologies, including algae, says Energy Secretary Steven Chu.

Green tech finds (12/4/09)

Jeff McIntire-Strasburg — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 20:49:25 +0000

Something a little different this time around: I've been in Helsinki, Finland this week checking out cleantech developments with a group of other bloggers ( and many thanks to FinnFacts for bringing us here!). While I've been a little slow to get posting on the stories I've heard (stay tuned here and at sustainablog for those posts), several of my colleagues fought off the jet lag well enough to get started. A few posts from Finland:

Karl Burkart at MNN and Ian Thomson at Cleantechies.com provide a bit of background on the Finnish cleantech sector.
Jen Boynton at Triple Pundit gives us five fast facts about Finland, and offers some advice to Metso Corporation about sustainability and biomass as a fuel source.
Hendrick Morkel at Arctic Start Up takes a look at Eniram's efforts to cut shipping fuel use and emissions.

Green tech finds (7/10/09)

Jeff McIntire-Strasburg — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 19:53:47 +0000

Techies rejoice! Here's your weekly run-down of some of the cooler green tech stories out there...

Free energy? There's a ton of it out there -- 7 quadrillion BTUs -- in the form of wasted heat. The Department of Energy has announced funding opportunities for R&D on how to tap this massive source of energy. (via Cleantechnica)
NYC -- the wind energy capital? It seems counterintuitive, but the Carnegie Institution and California State University have found that high-altitude winds, which are concentrated over the Big Apple (among other places), "contain enough energy to meet world demand 100 times over." (via Green Living Ideas)