by Susan DeFreitas

If everyone in the U.S. transitioned to energy efficient lighting in their homes, according to Phillips, consumers would avoid 87.5 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions and generate energy savings of $15.8 billion – a fact the company would like you to remember as you’re watching the LED light-laden ball drop in Times Square.

New Year’s 2012 will mark the 12th consecutive year that Philips Lighting has served as the official lighting partner to the Times Square New Year’s Eve Ball. And while efficient light bulls have become a political issue in Washington, D.C., for Philips they’re a selling point. The company is highlighting the fact that the same technology used in the Times Square ball can also be found in the Philips AmbientLED line of LED light bulbs. These bulbs include the Philips 12.5-watt AmbientLED A19, the world’s first commercially available LED to replace the 60-watt incandescent bulb and the only to be Energy Star qualified.

Like the 32,256 Philips Luxeon LEDs that light the glittering Times Square ball, Phillips AmbientLEDs bulbs consume up to 80 percent less energy than traditional incandescent bulbs. (Though you may not want to keep yours lit up all year round, the way the LEDs on the ball at Times Square are.)

Though pricier ($40-$50 a pop) LED bulbs have been slow to take off in 2011, Phillips cites the fact that it has recently dropped the prices on this line of light bulbs and fact that instant rebates available from utility companies in many parts of the country as compelling reasons to make the switch in 2012.

Photo by Joe Shlabotnik/flickr/Creative Commons

Reprinted with permission from EarthTechling

by Steve Duda

It’s been what seems a long time in coming, but Ford finally officially pulled the wraps off its brand new electric vehicle, (EV) the Focus Electric recently, and also said that production of the sporty, five-seat hatchback has gotten underway at its Michigan Assembly Plant in Wayne, MI. This is the company’s second EV following the December 2010 rollout of the Ford Transit Connect Electric – a small commercial van also manufactured in Wayne.

Ford is boasting that the new Focus is expected to be the first first five-passenger EV with a 100 miles per gallon equivalent (MPGe) — one mpg-e more than its rival: the five-passenger electric Nissan Leaf. Ford also claims that, due to some new battery and charging innovations, the Focus will take a full charge using a 240 volt charger in about three hours. That’s half the time it takes for an equivalent charge of the Leaf. If there’s no time for a full juice up, Ford says an hour on the hose will add 30 miles to the car’s range.

Under the hood the Focus is powered by a 23 kW lithium-ion battery pack connected to a motor capable of providing about 130 horsepower. That’s enough get up and go to give the Focus a top speed of about 84 MPH and a range of around 100 miles. Ford says the advanced battery system uses an active liquid cooling and heating thermal management system to regulate the temperature in the battery. This feature helps to maximize battery life and driving range.

The car also features Ford’s interconnected driver system called MyFord Touch as well as a mobile phone app called MyFord Mobile.

Sales of the 2012 Ford Focus Electric will begin shortly and because initial production of the 2012 model year will be limited, the Focus Electric will be available only in 19 metropolitan areas including Atlanta, Houston and Austin, Texas, Boston, Chicago, Denver, Detroit, Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego, New York City, Orlando, Florida, Phoenix and Tucson, Arizona, Portland, Oregon, Raleigh-Durham, Richmond, Virginia, Seattle, and Washington, D.C.

The first deliveries are scheduled to take place in California and New York, followed by the other initial markets by the second quarter of 2012.

Reprinted with permission from EarthTechling

by Kristy Hessman

As much as green technology drives the engine behind much of what we cover, sometimes it is the non-tech ideas that are more efficient and cost effective. An example of this came in the form of a venture which started shortly after one Sam Pardue was presented a $40,000 estimate to have his 1906 craftsman-style home’s windows replaced that he started noodling ways to design a more affordable and attractive energy-efficient window.

“Every year around this time I would get really bummed out because the cold air would start flowing in,” Pardue remembers.

Then, two years ago, he opened the refrigerator door and inspiration struck. Instead of continuing with the magnetic storm window design that he admitted, “was still ugly”, he came up with a design to use compression tubing that seals around the window, much like you see in a refrigerator door seal.

He developed a prototype and in 2010 and the Indow Window was born. The Indow Window is Pardue’s answer to a better insulated window that is far cheaper than double pane windows and more attractive than unsightly storm or vinyl windows that can detract from unique architectural elements of a home.

The Indow Window is made of acrylic glazing and edged with Pardue’s patent pending compression tubing. The windows are meant for interior use and simply press into place in front of an existing single-pane window.

“Thirty percent of energy in a home is lost through the windows,” Pardue said. “We more than cut that in half.”

In addition to cutting down on drafts, Pardue said his design also doubles the Radiant, or R-Value of a typical single pain window. It also is said to cut down noise coming through the window by 50 percent or more.

Indow Windows is based in Portland, Ore. and manufactures their windows locally. The company has received a $70,000 grant from Oregon Best to calculate the whole home energy savings. The pilot project is being administered by Portland State University’s Green Building Research Laboratory in conjunction with four local utility companies.

The results will come out in the spring of 2012 and will include computer models that show the full home energy savings from the Indow Window.

In the meantime, the company is in the midst of rapid expansion. Over the summer it completed an IT system upgrade that has allowed them to expand their sales territory of the product from just metro Portland, to dealers located throughout Oregon and into Bellingham, Wash., and Albuquerque, New Mexico.

“We’ve installed more than 1,500 Indow Windows,” Pardue said.

The Indow Windows retail for $20 a square foot. While the cost to install depends on the number of windows in a home, Pardue said he could outfit his turn-of-the-century home with Indow Windows for $4,000 and $5,000, a fraction of what it would cost to retro-fit the home with double pane windows.

Along with new customers, Indow Windows has also been winning recognition from industry leaders throughout the green sector.

The company recently won a regional competition, which allowed it to compete in the Clean Tech Open, the “Academy Awards” of clean tech, held in San Jose in November.

Indow Windows took home a long list of awards from that competition, including Runner Up in the overall competition, the Northwest Regional Award, the National Sustainability Prize and the Energy Efficiency Category Award.

“When I entered the process, I didn’t know what to expect,” Pardue said. “Winning all of these awards has boosted our credibility in the eyes of investors, dealers and customers alike.”

He said when people first see the simple design of the product; they underestimate the complexity of building a scale-able business around it.The event also exposed the company to potential funding sources.

“We’re not ready for venture capital yet, but we are appealing to angel investors and smaller institution funds,” Pardue said.

So what’s next for the company?

New products like an acoustic grade window that cuts outside noise by as much as 70 percent have already been introduced. And, by the end of Q1 2012, Pardue expects to have dealers selling the Indow Window along the West Coast, from Vancouver, Canada down to San Francisco, California and as far east as New Mexico and Colorado.

Reprinted with permission from EarthTechling

by Susanna Schick

At the International Motorcycle Show in Long Beach this past weekend, I spoke with Yamaha’s Tim Olsen about their Zuma 50 and Zuma 125, both excellent scooters for new riders and young urban commuters. The 50 gets a mind-boggling 132 mpg, and must be loads of fun to ride. I only say this because I haven’t ridden one yet, but I know of at least one very talented racer whose preferred mode of commuting 60 miles to work is on his Zuma 50.

He’s hopped his up a little, in the longstanding tradition of young Europeans looking to get the most out of the small displacement vehicles they’re limited to. This guy lapped me about a million times in the 24 hour endurance race we competed in, on 50cc bikes designed for children. So I figure if it’s fun enough for Jason Perez, it must be fun. The 2012?s are 4-stroke, making them cleaner than the previous models which were 2-strokes.

When I asked Tim if Yamaha was looking to enter the EV market, he explained that he feels it’s going to happen, but not until they’re able to introduce the vehicles at a price people expect. Once again, there’s that perception that sticker price is the only price. People are so accustomed to paying a lot for fuel and maintenance, they forget that these costs are drastically lower with electric vehicles.

I’m hoping to get some seat time on the 2012 R1, the newer version of the gas guzzling rocketship I ride when I’m not on my bicycle. Why that may interest you is that the 2012 features a chip-controlled intake manifold which restricts the air/fuel mixture as you roll on the throttle. On previous models, the fuel injectors released too much gas, particularly with an agressive roll-on. The 2012 upgrade is designed to limit the amount of fuel to exactly what’s needed, reducing the amount of unburnt fuel. I want to do a proper road test to compare it to the average MPG I get from my 2009 R1. Which I’m embarrassed to admit here. It’s less than most of the cars we feature, which is why I ride my bicycle as much as possible.

Although I’ve been saving for an electric motorcycle for some time, I may have to give in to the siren song of the Yamaha Moegi (mentioned here) if they actually produce it. It’ll get great mileage, although I won’t be able to carry as many groceries as with a scooter. There’s a rumor it may even make a live appearance at the New York International Motorcycle Show…

Reprinted with permission from Gas 2.0

On Friday, President Obama announced a $4 billion initiative to increase the energy efficiency of buildngs over the next two years.

"Upgrading the energy efficiency of America's buildings is one of the fastest, easiest and cheapest ways to save money, cut down on harmful pollution, and create good jobs right now," says Obama in a statement.

"We can't wait for Congress to act, so I'm directing all federal agencies to make at least $2 billion worth of energy efficiency upgrades over the next two years," he adds.

The goal of the program is to raise energy efficiency by a minimum of 20 percent by 2020, across 1.6 billion square feet of office, industrial, municipal, hospital, university, community college and school buildings.

The program is estimated to save $40 billion a year in energy costs, and create 50,000 jobs in the hard-hit construction industry, a figure that could be increased by 114,000 through other components of the Better Buildings Initiative, according to a recent analysis released by The Real Estate Roundtable, the U.S. Green Building Council and the Natural Resources Defense Council.

The program is a public-private partnership - the feds will pay $2 billion, ordered through a Presidential Memorandum, for federal building upgrades, and 60 CEOs, mayors, university presidents and labor leaders committed to invest $2 billion of private capital for federal and private-sector buildings.

There are no up-front costs to taxpayers - energy service firms will bid on the work and make the upgrades with no upfront cost - they will get paid over time through energy savings on utility bills. After the energy service companies are paid back, building owners, be they public or private, keep future savings.

It's part of the Better Buildings Challenge announced early this year, which former president Clinton is spearheading along with and the President's Council on Jobs and Competitiveness.

The initiative builds on a commitment made by 14 partners at the Clinton Global Initiative America meeting in June to make energy upgrades across 300 million square feet, and to invest $500 million in private sector financing in energy efficiency projects.

Those that have signed onto raising efficiency 20 percent by 2020 include retailers like Best Buy, Kohl's Walgreens, major property owners such as Prologis and Transwestern, health care institutions like the Cleveland Clinic, and universities like Michigan State.

More than 300 manufacturing plants, which are some of the largest energy consumers, will upgrade industrial processes - lowering their costs and cleaning the air and water. Firms such as Alcoa and Nissan North America have signed on.

One of the most cited barriers for private companies to undertake building energy upgrades is a lack or limited access to affordable financing. Citi and other banks, and emerging financial service providers such as Green Campus Partners and Transcend Equity are making direct investments and structuring innovative financial products that meet the specific needs of private real estate owners.

Citi completed a first of a kind financing earlier this fall with the state of Delaware for which all of proceeds will be used for energy efficiency projects at state and local government buildings. The $70.2 million financing is expected to cut energy use 30 percent, save $26 million in energy costs, and create more than 1,000 green building jobs.

Examples:

o Lend Lease is upgrading the energy performance of 40,000 military homes around the country. The project kicked off this fall, and will put contractors to work in 13 states.

o The City of Atlanta has begun an upgrade of its Civic Center, and launched Phase One of their local Better Buildings Challenge with more than 16 million square feet of downtown buildings signed up.

Read "A New Retrofit Industry: An analysis of the job creation potential of tax incentives for energy efficiency in commercial buildings and other components of the Better Buildings Initiative, by the US Green Building Council:

Photo by V Smoothe/flickr/Creative Commons

Reprinted with permission from SustainableBusiness.com

by Glenn Meyers

The company is called Cargohopper and it has provided a very appealing solution for a Dutch city suffering traffic congestion caused from too many delivery vehicles in too dense a space. Add too that this city, like many other dense urban areas in the world, suffers the ill effects of abundant diesel pollution said delivery trucks leave in their wake.

The Cargohopper solution for congestion from too many urban delivery trucks on the narrow streets of Utrect, the Netherlands? Store all goods scheduled for delivery in a warehouse outside the city, and then deliver them using modular rolling boxes that connect to a solar-powered caravan. This urban delivery system has succeeded in eliminating diesel pollution while easing congestion at the same time.

Cargohopper allows companies to leave their goods at a warehouse six miles outside city limits, and have them delivered using a 52-foot, solar-powered caravan of three boxes pulled by a cab not much bigger than a golf cart. Backers of the project say Cargohopper is better suited to Utrecht’s narrow, cobbled streets than conventional light vans.

Utrecht-based Hoek Transport, the company behind this delivery system, says it saves 5,200 gallons of diesel and 33 tons of CO2 annually by taking other vehicles off the streets.

In addition, Cargohopper participates in recycling by taking back cardboard and paper on its return journeys. Hoek says, since the system began in April 2009, Cargohopper has delivered 102,500 packages and covered 12,375 miles. Effectively, the cab-and-trailer does the job of five vans, making three trips daily.

According to Fast Company, the success of Cargohopper has attracted other cities are now looking to invest in similar ideas. Hoek says Amsterdam is about to start running three Cargohopper operations, and Haarlem, to the west, will initiate another one.

Cargohopper tows 3 metric tons using a 48-Volt 28-hp electric engine. Its max speed is listed as 20 kilometers an hour (14.53 mph) – plenty for driving tight cities. The service is said to do the work of 5 to 8 regular European vans and operates as a complete logistic system. Boxes are pre-loaded outside the city in the Cargohopper distribution center and towed to the boarder of the inner city using a regular truck with faster speeds. Once empty, it collects dry carton, paper and empty packaging from shops for recycling so it never runs empty.

The overall pace and efficiency of this system sound remarkably appealing.

Reprinted with permission from Ecolocalizer

by Susan DeFreitas

Sure, that new flat screen TV you’re considering is Energy Star qualified — but does its use of juice qualify as super green or just so-so? Thanks to the U.S. Department of Energy and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), a new “Most Efficient” initiative will offer consumers a better sense of the best choices on the market.

This initiative — currently in the pilot program stage — aims to give manufacturers an incentive to build more energy efficient products, while providing consumers with new and better information about the products on the top tier of energy efficiency in each Energy Star category.

The Most Efficient designation will grace approximately the top five percent of models currently on the market in the following categories: clothes washers, heating and cooling equipment, televisions, and refrigerator-freezers. The first products to hold this distinction are from companies which have been previously been recognized as Energy Star partners: Electrolux Major Appliances, Sears’ Kenmore, LG, Samsung, Best Buy’s Insignia Brand, Panasonic, Nordyne, and Rheem.

The EPA expects to begin the process of considering additional product categories for potential inclusion in 2012.

Reprinted with permission from EarthTechling

By John Crawley

Automakers have agreed to produce by the quarter-century mark the most fuel- efficient cars and trucks ever that will leverage new designs and technology, but still rely heavily on gasoline engines.

A blueprint announced on Friday by President Barack Obama would boost fuel economy requirements 53 percent by 2025. This target is unlikely, as some suppose, to prompt a dramatic ramp up in production of electric cars and hybrids, which are only a fraction of the U.S. sales market.

"Automakers will meet the standards by improving technology on the road today," said Brendan Bell of the Clean Vehicles Program at the Union of Concerned Scientists.

Bell, automakers and other experts say industry will accelerate development of cleaner burning gas engines, enhanced transmission systems, lighter materials -- like stronger steel and alloys -- and more aerodynamic designs.

These changes are already taking place as is a shift toward production of small cars to meet consumer demand and new government mandates in an era of high gas prices.

In particular, U.S. automakers, led by Ford Motor Co, have been working feverishly on making those changes after long over-relying on gas-guzzling trucks, SUVs and minivans. Big trucks, including full-size pickups, will have the hardest time meeting the new goals.

"The Detroit Three have finally and really discovered fuel economy and it's a real focus for them," BorgWarner Inc Chief Executive Tim Manganello told analysts.

Manganello, whose company makes turbochargers and other engine technologies, noted that getting better fuel economy, undoubtedly comes at a higher cost to automakers.

The backdrop for Obama's announcement at the Washington Convention Center included a General Motors Co Chevrolet Cruze, a 4-cylinder compact that is the resurgent U.S. automaker's best-selling car. Not present was GM's mostly electric Volt sedan, a production novelty GM promotes in Washington to draw attention to its efforts on fuel economy.

Obama is especially interested in more electric car production and developing improved battery technology as part of a green jobs initiative and a bid to reduce oil use.

Environmentalists warn of potential loopholes that could skew the new fuel standards program away from the most efficient fleet possible. But overall, industry has made good- faith efforts so far to focus on fuel saving improvements.

The emphasis has been to not subtract from many of the features that U.S. motorists want in their cars and help them sell, like engine performance, smooth handling, cargo space, and extras like motorist assist services and systems that enable mobile phone compatibility and GPS.

The strategy is built around a number of advances, some of which can be described as "low-hanging fruit," that alone offer incremental gains but in total can be game changers.

"You're eating that elephant one bite at a time," said Vince Muniga, a product spokesman at Chrysler.

GM has the 4-cylinder Cruze and the Volt, and Ford Motor Co boasts Ecoboost technology -- a combination of fuel injection and turbocharging aimed at giving smaller gasoline engines more power and better efficiency. The popular F-150 pickup equipped with Ecoboost was rolled into the Convention Center on Friday for Obama's event.

Automakers and suppliers are also investing hundreds of millions of dollars in transmissions made more efficient with additional gears that lower RPMs to increase engine productivity.

Chrysler, which is run by Italy's Fiat, is using this technology in upcoming editions of the Chrysler 300 and Dodge Charger.

Jake Fisher, a senior engineer with Consumer Reports auto test division, said there be more high-strength steel and other metals and materials that are lighter but offer good stability and crash protection -- although they can be more expensive.

Aluminum, which is very expensive for major auto construction, may find its way into suspension systems and other components to reduce weight. Less clear is the role of composites, like carbon fiber materials, that are being used more in the aircraft and other industries.

Overseas automakers, like Toyota Motor Corp and Honda Motor Co, will continue with signature hybrids. Ford has also pushed ahead with its hybrid production. European carmakers like Volkswagen AG want to push more clean diesel on the U.S. market.

Boston Consulting Group estimated in June plug-in hybrids and other electric cars could make up 5 percent or less of U.S. sales by 2020. The forecast is tied to oil price increases and improvements in engines that come at a lower cost.

Reprinted with permission from Reuters

Roughly one-third of the food produced worldwide for human consumption is lost or wasted, amounting to some 1.3 billion tons per year, according to staggering new statistics from the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

In the developing world, over 40 percent of food losses occur after harvest, while being stored or transported, and during processing and packing. In industrialized countries, over 40 percent of losses occur as a result of retailers and consumers discarding unwanted but often perfectly edible food.

At a time when the land, water, and energy resources necessary to feed a global population of 6.9 billion are increasingly limited - and when at least 1 billion people remain chronically hungry - food losses are an enormous waste and a failure of our food system to meet the needs of the poor.

The Worldwatch Institute's "State of the World 2011: Nourishing the Planet," a two-year evaluation of sustainable agricultural innovations to alleviate hunger, highlights ways to make the most of the food that is produced and to make more food available to those who need it most.

150 million tons of grains are lost each year in low-income countries, six times the amount needed to feed all the hungry people in the developing world, says Tristram Stuart, a contributing author to the report.

Meanwhile, industrialized countries waste some 222 million tons of perfectly good food each year, a quantity nearly equivalent to the 230 million tons that sub-Saharan Africa produces in a year.

Unlike farmers in many developing countries, however, agribusinesses in industrial countries have numerous tools at their disposal to prevent food from spoiling - such as pasteurization and preservation facilities, drying equipment, climate-controlled storage units, transport infrastructure, and chemicals designed to expand shelf-life.

"Throwing away cosmetically 'imperfect' produce on farms, discarding edible fish at sea, over-ordering stock for supermarkets, and purchasing or cooking too much food in the home, are all examples of profligate negligence toward food," writes Stuart in his chapter, "Post-Harvest Losses: A Neglected Field."

"Humanity is approaching - and in some places exceeding - the limits of potential farmland and water supplies that can be used for farming," notes Worldwatch Institute Executive Director Robert Engelman. "We're already facing food price spikes and the early impacts of human-caused climate change on food production. We can't afford to overlook simple, low-cost fixes to reduce food waste."

Nourishing the Planet offers the following three low-cost approaches that can go a long way toward making the most of the abundance that our food system already produces. Innovations in both the developing and industrialized worlds include:

- Getting surpluses to those who need it. As mountains of food are thrown out every day in the cities of rich countries, some of the poorest citizens struggle to figure how they will get their next meal.

Feeding America coordinates a nationwide network of food banks that receive donations from grocery chains. Florida's Harry Chapin Food Bank, one of Feeding America's partners, distributed 5.2 million kilograms of food in 2010. In New York City, City Harvest collects some 12.7 million kilograms of excess food each year from restaurants, grocers, corporate cafeterias, manufacturers, and farms and delivers it to nearly 600 NYC food programs.

- Raising citizen awareness and reducing waste to landfills. Those who can easily afford to buy food - and throw it away - rarely consider how much they discard or find alternatives to sending unwanted food to the landfill.
In 2010, San Francisco became the first city to pass legislation requiring all households to separate both recycling and compost from garbage. They think residents are becoming more aware of food waste since they began separating it from garbage. The resulting nutrient-rich compost is made available to area organic farmers and wine producers, boosting soil productivity and reducing resource consumption in agriculture.

- Improving storage and processing for small-scale farmers in developing countries. In the absence of expensive, Western-style grain stores and processing facilities, smallholders can undertake a variety of measures to prevent damage to their harvests.

In Pakistan, the United Nations helped 9 percent of farmers cut storage losses up to 70 percent by simply replacing jute bags and mud constructions with metal grain storage containers.

Purdue University is helping communities in rural Niger maintain year-round cow pea supplies by making low-cost, hermetically sealed plastic bags available through the Purdue Improved Cowpea Storage (PICS) program. Another innovative project uses solar energy to dry mangoes after harvest; each year, more than 100,000 tons of the fruit go bad before reaching the market in western Africa.

Photo by Wolfgang Wildner/flickr/Creative Commons

Reprinted with permission from SustainableBusiness.com

by Elisa Wood

The push for energy efficiency has clearly become worldwide, creating new prospects for US green energy companies to pursue export and foreign partnerships.

One such opportunity comes from Israel, with the help of the United States-Israel Science and Technology Foundation (USISTF), a Washington-based non-profit organization.

Israel is not a country we hear much about in terms of energy opportunity. China, India, North America, South Korea, Japan – these countries tend to steal the headlines in energy news.

But Ann Liebschutz, the foundation’s executive director, says new frontiers are opening in Israel because of its drive to adopt clean energy and its expertise in communications technology and software – the foundation of smart grid. Moreover, Israel’s Office of the Chief Scientist offers funding that US companies can benefit from when they partner with companies in Israel.

“In the energy efficiency space, Israel is uniquely positioned to provide services and products to US industry. Smart infrastructure and buildings — a lot of that is software driven. And that is where Israel’s core strengths are,” Liebschutz said. “If I were a US company, I would be looking to where the most significant research and development is taking place. Being able to plug into the emerging industry in Israel will produce a lot of assets for US companies.”

How do US companies tap into these opportunities?
One way is through partnerships that the USISTF is currently setting up between US states and Israel. Wisconsin was the first state out of the box, and now has a joint solicitation underway with the Israel government, available here. The two governments seek proposals from Israel/Wisconsin partnerships working on industrial and technological research and development. The goal is to develop innovative products or services that can be commercialized in the global market. The proposals are not confined to energy efficiency, but it is a sector that will be considered.

Winning proposals will receive financing from both Israel’s government and the Wisconsin Department of Commerce. The Israel partner can secure an interest free loan for up to 50 percent of project costs, plus special incentives for those ventures located in development zones. The Wisconsin partner is eligible for up to 50 percent of project funding from the state in the form of either tax credits or a low interest loan with deferred repayment schedules.

The USISTF also is in the process of negotiating additional partnerships between Israel and the states of Virginia, Maryland, Colorado and Oregon.

More details about the USISTF is available here.

Reprinted with permission from Cleantechies