Connect is at it again…responsible events…what?

The new retail store Connect in Chicago is all about business with a conscious, but owner Jonathon Shaun is sure to make the point that  “social responsibility doesn’t have to be boring”.  Proof in point was their event this past weekend which, in addition to good music, cocktails and a huge selection of Eco-friendly clothing and accessories, also included a visit from Sara Snow speaking about Green Living and signing advanced copies of her new book.

Powerleap, flooring that converts human energy into electricity, was in use, donations were accepted for a local charity, there was a sign up with King’s Hill Farm for organic produce pick up and we featured the first permanent installation of our Material Petting Zoo™ .  For all in the Chicago area, feel free to drop by and take a peek!

This “Eco-materials petting zoo” features 20 materials from the Ecolect website that have unique properties with a leading sustainability performance.  We cater the Petting Zoo to the large community of designers, engineers, and business professionals, eager to learn about the latest and greatest in alternative Eco-materials. It is a chance to speak with designers, engineers, developers, and the business owners one-on-one about material needs, options and ideas.  It is exhibited at conferences, seminars, in-office events, trade shows, corporations, studios and educational institutions. Every sample in the Petting Zoo is accompanied by information about production, usage, technical specs and environmental properties.

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Samsung Blue Earth - The First Solar Powered Touchscreen Phone

Korean cell phone manufacturer Samsung Mobile has unveiled its new Blue Earth model, which works with solar energy. This cell phone was introduced yesterday at the Mobile World Congress 2009 in Barcelona.

The design doesn’t necessarily highlight the innovative energy use of the phone, but it is certainly a step forward in the mobile phone world. While other cell phone companies are trying hard to seduce consumers with design features or trying to reinvent the wheel around the same product, this model actually brings something new to the table, it is the first solar powered touch screen mobile phone.

Blue Earth is made from PCM (recycled plastic extracted from water bottles), and it is also free from harmful substances such as Brominated Flame Retardants, Beryllium and Phthalate.

Looking forward to see it in real and working.

Read more here.

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Chicago Center for Green Technology: A new Ecolect Partnership

With a 38,000 square foot green roof on city hall, Chicago is leading the way in being a genuinely eco-aware city. An active green business community combined with a progressive environmental department has led to a platform for leadership in sustainable development.

The CCGT, which opened in May 2002, was designed by a team of community businesses led by Farr Associates and was the 3rd certified LEED building in the nation. The building is a model of progressive green technologies (solar panels, ground source heat), and traditional resource efficient practices (passive solar heat, water barrels, greenhouses). Most of the construction materials used in this project were manufactured within 300 miles of Chicago Green Tech and 40% of the materials are made of recycled content.

Today, the Chicago Center for Green Technology is a resource for visitors to learn about the practices exhibited in the builidng. Homeowners tour the space as research for at-home green roof projects, radiant heating designs, etc. More serious or info hungry citizens and industry professionals attend the Green Tech U classes to acheive a greater understanding of the systems supporting “green” elements and their facets in society. They also have a resource center that serves as an exhibition space of green materials and a consultation space for homeowners and industry professionals.

Ecolect is proud to announce a new partnership with the CCGT. Interns from the resource center will be loading material profiles for us on Ecolect.net. In turn, Ecolect will be hosting an online materials database for them. Intern and material scientist Jessica Weninger, has already created profiles for materials such as EcoCycle Porcelain Stone, and Aluma Floor. Our goal is to build this database to include all 200+ mateirals found in the Center for Green Technology resource center.

We are proud to welcome them to our community and excited about the opportunities this partnership holds. To discover this growing database of sustainable materials search “CCGT” from the Ecolect.net home site.

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Creating the Biggest Solar Company in the Northeast

The solar power industry in the northeast is poised to get a major boost as Riverside Partners, a Boston based private equity firm, announced the merger and acquisition of CT based Solar Works, Inc. and RI based SolarWrights, Inc. This merger will create the largest solar energy company in the Northeast with over 30 years of combined solar energy expertise.

As solar power becomes an increasingly viable solution to energy independence, the new merger will play an important role in leading the way for continued innovation and development of this renewable energy. The combination of the Northeast’s leading installer of commercial solar systems with the region’s largest residential solar provider will greatly enhance the growth of solar power across the Northeast.

Despite the dismal state of the current economy, clean energy has seen tremendous growth and the merger of these two leading solar companies will most likely have a positive impact on local economies and help stimulate job creation. With many big businesses struggling to keep their heads above water, this is a positive example of how some companies are continuing to prosper and grow in spite of today’s tough economic climate.

www.solarworksinc.com

www.solarwrights.com

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The New Look of Solar

Solyndra, a California based solar power company, has developed a revolutionary new solar product that utilizes tubes — resembling fluorescent lights — instead of conventional panels. The cylindrical shape allows Solyndra to cover a larger surface area and capture more light resulting in greater electricity generation. The cylindrical modules can capture sunlight across a 360-degree surface capable of collecting direct, diffuse and reflected sunlight.

Solyndra modules are also much easier to install than conventional panels. They don’t have to be positioned on an angle, and can be installed for about half the cost of normal solar panel installation. There are no roof penetrations needed and they can be easily moved for maintenance or relocation.

Despite the dismal state of our economy, solar technology has seen rapid growth in the past few years. This new offering from Solyndra is poised to grow the industry even more and they have just announced over 1.2 billion, yes billion, worth of new contracts. Most of the new modules however will unfortunately be heading overseas, but as solar technologies continue to mature and drop in price, expect to see more and more buildings employing them.

Further Reading

Solyndra Website
Solyndra in The Business Journal
Solyndra interview in Scientific American

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Stormy Days Ahead for Biofuels?

As if the current challenges related to biofuels (use of food crop, questions about genetic modification, to name a few) weren’t enough, according to many energy industry experts, academics, and climatologists, unpredictable and severe weather trends such as greater incidence of powerful storms, flooding, drought, etc, could restrain the potential growth of the biofuels market - recent storms in the Midwestern U.S. which have damaged a great deal of corn crop are but one prescient example. This threat to today’s biocrops (corn, potatoes, sugarcane, etc) is made plain by the fact that due to scale of production, for the most part the crops must be grown outdoors, and shows how delicate a growing dependence on cropland will be as biofuels gain market share (ethanol is currently at 6%, but expected to rise above 20% in coming years). Put simply, ethanol expert John M. Reilly, senior lecturer at MIT, states that “we are holding ourselves hostage to the weather.”

Although not to be taken lightly, this challenge simply provides further indication of what we already know, that we must develop feasibly sustainable alternatives to weather-dependent (and resource-depleting) sources for our fuel, and do so sooner than later. And aside from the need to develop sources and methods of production which are not dependent on the unpredictable weather that lies ahead, we must rapidly make affordable super-efficient vehicles the market standard. Only then will the world be able to accommodate the increasing demand for more fuel efficient cars and trucks, and more accessible and widespread public transportation.  As oil prices increase, the calls for these alternatives will only become louder, so it’s important to act while we still have time.

Cambridge Energy Associates

USDA

Renewable Fuels Association

DOE’s Energy Information Association

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Ford to Generate Electricity…from Paint!

If ever there was a time to stand in awe of the world of science, it is now, in this burgeoning age of clean tech geniuses coming up with fascinating (if not mind-blowing) solutions to the energy and environmental challenges with which we’re faced.  One such remarkable solution is being launched by U.S. automaker Ford, whose own team of such geniuses have come up with a method of harnessing the electricity-generating potential of VOC’s in autobody paint.  To be launched at their Oakville, Ontario plant, the process called Fumes-to-Fuel involves the sequestration of VOC’s in a 2,000 gallon vat of carbon beads, where they are absorbed.  The carbon beads are then processed themselves, to release the VOC’s for conversion into fuel for a 300 KW fuel cell that will power the plant itself.  According to Ford, the electricity generated by the fuel cell is enough to power about 150 homes, and the process will result in an 88% reduction of carbon dioxide and elimination of nitrogen oxide, two negative aspects inherent in autobody painting.

By utilizing VOC’s for good, Ford has set the stage for other automakers to take up a similarly progressive clean tech mantle.  Reducing noxious gases and CO2 within their plants, and converting paint fumes to power their own facilities, are no small feats, however the automaker still must strive to quickly develop super-efficient vehicles in the same progressive vein.  In fact, it must do so to survive, as Japanese and German (VW and BMW) automakers are already making strides in alternative fuels and fuel efficiency.  Nonetheless, Ford’s Fumes-to-Fuel program is surely a sign of things to come, as more and more companies push the envelope, and emerge with the right solutions to our energy dependent world.

Ford

Ford’s media announcement on Fumes-to-Fuel program

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How Bugs (Yes, Bugs) May Make High Priced Oil a Thing of the Past

Did you ever think that microscopic bugs could present an alternative to drilling for oil, and what that might mean for all sectors of the world economy, especially transportation, design and manufacturing?  To create that alternative, with the help of funding from venture capitalist Vinod Khosla, LS9, an industrial biotech firm in South San Francisco, CA, has been developing a line of patent-pending biofuels through the process of synthetic biology.  The process involves using genetically modified (and non pathogenic) strains of e. coli, which are essentially “fed” various kinds of “feedstock” (wheat straw, wood chips, etc), resulting in a fermentation process that yields a fuel virtually ready for a gas pump.  In that it doesn’t require a fuel-intensive distillation process, it is much more efficient than the process used to produce ethanol.  LS9 believes that they are about one month away from being able to use the fuel as traditional gasoline would be, such as in a car’s gasoline tank, or to power a manufacturing plant, and they plan to have a demonstration-scale plant open by 2010 and a commercial-scale plant open by 2011, which may incorporate Brazilian sugar cane for feedstock.

There is no doubt that the efforts of LS9 and other firms like it, represent a positive step in ending our dependence on traditionally sourced foreign (and domestic, think ANWR) oil, especially as oil prices remain so high.   However, like corn-based biomaterials, bio fuels also have their challenges, such as the emissions they create when burned, and that the scale of production required to meet even domestic fuel demand is so great - some say a plant the size of the City of Chicago!  But perhaps considering the way Silicon Valley works, and how many firms have become strongly devoted to alt fuel and clean tech initiatives, it may not be too long before an entrepreneur develops some sort of  emissions-free biofuel that can be produced at facilities tethered to municipal waste treatment plants.  Although that may be just a concept today, when achieved, it would help create a truly “sustainable” alternative to traditional petroleum, and thus decrease the overall environmental impact of the global economy.

Some great resources for further information:

LS9’s Renewable Petroleum™ Technology
Khosla Ventures
Clean Edge 

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