CleanTech

No doubt, cleantech companies were upbeat when the White House stimulus package allocated 13 percent of the total $104 billion stimulus package for green technology. Much of the economic stimulus will flow to cleantech infrastructure, but exactly where will it go? Cleantech sectors, which were big winners, include smart grid technology with $4.5 billion, energy efficiency for federal buildings with $4.5 billion and wind and solar with $6 billion for new loan guarantees. It�s an unheard of sum for cleantech. And a recent survey of technology experts by Changewave Research sheds some light on where the impact will be felt most. Changewave surveyed 409 members of the Changewave Research Network, people who...

As a physicist, my belief is that one of the reasons that intelligent energy policies have not gained sufficient traction is that we are allowing those with political agendas to define some key energy terms. Probably the most significant concept that we have unwittingly gone along with is the definition of the word "renewable." Giving some critical thought to this moniker is no academic matter, as the majority members of the US Senate's Energy Committee is currently pushing for a national Renewable Portfolio Standard (see: "Title VIII - Renewable Portfolio Standard" to view a draft). Their decision as to what is a "renewable" will have profound technical, economic and environmental consequences on the United States. To my...

There's no better way to take the pulse of innovation than to survey R&D spending. And there's no better time than during a downturn, because history tells us that this is the opportunity for businesses to gain advantage by investing and growing. Two recent R&D surveys, one from the Wall Street Journal and the other from McKinsey were released recently and both confirm that many companies are still spending on R&D (for now). (Photo: Battelle Institute) So what about green investment? Are companies spending on cleantech? They should be, since transforming energy markets (which is critical) will require an unprecedented level of R&D. But the challenges are enormous. The energy industry is...

The U.S. water market is $95 billion ($425 billion globally). Of that $95 billion, $24 billion is spent on industrial wastewater purification and recovery. Innovative water technology startup Crystal Clear Technologies has developed a novel approach to separate out toxic contaminants such as arsenic, copper, uranium and selenium. The technology is specifically relevant to industrial smelters, power plants and mining operations. "We're the first company doing this kind of approach," says James Harris, CEO of Crystal Clear Technologies. The company uses a low-cost biopolymer with absorbents called Chitosan to separate out contaminants. It works as a sponge that binds to specific toxic elements. At the core of...

Not a direct part of the economic stimulus package, and only extended by Congress (as of March 20th) for another 60 days, a significant source of funding for primary research by startup greentech companies has been from the EPA's National Center for Environmental Research (http://es.epa.gov/ncer/) which manages the funding of the SBIR - Small Business Innovation Research program, and STTR - Small Business Technology Transfer program. Both SBIR and STTR monies are channeled through as many as 12 other federal agencies. Click on this zyn.com URL to discover the GreenTech funding opportunities within these agencies and sub-agencies: http://www.zyn.com/sbir/#agsites Anyone in the GreenTech business universe ought to recognize the following...

Everyone has scraped or cut themselves at one point or another. Once a finger has an unfortunate encounter with the edge of a knife or your knee falls against rough pavement, exposed skin is damaged and you start bleeding. It's all temporary, though. A scar is eventually all that is left from a painful injury. Machines aren't so lucky. Tiny cracks that form in all plastic structures widen over time. Fixing these cracks before they become an issue would increase the overall integrity of anything made from plastics. This isn't an unrealistic concept: In 2001 aeronautics engineers at the University of Illinois developed a self-healing man made material. The idea was to eliminate microscopic...

A global water crisis is expected by 2025 unless economically viable ways of purifying water can be developed. One of the major threats to water supplies is contamination, from saltwater from industrial waste, from pesticides. New sensors would help. Research labs are working on sensors specially designed to deal with monitoring and purification problems. Researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have synthesized DNA to detect trace amounts of lead, mercury, arsenic and other contaminants in water. The DNA sensors can be produced in the form of sophisticated testing instruments suitable for metropolitan water districts or in the form of strips -- like a home...

Researchers at Duke University have come to respect the power of nano-engineered buckyballs. In one project, the engineers found that ultrafine mesh coatings made of carbon buckyballs can hinder the ability of bacteria and other microorganisms to colonize the membranes that filter impurities from water. This is one of the major problems - and costs - in treating H2O. The bacteria builds up and attracts other organic matter. In time, a film of biological material accumulates. A reduction in membrane-replacement cost, even of 50 percent, would translate to huge savings. "Biofouling is viewed as one of the biggest costs associated with membrane-based water-treatment systems," said Claudia...

OK. It's New Zealand, not Australia. But this company called EcoInnovation still reminds you a little bit of Road Warrior. Founder and chief engineer Michael Lawley has built his "renewable energy store" on the ingenious redeployment of everyday household appliances. Among other things, the company recycles SmartDrive motors from salvaged washing machines to generate hydropower. Of course, you need to be near a river or stream. Yes, micro-hydro turbines that can tap into the movement of medium flowing streams and turn a turbine that can deliver most of the electrical requirements of a small home. Lawley says the company has been able to recycle the motors from salvaged domestic washing...

While regulating CO2 emissions occupies an ever increasing share of policymaker and environmentalist priorities, which translates into countless new businesses and technologies to address this new challenge, there are still all those other air pollution emissions that we used to worry about exclusively, and almost, but not quite eliminated. While impressive results in air pollution have been logged ever since the introduction of the catalytic converter and unleaded gasoline, microscopic particulates are still not being captured by conventional systems. The problem with these microscopic particles is that even though they are invisible, they actually pose greater potential health...

Pamela Contag is a microbiologist who's as comfortable in the lab as she is in the boardroom, dealing with the business of running a company. She has plenty of experience there, having helped found two startups: Cobalt Technologies and Xenogen. She also sits on the Department of Energy's Biomass Advisory Board. Contag is an astute observer of the biofuels industry. With much of the discussion today focused on second-generation biofuels, she points out that it's still critical for people not to mix up biofuel feedstocks with human foodstocks. That sure spelled a lot of trouble during the first-generation corn-ethanol buildout, which alarmed the public and still dampens enthusiasm for the biofuels market. Contag says there's a list of...

We live in a world of technology. Our kids grow up with computers as one of their best friends. They even mature together: The kids who grow up expect their systems to grow with them, which means that old computers are constantly replaced with new ones. Technology is evolving faster than we ever thought possible and I doubt that anyone will be surprised when machines become almost independent of their creators. The biggest problem with self sustaining machinery is fuel. Just like we consume countless varieties of foods to keep us going throughout the day, a machine's hunger pangs are generally alleviated with gas, electricity and batteries. The ideal machine, however, should be able to...