Weekly Review - November 19, 2010

Biodiesel In Singapore

• The What
• The world’s largest biodiesel production plant has been opened in Singapore this week. This plant is rumored to be able to produce 800,000 metric tons a day.

• Why You Care
• I went into depth on this topic yesterday, but the most important point to take away from this (aside from the fact that Asia is beating our ass) is that a plant of this size signals that investors are beginning to recognize the potential of other clean fuel sources and we can expect more of these plants to pop up around the world.

• Petroleum products aren’t going away any time soon, but these are vital steps towards a cleaner energy community.

Fort Collins Going Green

• The What
• Fort Collins in Colorado is going for a carbon footprint of zero.

• Why You Care
• I know what you are thinking. “An establishment in Colorado being environmentally conscious? Stop lying!”

• If a military base can reduce its carbon footprint to zero, the certainly residential homes can also do it. Also, as I have said before, once the military begins to invest in technologies, the technology is developed even further and the price becomes lower for consumers.

Job Searching

• The What
• I’m looking for a job.

• Why You Care
• Plenty of other things happened this week (most of which you can find on Sustainabili-City’s Twitter page), but none of it was earth shattering as most of it was politics related, and I told myself that I would take a break from that while I am looking for a job.

• If anyone else is going through the same excruciating process of job searching in the alternative energy or efficiency markets, I recommend taking a look at Dayaway Careers. They have a great listing of green companies and a list of jobs that is constantly updated – just don’t take a job that I am applying for, because I will find you*.

*Just kidding.**






**Not really.

Weekly Review - November 12, 2010

Cost Competitiveness

• The What
• Biofuels are poised to become cost competitive with traditional forms of fuel as soon as 2012.

• Why You Care
• With so much attention on the potential limitations facing electric cars, it is interesting to see that biofuel may be transforming our auto industry instead. I am more partial to electric cars because they stand to help speed up the adoption of smart grid technologies as well as wind energy, but at least this is progress.

Politics

• The What
• There is a lot of focus on the new Speaker of the House, John Boehner, especially with his focus on a ‘cleaner coal’ and nuclear power.

• Why You Care
• I am still adamant that the new congress has a chance to see the economic benefits of alternative energy. However, it is becoming more and more apparent that things like cap-and-trade legislation are dead in the water at the moment.

Time Change

• The What
• Majority of people ‘fell back’ this past week, leading it to be (temporarily) lighter out in the morning in the Northern Hemisphere and darker earlier in the afternoon.

• Why You Care
• If you are like anyone I have talked to in the past week, you are extremely annoyed about it getting dark around 5, but look at it this way – It is going to be so much worse when it starts to get dark at 4! (Yayyyyy)

Sustainabili-City Posts

Here are the posts since the last Weekly Review that you may have missed:

• Tidal Energy Is Making Important Strides
• Climate Change Is Real, Dummy
• The Importance Of Sustainable Food Markets
• Does Sustainability Mean Sacrificing Aesthetic Value?

Overview

It was a pretty slow week in terms of new developments in the alternative energy industry and sustainable markets, mainly because the news has been dominated by the political landscape.

It is easy to get sucked into the political storm that is happening right now and allow you to adopt a defeatist attitude about the future of alternative energies, transmission, and sustainable movements such as high-speed rail – however I would caution against that.

Even though the political climate has been causing a lot of poor speculation about near-term developments of alt. energy & co., these things still stand to create a lot of jobs and make a lot of money. As soon as politicians stop setting up smokescreens to distract people from the issues, these markets will open up again and receive the attention that they deserve – it is only a matter of time (sooner than later, please).

Weekly Review - November 5, 2010

Every Friday I take a break from covering individual topics and instead highlight the most notable stories from the previous week in an attempt to give you some talking points for the weekend.

Tesla & Panasonic

• The What
• Tesla, the cutting-edge electric car manufacturer, has partnered with Panasonic to pursue more energy-efficient and powerful batteries for their cars.

• Why You Care
• Panasonic has already been working with Toyota on the Prius to make their fleet of hybrids as efficient as possible, and Toyota has already been working with Tesla to advance the industry – so it only makes sense that Tesla and Panasonic begin to work together.

• Batteries have always been one of the biggest points that has held back electric car development due to range anxiety. Even though many (all) of my readers can’t exactly afford the Tesla Roadster, it is encouraging to see such prominent companies attempting to tackle these issues because it will ultimately benefit the entire industry.

Proposition 23 Defeated

• The What
• Prop. 23 was a proposal to suspend the important Global Warming law established in California that essentially demands a higher level of air pollution control.

• Why You Care
• This is an important victory because Prop. 23 was heavily funded by many out of state heavy-hitters (mainly oil-companies). By defeating such a heavily funded campaign by the oil industry, this is setting an example that others states can adopt more stringent air quality standards leading to the establishment of more efficient energy sources and practices.

Election Stuff

• The What
• There was an election this week? First I have heard about it.

• Why You Care
• People have a tendency to overreact to election results, no matter what they are. I talked earlier this week about how people need to not live and die on these results because I do believe that it is a healthier to believe that the last two years were worthless and the next two are hopeless...with that said, it is disappointing to hear about so many plans to unravel the positive environmental actions that have been in the works, such as high-speed rail systems.

High-speed Rail Under Attack

• The What
• High-speed rail is one of the more promising energy-efficient and environmentally friendly forms of public transportation that has been proposed in America in a long time. Up until now, there have been great strides towards making this a reality.

• Why You Care
• Europe has been enjoying these systems for a long time now, and it is about time that America started to catch up. However, almost immediately after the elections took place this past Wednesday, there is talk in Ohio, Wisconsin, and Florida about halting the development of these systems.  This is an incredibly shortsighted attempt by politicians to flex their political muscles and will do nothing but stunt America’s growth. Here are just a few things that will suffer:

• Infrastructure
• Energy Security
• Environmental Health
• Job Creation
• Tourism
• Innovation

Sustainabili-City Posts

Finally, here are the posts that you might have missed from the past week:

• Sustainable Products Require Certain Adjustments
• Range Anxiety Presents Opportunities - Not Limitations
• Don't Live Or Die On Election Results
• Disney Setting A Good Example With Energy Efficiency

Thanks to those that have been commenting! Have a good weekend!

Weekly Review - October 29, 2010

Every Friday, I will review the big developments that happened during the week so that you can stay current and (attempt to) sound smart when talking to others.

Range Anxiety

• The What - This is a term that has been thrown around for a while now, but it has been popping up more and more in the coverage of electric cars.

• Why You Care - Even though people don’t typically drive more than 40 miles on a daily basis, the fear that your car could run out of power while driving is a legitimate fear that could damage the sales of these cars. Like the first iPhone, battery capacity will improve over time, but initial purchases need to take place to provide the developers with capital they can reinvest into development.

Naval Biofuel

• The What - Not a day went by this week without Sustainabili-City’s twitter account being inundated with headlines referring to the Navy testing out a Command Boat that runs on a 50% mix of algae-based biofuel.

• Why You Care - Whenever the military begins purchasing a new technology ($424/gallon of algae-biofuel), new markets begin to emerge as the developers enjoy a new source of funding. Think cell-phones or the internet.

Wind Declining

• The What - In a report released by AWEA, the wind energy industry is slowing down to levels previously recorded in 2007. This is most evident when considering that Vestas laid off 3,000 workers this past week.

• Why You Care - Damnit. Oscillations happen all the time in new (and old) industries as they try to discover the efficient level of operation and growth, but this definitely is a punch in the balls.

Environmentally Friendly Halloween Costumes

• The What - If you are like 80% of people, you have waited until the last moment to figure out what you are going to be for Halloween.

• Why You Care - Face it. Halloween is the most enjoyable holiday of the year and you should never pass up an opportunity to celebrate with friends. With these last minute ideas, you can create a great costume out of things you potentially already have saving you from spending a lot of money on something that you will potentially only wear once.

My Favorite