We Are Absolutely at Risk

Denver Post:

When he recently was procuring 30 high-tech battery packs — the crucial 1,300-pound lithium units that sit under electric-van frames — he had to buy from suppliers in China for lack of local capacity. “We are absolutely at risk, if we don’t get on the idea that we’re going to be driving electric vehicles,” Brown said. “Build them here. If we don’t start doing that, within 30 years, we’ll all be driving Chinese electric vehicles.”

Solar Homes in Japan

The future? GigaOm:

Consumer electronics giant Kyocera is working with battery system developer Nichicon Corporation to package up Kyocera’s solar rooftop gear and its energy management system, with Nichicon’s lithium ion home battery systems, to sell an all-in-one product to Japanese home owners.

Human Waste as an Investment

I just came across this rather interesting item from the International Labour Organization. Sustainability taking place at all levels.

The Umande Trust, an organization sponsored by the ILO’s Cooperative Facility for Africa through its Challenge Fund, is one of the most innovative groups involved. They employ largely youth or women groups to build and operate what they call “bio centres,” public latrines that use bio-base from processed human waste to heat water for the public showers. The gas is also sold to local residents for cooking.

“We are looking now at the human waste as an investment that can produce bio-gas, and this is a clean form of energy. We are able to harness that and ensure that we are providing a dignified, clean form of sanitation services to the community,” says Paul Muchire, Communications Manager at Umande Trust. “Remember this is methane, and methane is more harmful than carbon, therefore, when you burn that methane you reduce the degree of harm it will cause to the environment.”

Five Times Higher

OECD Insights:

Governments play an important role in fostering innovation and supporting the scaling up of deployment of existing and emerging technologies in the energy sector, since many low-carbon technologies currently are more costly than fossil fuels, although their costs are declining. In fact, to achieve a 50% reduction in CO2 emissions, government funding for research and development in low-carbon technology needs to be two to five times higher than current levels.

I’m Going #Solar with @SolarCity

I’ve just started the process with SolarCity to put a 4.32 kW solar system on our roof. We’ve still got a long way to go before we flip the switch, but we’re underway. May the Force be with us.

Shrilk

Another interesting one from CleanTechnica:

Shrilk is composed of fibroin protein from silk and from chitin. The material is similar in strength and toughness to aluminum alloys, but is only half the weight. Since chitin can be extracted from discarded shrimp shells it can be produced at very low cost. It is also biodegradable and can be molded into complex shapes. By controlling the water content in the fabrication process, the researchers were also able to vary the stiffness of the material, ranging from elastic to rigid.

The Future!

CleanTechnica:

A just released update for the plans for the new Apple headquarters in Silicon Valley shows a modification to include solar panels covering the entire roof…. On the Apple building  almost all of the 750,000 square foot building, as well as possibly a good part of the parking garage (another 320,000 square feet) will be sport a 5 MW solar array, enough power to supply nearly all the power needs of the huge campus.