Sep 18 2009

The Green Seen

Posted by: Leonard Anderson

Several items relating to the business and technology of clean energy and the environment caught our attention this week:

Where are the electric cars? Coming soon, say some of the automakers at the Frankfurt car show this week. Renault says an electric sedan will be in showrooms by 2011. Volkswagen is adding an electric model to its Up concept car. BMW will roll out a plug-in diesel-electric concept car. GM says the Chevy Volt is one of its "comeback" cars. Nissan will introduce an electric car in late 2010 in Japan, the U.S. and Europe. "This is not a false dawn. This is the real thing," says Paul Scott, vice president and founder of Plug In America. Skeptics, however, say limited range and high prices will continue to plague electric cars. Stay tuned.

Twenty teams from universities around the world will compete in the U.S. Department of Energy's Solar Decathlon October 8-18 on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. The teams will compete to design, build and operate energy-efficient, completely solar-powered houses. Winning teams will receive $100,000 over two years to support the competition's goal of reducing the cost of solar-powered homes and advancing solar technology. Santa Clara University in Silicon Valley and California College of the Arts will make up Team California. All the entries will demonstrate smart metering in the decathlon.

Canada's Nova Scotia Province has given the green light for a tidal energy demonstration project to place turbines in the Bay of Fundy to convert the bay's huge tides into electricity. A full-scale project, if viable, would involve hundreds of turbines and generate about 100 megawatts, or 10 percent of the province's energy needs. Utility Nova Scotia Power expects to put a test turbine into the water late in October. Fishermen have expressed concerns about the effects of turbines on catches.

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