Top 5 green car technologies

Greenbang has once again been reading far too Nick Hornby of late. The king of top five lists has once again inspired her. Wandering around the show floor at the Green Car Guide Live! show Greenbang has compiled her top five green vehicle technologies available today.

1) Carbon capture – plain, simple and does exactly what it say on the tin. Carbon capture means the CO2 can be stored before it’s emitted into the atmosphere. The only question remaining is what to do with it, running it through algae is the main solution. The other is selling dry ice in Walmart, apparently.

2) EC control units – the EC is the car’s brain. Computer technology is getting to the stage that an individual’s driving style can be followed and catered for to make the car as green as possible. As this improves further expect further reductions in emissions.

3) Hybrid vehicles – With hybrid vehicles already being used in sport and battery technologies, such as lithium ion, constantly improving these could become vastly more efficient. More ways are being created to charge the batteries using wasted thermal energy the cars and even companies with vast fleets, such as Tesco, see these as the future for their vehicles.

4) Aerodynamics / weight removal – the oldest and still one of the best. Oaktec’s hybrid rally car driver, Paul Andrews has states that this, “keeps coming and going with car design fashions” but it is a “something for nothing technology.” Making a car carry less weight and move through the air more easily means an instant reduction in the emissions. And, Greenbang at least thinks, they’re beautiful… just look at an F1 car.

5) Algae – Greenbang knows she has a habit of droning on about this one but since it delivers carbon neutral fuel and needs only sunlight, CO2 and river water it has a great potential to minimise the reliance on oil and natural gas.

In addition to the this, many experts also listed a future technology:

6) Electro-thermal recapture – converting the thermal energy wasted from the exhaust back into electric power. It’s not available yet but, according to Origo Industries’ Ian Houston and Oaktec’s Paul Andrews, both believe the exhaust is the greatest waste of energy in the car and that this will be the next big leap for the hybrid car industry.

Intel invests secret squirrel amount in smart grids

Do you want to know how much Intel’s investment arm, Intel Capital, invested in smart grid company Grid Net? Do you? Huh? Huh?

Well, Greenbang’s not going to tell you. So there.

Not because she doesn’t want to mind - Greenbang’s not like that - but because she can’t. Intel Capital has been boasting about its latest round of eight investments but has declined to actually say how much it’s spending on each project.

It would say, though, that it’s spend $60 million on the eight, so Greenbang can safely say that Grid Net has received somewhere between one cent and $60 million from the chipmaker’s coffers.

Intel describes the US-based smart grid company like this:

Grid Net is an energy efficiency and smart grid infrastructure software company that uses WiMax and an open network management framework to enable the delivery of secure, scalable and high-performing Smart Grid services. Grid Net’s solutions enable consumers to manage and optimize their electrical energy consumption and likewise enable utilities to better manage, optimize and securely control energy.

Or, to put it another way, Grid Net sells the infrastructure that utilities can use to get their customers to monitor and cut their energy use.

Solar: four times the bang for your buck

It seems to be a small world. Greenbang, it would seem, was not the only person discussing the aesthetics of solar panels last week. HP was too but is apparently looking to change the way the solar panel fields look.

The technology firm has just announced an agreement with solar energy system developer Xtreme Energetics (XE) to develop a solar energy system that, according to the press release ‘can be artistically patterned to mimic the appearance of any building material or terrain for aesthetic appeal.’  Greenbang would like an Andy Warhol panel please.

The technology does, however, come with some impressive features. First and foremost, the company claims the technology is twice as efficient and costs half as much as traditional solar panels. And the press release goes on:

The flat design of XE’s system eliminates the need for mechanical tracking of the sun as it traverses the sky… This low-profile design also overcomes the persistent dilemmas of mechanical solar trackers, which cast shadows onto themselves, require large maintenance costs and are vulnerable to high winds, making rooftop installations especially difficult.

XE’s CEO said the technology would work for, “both the central utility and rooftop markets.”

Europe: VCs’ clean tech star

Mirror mirror on the wall, who’s the best* at clean tech of them all? Why, it’s little old Europe, says a survey by Deloitte and the National Venture Capital Association.

And the survey goes like this:

According to venture capitalists, Europe is emerging as a new leader behind the U.S. for life sciences and clean technology sectors. Germany and the United Kingdom in particular are quickly gaining recognition for their technological savvy in these fast growing industries.

Germany was recognized by 43 percent of all respondents as having the best expertise in the rapidly growing clean technology field, just behind the United States. Other countries to receive attention in this industry included Japan and Brazil.

“Germany is the beneficiary of a well conceived, stable public policy that has ensured attractive markets for alternative energy technologies. This combined with a strong general technology base, has fostered substantial innovation in the space,” said David Prend, partner, Rockport Capital. “As a result, for example, Germany, a country with marginal sun, is a leader in solar photovoltaic technology that they export to the rest of the world. Venture capital follows quality technology and innovation.”

*best behind the US naturally. The survey says: “Venture capitalists from around the world view the United States as having the best technology in all sectors surveyed.”

Alternative fuelled cars buck trend as rest of market plummets

When Greenbang was still in her teens, she once took part in a debate in which Margaret Thatcher was decreed the best weapon against climate change, ever. The Prime Minister’s relentless stance forcing pit closures, it was argued, meant there was a vast swathe of CO₂ not being released.

Whether the Thatcher argument is true or not Greenbang has found herself, a depressing number of years later, mulling over a similar question; is change motivated by a stick or a carrot.  She currently suspects the stick , especially if it is very large.

The reason for this cogitation and conclusion is the effect that the current price of fuel is appearing to have on car sales. Yes, rather basic economics really but a nice effect for those that, like Greenbang, want to see fewer high polluting cars on the roads.

As reported in the Scotland On Sunday, ‘soaring fuel prices have led to a big increase in the number of motorists opting for ‘green cars’ this year.’

The latest figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) are out. The figures, which track UK car sales for the January to April 2008 period show sales of hybrid and electric cars are up 14 per cent on the same period last year. Not bad, especially as the market as a whole has slumped by 23 per cent over the same period.

The 5,990 alternative fuel cars sold represents less than one per cent of the entire market.

SmartSync picks up $20 million for smart grid expansion plans

It must be nice to be a smart grid company at the moment. Everyone’s lauding your products, there’s a bright future ahead, you just snap your fingers and there’s some lucky devil wanting to throw cash at you. Greenbang warrants that if smart grid companies wanted to request that all their M&Ms came with all the blue ones taken out, someone would extract them. That’s how popular smart grids are right now.

The latest evidence? Smart grid bunch SmartSynch has just received $20 million in its latest round of funding.

Credit Suisse’s Customized Fund Investment Group has joined in investing for the first time, as has Farm Bureau Life Insurance Company, while existing investors like Battelle Ventures, Beacon Group, Endeavor Capital Management, GulfSouth Capital, Innovation Valley Partners, Kinetic Ventures, OPG Ventures and Siemens Venture Capital all came back to SmartSync with wallets out. So far, SmartSynch has received $80 million in funding.

SmartSynch says the money will “fund working capital growth, expand market presence and accelerate the product roadmap for new Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) and Smart Grid Intelligence solutions”.

The company’s raison d’être is selling wireless smart grid systems, which “measure how much and when electricity is consumed”. The idea behind all this is that consumers realise where they’re hogging energy and cut down, while utilities find out where and how to better balance energy loads and find leaks, with information relayed over mobile networks. Smart huh?

Apple patent hints at solar iPhone

What’s your thoughts on Apple? It seems to be de rigeur for Mac users* to wander around in a haze of smugness and defending Apple as if it was one of their own children at any sign of criticism.

Now the fanboys have another reason to love the of purveyor all things white, plastic and overpriced: it looks like the Mac maker is going to start whacking solar panels all over its kit.

According to the sites that watch all things Apple, the company has filed a patent which hints that iPods and iPhones might be up for the solar treatment in the future.

Here’s the telltale snipped from the patent filing:

The present invention generally relates to various methods and systems for using solar cells with portable devices such as PDAs or digital media players. In particular, in embodiments of the present invention, solar cells are integrated into a portable device. The solar energy device (e.g., the plurality of solar cells) are an integral part of the enclosure of the portable device; for example, the solar energy device may be coupled, through a shock absorbing material, to the exterior enclosure such that the enclosure, with the solar energy device, may be separated from the internal electrical components (e.g., media processing system, storage device, and battery). According to at least one embodiment of the present invention, the devices have rechargeable batteries. The solar cells embedded into the device then provide the electrical power to charge the batteries. The power generated from the solar cell can also directly power the operations of the device.

*Greenbang is a self hating Apple user. Why? Charlie Brooker sums it up nicely here.

Wafer maker CrystalQ gets funding boost for LEDs

Wafers: is there anything they can’t do? Hold KitKats together, form that basis of an oft-quoted Monty Python joke, make ice cream look a bit more art punk with their geometric wafery glory and be a lynchpin of low-energy lighting.

Dutch wafer makers CrystalQ have bent the might of wafers to their will and harnessed them in the production of white LEDs, the latest low energy lighting star that crops up in consumer electronics like mobile phones, and will shortly be making its way into cars, according to the company.

LEDs are rather popular, in case you weren’t familiar with their work, in some lighting circles as they use about 10 percent of the energy of average light sources and last a lot longer.

CrystalQ has announced a wedge of funding from clean tech investors Sustainable Energy Technology Fund’s SET Fund, EPT / Benno Wiersma and E2 Cleantech.

No word on how much lolly they dished up though but EPT / Benno Wiersma says it will be used to expand CrystalQ’s manufacturing base.

If you’re wondering what CrystalQ does with wafers, let Greenbang enlighten you:

“[CrystalQ] is specialized in the preparation of the base material for the production of white LED’s. The company prepares sapphire crystal wafers and polishes these to high quality wafers for the fast growing LED industry. This round of investments will support CrystalQ entering into the growing of sapphire crystals. Its customer base consists of leading LED manufacturers.”

Boulder breaks ground on $100m smart grid plan

In December next year, there’s going to be a bit of a celebration in Boulder, Colorado. No points if you guessed that’s because of Christmas, a lot of points and a triple word score if you guessed that’s because
Xcel Energy’s $100 million SmartGridCity project will have gone live, after work on construction kicked off recently.

The dodgily-named SmartGridCity is Xcel’s plan to put some cleverness into the electricity grid, allowing it to “better monitor, manage, and even balance itself” using a “portfolio of smart grid technologies designed to provide environmental, financial and operational benefits”. Or to put it another way, the smart grid will give users a bit more insight into where they’re using electricity and how they can cut down consumption, even turning off energy-hogging devices remotely.

According to Xcel, all the design work’s now over with, the company’s put in orders for the necessary kit (including 15,000 smart meters to be installed at the rate of 2,500 a week until this August) and construction on the project has already begun, with the implementation of the high-speed communications network and smart grid sensing equipment.

Here’s how the rollout will work:

Phase I: March 2008 - August 2008
• Includes full-system automation, monitoring and smart meters for the first group of SmartGridCity customers. Involves upgrades to two substations, five feeders and nearly 15,000 meters (representing both residential, commercial and light industrial customers) in Boulder.
• Web portal will provide consumers with insight into their energy use and information for better home energy management.
• A dedicated customer service phone number (1-877-887-3339) and e-mail address (SmartGridCity@xcelenergy.com) for SmartGridCity customers.
• Some customers can choose to have in-home automation tools, allowing increased control over home energy use and costs.
• By mid-August, initial capabilities should be demonstrated.

Phase II: September 2008 - December 2009
• Complete the installation of a distribution and communication network for remaining areas within Boulder (an additional two substations, 20 feeders and smart meters for an additional 35,000 premises).
• Expanded in-home automation installations.
• Enable Web portal access to all SmartGridCity customers.
• Begin initial integration of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, solar and wind co-generation sources onto the grid in Boulder.

Homemade supercomputer helps rice beat climate change

IBM is helping change Greenbang’s mind about high tech rice. Previously, Greenbang had considered the bastard love child of technology and rice - that two minute microwave precooked nonsense - as an embarrassment to the human race. What kind of lazy-arsed folk can be bothered to cook rice? It’s not like it’s the culinary equivalent of a 1,000 piece jigsaw, after all. What’s next? Some sort of system that pre-chews the rice for us and then pumps its directly down our gullets, foie gras style?

But the crosspollination of rice and technology can in fact be a beautiful thing, as IBM has pointed out, in its latest project. Big Blue’s scheme will see the computers of average Joes around the world come together to improve rice, with a view to making it easier to grow as global warming starts getting jiggy with the climate.

Apparently, the project between IBM and the University of Washington will use grid computing to research how to develop rice strains with larger and more nutritious yields.

Grid computing, to the uninitiated, uses the spare computing power from home PCs around the world, and creates a sort of ad hoc super computer. This rice project will use IBM’s World Community Grid - the spare computing nous from one million PCs - to study rice at the atomic level, and make it a bit more climate change friendly.

Apparently, the rice research will be finished in less than two years, thanks to all the unwanted PC power donated to the project.

Here comes the science bit, concentrate:

World Community Grid will run a three-dimensional modeling programme created by computational biologists at the University of Washington to study the structures of the proteins that make up the building blocks of rice. Understanding the structure is necessary to identify the function of those proteins and to enable researchers to identify which ones could help produce more rice grains, ward off pests, resist disease or hold more nutrients. In the end, this project will create the largest and most comprehensive map of rice proteins and their related functions, helping agriculturalists and farmers pinpoint which plants should be selected for cross-breeding to cultivate better crops.

“The issue is that there are between 30,000 and 60,000 different protein structures to study,” said Principal Investigator, Dr. Ram Samudrala, Associate Professor in the Department of Microbiology at the University of Washington. “Using traditional experimental approaches in the laboratory to identify detailed structure and function of critical proteins would take decades. Running our software programme on World Community Grid will shorten the time from 200 years to less than 2 years.”

Ultimately, this project, jumpstarted by a $2 million grant from the National Science Foundation, could enable rice-producing countries to become better adapted to future climate changes because they can quickly find the right plants for cross breeding, and create “super hybrids” that are more resistant to changing weather patterns.

This research is also important in the U.S. and other countries because the knowledge gained creating the 3D models can be easily transferred to other cereal crops such as corn, wheat, and barley.

Want to give your spare PC power? Good plan. Go to http://www.worldcommunitygrid.org/ to get the software you need to join in. Don’t worry - you won’t feel a thing.

Greenbang tracks the explosion of the environmental industry, reporting on news of green innovation and thought leadership.

We blog on this rather than the environmental problems of the world because we are interested in the answers to climate change.