The burning of wood is currently the largest use of energy derived from a solid fuel biomass. Wood fuel can be used for cooking and heating, and occasionally for fueling steam engines and steam turbines that generate electricity. The use of wood as a fuel source for heating is as old as civilization itself. (more…)

No one will deny that quite possibly one of the biggest contributors to carbon dioxide emissions is vehicles. There is no denying that traveling is important, however, the damage being done cannot be fixed so easily. Although numerous cities around the world are making public transportation and alternative (more…)

Electric vehicles are often touted as much better for the environment than cars with internal combustion engines. But just what are the environmental costs associated with electric vehicles?

It Starts with Production
For starters, electric cars are still made with materials (more…)

Detroit’s Big 3 have big plans for hybrid and electric vehicles. The Motor City was founded on the combustion engine and is striving to makes its return using exciting new battery, engine and powertrain technology.

As the world is becoming environmentally conscious, consumers are considering more than price and (more…)

Will electric vehicles be as popular as the iPhone? That’s what Henrik Fisker says, the man behind the 4-door luxury Fisker Karma. The Karma will start production in March and is slated to show up in U.S. showrooms in April. The MSRP is $95,000, but Fisker points out that the starting price on new technology is always high, but descends quickly as manufacturing processes scale (more…)

Invest in a solar, biofuels, or LED lighting company, and nobody will question the company’s cleantech pedigree. Invest in a manufacturer of network switch upgrades for telephone companies, then call it “cleantech” and you’ll see a lot of raised eyebrows. I know, because we did just that.

We are investors in Aztek Networks, a (more…)

Safely getting rid of what we flush away each day is the unglamorous role of the wastewater treatment plant. But a new process that turns sewage into high-quality fertilizer proves that creative minds can find inspiration for innovation just about anywhere.

Municipal facilities, such as Clean Water (more…)

Coal-fired electricity is still the cheapest form of electricity around, that is, if you don’t count the environmental and social costs of emitting large amounts of carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide and mercury into our air and water.

The right mix of cheap electricity, cheap labor, and proximity to raw materials and (more…)

The German government plans to tax airline passengers as much as €26 ($33) per flight as part of a plan to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and other environmental impacts of the aviation industry and to generate revenue. Passengers will be required to pay €13 per flight up to 1,553 miles within the European Union and €26 for longer flights departing (more…)

With all the hoopla going around for and against wind farms going up all over the US, including here on the Great Lakes and off of Nantucket Sound, I feel it is important to weigh in with a little fact checking on “not-in-my-backyard” (NIMBY) claims. After reading all the comments that are inevitably posted to every article involving the wind industry, I feel it is important to quash all the falsehoods associated with wind power.

I’ll start by saying that I am first and foremost pro-environment before anything else. If “evidence” is ever found during an environmental impact study that a wind farm will harm the local ecosystem, I will be the first in line to oppose it’s construction. Now let’s see some comments from these related links.

First let’s start with the argument that “wind turbines do not produce enough electricity to be a viable investment.” If this was true, then even with government subsidies, wind farm developers would go bankrupt soon. Instead wind farms are a 30 year success story in the US alone. My favorite success story is of farmers in Minnesota and their community owned wind crop.

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