While this most recent project further demonstrates Denver Zoo’s commitment to reducing its footprint, it is only the latest step in the zoo’s ongoing greening. Among the employees, Denver Zoo has a full-time Sustainability Coordinator on staff. “This coordinator guides purchasing decisions, deciding which industries, vendors and products best support the Zoo’s mission. That includes being environmentally, socially and economically responsible.”

In 2008, the zoo was accepted into the Colorado Department of Public Health and the Environment’s Environmental Leadership Program (ELP) as a Gold Leader. As part of this honor, the zoo developed an ISO-14001 Environmental Management System, becoming the first Zoo to achieve this international standard in every facet of its operations. It is this level of achievement that supports their claim as the greenest zoo in the country.

Additionally, the zoo has converted all of its holiday lights to LEDs, “saving 70-90 percent more energy than regular incandescent holiday lights.” The Zoo Lights installation runs during the winter holidays and closes shortly after the new year. Further energy savings were realized by having Xcel Energy conduct an energy audit of the facilities.

The zoo also promotes alternative modes of transportation. In addition to a bus stop located in front of the grounds, all employees are eligible for an Eco Pass, which “allows employees to ride public transportation for free, both for commuting to and from work as well as taking care of personal errands and travel.” Walking, biking, and carpooling are also encouraged. Located in the city’s largest park, there are bike and walking paths that make navigation easy. Lastly, “the Zoo also implemented a transportation logging database to collect the usage of the Eco Pass to prove and continue to improve its usage.” Using this system, zoo employees tallied 146,000 commuter miles using the various modes of alternative transport. Furthermore, a $2 discount is given to guests who use mass transit. Unfortunately, the only route that services the zoo directly has been reduced in its frequency and inexplicably no longer runs on the weekend. While the zoo may not control mass transit decisions, they have supported various modes of transportation both among their employees and patrons.

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• The WTC central chiller plant will circulate 30,000 gallons of Hudson River water every minute – enough to flush about 15,000 toilets.
• The electricity generated by the 1 WTC’s fuel-cell plant will be able to continuously light 52,000 compact fluorescent light bulbs.
• At least 75% of 1 WTC construction waste is recylced.
• Everything from the gypsum boards to ceiling tiles at the WTC contains a minimum of 20% post-industrial recycled content.
• At least 50% of the wood for 1 WTC comes from Forest Stewardship Council certified sustainable harvested forests.

If you read enough articles about electric or hybrid vehicles, sooner or later you see references to ultra capacitors.  Ultra capacitors are currently widely used in many energy saving devices and have a bright future, including potentially replacing the standard battery.  Maxwell Technologies (stock symbol: MXWL) is one of several companies at the forefront of ultra capacitor technology.

First, a brief explanation of what an ultra capacitor is.  An ultra capacitor is simply a capacitor with significantly enhanced ability to collect and quickly, very quickly, discharge energy.  The charge/discharge cycle for an ultra capacitor can take only seconds.  Batteries, by comparison, have a low discharge rate of typically one to ten hours.  The ultra capacitors’ quick discharge and charge rate is accomplished by a special carbon coating that is applied to the two electrodes in the capacitor and then immersing the electrodes in an electrolyte.

Maxwell Technologies, based in San Diego, California, is a leading manufacturer of ultra capacitors.  Maxwell Technologies’ ultra capacitors are used in many green energy products such as providing burst power to control wind turbines, recapturing and storing recuperative breaking energy in hybrid drive vehicles and for quick acceleration.  In addition, their ultra capacitors provide cold start power for trucks, the energy to open aircraft doors in the event of power failure and back-up power supply for uninterruptable power sources.

Last year, Maxwell Technologies won a $1.7 million contract from Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to develop along with the University of Massachusetts and the US Navy a “hybrid ultra cap” that combines ultra capacitors and batteries to store and quickly distribute energy and is light and small enough to be carried by soldiers in the field.  Since conventional batteries can store more energy at this time the hybrid approach is preferred. In addition to allowing a quicker discharge, an ultra capacitor also brings other advantages over a conventional battery.  One of several drawbacks of using conventional batteries is that after repetitive use they lose their ability to hold energy; they are slow to charge.  Also they work best in a narrow temperature range.  Ultra capacitors use a “mechanical” charge system instead of a “chemical” charge system and thus do not face these limitations.

For these reasons, a “hybrid ultra cap” is a step towards the Holy Grail for ultra capacitors, which is to increase their energy storing capacity and eventually replace batteries.  While this technology may be years away it holds tremendous promise for such areas as electric vehicles as well as many other applications and as such Maxwell Technologies is a company to keep your eye on as they continue to develop their ultra capacitor technology.

Disclaimer: This article is intended to be informative and should not be construed as personalized investment advice. You are responsible for your own investment decisions.

Disclosure: The author has no position in Maxwell Technologies and no plans to initiate a position in the next 72 hours.  
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The following post is the first by our new contributor, John Basalla, a CPA currently working in Tokyo who is interested in the business side of green technology. All his “Green Tech Company Spotlight” articles can be found at the following tag or on John’s page.  

What does KiOR do?

KiOR is an alternative fuels company that has developed proprietary technology to convert biomass into crude oil. Their process speeds up fossil fuel formation that takes a million years in nature and compresses it to mere minutes. These hydrocarbons can in turn be refined using standard equipment into gasoline, diesel and other fuel blend stocks, thus requiring no additional refining equipment. KiOR has already developed partnerships with Chevron Corporation as well as major companies such as FedEx.

What makes KiOR unique?

The major difference between KiOR and many other alternative fuel companies is that KiOR uses biomass that does not compete with human food needs directly or indirectly the way that some fuels do, such as corn-based ethanol. Instead, KiOR uses biomass such as logging residue, wood chips, and switch grass that does not compete with human food consumption. This innovation is a key to KiOR’s success. In addition, the ability to use the resulting hydrocarbons in existing refinery infrastructure is a critical advantage as well. Although KiOR faces many challenges to commercialize its product and scale production successfully, it projects that it can achieve an unsubsidized production cost of under $1.80 per gallon given current market conditions.

Future plans

KiOR is building a demonstration plant in Columbus, Mississippi, which should be operating by the second half of 2012. The first full-scale plant is planned for Natchez, Mississippi, with a target completion date of 2014 and is projected to produce 33 million barrels per year of crude oil.

If you would like more information about this company please see the Investors section of KiOR’s website at www.kior.com

Disclaimer:  This article is intended to be informative and should not be construed as personalized investment personalized advice. You are responsible for your own investment decisions.  

Disclosure:  The author has no position in KioR and no plans to initiate a position in the next 72 hours.

To accomplish these goals, the SunShot Initiative announced last month it would focus on making solar installation “as easy as plugging in an appliance.” The program says it hopes that plug-and-play technology—similar to that used in many printers, webcams, and smart phones—will be applied to PV systems. The idea is that these systems can be plugged into a “PV-ready circuit to initiate an automatic detection system that would connect your system with your local utility.” Ultimately, the goal is that plug-and-play technology will allow PV systems to be purchased, installed and begin to generate electricity all in one day, rather than today’s ideal time frame of two to four days. This streamlined process will effectively simplify and reduce the cost of installing a PV system, which currently represents more than half the price of a residential solar unit.

Through the SunShot Initiative, the DOE will fund up to $25 million over five years to aid the development of PV plug-and-play technology. An initial $5 million will be invested this year for up to two projects that will develop plug-and-play prototypes through partnerships with universities, utilities, and other entities. The DOE will request an additional $20 from congress to spend over the remaining four years. If you are interested, application instructions and deadlines can be found here.

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