For today’s company spotlight, I wanted to look at smart meters. Smart meters have been in use since 2006 in the United States and have gained wide penetration in some areas and caused backlashes in others. In the near future many utilities will be switching their customers over to this technology. So what exactly are [...]
Archive for the ‘Green Products’ Category
Itron: A Global Leader in Smart Meters
May 21st, 2012 
John Basalla KiOR Update: Stock Closes Up 10%
May 16th, 2012 John Basalla KiOR, which was profiled on this website two weeks ago, closed up nearly 10% Tuesday. The big move came after KiOR released its 1Q2012 earnings. While revenues were non-existent, which is to be expected from a start-up company, the CEO Fred Cannon stated in the conference call that the demonstration plant was completed ahead of schedule [...]
Posted in Business, Green Products, News 
Tags: Green Tech Company Spotlight, john, John Basalla 
No Comments »Maxwell Technologies: Creating the Replacement for the Battery?
May 14th, 2012 John Basalla 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 [...]
KiOR: Turning Trees into Oil
May 7th, 2012 John Basalla 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 [...]
DOE’s SunShot Initiative Announces Funding Opportunity for “Plug and Play” Photovoltaic Systems
May 4th, 2012 Chris DeArmond The Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) SunShot Initiative is an ambitious program that aims to dramatically reduce the cost of solar energy. By the end of the decade, one of SunShot’s official goals is to cut the cost of photovoltaic (PV) systems by 75 percent, or to about 6 cents per kilowatt-hour. Besides making the cost [...]
Billboard Ecology: Turning Old Billboards into Consumer Goods
May 3rd, 2012 Eric Wilson While the number of electronic billboards is on the rise, most billboards are still comprised of a single banner. Neither type of billboard ranks high in terms of sustainability. Even the electronic ones that use LED lights to conserve energy are still using electricity where older banner style require huge inputs of materials, but do [...]
Posted in Business, Eric Wilson, Green Products, Recylcing, Sustainability Tags: Colorado, Green Product, Landfill, LED Lights No Comments »Axion: Turning Bottles into Bridges
May 2nd, 2012 Justin Manger Using a technique developed at Rutgers Universtity, Axion International from New Providence, N.J. is building small bridges from recycled plastic bottles. Aside from reusing the bottles, the company says the I-beams, rail ties, and other structural building products it makes are rust and corrosion proof, cost competitive, and won’t become food for termites. Take their [...]
Posted in Business, Conservation, Green Building, Green Products, Justin Manger, News, Recylcing, Sustainability, Transportation Tags: Green Product No Comments »Hertz on Demand: Toward Sustainable Transportation
April 18th, 2012 Eric Wilson Can a rental car company really move society toward sustainable transport? Hertz on Demand, a car sharing service from the eponymous rental agency, believes they have devised a way to more appropriately share cars. Currently there are a wealth of these types of services. Occasional Car, eGo Car Share, and ZipCar are some of the [...]
An Unusual Two For One: Controlling Weeds While Generating Energy
April 16th, 2012 Justin Manger Working with Coretec Inc., a manufacturer that specializes in energy-saving machinery and systems, Fuji Electric announced last December that they had come up with a weed-control mat that is now getting attention as a possible new application for photovoltaic power. Municipalities in Japan occasionally use weed-control mats over soil to keep unused or sloped areas [...]
Bamboo Keyboard from iZen
April 12th, 2012 Justin Manger You spilled soda on your wireless keyboard and that darn M key keeps sticking. You broke down and bought a new iPad, then realized you didn’t want to compose long messages by tapping on the glass (perhaps the MacBook Wheel is what you are looking for) and are thinking about a keyboard accessory. Maybe you [...]
