Author

Susan Gladwin

Susan Gladwin leads the Autodesk Clean Tech Partner Program, which provides emerging cleantech companies powerful software and opportunities to help them develop solutions that address our most pressing environmental issues. In North America, Europe, Japan and Singapore, the Autodesk Clean Tech Partner Program offers $150,000 of Autodesk software for $50 to qualified cleantech innovators.

Livin’ the Cleantech Lifestyle: What’s New From Europe This Season

written by Susan Gladwin

A quick survey of cleantech advances in Europe shows that it’s easier than ever for individuals and private households to live the cleantech lifestyle without sacrificing comfort or convenience. And while we may not think our individual decisions matter, we all know that when it comes to resources, we’re factoring these choices by 7 billion these days. Even your choice to read this post online has an impact – an in-depth look at the impact of our use of digital information in recent New York Times article states that a single data center can take more power than a medium-size town.

Stay with me; I’m not faulting you for that but instead hope to encourage you to keep an eye out for the latest cleantech innovations that you might find easy, comfortable and cost-saving enough to warrant bringing them into your life.

For example, we all like to take a shower with plenty of hot water rather than tepid, lukewarm water, right? UK-based Viridian Solar would agree, which is why they’ve developed a water heating system powered by rooftop solar panels and made it available to the general public.

This solar water heating can provide 50-70 percent of the annual energy required to heat domestic hot water, reducing the overall energy consumption of a well-insulated house by around 10-12 percent. To date, more than 300 dwellings across the UK have been fitted with Viridian’s panels.

How about laundry – what’s next there? Xeros Ltd—another UK based company—is focused on the development of a “virtually waterless” laundry cleaning system that uses 90 percent less water than conventional laundry systems. To take entire U.S. water use in home laundry as an example, that translates into 1.2 billion tons of water saved per year—the equivalent of 17 million swimming pools.

Xeros debuted its revolutionary, environmentally friendly cleaning process earlier this year on the British TV series Home of the Future, which shows how an ordinary family can use cutting edge technologies and gadgets to tackle challenges such as energy and water use.

It’s getting even easier to power our homes with more sustainable sources of energy too.

For example, in the UK, government subsidy led to a swift rise in requests by householders for solar power. UK company Cleaner Air Solutions stepped in to make photovoltaic systems widely available and easily deployed for private residences. If the customer testimonials on their web site are to be believed, the process really is quite simple and straightforward: “hassle-free from start to finish” in the words of one customer.

Similarly, German company enbreeze designed a small-scale wind turbine that is even viable on low-wind sites, thus expanding the number of potential residences that can tap into this clean energy source.

Since home energy use is responsible for 25 percent of energy-related greenhouse gas emissions in the European Union, the potential impact of companies like Cleaner Air Solutions and enbreeze is no small matter.

The main point here is that for the most part, these innovations aren’t pie-in-the-sky dreams: they’re solutions that are available today, or are right around the corner, made possible by brilliant innovators and design technology. With so many of the elements of a more sustainable lifestyle in place, “doing the right thing” as an individual consumer or private household is less of a burden to bear and indeed a more appealing choice.

January 23, 2013 0 comment

Following Through on Sustainability is Easier When You Have the Carrot and The Stick – Just Ask Japan

written by Susan Gladwin

In October 2011, the Japanese Cabinet—still reeling from the Fukushima reactor meltdown earlier that year—approved an energy white paper calling for reduced reliance on nuclear power and increased emphasis on renewables.

A little over a year after the approval of that policy, I wondered to myself if Japan was sticking to its goals, or if—with the immediate shock of the Fukushima disaster receding—they had “fallen off the wagon”?

Far from losing steam, the desire to create a more sustainable way of life in Japan enjoys considerable momentum. And in large part, their success is due to the presence of both a carrot and a stick.

The carrot takes the form of in incentives provided by the Japanese government. Industry Minister Yukio Edano approved Japan’s feed-in tariffs for renewable energy—including solar, wind, and geothermal—in June 2012.

The tariffs are among the highest in the world. It’s ¥42 (US$0.525) per kWh for 10 years for systems less than 10 kW; and slightly less—¥40 (US$0.50)—for larger systems, but for 20 years. The rate will be reviewed annually for subsequently connected systems.

Japan is currently the world leader in cleantech patents, with companies like Sky Electric and Futaba Industry making exciting developments in wind turbines and solar panels, respectively. Sky Electric creates small-scale micro-generators that enable high output even with a gentle breeze, while Futaba Industry creates metal frames that can raise and slant large solar panels in snowy areas to maximize their solar efficiency.

If feed-in tariffs provide “the carrot,” “the stick” is provided by the general populace, who are intent on holding politicians’ feet to the fire.

In June 2012, more than 1000 Fukushima citizens filed a formal complaint to have criminal charges filed against the nuclear reactor officials for failing to prepare for the disaster and delaying the release of data on the spread of radiation. In July 2012, the country launched its first Green Party, in response to the desire to have a party that that puts nuclear abolition and other green policies at the top of its agenda.

There’s even a popular band called Ski which is standing up to nuclear power with their song “Free From Nuclear Power Plant,” which is currently a big hit in Japan. Instead of singing about relationships, or having fun, or other typical pop song subjects, these girls are singing about meltdowns and radiation exposure. Not your average Top 40 sing-along.

The lesson for other countries is that takes a combination of factors—the involvement of both the government and the general citizenry; the presence of both the carrot and the stick—to make sustainability a way of life rather than a fleeting fad. Anything less, and you risk falling off the wagon.

November 28, 2012 0 comment

The Next Marissa Mayer is Probably in Cleantech

written by Susan Gladwin

What do the cleantech companies ElectronVault, SEaB Energy, and BlackGold Biofuels all have in common? Female executives at or near the top of the food chain.

Marissa Mayer, the recently appointed CEO of Yahoo, drew a lot of attention because of her gender and the fact that she was pregnant when she took the position at a major company.

It’s no wonder she stood out: females make up a relatively minuscule 4 percent of Fortune 500 chief executives . And a pregnant CEO is even rarer: while some of those female CEO’s have had children prior to reaching the top spot, Mayer might have been the first ever pregnant CEO of a Fortune 500 company .

But in my experience working with the Autodesk Clean Tech Partner Program, the idea of a female executive is positively unremarkable—even a pregnant one.

“I can’t tell you how many high profile women I’ve met in this space,” agrees Linda Maepa, a Caltech grad and chief operating officer of ElectronVault, a manufacturer of battery systems that can be used to efficiently store and distribute energy. “I think there’s something about the intersection between renewable energy and long-term problem-solving that draws women. For example, the head of the battery program at GM is a female, as is the founder of battery technology company Boston Power.”

Maybe Linda’s on to something here, because our next exec also plays in that same intersection. Sandra Sassow heads UK-based SEaB Energy, a provider of on-site containers that generate renewable energy from waste. Like many others, she was drawn to clean tech by the idea of improving on the status quo and giving back to the planet—all while taking a company from startup, to first products, to first revenues.

Does successfully growing a business leave time for family? Absolutely. Sassow says: “I have four children (three daughters and a son), and I have worked full time all throughout. I hope I am a good role model for my three daughters especially, as they face some of the same challenges that I have faced.”

Emily Landsburg, CEO of BlackGold Biofuels—another renewable energy company focused on generating energy from the fats, oils, and greases in wastewater—is hopeful that people will see that there is no conflict between being a C-suite executive and being a mother. “If I had Googled ‘pregnant CEO’ two and half years ago, when I was pregnant with my son, I would’ve gotten a blank page of results,” says Landsburg. “That’s pretty sad. We need more visibility for female CEOs so that we can get to a point where people don’t give a second thought to the fact that a CEO is a female or is pregnant.”

Fortunately, these three women are doing their part to move things in that direction simply by leading their companies to success. The sooner we reach the point Landsburg describes, the better. Not just because studies show that companies with a high representation of women on their top management teams have better financial performance – but because the problems that cleantech is looking to solve are too big not to draw upon all the brightest available minds in the workforce.

And while ElectronVault, SEaB Energy, and BlackGold Biofuels might not be Yahoo-sized at the moment, keep watching this space: you might just spot the next Marissa Mayer.

November 1, 2012 0 comment

Become a Cleantech Nation – Just Don’t Forget the Sustainable Part

written by Susan Gladwin

There’s a compelling and thought-provoking book making the rounds called Clean Tech Nation that should make its way to your must-read list this Fall.

Authored by Ron Pernick and Clint Wilder, the thrust of the book is that the U.S.—long a leader in various technological revolutions—is falling behind the rest of the world when it comes to clean technology leadership.

To wit: the UK is the world’s number one generator of offshore wind power. China has become the world leader in wind turbine and solar panel manufacturing. And Germany added more new grid-connected solar PV and produced more biodiesel in 2010 than any other country in the world.

Obviously, Pernick and Wilder weren’t interested in strapping on a pair of rose-colored glasses before examining the global cleantech landscape to see who’s taking a leadership role. But that’s part of the appeal of the book: it doesn’t pat the U.S. on the back for what it has accomplished; it explores how much further the country can—should, and needs—to go.

The book outlines a seven-point action plan, a mixture of policy prescriptions, investment strategies, and government recommendations, to help the U.S. regain its leadership position and truly become a “Clean Tech Nation.”

I concur with the authors’ position that a sustainable future depends on the transition to a clean global economy, and that the U.S. needs more committed leadership and action in this direction.

But in becoming a cleantech nation, the United States—and China, and Germany, and all other countries—must also aim to be a sustainable clean tech nation. We’ve seen what can happen when cleaner technologies aren’t designed with full consideration of sustainability throughout the product lifecycle: toxic and difficult-to-recycle mercury in compact florescent light bulbs is just one example. Renewable energy, electric vehicles, advanced materials: any advancements in clean tech need to be part of a whole systems approach. Otherwise, we end up substituting one set of problems for another.

Since as much as 80 percent of a product’s environmental footprint is determined during the design phase, design has a crucial role to play here, and the right software—such as the tools provided through the Autodesk Clean Tech Partner Program—can help ensure that the environmental footprint of a clean technology is actually sustainable.

Getting clean tech “right” is of vital importance because of the urgent nature of environmental challenges that the globe is facing. Witness the recent attempts by Peruvian citizens to save their critically important glacier water-supply by covering the glaciers in sawdust. While environmental challenges might not affect other countries as visibly or obviously, they are just as crucial, ultimately, to security and safety.

Pernick & Wilder’s book went to press in January 2012, so understandably they weren’t able to fully capture and comment upon the latest ups and downs of the clean tech industry, of which there have been plenty. But the silver lining is that amongst the volatility, costs are increasingly being driven down for clean tech, making it easier for countries to adopt new technologies as they become available.

Now more than ever, the world can benefit if the U.S. moves quickly and regains a leadership position when it comes to development and deployment of clean technology. But let’s all be sure that its quest to reclaim the crown is done in the most intelligent—and sustainable—way possible.

October 29, 2012 0 comment

Cleantech Can Scale Up More Than You Might Think

written by Susan Gladwin

Given the opportunity to work with some of the brightest minds in the cleantech industry who are creating everything from micro hydroturbines to small, lightweight, three-wheeled electric cars, I’ve learned that bigger is not always better. Yet in the case of a new wind power innovator, their approach has been to go big – in this case, tall – or go home.

Their innovation is made possible by combining ideas from the past with the design technology and capabilities of today.

In Hanover, Germany, a 100-meter wooden tower is rising that – when completed – will be crowned with a 1.5-megawatt wind turbine weighing 100 tons that will produce electricity for about 1000 households. The tower, currently more than 90 percent complete, will be the equivalent of a 30-story building and online by end of year.

The company responsible for this towering achievement is a German cleantech startup called TimberTower, who I briefly mentioned in an earlier post on renewable energy sources. This innovative company, headquartered in Hanover, has made it their mission to develop wooden towers that can be used as the base for wind turbines. (At its simplest, a wind turbine is composed of a tower, a drive train, and rotor blades. TimberTower is strictly focused on the towers, taking a vendor-neutral approach to the other components, “future-proofing” the base as technology advances).

While wood might not seem like the most cutting-edge material, it turns out that if you’re going to build a massive wind turbine tower—the large heights are necessary to increase yields—there are several compelling reasons to create them out of wood.

First of all, wind turbines with conventional steel towers cease to be financially viable at hub heights greater than 85 meters, largely owing to the rising price of steel.

Secondly, since TimberTower uses flat panels of laminated wood to construct its towers, the loads are easily stackable and transportable, in contrast to steel tower segments. The entire TimberTower kit can be transported using standard container vehicles, rather than having to be transported as an abnormally-sized load—a logistically challenging procedure that can be up to 10 times more expensive.

Third, building towers out of wood makes sense for a forest-rich region like Germany, where the raw materials can be easily sourced close to the point of use from woodlands given the stamp of approval by the largest sustainable forest certification system in the world.

Using a timber alternative for a 100-meter tower saves around 300 tons of sheet steel, which requires an enormous amount of energy to produce. And at end of its life, the wooden components that make up the towers can be easily disassembled and reused for construction purposes, or even transformed into wooden pellets (about 180 tons worth) for energy recovery.

Pretty nifty. But perhaps the most interesting aspect of TimberTower’s innovation is the way it borrows an idea from the past and reinvents it for the future: windmills, after all, have used wooden towers as the base for their turbines for centuries.

Just goes to show that cleantech—innovative and futuristic as it is—isn’t always about discarding the old ways of doing things. Sometimes it’s about taking an idea that’s been around for a long time and helping it reach new heights.

October 4, 2012 3 comments

Making Cleantech “Totally Beautiful”

written by Susan Gladwin

Most people would agree that developing clean, renewable sources of energy is an ecologically sound proposition. The images of pristine power derived from the sun are inherently beautiful. But what if that new wind turbine is constructed of components that cannot be recycled? And what if that hydroturbine contains toxic materials that pollute the water? Suddenly that cleantech product isn’t looking like part of the solution: it’s looking like part of the problem. And that is not beautiful at all.

For example, when aging wind turbines are replaced by newer-generation models, what happens to those old turbines? This is a problem that wind farms nationwide will have to deal with at some point. Solano County, California, to name one location, recently replaced 235 old 100-kilowatt turbines remaining from a wind farm installed in 1989.

While many parts from the old turbines can be reused or sold for scrap, much of it cannot. The parts that can’t be salvaged include the fiberglass blades, which require “special landfilling,” as do the parts that are coated with hydraulic fluid and would cost more to clean than their salvage value. The result? More contributions to the 175 million tons of landfill that the United States generates each year.

As for that hydroturbine: the first thing people want to know before you drop something into their water system is whether or not it will contaminate their water. Ten million tons of toxic chemicals are released into our environment by industries each year, of which over 2 million tons per year are recognized carcinogens.

Clearly, materials choices matter for cleantech companies if they want to be part of the solution rather than part of the problem. Fortunately, eco-impact analysis software is allowing companies to make more informed choices about the materials they put into their products.

For example, Freiezo, a Missouri-based supplier of residential and commercial wind power systems, is taking advantage of this type of software to develop a turbine that is close to 99 percent recyclable—bringing them extremely close to their goal of being a zero landfill manufacturer.

Meanwhile, Washington-based Hydrovolts, mentioned in my last posting, is a manufacturer of micro hydropower turbines that run in constructed waterways (such as irrigation canals and water aqueducts).

They have used software to examine the environmental profiles of different materials—say, fiberglass vs. aluminum—before they use them to construct a turbine, and create an environmental footprint for each design option. As a result, Hydrovolts doesn’t just make a product that makes the world a better place by generating clean energy—they ensure that the product itself was designed with sustainability in mind.

As the UK-based sustainability guru Edwin Datschefski notes in his book The Total Beauty of Sustainable Products, “[a product]can’t really represent the pinnacle of mankind’s genius if it is made using polluting methods.” By using tools that help them pay attention to the materials that they put in their products, cleantech companies are taking a step closer to being “totally beautiful.”

Article by Susan Gladwin who leads the Autodesk Clean Tech Partner Program, which provides emerging cleantech companies powerful software and opportunities to help them develop solutions that address our most pressing environmental issues. In North America, Europe, Japan and Singapore, the Autodesk Clean Tech Partner Program offers $150,000 of Autodesk software for $50 to qualified clean tech innovators.

July 26, 2012 0 comment

What Cleantech Companies Learned from All Those Graduation Speeches

written by Susan Gladwin

A famous, oft-repeated quote tells us to not just “see things as they are” but to “dream things that never were.” In fact, there’s probably a commencement speaker delivering some variation on that chestnut at this very moment.

If ever there was an industry that took this advice to heart, it would be cleantech.

When Burt Hamner, founder and CEO of Hydrovolts, decided that he would focus his technology development efforts on micro hydropower turbines that could run in irrigation canals and water aqueducts, he ran into several challenges. Most notably: there was no precedent—nobody had successfully done this before.

Meanwhile, when Marcus Hays, founder and CEO of Pi Mobility, decided to start an electric bike company, he was going up against an industry dominated by cheap bikes and a throwaway mentality. When he resolved to develop – and manufacture – a durable, well-engineered bike that could last dozens of years—rather than being tossed on the junk heap after a few years—he was creating a market that didn’t even exist yet.

In both cases, these companies were able to lean heavily on design technology to dream up an entirely new class of product.

Hydrovolts utilized digital modeling to create a turbine engineered for easy “drop-in” installation into constructed waterways — eliminating the need for dams or other permanent constructions. The turbine is held in place by mooring lines, while an output cable plugs directly into the power load onshore. The result? A turbine capable of generating clean, reliable power from a previously overlooked resource that happens to be located in millions of locations around the world.

For their part, Pi Mobility used design software to create a bike that is built around a solitary arch of recycled aluminum as its frame rather than a multitude of brittle plastic parts. In addition to lasting considerably longer than plastic, the aluminum tube safely houses the batteries and electronic components, allowing for easy upgrades as more efficient battery technologies become available. All of this future-proofing adds residual value to the PiCycle – a complete 180 from the “planned obsolescence” model followed by most other bike companies.

By using design technology to “dream things that never were”, these two cleantech companies are not just building better products—they’re building a better, more sustainable world.

The lesson for cleantech companies is clear: keep dreaming.

June 29, 2012 0 comment

Following the Sun: Mobile Solar Power

written by Susan Gladwin

We’ve all seen majestic images of solar arrays: row after row of shimmering solar panels converting the sun’s rays into clean, renewable energy. While these fixed installations are undeniably impressive, one thing they’re not is mobile.

No problem. Thanks to the intriguing work of some pioneering companies, we might be coming close to a world where solar power is available wherever it’s needed.

For sheer audacity, the PlanetSolar team might take the cake in the “portable solar” category: this international group has built the world’s largest solar-powered boat. At 35 meters long, the PlanetSolar boat features an astonishing 537 square meters of solar panels on its decks that supply six blocks of lithium-ion batteries with 93.5 kilowatts of power. This stored energy is more than enough to power the 26.8 horsepower engine, which consumes 20 kilowatts per hour.

Since September 2010, the boat has been circumnavigating the globe—powered only by the sun’s rays. The visually striking craft is scheduled to complete its world tour in May 2012, when it docks in Monte Carlo.

The giant catamaran is dubbed the Tûranor PlanetSolar. Tûranor means “power of the sun” in the mythology of the novelist JRR Tolkien—a fitting name for a vessel successfully making the first trip around the world using solar energy.

Meanwhile, back on dry land, California-based clean technology company SunPods has chosen “solar power on demand” as its mission. The company designs and manufactures modular solar array units that can be installed in virtually any location with minimal site preparation and no onsite construction.

Unlike the majority of conventional ground-mounted solar arrays—which require extensive construction and assembly on site—SunPods are configured in the factory and then delivered fully assembled to the project site. This process reduces installation time by up to 85 percent, helping to make solar power significantly more accessible.

Each of the pre-manufactured, self-contained units is capable of generating 2.8 kilowatts of power—enough to power a small residence. Thanks to its modular design, customers can simply connect multiple units together if they need to scale their energy needs upwards to tackle larger projects, either on an ongoing basis or for a one-off event.

The idea has caught on with the marketplace: SunPods have now been deployed for commercial, residential, educational, and agricultural projects across the country. A cluster of three SunPods generates 750 kilowatts per month for a private home in Hollister, California, for example, while a cluster of 25 SunPods generates 10,000 kilowatts per month for a high school in Presidio, Texas.

SunPods have been equally successful providing power on a temporary basis. At the Phoenix Open golf tournament this past February, a massive, two-story hospitality tent—featuring flat screen TVs and other amenities—was powered entirely by SunPods. And at the Uncorked Wine Festival in San Francisco this May, a SunPods unit will power the Latin Rock band “Diamante” as they play on the main stage.

Whether at sea or on land, mobile solar power is an idea whose time to shine has clearly arrived.

April 25, 2012 1 comment

Powering a “Smart Grid” for Water

written by Susan Gladwin

According to the nonprofit organization Imagine H2O, the struggle for clean water is the challenge of our time. More than a billion people worldwide lack access to clean water, they point out, and even in the United States, pollution, scarcity, and a crumbling system of pipes and plants threaten the water supply.

They warn us that availability of clean water and sanitation will be the dominant issue of the coming decades, touching everything from human health, to biodiversity, to economics.

So, now that we know what some water-related problems are, where can we look for some water-related solutions? Interestingly, in a place where there hardly is any water: Israel.

Sixty percent of Israel is desert, and the remaining 40 percent is semi-arid land. So, it’s not surprising that an Israeli clean technology company called HydroSpin has made water its bailiwick.

Specifically, HydroSpin is interested in “Smart Water” technologies: those devices that monitor the movement of water and the quality of water as it travels through a network of distribution pipes.

Powering those Smart Water technologies so that they can record and transmit data has historically been a bit of a challenge: How do you power a device that’s stuffed inside a pipe? Especially if it’s a pipe in the middle of nowhere, like the desert?

Here, HydroSpin has made a clever innovation: the company has developed a unique generator that produces micro-energy from the flow of water inside distribution pipes. The HydroSpin generator creates enough power to support low-energy devices throughout the water network, such as sensors, probes and transmission devices.

As a result, the deployment of sensors and measuring devices is no longer limited to locations that have accessibility to electricity: monitoring devices can be positioned anywhere on the water network.

Additionally, data received from monitoring needn’t be limited by the amount of energy available through batteries. Data can be transmitted continuously, giving customers visibility into their network and sensors 24/7.

This type of visibility is a key requirement for developing a “smart grid” that identifies leaks, conserves resources, and otherwise guides water flow more intelligently.

Taking a clever idea and making it a reality—as HydroSpin has done—is at the heart of entrepreneurship, which is why Imagine H20 holds an annual Water Entrepreneurs Showcase highlighting the most promising early-stage water innovations.

This year, the showcase and awards ceremony is being hosted at the Autodesk Gallery at in San Francisco. The event will provide an opportunity to raise a glass—water or otherwise—to some innovative companies that are helping to tackle one of the biggest sustainability challenges of our time. To register for the event and learn more visit Imagine H2O.

March 12, 2012 0 comment

Hey, You’re Not Gonna Throw That Out Are You?

written by Susan Gladwin

How Waste = Food

Imagine if we could create a super-efficient world where there was no waste… Actually, there’s no need to imagine it: nature is already ahead of us on this one.

In nature, almost all “waste” from one organism can be used as “food” or fuel by another organism—a
concept explored by William McDonough and Michael Braungart in their seminal book Cradle To Cradle.

For example: a fruit tree’s blossoms fall to the ground and decompose into food for other living things. Bacteria and fungi feed on the organic waste of both the trees and the animals that eat its fruit, depositing nutrients in the soil in a form ready for the tree to use for growth. And so one organism’s waste is food for another, and nutrients flow indefinitely in cycles of birth, death, decay and rebirth.

Humans—the only creatures on the planet that produce landfills—are not quite so efficient. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, the United States alone generates about 250 million tons of waste annually, with nearly 175 million of those tons being thrown into landfills. To make matters worse, the decomposition of waste in landfills releases large amounts of methane into the atmosphere, making landfills the most significant human–related source of methane in the United States.

Clearly, humans need to change their ways to avoid turning the earth into one massive landfill. Fortunately, a number of clean technology companies are taking innovative steps to address this problem by turning what seems to be waste into energy, fuel, or other useful materials.

For example, California-based Enventix is developing proprietary conversion systems for turning waste, biomass, and other low-grade feedstocks into ultra-clean energy. This technological breakthrough rids waste and biomass of impurities in an economical manner—helping municipalities generate renewable power that is free of harmful emissions at efficiencies that were previously unattainable.

Meanwhile, Washington-based General Biodiesel, Inc. has tackled the seemingly dirty job of collecting used cooking oil from hundreds of Seattle-area restaurants. But instead of burning or burying it, the company recycles the grease as biodiesel, the ultimate non-foreign fuel. Springboard Biodiesel, based in Chico, California, takes this idea “on the road” by providing smaller biorefinery machines that can process used cooking oil wherever it’s generated, whether it’s at a restaurant, a community co-op, or a university.

California-based Micromidas is tackling an even dirtier form of waste than used cooking oil: sewage sludge. The company has found a way to harness microbes to naturally transform the carbon and other nutrients in sewage into biodegradable plastics that are safe enough to be used as food packaging or as biomedical sutures.

Across the Atlantic, French company Pyrum Innovations is developing a tire-recycling machine that “deconstructs” used tires back into separate quantities of rubber, metal, and usable petrol. This invention provides a way to tackle the existing mountains of used tires that never degrade and thus pose a huge environmental problem. It also offers tire factories a way to more effectively handle new waste that they produce. Given that European tire plants generate 2,000 to 7,000 tons of production waste annually—and have to pay €200 to dispose of a single ton—Pyrum’s potential impact is sizable.

With each of these innovations, our wasteful ways can come a little bit closer to nature’s closed-loop system—one where “waste = food”.

February 23, 2012 0 comment

Singapore’s Sustainability Imperative

written by Susan Gladwin

When you live with 5 million other people on a relatively small island, finding ways to live more sustainably isn’t so much a luxury as a necessity.

That’s why Singapore—which has the third greatest population density of any sovereign state in the world—has become something of a pioneer in finding ways to live in a more sustainable manner.

Start with water. For years, Singapore has relied on imported water from Malaysia to provide 40 percent of its water supply.

To become more self sufficient, Singapore has invested billions of dollars in membrane filtration technologies that allow wastewater to be reclaimed, filtered, and transformed into high purity potable water called NEWater. This is in addition to heavy investments in desalination plants and rainwater-catching reservoirs that further reduce its reliance on imported water.

Another area where Singapore excels is building efficiency—an area with huge potential impact, given that an astounding 90 percent of the population lives in some form of high-rise condominium. Singapore has set an ambitious target of greening at least 80 percent of its buildings by 2030, including existing stock.

Clean technology advancements are also allowing Singapore to make great strides in transportation, particularly around the adoption of electric vehicles (EVs). Since roughly 85 percent of Singapore’s power supply comes from natural gas, EVs provide a cleaner solution compared with conventional oil burning vehicles.

And while EVs typically travel a shorter distance compared with conventional vehicles, that’s not really a concern on a 26-mile wide island.

Singapore-based clean tech company Greenlots is developing the best way to charge these EVs. Since 2008, the company has been committed to designing and delivering hardware and software to enable utilities, municipalities, electric vehicle manufacturers and distributors and other private businesses to install, own and operate their own EV charging network. Already, Greenlots has established charging stations in major parking lots in the city, including those at Bedok Point Shopping Centre and Kovan Residences.

By investing in clean technology innovations, Singapore is able to tackle multiple areas that impact its future. Its forward-thinking design solutions to environmental problems are sure to yield benefits both today and tomorrow.

January 30, 2012 0 comment

In a Post-Fukushima Daichii World, Countries Work to Fill “the Energy Gap” Without Nuclear

written by Susan Gladwin

Tick tock, tick tock… The ticking sound that our friends in Germany might be hearing is the countdown to 2022, the year in which the country has pledged to be completely nuclear free.

Meanwhile, halfway across the globe, Japan is still dealing with the aftermath of the meltdown at its Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power facility. The disaster greatly damaged public confidence in the safety of nuclear power, leading many countries to question their own commitment to nuclear power.

As Germany, Japan, and other countries seek to phase out nuclear power, they need to design strategies for filling the “energy gap” created by nuclear power’s absence. Renewable energy sources provide the clearest, cleanest path for filling this gap, and many different forms of renewables currently exist as viable options.

Germany-based TimberTower develops massive, easily assembled wooden towers that can be used as the base for wind turbines, much the way wood was used as the foundation for windmills for many centuries. More flexible, renewable and easier to manufacture and produce than metal turbines, the wooden towers make sense for a forest-rich region.

Clean technology company SunPods Inc.—headquartered in San Jose, Calif.—designs and manufactures modular solar array units that help make solar power more accessible and affordable. Unlike conventional customized ground-mounted solar arrays that require extensive onsite assembly and construction, SunPods (which stands for “Sun Power on Demand”) are configured and built in a factory before being delivered to virtually any site — a process that reduces installation time by up to 85 percent, allowing sunny regions to readily harvest the solar power available to them.

Tidal power presents another option for renewable energy for countries with available coastline. IT Power—based in Bristol, UK—is developing an innovative tidal energy device that uses oscillating horizontal hydrofoils instead of traditional rotating blades to generate renewable energy. This pioneering approach offers many advantages over existing tidal stream technology by maximizing the area that can be swept—and hence the power captured—in a given depth of water.

Wind, solar, tidal power, and other renewables all have a role to play in helping countries seeking to move away from nuclear achieve their energy goals. How these countries fill “the energy gap” will be a bellwether for others working to diversify their energy mix.

January 25, 2012 0 comment

Getting from Point A to Point B More Sustainably

written by Susan Gladwin

Transportation has always presented significant design challenges. And no mode of transportation is more fraught with potential hurdles than the automobile.

How can we improve fuel efficiency without affecting performance? Are there ways to reduce weight while maintaining strength and safety? How can we increase recyclability of components at end of life?

Given that the number of cars and trucks on the road is expected to more than double in the next 20 years; and that the Obama Administration raised CAFE Standards to 54.5 MPG for light cars and trucks by 2025, how we approach vehicle design will greatly affect the environmental impact of how we get around.

And in this year, having just passed the 125th anniversary of the internal combustion engine, new pioneers are already starting to make a difference in the way we approach transportation.

• For example, Green Lite Motors has built a hybrid-electric two-person vehicle that gets 100 MPG. This innovative vehicle delivers the safety and comfort of a car with a small footprint and energy efficiency similar to a motorcycle.

• KOR Ecologic’s “Urbee” is a three-wheel, two-seat, next-generation hybrid vehicle that is capable of achieving up to 200 MPG. And many of the car’s components are designed to be 3D printed, making production as local and low-waste as it can get.

• Not to be outshone on the roads, PiMobility is developing an electric bicycle called the PiCycle. The PiCycle’s single, arch-like tube of recycled aluminum is the key to its strength, and unlike plastic parts prone to breakage, provides a durability that ensures the bike will last over the long haul, a key sustainable design strategy.

The essence of design is people thinking through problems to create solutions. With the right tools, clean tech companies can design cleaner, cooler transportation for all and then bring those ideas to market faster and more cost effectively. Thanks to these companies and many others, the wheels are already in motion.

January 20, 2012 0 comment