06 November 2009

EVs charging ahead, and other corporate, technology, industry and government news

Top Stories

Two Electric Vehicle Stories

Renault Boosts Electric Car Battery Plans as French Government Ponies Up.reliability high.
"Renault and Nissan are forming a new joint venture with French government agencies to develop, build and recycle batteries for electric cars. The state-backed French Strategic Investment Fund will contribute €125 million ($185 million) to the project, which is meant to start cranking out batteries in 2012 at a Renault plant in Flins, with production capacity targeted at 100,000 batteries per year. " See earth2tech.

Sainsbury's flicks switch on London electric car recharge network.reliability high.
Sainsbury's opened the latest front in the supermarket green arms race with the launch of a network of free electric car recharging points at 11 stores across London. It plans to have such points at all of its stores in large cities within 10 years. See Business Green.

Companies, Industries, Markets and Supply Chains

Suzlon Completes Silver Sage Windpower Project Two Months Ahead of Schedule.reliability high.
"Suzlon Wind Energy Corp., the North American subsidiary of Suzlon Energy Limited (SEL), announced the early completion of the Silver Sage Windpower Project, a Duke Energy wind farm in Cheyenne, Wyoming, that is comprised of 20 Suzlon S88-2.1 megawatt wind turbines." At Reuters from PRNewswire.

Total and MIT announce solar battery project.reliability high.
"French oil company Total has signed a $4 million, five-year research deal with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to develop stationary batteries capable of storing solar power." See Business Green.

Wal-Mart Adding LEDs to 650 Stores.reliability high.
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has selected Cree Inc. to provide LED lights in 650 new and renovated stores. Cree's LRP-38 is a PAR38 style LED lamp, which is designed to last 50,000 hours and consume 82% less energy than the 70-watt ceramic metal halide bulbs it replaces. From Environmental Leader.

Milestone in Building of HaraBara GreenBase.reliability high.
HaraBara, Inc. announced that its editorial efforts over the last 90 days reached 50,000 informational items that were filtered and reviewed for inclusion into HaraBara GreenBase. "'HaraBara Daily Brief enables me to identify trends in the field of sustainability which helps SGS provide the most relevant services to our clients,' says Jennifer McDonnell, Business Development Manager, SGS Consumer Products Division." See HaraBara site. PDF here.

BMW, Toyota, Ford Tout Eco-cars.reliability high.
Three promotional videos about car firms' green efforts. See Environmental Leader.

EnerNoc Finally Turns a Profit.reliability high.
"The Boston-based demand response provider reported its first profitable quarter since it went public in 2007, with quarterly net income of $26.6 million, up from a loss of $3.1 million in the same period last year." From Greentech Media. [Delivering negawatts puts demand management firms in the black.]

Citigroup & Deutsche Bank To Finance Solar Millennium CST Projects.reliability high.
"Solar Millennium AG has engaged Citigroup and Deutsche Bank to provide advisory services to structure and secure financing for several planned solar thermal power plants across the Southwest U.S. Each project has an expected financing volume of more than US $1 billion. Together with Solar Trust of America, Solar Millennium's U.S. subsidiary, Citigroup and Deutsche Bank are structuring the debt and equity financing." See Renewable Energy World.

Government and Regulation

Schumer Seeks to Block Stimulus Money for Chinese-Backed Texas Wind Farm.reliability medium.
Upset at a widely publicized Chinese-American wind project in Texas that wants economic stimulus funds while using turbines made in China, New York Senator Charles E. Schumer is asking the administration to prevent stimulus funds from going for foreign components. The president of Austin-based Cielio Wind Power said, "International partnerships are essential to the development of low cost renewable energy in America." From New York Times Green Inc. blog. [Story has legs, Schumer has lungs. The discussion continues, but the Chinese were going to put up most of the money.]

Electronics Industry Lawsuit Called 'Attack on States' Rights'.reliability high.
"As the electronics industry continues its lawsuit against New York City’s e-waste recycling law, a number of state and local government representatives have signed a letter accusing the electronics industry of trying to usurp state rights. The letter was organized by the Electronics Takeback Coalition." See Environmental Leader. Takeback Coalition site here.

Bicycle Magic

Has Japan designed the world's best bike shed?.reliability high.
Marvelous video of Japanese bike-parking system. Only a few dollars a month! (Note--video preceded by ad.) From The Guardian Green Living blog.

[Crossposted from HaraBara.com courtesy of HaraBara, Inc. Copyright © 2009 HaraBara, Inc.]