In green technology news this week, there was lots of “trash talk,” as several sectors rallied around recycling; researchers in Toronto made TV screens flexible; a new app was designed to target the fainthearted EV driver; in the solar race, India is coming up from the rear, and much, much more.
Global communications giant Verizon is organizing a Recycling Rally at its corporate campus in Richardson, Texas on November 10 .The event is free and Verizon (News 
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Legislators and business leaders are supporting a new bill that would stem the flow of potentially dangerous electronic waste (e-waste) to other countries — 3.1 million tons in 2009, according to the Environmental Protection Agency — and keep jobs on U.S. soil. Momentum is gathering behind The Responsible Electronics Recycling Act (H. R. 2284), which would restrict toxic e-waste exports to developing countries that lack adequate safeguards for the environment and workers. The bill is being backed by the Coalition for American Electronics Recycling, the Electronics Takeback Coalition; and major electronics manufacturers and retailers, including Hewlett Packard, Dell , Apple (News - Alert), Samsung, and Best Buy.
Weinheim, Germany-based Freudenberg & Co. Limited — a family owned business with global reach — reports that it has been able to add a total of nearly 100 jobs at several of its U.S. manufacturing divisions as a result of new contracts for the products it makes from recycled plastic. Freudenberg’s North America Limited Partnership operates 15 businesses. Together, these companies provide products and solutions to customers in industries ranging from automotive to aerospace, medical to chemical, oil to gas, and construction.
Engineering researchers at the University of Toronto have developed the first-ever efficient organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) on plastic — providing a display screen material with flexibility; and a less costly alternative to traditional OLED manufacturing, which currently relies on rigid glass. OLEDs provide high-contrast and low-energy displays that are rapidly becoming the dominant technology for advanced electronic screens. Within five to 10 years, according to the researchers, their flexible OLEDs will be “scaled up,” for use in television screens, computer monitors, mobile phones, and PDAs,
One particular reason why electric vehicles simply are not being met with the popularity advertiser's were expecting is because it can be difficult to find a place to charge an EV. If you are planning a road trip, the last thing you ever want to do is run out of gas. A new smartphone app called CarStations is trying to alleviate EV users’ worries by basically listing all EV charging stations on any given route. The app, which is being tailored to both the iPhone and Android (News - Alert) smartphones is the latest creation from developer David Raboy who has been a vocal advocate for electric vehicles for quite some time. According to Raboy, “EV charging stations will soon be as commonplace as WiFi (News - Alert) hotspots, and when drivers need to go the distance, CarStations will help them find their charge.”
In the race for solar power, India is coming up from behind, according to a new report from Boston-based GTM Research and Bridge to India, a strategic consulting company with headquarters in New Delhi. While India has gotten off to a slower start than Germany, Italy, the United States, China, and Japan, it is gaining on the competition, according to the paper, “The India Solar Market: Strategy, Players, and Opportunities.” Over the next five years, experts predict, India will become a frontrunner, installing more than 9 gigawatts (GW) between 2011and 2016. The market’s gigawatt-scale emergence will be spurred by the maturing National Solar Mission (NSM) and a collection of state-level incentives, as well as an influx of expertise from global solar players entering India.
Npower, a leading energy supplier, has announced its Smart Start scheme recently acquired its 10,000th customer. Smart Start scheme is a toolkit and advice service that helps SMEs save on their energy bills quickly, through easy to implement energy efficiency measures.
They sounded great. Wireless smart meters to measure how much electricity Californians use. But then some health concerns began creeping in. And just as PG&E enters the final phase of its deployment of these meters, the largest of the state’s Investor Owned Utilities (IOU’s) has quietly started to replace the smart meters with the old trusty analog version.
According to survey results just released by the nonprofit, Washington, D.C.-based group, Fuel Cells 2000, in a little over a year, 34 U.S. corporate customers have purchased or deployed more than 250 fuel cell power systems and hundreds of backup power units— totaling in excess of 30 MW of power. The companies also have acquired more than 1,000 fuel -cell-powered forklifts. The U.S. companies that are “leading the charge” in fuel-cell deployment, based on the findings, include: Walmart, Coca-Cola, Sysco, and Whole Foods.
America’s smallest state has big green-technology aspirations. Gov. Lincoln D. Chafee and Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation (RIEDC) Executive Director Keith Stokes have announced the disbursement of $2.7 million in federal stimulus funding to 16 organizations and municipalities statewide for renewable energy projects. The recipients responded to a Request for Proposals (RFP) in late August for the development of non-utility-scale programs. The public funding they receive will be matched by $3 million in private capital, for a total of $5.7 million. These initial grants are part of an aggregate $6.5 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funds that the state will use to advance its renewable energy development and to support energy efficiency programs to help businesses operate more cost-effectively.
Finally, TCO Certified, a worldwide third party sustainability label for IT products, has launched TCO Certified Tablets, saying that it’s the program’s first sustainability certification for tablet PCs. To IT buyers, the TCO Certified Tablets label offers a way to identify tablets designed to help them meet sustainability demands while not compromising the user experience. Sören Enholm, CEO at TCO Development, the organization behind TCO Certified, said that the tablet is rapidly becoming part of personal and business PC environment.
Cheryl Kaften is an accomplished communicator who has written for consumer and corporate audiences. She has worked extensively for MasterCard (News - Alert) Worldwide, Philip Morris USA (Altria), and KPMG, and has consulted for Estee Lauder and the Philadelphia Inquirer Newspapers. To read more of her articles, please visit her columnist page.
