Hariyali Express. Solar Technology Innovators

The World Economic Forum meeting in Davos last month was teeming with business and political leaders. Lost in all the glitz were the technology innovators. So it is Hariyali Express to the rescue!

Several companies were recognized as innovators. Five among them , for leading the way on solar energy technology. Let us take a look shall we?

1) ClimateWell. When you think of solar energy, salt is probably the last thing that comes to mind. ClimateWell's solar powered indoor climate system is all about hygroscopic salts and of course the Sun.

A chemical heat pump is based on the principles that water molecules bind more efficiently to certain hygroscopic salts than to other water molecules. As a consequence, when using two separate bowls – one containing water (evaporator), and the other containing hygroscopic salt (reactor) - in a confined space, water will evaporate to the salt that absorbs the water. When the confined space is in a state of vacuum the water transport will be so high that the water will start boiling in order to produce vapour at the same speed as it is absorbed by the salt. Such evaporation requires energy. If the energy is not supplied from outside the system it will be taken from the water itself, which as a consequence gets colder

ClimateWell uses this principle to cool. To heat, solar energy is provided to the absorption process. Simply Brilliant isn't it ? Check out the interview with CEO Per Olofsson here. The modular design makes this suitable for hotels and offices. Which is why I am surprised that ClimateWell's current business model is aimed at large scale installations and not individual homes. This would be a boon (if economically viable) for the Indian summer.


2) Flisom. I always wish electronic gadgets would come with device integrated solar cells. From the looks of it, it will become a reality. Flisom is involved in doing just that. They have developed a copper-indium-gallium-selenide brew that gets great light-to-electricity conversion efficiency. Even better, it can be etched on to extremely thin plastic, thinner than a sheet of paper! Cell phone surface could be a potential application. The high conversion efficiency means lesser material and hence lesser cost. CEO and founder Anil Sethi expects this to become a mass technology. Mr Jobs, you listening ?

3) Nanosolar. You probably have heard of them before. Nanosolar generated a lot of buzz when Google founders decided to invest in them. Their mission is simple, "A solar panel for every building". They have used Nanotechnology to achieve miniaturization, high conversion efficiency, durability and the ability to print solar cells into extremely thin rolls. Imagine rolls of toilet paper and now imagine rolls of solar cells! (very different uses, of course!)

Roll printing is much easier and faster when compared to conventional solar modules. Plus it provides for quick volume scalability. Makes solar energy more cost effective, scalable and an everyday technology. Find it hard to believe? Watch this CNN footage.

4) Seahorse Power Company.

Theirs is a solar powered trash compactor and is named BigBelly. I have mixed feelings about this product. On one hand it can compact trash and hold up to 6-8 times more than a regular trash bin. This essentially reduces the number of trips needed to pick up and clear trash, thus reducing diesel consumption. How many times have we seen trash overflow and wished the municipality would quickly clean up the mess.

On the other hand, compacted trash results in landfill mummification. Trash gets preserved for an eternity. I think these compactors should be deployed alongside recycle bins. Stuff that can be recycled should be recycled period

5) Advent Solar Inc. Again solar cells. The central idea again is ... go thin, use less material, higher conversion efficiency and be cost effective. Advent uses a proprietary back contact technology whereby all electrical contacts are on the back of the cell (unlike present day grid like solar cells). This allows for greater light absorption and better aesthetics.

There you have it. Five companies taking us closer to a future when everything will hopefully be powered by the Sun. Imagine the day when you can walk out of a store buying a gallon of milk, gallon of solar paint, rolls of toilet papers and rolls of solar cells!

PS:
Curious about Hariyali Express? Head over here

Hariyali Express. Green Advertising

It has been a long time since the last Hariyali Express. This edition of the express is inspired by the NY Times article, "Looking Green Is Looking Good"

It was probably inevitable that some enterprising advertising agency would figure that there is equally good money to be made from specializing in ads that promote greenness.And, in fact, agencies with a green specialty are sprouting like alfalfa

I have to say green advertising has come a long way. It is not about granola bars anymore. Serious, strong, provocative, slick and sometimes funny. Let us take a look shall we ?


Organization: Environmental Defense. Ad Agency: Ad Council

While Ad Council remains the green ad power house, there is not dearth of creativity and passion. Plenty more after the fold



Organization: NRDC


Robert Redford and NRDC



Earth Justice. Ad Agency: Big Think Studios



Nothing like humor to drive home the point. Anti-SUV ad from Greenpeace


Organization: Undoit.org Ad Agency: Green Team USA



About half of the oxygen we breathe comes from our oceans. Breathe from oceans.greenpeace.org



Protecting our rainforests. Greenpeace



Of course then there is the greenmyapple.org campaign

Fascinating! Let those green creative ideas keep flowing.

Hariyali Express: Earth Day Edition

The express is a little late! In fact a whole week late. Patrix already did something similar. Anyway, Hariyali Express is always a fun thing to do. So here goes...

On Saturday, April 22, the world marked the 36th annual Earth Day celebration. John McConnell founded it back in 1970. The environmental movement has picked up momentum quite a bit since then. Many though feel it is not strong enough. World Changing feels that bigger and bolder steps are needed and I agree.

Global Warming is the biggest environmental issue facing us today. While the issue is huge and the politics even bigger, could a solution lie in the tinniest of organisms. Could algae be the answer ? Planktos is a company planning to dump huge quantities of carbon-eating phytoplankton algae into the oceans. Treehugger has some thoughts, interview and analysis about Planktos Inc. GreenFuel Technologies Inc is another company that is offering carbon reduction technology using algae. Their designs are more geared towards reducing carbon emissions from power plants.

Ford made a big announcement recently. They are joining up with Terrapass to offer the Greener Miles program. Customers get to buy carbon credits. More from the folks at Terrapass here. While it is a great step forward, a 100 mpg car to beat Prius would be a greater leap.

Bush promoted Hydrogen Fuel Cells on Earth Day. One thing he never mentions is the fact that hydrogen is an energy medium and not an energy source. How hydrogen is produced and distributed will determine if it is clean and carbon neutral.

Director Davis Guggenheim makes Al Gore's Global Warming talks/campaign into a movie. An Inconvenient Truth is set to open in select US theatres on May 24th. Carl Pope of Sierra Club shares his thoughts on the movie here. Tom Arnold, the Chief Environmental Officer at Terrapass shares his thoughts on the movie here

So what do other leaders think about Global Warming ? To find out if your Mayor supports greenhouse gas reductions, check out coolcities.us Patrick Moore a co-founder of Greenpeace created quite a buzz recently when he talked in support of Nuclear energy. Former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev is however in favor of Solar Energy and not Nuclear. Commondreams.org covers Gorbachev's thoughts here

Goldman Environmental Prize was announced recently. It honors grassroots environmentalists and awards US$125,000 to environmental heroes from each of the world's six inhabited continental regions. The struggle and strength of Silas Kpanan is truly inspiring

Patrix follows up his Earth Day post with another one on Companies getting environment friendly

Oorjaa is the newest Indian blogger joining the green blogosphere. Welcome Oorjaa!. Its latest post talks about India and the FutureGen Project. A billion dollar initiative to build a zero emission coal plant. Water scarcity along with Climate Change are big issues facing India. GoodNewsIndia talks about Medha Patkar's struggle and water issues at large, here

Sepia Mutiny has some great tips for Earth Day.
One tip I liked in particular ..."Check with your local energy company to see if you can sign up for green power as your electricity source (most companies offer this)". I called up mine and yippie !!! I can buy green power! This is one phone call everyone can and should make. More information about signing up, can be found at http://www.eere.energy.gov/greenpower/markets/pricing.shtml?page=1
(via Alternative Energy Blog)

It has been fun and informative bringing this edition of Hariyali Express. Hope all you readers feel the same. If anyone wants to host the next Hariyali Express, please feel free to do so. Green blogging is still a rarity in the Indian blogosphere. We need more.

PS
Carnival of the Green is an initiative very similar to Hariyali Express. In fact it is the same. Triple Pundit & City Hippy are the brains behind it. Should Hariyali Express join and become Carnival of the Green or should it evolve and focus more on the Indian environmental scene. I wonder...

Hariyali Express

This post is entirely inspired by the phenomenon called blog mela.

Some of you must be going ... WHAT !

Let me explain. The word mela means carnival (or festival). A blog mela is a weekly (or fortnightly) carnival/round up of all things happening in the Indian blogosphere. Each week it is hosted by a different blogger. It is one of the coolest things going around. The last one was hosted by Sunil Laxman of Balancing Life.

The word Hariyali means greenery. Hariyali express is a weekly roundup/journey through all things green in this world. Moments of tree hugging joy, sadness, frustrations and hope. So fasten your seat belts folks. Hariyali Express is ready to roll.

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Let me begin by mentioning a great effort. The wiki project, Katrina People finder . Check it out if you get a chance.

The environmental disaster left behind by Katrina is pretty bad. All week long, a lot of people debated the possible connections between global warming and hurricanes. While both sides of the aisle have attacked each other viciously, realclimate.org takes a sensible look at the issue. The fact of the matter, global warming is real and the warning signs are clear.

The clean up efforts have started. Sadly though, toxic water is being pumped into Lake Pontchartrain. The damage to the lake's eco system could be irreversible. In situations like this, there is probably no other option. The images do hurt, but stupid comments like these hurt even more.

"The wonderful thing about nature is its resilience,The organic material will degrade with natural processes. Metals will probably fall and be captured in the sediments. Nature does a good job. It just takes awhile"...Michael D. McDaniel, the Louisiana secretary of environmental quality

Well Michael..What about all the chemicals and industrial solvents? Nature is not a punching bag. There is only so much mistreatment it can take.

On the topic of mistreatment here is another dreadful story. The current US administration is looking to reverse all the good things done to protect the national parks. A majority of the national park rangers don't agree with the policy of opening up pristine forests for commercial activity. They leaked the administration's devious proposal. The very thought of golf courses, timber mills, beer bars and ATV rentals inside Yosemite makes me obnoxious. The good news is that, 3 American states have joined hands and filed a lawsuit against the administration.

9 American states have joined hands and have decided to cut down power plant emissions in their states and honor the principles of the Kyoto protocol. As the officials put it..."It is a race against time to tackle global warming". Talk about racing, who would have thought a NASCAR driver would have a tree hugging heart!!!. Ward Burton certainly does. Check out his wildlife foundation. He made a passionate speech at the cooperative conservation conference recently. He seems passionate and sincere. Am not sure about the audience at the conference though. Going back to the subject of global warming, the Asian peat fires grabbed world attention. The peatlands contain upto 21% of global land-based stores of carbon.

Talk about the unexpected. One would normally not expect green news from the Middle East. It was a pleasant surprise to hear that UAE recently hosted a environmental exhibition and had a very good response.

The summer might be over but solar energy is here to stay. Around 100,000 rooftops in Shanghai are set to go solar by 2015, generating about 430 million kwh electricity a year. California with its Million Solar Roofs bill and New Jersey with its incentives and subsidies are two states where solar energy is becoming more mainstream every day. Home Depot and BP now seem to be sold on solar. Solar Energy is even taking roots in Tennessee, the heart of coal country. More and more houses are harvesting solar energy and at times pumping excess energy back into the grid. A negative electric bill!. Wouldn't it be great if negative bills became the norm. India too has ambitious goals in this area. Solar heating has become a common term these days. My dad is planning on getting a system installed. It is expected that solar heating will be made mandatory in all cities in India by 2012.

While implementation of solar energy is picking up steam, there is research also happening. The company Sunlight Direct has patented an interesting technology called Hybrid Solar Lighting. It uses a solar concentrator to collect and distribute sunlight into a building via plastic optical fibers.

It is quite the norm to attach "pundit" to blog names. So I wasn't surprised to see this blog Israpundit. It is an Israeli blog and they have linked to an interesting research item. The use of solar energy to produce hydrogen fuel.

Ministers and government officials in Ghana and Zimbabwe(surprisingly) talked about the need for solar energy infrastructure and sustainable development. It is a good thing to talk, but Africa today needs action more than words. The National Geographic's latest issue is entirely devoted to Africa. It is a wealth of information. One story in particular just guts you. Bush meat has now become a multi million dollar trade and it is wiping out Africa's wildlife. More at bushmeat.org

From South America comes the story of Father Tamayo. A Honduran priest who fights the powerful timber mafia. The saddest part of the story is that a majority of that illegal timber ends up in the US where it probably gets churned into junk mail. Like Africa, South America's future too depends on its environment preservation. Treehugger.com links to a recent Bill Clinton interview on environment preservation and NGOs. The former president heads the foundation called Clinton Global Initiative

The head of UNEP, Klaus Toepfer is planning to step down. It probably has something to do with his party, (Christian Democrats) doing well in German polls. Future environment minister maybe!. Anyway, UNEP is actively involved in planning the upcoming United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Montreal conference in November. All lot of eyes will be on this conference. It is estimated that 2 million tons of carbon was traded in the month of July alone. That is about 50 million dollars in trade. More than 112 Indian companies like Tata Steel are expected to also start trading.

The rising gas prices is the water cooler topic presently. There are some interesting patterns I have been observing lately. More people are now receptive to the idea of car pooling. Pizza and Chinese take-outs have mandated a 10 - 20 dollar minimum order. So people are into take-out food pooling too. And as treehugger.com points out smaller Japanese cars might hit the American market also.

Thanks to high prices, biodiesel has been getting a lot of press. Willie Nelson's BioWille is now available in gas stations. The American trucking industry is sure tuning in .

The planning commission of India's proposal/policy draft on biodiesel seems to have hit red tape. The Indian private and public sector companies are however moving forward with plans. As Kiran of Indic View points out, ONGC and Reliance Industries have big plans for biodiesel and Jatropha. It is not just India that is Jatropha savvy these days. A governor in Philipines made headlines when he talked about planting Jatropha in the millions.

Any discussion is incomplete without mentioning environmental awareness and education. The Supreme Court of India (after about 13 years) finally mandated that all schools in India have environment education (EE) added to the curriculum. I personally feel that it is a great idea. It is expected to go into effect this year. Already, there have been reports about lack of teachers and lack of textbooks. I sincerely hope these are just initial hiccups. Meanwhile students of a green school in Chicago started classes where plants grow on the roof.

This has been a long post. I think I badly need a break. Talking about breaks, the state of Vermont has designed and implemented a state of the art eco rest room... Green flush toilets and a Greenhouse.

I hope this post was informative reading, as it was for me posting. Anyone wanting to host the express next, please do comment and let me know