The Green Economy Post: Green Careers, Green Business, Sustainability

Top 5 Things Cleantech Entrepreneurs Fail to Understand About Raising Venture Capital

David Gold — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 15:08:38 +0000

Points out five mistakes cleantech startups often make that impede their ability to raise venture capital. Amongst other things it points out that having a great technology by itself is not enough; a company needs to be able to build a business based on it. This point alone makes this article a must read for cleantech entrepreneurs trying to...

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New Advanced Biofuel Identified That Can Replace Diesel Fuel

Chris de Morsella — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 15:10:15 +0000

The continuing quest for advanced biofuels based off of synthetic biology has made an important advance with researchers at the Joint BioENergy Institute (JBEI) -- based at the Lawrence Livermore Lab -- announcing that they have bio-engineered a combination of two microbes, a yeast and a bacteria, which working together can produce a viable...

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Social Media & CSR: Rules, People and Tools

GEP- Admin — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 15:11:15 +0000

Social Media goes hand in hand with corporate social responsibility, sustainability, and community investment, but figuring it all out can be daunting. Here are some rules you must know, people you must meet, and tools you must have. Related posts:CSR and Social Media How to Use Social Media for Better Corporate Social Responsibility

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Reporting: How the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Does It

Elaine_Cohen — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 15:07:12 +0000

In this post ELaine analyzes the GRI's own sustainability report, asking what extent GRI Stakeholders should be content with a report about direct impacts and outputs (the things that the GRI is saying, doing, using) versus a report about the outcomes the GRI can reasonably claim to have influenced. Related posts:The New Global Reporting...

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Finding Certainty in a World of Economic Instability

GEP- Admin — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 05:07:13 +0000

Outlines the great economic uncertainty prevalent in the world today, and how the fundamentals portend more turmoil in the future. The article is a general finance article; however the cleantech space is not a world unto itself and will be buffeted along with every other sector by further economic dislocations. It is in this sense that it has...

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Exports May Be a Big Opportunity for U.S. Advanced Battery Manufacturers

James Greenberger — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 15:07:41 +0000

This post suggests that export markets exist for U.S. manufactured advanced batteries, in developing countries that have electric grids that are less developed and more prone to failure than the grids of advanced economies. Related posts:The Missing Grid Connected Energy Storage Strategy BP’s Loss, Our Opportunity: Driving Electric Can Help Cure...

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Is the Rising Data Center Energy Crisis Over?

Julius Neudorfer — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 15:07:04 +0000

This post on the subject of growing energy usage by data centers examining a recent report on how the rate of increase in the energy usage for data centers has been quite a bit lower than was predicted. It goes on to argue that the report may not be capturing the whole picture and that important areas of energy usage by data centers have not been...

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Open Sustainability Innovation Gives Companies a Competitive Advantage

GEP- Admin — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 15:11:22 +0000

Makes the point that companies need a long-term and open approach to thinking about sustainability and innovation that will require companies to adopt a more collaborative perspective and a more open approach to innovation. The increasing adoption of open innovation is important in getting sustainability innovations out of market niches to allow...

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A Solar Panel on Every Roof? In U.S., Still a Distant Dream

Yale Environment 360 — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 15:07:40 +0000

Daunted by high up-front costs, U.S. homeowners continue to shy away from residential solar power systems, even as utility-scale solar projects are taking off. But with do-it-yourself kits and other innovative installation approaches now on the market, residential solar is having modest growth. Related posts:The Summer Rooftop Solar Goes...

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Changing the Climate Conversation to Conservation

Silvio Marcacci — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 15:05:18 +0000

This post makes the argument that changing the conversation about global warming -- a conversation that has become politically charged -- into a conversation about energy conservation, which will not cause immediate and sometimes hostile reactions that speaking about climate change does, is a more effective strategy to pursue for those concerned...

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Green Marketing Should Focus on The People

Nathan Schock — Thu, 15 Sep 2011 15:10:57 +0000

Summarizes new report from ecoAmerica that maintains that the environmental movement has not been successful in achieving its goals because it has not connected with the people. By focusing too narrowly on government regulation and intervention many environmental groups lost touch with most regular folk. Environmental organization should put...

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When Cities and Wetlands Collide

Tyler Caine — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 15:09:32 +0000

Describes the winning entry in the recent Gowanus Lowline Competition. The winning entry, which is described encapsulates the kind of far sighted bio-mimetic and bio-symbiotic urban design our country needs. Reading this post is like reading a how to book on healing the earth; and in particular healing the brownfield urban wastelands, very often...

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Do Oil Companies Pay Their Fair Share?

John Addison — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 15:09:00 +0000

This post argues that the massive subsidies, mostly in the form of tax breaks, which the oil companies have long been getting are distorting our economy and causing it harm. By giving all these special subsidies and protections for the fossil fuel industry we hurt innovation here at home and our countries long term global...

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Setting a Strategy for Sustainability

Christopher Gleadle — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 15:07:17 +0000

Argues why businesses should move beyond the duality of environmental concerns and making money to expos the false divide between environmental and business thinking. It makes the case that doing so is important in order for the organization to operate successfully, and thrive, in an increasingly resource constrained world. Related...

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Early Stage Cleantech Venture and the Next Billion Dollar Businesses

Peg Zokowski — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 15:09:03 +0000

Looks at how cleantech has the potential to produce the next billion dollar companies and become the engine of growth for the US; and goes on to look at how the entrepreneurial ecosystem can be encouraged, especially in the critical early stage phase. Related posts:Cleantech Group Offers Complimentary Cleantech Investment Report in Honor of...

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Advanced Hydropower Gets New Funding from DOE and Interior Departments

Chris de Morsella — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 15:11:10 +0000

Reports on new funding by the DOE and the Department of Interior for various advanced hydro projects, including sustainable run of the river hydro and pumped storage as well. The announced $17 million in funding over the next three years is targeted for research and development projects to advance hydropower technology. Related posts:Remember...

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Thinking about Green VDI

Steve Carl — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 15:15:19 +0000

Looks at how replacing desktops with thin clients can save money and power for an organization. The post builds its case using step by step comparison of the computing resources usage scenarios and how these would layout in a thin client deployment versus a desktop deployment of a 5,000 workstation scenario. Related posts:Watts Up: Does...

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Barack Obama: A Mediocre Energy President

Robert Rapier — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 15:10:51 +0000

Critique of the Obama presidency's energy policies. This post makes the painfully accurate point that the Obama administration has essentially given the big Wall Street bankers a free pass and has bailed them out and shielded them from having to bear the consequences of their greed driven risky investments; while at the same time he is attacking...

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Energy Policy by Crisis

James Greenberger — Tue, 30 Aug 2011 15:12:32 +0000

Talks about a sobering scenario, called Oil Shock Wave played out at the National Summit on Energy Security that simulated a cabinet level crisis meeting following an oil supply disruption that illustrated the profound dependence of our society to imported crude oil and all the vulnerabilities that result from that unhealthy dependence. Related...

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Tapping Social Media’s Potential To Muster a Vast Green Army

Yale Environment 360 — Mon, 29 Aug 2011 15:02:52 +0000

A rapidly expanding universe of citizens’ groups, researchers, and environmental organizations are making use of social media and smart phone applications to document changes in the natural world and to mobilize support for taking action. Related posts:How Do You Find a Green Job Using Social Media? Why Social Media Is Vital to Corporate Social...

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20 Questions To Ask Your Sustainability Reporting Manager

Elaine_Cohen — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 15:12:16 +0000

In this post Elaine focuses on the importance of critically reviewing the organization's sustainability reporting by posing and then speaking to a series of questions that focus in on various aspects of how to evaluate the current state of an organizations sustainability reporting. Related posts:Call for Submissions: Ceres-ACCA 2009...

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Energy Issues Could Help Define the 2012 Republican Primary

Silvio Marcacci — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 15:14:15 +0000

Argues that energy and environmental issues, and the candidate stances on them, will play a large role in the 2012 presidential election. While president Obama’s position may be well known, for most Americans the platforms of the Republican candidates are just now coming into focus. Related posts:Climate Change: The Crisis That Will Define the...

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Watts Up: Does Virtualization Really Save Energy?

Steve Carl — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 15:15:28 +0000

Lays out the case for how using virtualization can save very significant amounts of energy, especially in large data centers. Breaks down resource requirements in terms of RAM, storage and ultimately cooling for a stand alone server configuration and a comparable virtualization configuration and builds a case for why and how virtualization can...

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Facing the Dirty Truth About Recyclable Plastics

Yale Environment 360 — Mon, 22 Aug 2011 15:11:45 +0000

The recyclable plastic bags you get at the green grocer are not biodegradable. But product life-cycle assessments, which are about to become more prominent in the marketplace, fail to consider whether those bags will break down in landfills or just end up as litter. Related posts:‘Gimme Some Truth’: Greenwashing vs Sustainability Green Supply...

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Sustainability – The Value of Integrated Reporting

Christopher Gleadle — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 15:14:19 +0000

Sustainability is a business practice important to all businesses of all sizes that is beginning to impact across the entire supply chain, as more and more global firms begin to see securing a green supply chain as a strategic priority. Integrated reporting increases the transparency of the organization, highlighting the issues and the impacts...

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Renewables Give Us More Power Than Nuclear

Tyler Caine — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 15:11:23 +0000

Discusses the recent news that renewable energy (including hydro as well) now supplies more electricity to the US grid than does nuclear power. The post then goes on to list some large solar and wind projects in advanced stages of the development pipeline as a reason for being optimistic that the solar and wind side of the renewables is rapidly...

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The Missing Grid Connected Energy Storage Strategy

James Greenberger — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 15:12:05 +0000

Examines the case for government leadership in promoting the development of distributed grid connected energy storage, arguing that government leadership is necessary in order to kick start this very important component of the robust electric energy infrastructure that is in our nations best interest. The author also argues that doing so will...

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5 Green Twitter Memes You Should be Using To Get More Followers

Tracey de Morsella — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 15:53:51 +0000

This is the follow up to our previous post The Ultimate Green Twitter Hashtag List: Build Your Online Green Twitter Following - 150+Green Hashtags. This post introduces you to daily Twitter memes and explain how they work to build you followers, provide you with an overview of how they were started and strategies for getting the most from green...

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Storing Wind Energy as Hydrogen

David Anthony — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 15:11:05 +0000

Makes the case for coupling hydrogen production with wind farms in order to deliver more dispatchable power; lessen the need for transmission capacity; as well as other important bottom line benefits. Related posts:WIND ENERGY UPDATE: Offshore Wind Gets Major Boost, American Wind Energy Association Annual Wind Industry Report, Construction...

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The Solar Soldier Is No Fad

William Becker — Thu, 11 Aug 2011 15:11:04 +0000

Describes how the US military is pushing ahead with a leading edge adoption of renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies, and how the boost provided may help open up markets for renewable energy. If the military diverts billions of dollars from finite fuels to solar, wind and biomass technologies, it could become a game-changer in the...

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