2013 - Page 2 of 15 - Green Businesses

100% Electric Vehicles & Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle Sales Have Record Month

Originally published on EV Obsession. As you can see in the table above, 100% electric cars, plug-in hybrid electric cars (PHEVs), and conventional hybrid electric cars continue to do better and better. 100% electrics were up 457.48% in August 2013 compared to August 2012. And they were up 515.51% January through August 2013 compared to January through August 2012. PHEVs are also up considerably, as are conventional hybrids. The increases for each of the above (compared to 2012) are quite similar to the increases we saw in July. August was clearly the best month ever for 100% electric sales in the US, as well as PHEV sales. It’s also the best month I’ve seen for conventional hybrid vehicle sales, but I haven’t been tracking those long enough to know if it was indeed the country’s best month ever in that category. Who Are The Big Movers & Shakers? Not much has changed as regards the leaders in EV and hybrid sales. The Tesla Model S continues to do exception…

20-Story Vienna Office Building Is Certified as First Passive High Rise

Beth Buczynski for Earthtechling In order for a structure to be considered “passive“, it’s got to be buttoned up tight. Leaky windows or insufficient insulation means wasted energy, something that’s unacceptable in a passive house design. Normally, this would prevent glass-covered skyscrapers from even being considered (windows shed a lot of energy in both directions) but a new high-rise in Vienna has bucked the trend. The RHW.2 building–home to the Austrian Raiffeisen-Holding Group–features a glass facade that’s nearly 300 feet high. Inside, 900 employees enjoy superior air quality while the building’s owners enjoy tiny energy bills. As such, the building was recently certified as the first Passive House high rise in the city–a feat that wasn’t all that surprising to those affiliated with the Passive House Institute. Image via MVAHA So how does such an edifice achieve the energy-efficiency required for Passive House status? With determination and very carefully…

Better Biofuels Coming Along, But Slowly

Pete Danko for Earthtechling Advanced biofuels aren’t where U.S. lawmakers expected them to be, but that failure is in the rear-view mirror. The question now is about the road ahead, and the pro-renewables group E2 is forecasting steady growth – but whether that growth will come fast enough to meet the growing requirements of the U.S. renewable fuel standard seems doubtful. Advanced biofuels are important because unlike corn-based ethanol and soy-based biodiesel, cellulosic and hydrocarbon-based fuels made from nonfood feedstocks as well as waste materials and algae might be able to directly replace gasoline and other fuels in gas tanks and refineries without warping food markets. Ineos Florida plant during construction (image via Ineos Bio) E2, in its 2013 Advanced Biofuels Market Report [PDF], sees “technical” compliance with the U.S. RFS possible in 2016 with some growth and with refiners using accumulated credits to offset production shortfalls, but mandates fu…

Huge Solar Plane Could Fly For Five Years

You think waiting for your flight to land seems like forever? This new solar plane is designed to stay aloft for 43,000+ hours. That's 5 years in calendar talk. I think I’ll need more peanuts. From Cleantechnica A solar-powered high-altitude drone made by Titan Aerospace is intended to be able to remain in flight for about five years. When manufactured, it would have 3,000 solar panels producing about 7 kW of electricity and would be above the clouds, so it would be exposed to sunlight constantly during daylight hours. One is scheduled for completion next year. The point of having such a plane would be to keep a payload in flight long-term, presumably in a manner similar to communications satellites. They could be used for surveillance applications such as environmental monitoring, fire monitoring and disaster response, among other things. Using a long-term solar drone/plane also has the advantage of being a vessel that can be safely brought back down to g…

EPA’s 2013 Battle Of The Buildings Draws Over 3,000 Entries

Is your commercial building on an energy-efficient diet? If you've cut back the consumption, you may just be qualified for a one-of-a-kind contest sponsored by the Environmental Protection Agency. Here's the scoop from Beth Buczynski for Earthtechling. In a world of reality show competitions, it’s no surprise that the EPA has chosen to turn energy efficiency into a survival of the fittest contest. The 2013 “Battle of the Buildings” will pit commercial buildings against each other to save energy and fight climate change. All buildings and tenants that submit complete energy use data for calendar year 2013 (January 1, 2013 – December 31, 2013) using EPA’s custom report are invited to compete. This year, around 3,200 buildings qualified by monitoring and reporting monthly energy consumption using EPA’s online energy tracking tool, Portfolio Manager. Image via EPA In order to do well in the competition, property owners must get creative. Technologies that cut energy waste…

Why Americans Aren’t Buying more EVs

Are we worried we'll be stalled on the side of the rode with a juiceless ride? Do we balk at the sound of a quiet car? Maybe we're afraid we'll miss the smell of burned petrol. Here's a new study that shows why more Americans are not plugging in and jumping on the EV bandwagon. Nino Marchetti for Earthtechling Are we as Americans so addicted to our gas guzzling vehicles that we are unwilling to consider the benefits of more environmentally friendly forms of transportation, such as electric cars, unless it can be proven to us in a dollars and sense kind of way? That’s one take away to be considered from a recent global survey of electric vehicle opinions by research firm GfK. In its study, GfK found only 36 percent of Americans think highly of electric vehicles, which ranks us a little above China only amongst six national markets looked at. Those who outrank us in terms of “very or mainly favorable opinion” were Japan (82%), Russia (72%), Spain (65%) and France (61%). …