'India a better model than China'

NEW YORK: India's long-term potential may be greater than China's as the communist giant faces a shrinking work force due to its one child policy, according to a leading American business weekly.

"I believe India has a better model than China, and over time will surpass it in growth," Chief Economist William T Wilson of consultancy Keystone Business Intelligence India said.

Also experts point out China's lack of innovation in industry and its tendency to be wasteful while marching on the growth path can prove to be a major drawback in the next couple of decades.

China 's working-age population will peak at 1 billion in 2015 and then shrink steadily. China then will have to provide for a graying population that has limited etirement benefits

By mid-century, India is expected to have 1.6 billion people - and 220 million more workers than China.

"That could be a source for instability, but a great advantage for growth if the government can provide education and opportunity for India's masses," says Business Week online

Painting a rosy picture, it said New Delhi is just now pushing to open its power, telecom, commercial real estate and retail sectors to foreigners which could lure big capital inflows.

"The pace of institutional changes and the industries being liberalised is phenomenal," it quoted Wilson as saying.

For its part China has yet to prove it can go beyond forced-march industrialization. China directs massive investment into public works and factories, a successful formula for rapid growth and job creation.

"But considering its massive manufacturing output, China is surprisingly weak in innovation. A full 57 per cent of exports are from foreign-invested factories, and China underachieves in software," it adds.

"China has a lot of capability," says Microsoft Chief Technology Officer Craig Mundie. "But when you look under the covers, there is not a lot...

What are Carbon Credits??

In step with the dramatic rise in C0₂emissions and other pollutants in recent years, a variety of new financial markets have emerged, offering businesses key incentives — aside from taxes and other punitive measures — to slow down overall emissions growth and, ideally, global warming itself.

A key feature of these markets is emissions trading, or cap-and-trade schemes, which allow companies to buy or sell “credits” that collectively bind all participating companies to an overall emissions limit. While markets operate for specific pollutants such as greenhouse gases and acid rain, by far the biggest emissions market is for carbon. In 2007, the trade market for C0₂ credits hit $60 billion worldwide — almost double the amount from 2006.allowance, that company can sell the difference — in the form of credits — to other companies that exceed their limits. Another fast-growing voluntary model is carbon offsets. In this global market, a set of middlemen companies, called offset firms, estimate a company’s emissions and then act as brokers by offering opportunities to invest in carbon-reducing projects around the world. Unlike carbon trading, offsetting isn’t yet government regulated in most countries; it’s up to buyers to verify a project’s environmental worth. In theory, for every ton of C0₂ emitted, a company can buy certificates attesting that the same amount of greenhouse gas was removed from the atmosphere through renewable energy projects such as tree planting.

Why It Matters Now

Industry watchers say carbon markets will continue to grow at a fast clip — especially in the United States, where Fortune 500 powerhouses such as DuPont, Ford, and IBM are voluntarily capping and trading their emissions. Even though a national cap on carbon emissions doesn’t yet exist in the United States, most consider it inevitable, and legislators are already pushing the issue in Congress.

It’s not just governments who are demanding emissions compliance — consumers want it, too. The commitment a company makes to curb its pollutant output is an increasingly public aspect of strategy. More and more employees are taking these factors into account when deciding where to work. A recent study from MonsterTRAK found that 80 percent of young professionals want their work to impact the environment in a positive way, and 92 percent prefer to work for an environmentally friendly company.

Why It Matters to You

Let’s say a company can’t afford to modify its operations to reduce C0₂. Purchasing carbon credits or offsets buys it time to figure out how to operate within C0₂ limits. For others, it can be a cost-effective tool to help lower emissions while earning public praise for the effort. Each credit a company buys on the Chicago Climate Exchange — usually for about $2 — means another company will remove the equivalent of one metric ton of carbon.

The Advantages

Companies in different industries face dramatically different costs to lower their emissions. A market-based approach allows companies to take carbon-reducing measures that everyone can afford. “The private sector is better at developing diversified approaches to manage the costs and risks [of reducing emissions],” says Jesse Fahnestock, spokesman at Swedish power company Vattenfall, which is a member of a global Combat Climate Change coalition.

Reducing emissions and lowering energy consumption is usually good for the core business. For example, in 1997 British energy company BP committed to bring its emissions down to 10 percent below 1990 levels. After taking simple steps like tightening valves, changing light bulbs, and improving operations efficiency, BP implemented an internal cap-and-trade scheme and met its emissions goal by the end of 2001 — nine years ahead of schedule. Using the combined C0₂ reduction strategy, BP reported saving about $650 million.

Then there’s the long-term investment angle: Buying into the carbon market boom now suggests significant dividends later on. Carbon credits are relatively cheap now, but their value will likely rise, giving companies another reason to participate.

The Disadvantages

As with any financial market, emissions traders are vulnerable to significant risk and volatility. The EU’s trading scheme (EU-ETS), for instance, issued so many permits between 2005 and 2007 that it flooded the market. Supply soared and carbon prices bottomed out, removing incentives for companies to trade. Enforcement of trading rules can be just as unpredictable, though Fahnestock says the EU is working to correct the problems.

Carbon offsets have their own drawbacks, which reflect a fast-growing and unregulated market. Some offset firms in the United States and abroad have been caught selling offsets for normal operations that do not actually take any additional C0₂ out of the atmosphere, such as pumping C0₂ into oil wells to force out the remaining crude. In 2008 the Climate Group, the International Emissions Trading Association, and the World Economic Forum will work to develop a Voluntary Carbon Standard to verify that offsetting projects are beyond business-as-usual and have lasting environmental value.

The lack of offset regulations has also made marketing problematic. Recently, companies have taken to declaring themselves “carbon neutral.” But until the Federal Trade Commission determines the guidelines for such terms, it’s unclear which companies actually merit the distinction. Already Vail Resorts, the organizers of the Academy Awards, and other organizations have taken heat for touting their investments in carbon offset projects that were not entirely environmentally sound.

Key Players

Bank of America is a leader in carbon-reduction strategies. The bank recently launched a $20 billion, 10-year initiative to finance emission-reduction projects, invest in green technology, and facilitate carbon-credit trading.

BP is among the most well-known companies to implement an internal cap-and-trade system. The company assigned its 150 units an emissions quota and allowed them to buy and sell carbon credits among themselves.

The European Union Emission Trading Scheme (EU ETS) is the mandatory cap-and-trade program for the EU.

The Chicago Climate Exchange (CCX) is a U.S. carbon-trading scheme in which companies make a voluntary but legally binding commitment to meet emissions targets.

Improving Democratic Climate....directly from Narendra Modi...

Friends,

This is a bridge, rather than a blog, A bridge that connects us through thoughts, through feelings. A bridge that also leads me to actions. While global warming creates negative effects, heart warming creates positive effects. Heart warming does not require any global summit, this bridge would suffice.

Winter is a season to attain good health, whether of self or of democracy. The health of democracy is based on 'vote of all the people'. The bond of rights & duties between the people and government would strengthen if all the people vote in elections, the axis of democracy. The democracy would become more soulful, more complete. Our goal should be to achieve 100 percent voting. Pale voting indicates pale democracy. Such a situation would imbalance the democratic climate.

But the responsibility to avert such a situation is ours. Hence, the Govt. of Gujarat has passed a bill in the Assembly, providing for compulsory voting in the elections of local self government institutions. This is a revolutionary step in the history of independent India. According to this, the citizens will have to compulsorily vote in the elections of village panchayats, taluka and district panchayats and municipal bodies. If the voter does not wish to vote for any of the candidates, he can do negative voting. Non-voters would be issued a notice from the State Election Commission.

Gujarat has taken a lead in improving the health of Indian democracy. This would make our democracy 'voter oriented' and 'citizen oriented'. Also, it would put an end to futile discussions of drawing room politics. I clearly believe that compulsory voting will become a major motivational force for the youth of the nation. Higher the voting, more the accountability of the government. Ultimately, this would serve as an overall public interest.

Moreover, the bill also provides for 50 percent reservation for women candidates in the elections of local bodies. This step would leverage the process of women's equality and women's empowerment.

It would be my pleasure to read your thoughts and comments on this initiative of improving democratic climate. Like rights & duties, thoughts & actions are also two sides of the same coin.

Let's take a break here, albeit, to think and to act.

Yours,

Narendra Modi and his achievements

Economic and Industrial Achievements............

Cargo handled by ports in Gujarat in last 6 years: 5917 lakh mts (2945 in prev 20 years)
Rs 50967 crores sales tax in last 6 years, (Rs 49611 cr in prev 41 years). No hike in taxes!
Octroi Abolished.
Revenue deficit decreased from 7200 cr in 2003 to 343 cr in 2006.
Employment through industries saw a jump of more than 400% compared to 2002 Oct!
Road development worth Rs 4783 Cr in last 6 years ( Rs 3484 Cr in previous 41 years!)
302 investment proposals to the tune of Rs 1,72,000 crores - 84% of these proposals implemented or are under active implementation process.
Ahmedabad is now a mega city and several world-class projects have been put on the fast track including the Sabarmati Riverfront Development and Bus Rapid Transit System
.
Percentage of man-days lost in Gujarat due to labour strife is just 0.52% - the lowest in the country.

Modi's relentless efforts helped setting up two LNG terminals - one by LNG Petronet at Dahej and another by Shell at Hazira, operations commenced!
The Planning Commission had set a target growth rate of 10.2% for Gujarat compared to average of 8.2% for the country; Gujarat achieved a growth rate of 15% in the 1st yr

Since last 3 years, development expenditure is more than the non-development expenditure in Gujarat, which is an unusual phenomenon

Gujarat ranks No. 1 in The Economic Freedom Index as per the research conducted by The Rajiv Gandhi Foundation. Modi No.1 Chief Minister, thrice consecutively in five years in
India

Educational Achievements

Number of seats in technical institutions have more than doubled in last 6 years.
Modi deposits each and every gift/souvenir received by him in the government treasury for the cause of girl child education Within a span of 41 years, his 13 predecessors had deposited a meagre amount of
Rs.4.55 lacs, whereas the present Chief Minister has deposited Rs.287.37 lacs in a period of 5 years.
In 2006-07, the dropout rate of girl child has dwindled to 3.68 from 20.81 in 2000-01. Vidyalaxmi bond of Rs. 1000/- given to girl students who take admission to the 1st std and 8th std. The girl receives the amount of bond with interest on completion of std 7th and 10th respectively. This ensures higher retention rate.

11 new universities, 400 new colleges, 1.25 lakh new teachers, 38,000 new schoolrooms.
Campaign for imparting English education.
Fortification of food with folic acid. Due to these and other reforms, the number of children suffering from anemia and night blindness has decreased.
New Fast trak evening court started for solving lakhs of pending cases in various courts. A unique intiative of its kind across india
.

Agricultural achievements.......

The state is now also known for roses, strawberries, organic products and above all bio-diesel.
108% hike in horticulture production in last 5 years
Annual growth average of Agricultural GSDP in last 6 years has been 12.87%,(3.74% in previous 10 years)
Yet another initiative unique to Gujarat is the Krishi Mahotsav. The Agricultural Festival is a knowledge sharing rendezvous of the farming community, a month-long event that brings together the farming community, the government officials, the scientists and many more connected with agriculture. Guidance by agricultural scientists to 14,50,655 farmers.

Personal counselling to 6,74,416 farmers and Guidance by APMC to 1,66,615 farmers.
Distribution of 1,42,711 Agriculture Kits and 1,36,773 Horticulture Kits
Distribution of 1,00,000 Animal Husbandry Kits and 98,827 Kisan Credit Cards
Implementation of All-Village Employment Scheme in 10,172 villages.
Vaccination of 48.8 Lac cattle and Agricultural sowing organized in 18,719 villages

Energy Achievements........

Increase in the plant load factor, decrease in T&D losses.
Biggest CNG and LNG infrastructure in the country.
Gujarat emerging as petro-capital of the country
Gujarat now provides 24 hours electricity to all its 18000+ villages. 1st of its kind in India.

State electricity board which had a loss of 1932 cr in 2003 , now had a profit of 180 cr !
Wind power installed capacity which was 119.49MW till 2003 is now 568.49MW!

Water Achievements...

Number of villages depending on tankers for water came down from 4054 in 2001 to 185.
Linking the villages with a State Wide Water Grid.
Interlinking of 21 rivers of the states.
Near completion of Sardar Sarovar Project with benefits of water and electricity reaching 500km away from the dam.
Creation of 2.25 lakh new water bodies by constructing check-dams and farm ponds.

Other Achievements.....

Almost 1000 Gynecologists provide free services to antenatal mothers on 9th day of each month.
67 Evening Courts started since November 2006. 1,16,000 cases have been disposed off!
Gujarat has made e-Governance functional in all its 141 municipalities. All 14,000 gram panchayats have been made e-grams. Lesser corruption

Gujarat is the first state to implement the unique concept of river interlinking
Constitution of Chetak Commando to contain terrorism.
Freeing illegally held fishermen languishing in Pakistan jails
Implementing the Gujcoc law to make the police force more effective,
Enacting law to check forceful conversion.
Setting up all-women police station in every district.



This is the time to support our CM Mr. Modi....

Why India needs Narendra Modi?

In this blog I am writing this post on Politics. However it is not related to this blog theme, but as I am Indian I would like to share my readings on one of the prominent leader in India.

I am watching this congress government for the past many years, one thing I have noticed is Rich people getting richer and poor always poor. Also laws are misused in many places. This is the time we have to think about India’s future and encourage farmers and increase the productivity.

I read one nice article about Narendra Modi, who done a great job in Gujarat. He will be the good candidate for the next PM post. This article written by Suhel Seth in finanacial express

: Let me begin with a set of disclosures: I have perhaps written more articles against Modi and his handling of the post-Godhra scenario than most people have; I have called him a modern-day Hitler and have always said that Godhra shall remain an enduring blemish not just on him but on India’s political class. I still believe that what happened in Gujarat during the Godhra riots is something we as a nation will pay a heavy price for. But the fact is that time has moved on. As has Narendra Modi. He is not the only politician in India who has been accused of communalism. It is strange that the whole country venerates the Congress Partyas the secular messiah but it was that party that presided over the riots in 1984 in which over 3,500 Sikhs died: thrice the number killed in Gujarat.

The fact of the matter is that there is no better performer than Narendra Modi in India’s political structure. Three weeks ago, I had gone to Ahmedabad to address the YPO and I thought it would be a good opportunity to catch up with Modi. I called him the evening before and I was given an appointment for the very day I was getting into Ahmedabad. And it was not some official meeting but instead one at his house. As frugal as the man Modi is.

And this is something that the Gandhis and Mayawatis need to learn from Modi. There were no fawning staff members; no secretaries running around; no hangers on…just the two of us with one servant who was there serving tea. And what was most impressive was the passion which Modi exuded. The passion for development; the passion for an invigorated Gujarat; the passion for the uplifting the living standards of the people in his state and the joy with which he recounted simple yet memorable data-points. For instance, almost all of the milk consumed in Singapore is supplied by Gujarat; or for that matter all the tomatoes that are eaten in Afghanistan are produced in Gujarat or the potatoes that Canadians gorge on are all farmed in Gujarat. But it was industry that was equally close to

his heart.

It was almost like a child, that he rushed and got a coffee table book on GIFT: the proposed Gujarat Industrial City that will come up on the banks of the Sabarmarti: something that will put the Dubais and the Hong Kongs of this world to shame. And while on the Sabarmati, it is Modi who has created the inter-linking of rivers so that now the Sabarmati is no longer dry.

He then spoke about how he was very keen that Ratan Tata sets up the Nano plant in Gujarat: he told me how he had related the story of the Parsi Navsari priests to Ratan and how touched Ratan was: the story is, when the Navsari priests, (the first Parsis) landed in Gujarat, the ruler of Gujarat sent them a glass of milk, full to the brim and said, there was no place for them: the priests added some sugar to the milk and sent it back saying that they would integrate beautifully with the locals and would only add value to the state.

Narendra Modi is clearly a man in a hurry and he has every reason to be. There is no question in any one’s mind that he is the trump card for the BJP after Advani and Modi realises that. People like Rajnath Singh are simply weak irritants I would imagine. He also believes that the country has no apolitical strategy to counter terrorism and in fact he told me how he had alerted the Prime Minister, the Home Minister and the NSA about the impending bomb blasts in Delhi and they did not take him seriously. And then the September 13 blasts happened! It was this resolve of Modi’s that I found very admirable. There is a clear intolerance of terrorism and terrorists which is evident in the way the man functions; now there are many cynics who call it minority-bashing but the truth of the matter is that Modi genuinely means business as far as law and order is concerned.

I left Modi’s house deeply impressed with the man as Chief Minister: he was clearly passionate and what’s more deeply committed. When I sat in the car, I asked my driver what he thought of Modi and his simple reply was Modi is God. Before him, there was nothing. No roads, no power, no infrastructure. Today, Gujarat is a power surplus state. Today, Gujarat attracts more industry than all the states put together. Today, Gujarat is the preferred investment destination for almost every multi-national and what’s more, there is an integrity that is missing in other states.

After I finished talking to the YPO (Young President’s Organisation) members, I asked some of them very casually, what they thought of Modi. Strangely, this was one area there was no class differential on. They too said he was God.

But what they also added very quickly was if India has just five Narendra Modis, we would be a great country. I don’t know if this was typical Gujarati exaggeration or a reflection of the kind of leadership India now needs! There is however, no question in my mind, that his flaws apart, Narendra Modi today, is truly a transformational leader! And we need many more like him!

Benefits of Glass Recycling: Why Recycle Glass?

Glass recycling is both simple and beneficial. Let’s start with the benefits of glass recycling:

Glass recycling is good for the environment.. A glass bottle that is sent to a landfill can take up to a million years to break down. By contrast, it takes as little as 30 days for a recycled glass bottle to leave your kitchen recycling bin and appear on a store shelf as a new glass container.

Glass recycling is sustainableGlass containers are 100-percent recyclable, which means they can be recycled repeatedly, again and again, with no loss of purity or quality in the glass.

Glass recycling is efficient.. Recovered glass from glass recycling is the primary ingredient in all new glass containers. A typical glass container is made of as much as 70 percent recycled glass. According to industry estimates, 80 percent of all recycled glass eventually ends up as new glass containers.

Glass recycling conserves natural resources. Every ton of glass that is recycled saves morethan a ton of the raw materials needed to create new glass, including: 1,300 pounds of sand; 410 pounds of soda ash; and 380 pounds of limestone.

Glass recycling saves energy. Making new glass means heating sand and other substances to a temperature of 2,600 degrees Fahrenheit, which requires a lot of energy and creates a lot of industrial pollution. One of the first steps in glass recycling is to crush the glass and create a product called “cullet.” Making recycled glass products from cullet consumes 40 percent less energy than making new glass from raw materials, because cullet melts at a much lower temperature.

Recycled glass is useful. Because glass is made from natural materials such as sand and limestone, it glass containers have a low rate of chemical interaction with their contents. As a result, glass can be safely reused. Besides serving as the primary ingredient in new glass containers, recycled glass also has many other commercial uses—from creating decorative tiles and landscaping material to rebuilding eroded beaches.

Glass recycling is also simple, as I pointed out at the beginning of this article. It’s simple because glass is one of the easiest materials to recycle. For one thing, glass is accepted by almost all curbside recycling programs and municipal recycling centers. About all most people have to do to recycle glass bottles and jars is to carry their recycling bin to the curb, or maybe drop off their empty glass containers at a nearby collection point.

If you need an extra incentive to recycle glass, how about this: Several U.S. states offer cash refunds for most glass bottles, so in some areas glass recycling can actually put a little extra money in your pocket.

The Top 10 Green-Tech Breakthroughs of 2008

Green technology was hot in 2008. Barack Obama won the presidential election promising green jobs to Rust Belt workers. Investors poured $5 billion into the sector just through the first nine months of the year. And even Texas oilmen like T. Boone Pickens started pushing alternative energy as a replacement for fossil fuels like petroleum, coal and natural gas.

But there’s trouble on the horizon. The economy is hovering somewhere between catatonic and hebephrenic, and funding for the big plans that green tech companies laid in 2008 might be a lot harder to come by in 2009. Recessions haven’t always been the best times for environmentally friendly technologies as consumers and corporations cut discretionary spending on ethical premiums.

Still, green technology and its attendant infrastructure are probably the best bet to drag the American economy out of the doldrums. So, with the optimism endemic to the Silicon Valley region, we present you with the Top 10 Green Tech Breakthroughs of 2008, alternatively titled, The Great Green Hope.

10. THE ISLAND OF THE SOLAR

With money flowing like milk and honey in the land of solar technology, all sorts of schemers and dreamers came streaming into the area. One
Swiss researcher, Thomas Hinderling, wants to build solar islands several miles across that he claims can produce hundreds of megawatts of relatively inexpensive power. Though most clean tech advocates question the workability of the scheme, earlier this year, Hinderling’s company
Centre Suisse d’Electronique et de Microtechnique received $5 million from the Ras al Khaimah emirate of the United Arab Emirates to start construction on a prototype facility, shown above, in that country. (Image: Centre Suisse d’Electronique et de Microtechnique)

9. NEW MATERIALS CAGE CARBON

Carbon capture and sequestration has a seductively simple appeal: We generate carbon dioxide emissions by burning geology — coal and oil —
so to fix the problem, we should simply capture it and inject it back into the ground.

It turns out, however, that it’s not quite so simple. Aside from finding the right kind of empty spaces in the earth’s crust and the risks that the CO2 might leak, the biggest problem with the scheme is finding a material that could selectively snatch the molecule out of the hot mess of gases going up the flues of fossil fuel plants.

That’s where two classes of special cage-like molecules come into play,
ZIFs and amines. This year, Omar Yaghi, a chemist at UCLA, announced a slough of new CO2-capturing ZIFs and Chris Jones, a chemical engineer at Georgia Tech, reported that he’d made a new amine that seems particularly well-suited to working under real-world condition. Both materials could eventually make capturing CO2 easier — and therefore, more cost effective.

Perhaps better still, Yaghi’s lab’s technique also defined a new process for quickly creating new ZIFs with the properties that scientists — and coal-plant operators — want. Some of their crystals are shown in the image above. (Image: Omar Yaghi and Rahul Banerjee/UCLA)

8. GREEN TECH LEGISLATION GETS REAL

On the federal and state levels, several historic actions put the teeth into green tech bills passed over the last few years. A review committee of the EPA effectively froze coal plant construction, a boon to alternative energy (though earlier this month the EPA ignored the committee’s ruling and it is unclear how the issue will be settled).
In California, the state unveiled and approved its plan to regulate carbon dioxide emissions, which could be a model for a nationwide system. Combined with the green-energy tax credits in the $700-billion bailout bill, the government did more for green tech in 2008 than in whole decades in the past.

7. THE CATALYST THAT COULD ENABLE SOLAR

In July, MIT chemist Daniel Nocera announced that he’d created a catalyst that could drop the cost of extracting the hydrogen and oxygen from water.

Combined with cheap photovoltaic solar panels (like Nanosolar’s), the system could lead to inexpensive, simple systems that use water to store the energy from sunlight. In the process, the scientists may have cleared the major roadblock on the long road to fossil fuel independence: Reducing the on-again, off-again nature of many renewable power sources.

"You’ve made your house into a fuel station," Daniel Nocera, a chemistry professor at MIT told Wired.com. "I’ve gotten rid of all the goddamn grids."

The catalyst enables the electrolysis system to function efficiently at room temperature and at ordinary pressure. Like a reverse fuel cell, it splits water into oxygen and hydrogen. By recombining the molecules with a standard fuel cell, the O2 and H2 could then be used to generate energy on demand.

6. PICKENS PLAN PUSHES POWER PLAYS INTO AMERICAN MAINSTREAM

Texas oilman T. Boone Pickens might be a lot of things, but environmentalist he is not. That’s why his support for a nationwide network of wind farms generated so much excitement. While his solution for transportation, natural gas vehicles, may not pan out, his Pickens Plan is the most visible alternative energy plan out there and it began to channel support from outside coastal cities for finding new sources of energy.

Of course, no one said Pickens is stupid. If his plan was adopted and major investments in transmission infrastructure were made, his wind energy investments would stand to benefit.

5. SOLAR THERMAL PLANTS RETURN TO THE DESERTS

When most people think of harnessing the sun’s power, they imagine a solar photovoltatic panel, which directly converts light from the sun into electricity. But an older technology emerged as a leading city-scale power technology in 2008: solar thermal. Companies like
Ausra, BrightSource, eSolar, Solel, and a host of others are using sunlight-reflecting mirrors to turn liquids into steam, which can drive a turbine in the same way that coal-fired power plants make electricity.

Two companies, BrightSource and Ausra, debuted their pilot plants.
They mark the first serious solar thermal experimentation in the United
States since the 1980s. BrightSource’s Israeli demo plant is shown above. (Image: BrightSource)

4. OBAMA PICKS A GREEN TECH EXPERT TO HEAD DOE

President-elect Barack Obama ran on the promise of green jobs and an economic stimulus package that would provide support for scientific innovation. Then, Obama picked Steven Chu, a Nobel-prize winning physicist, to head the Department of Energy. Chu had been focused on turning Lawrence Berkeley
National Laboratory into an alternative-energy powerhouse. The green tech community rejoiced that one of their own would be in the White
House.

That’s because green tech is going to need some help. With the world economy falling into recession, the price of oil has dropped, even though there are serious concerns about the long-term oil supply. When energy prices drop, clean tech investments don’t seem quite as attractive, and the renascent industry could be in trouble. It’s happened before, after all.

Back in the ’70s, geopolitical events sent the price of oil soaring, which, as it tends to, created a boom in green tech. But the early
1980s saw the worst recession since the Depression. Sound familiar? In the poor economic climate, focus and funds were shifted away from green tech. The last nail in the coffin was the election of Ronald Reagan, who immediately pulled off the solar panels Jimmy Carter had placed on the White House. The green tech industry collapsed.

History has given U.S. alternative energy research a second chance and environmental advocates hope that a different president will lead to a very different result. (Image: DOE)

3. SOLAR CELL PRODUCTION GETS BIG, GIGA(WATT)BIG

Every clean tech advocate’s dream is a power-generating technology that could compete head-to-head with coal, the cheapest fossil fuel, on price alone. Nanosolar, one of a new generation of companies building solar panels out of cheap plastics, could be the first company to get there. Early this year, the company officially opened its one-gigawatt production facility, which is many times the size of most previous solar facilities.

Nanosolar, in other words, has found a process that can scale: it works as well in production as it does in the lab. That’s the main reason that the company has picked up half-a-billion dollars in funding from investors like MDV’s Erik Straser.

"[It's the] first time in industry a single tool with a 1GW
throughput," Straser wrote in an e-mail. "It’s a key part of how the company is achieving grid parity with coal."

2. PROJECT BETTER PLACE FINDS HOMES
Green technologies are dime a dozen, but a business model that could allow an entirely new, green infrastructure to be built is a rare thing.

Doing just that is the centerpiece of Sun Microsystems’ SAP veteran Shai Agassi’s vision for Project Better Place, a scheme that would distribute charging and swappable battery stations throughout smallish geographies like Israel, Hawaii and San Francisco.
So far, there’s very little steel in the ground, but in early December, the company’s first charging location opened in Tel Aviv, Israel. Agassi’s plan is one of several projects — like new biofuels rail terminals — that could create fundamentally new energy ecosystems.

Some of these systems, however, are actually throwbacks to earlier eras. As Peter Shulman, a historian of technology at Case Western
Reserve University, likes to remind his students: in the early 20th century, before the Model T, one-third of all cars were electric. (Image: Joe Puglies/WIRED)

1. CALERA’S GREEN CEMENT DEMO PLANT OPENS

Cement? With all the whiz bang technologies in green technology, cement seems like an odd pick for our top clean technology of the year.
But here’s the reason: making cement — and many other materials —
takes a lot of heat and that heat comes from fossil fuels.

Calera’s technology, like that of many green chemistry companies, works more like Jell-O setting. By employing catalysis instead of heat, it reduces the energy cost per ton of cement. And in this process, CO2
is an input, not an output. So, instead of producing a ton of carbon dioxide per ton of cement made — as is the case with old-school
Portland cement — half a ton of carbon dioxide can be sequestered.

With more than 2.3 billion tons of cement produced each year, reversing the carbon-balance of the world’s cement would be a solution that’s the scale of the world’s climate change problem.

In August, the company opened its first demonstration site next to Dynegy’s Moss Landing power plant in California

Read More http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2008/12/the-top-10-gree/#ixzz0fAJ2e7vf