We publish an astonishing amount of good news here at EcoGeek.org. When I started this all up a year ago, good news was pretty hard to come by. But now it just flows in. The future’s so bright, I’ve got to wear photovoltaic clothing.

But there are some dark spots. One in particular looks like it could undo a lot of the work done in the last few years. It’s a dark spot that I’ve seen jaunting merrily across the screen on Grist and TreeHugger, a smudge supported by Barack Obama and myriad congressional Democrats: Coal.

For the last few years energy independence and the green movement have almost become synonymous. But coal threatens to break down that synergy. While recent forward progress that has been astonishing, coal is providing an opportunity for the United States to stagnate once again.

The technology to convert coal to liquid fuel has existed since the 1920s. If congress were to mandate and fund its implementation America would begin to slowly gain energy independence, Peabody Coal’s net worth would increase tenfold to roughly $3.6 trillion, the Appalachian Mountains would be destroyed and U.S. carbon emissions would double. This is a bad idea.

Unfortunately, there’s a bill working through congress right now that would give coal companies billions of dollars to help them build coal-to-liquid plants. It would guarantee coal companies government contracts, including a $40-billion, 25-year deal with the air force. Peabody coal is literally fighting for trillions of dollars here.

At the same time, there are also bills in congress that would cap CO2 emissions and make coal-to-liquid technologies instantly obsolete. But there’s not a lot of money behind the carbon neutral lobby, while Coal has millions to spend on congress. The unfortunate truth is, this bill has a chance of passing. For more in depth analysis, you can refer to the New York Times, as they’ve just done a marvelous write-up of the situation.

This could be bad news. This could be very bad news. We have been making some marvelous steps forward in the last few years. A large-scale conversion to liquid coal would a reversion, the exact opposite of what we need to be doing.

I invite everyone to check out ILoveMountains.org, and to consider Illinois Senator Obama’s position on "clean coal." Hillary may not be an EcoGeek, but at least she doesn’t go around pretending like Coal can be good for the environment. And, if you’d like, download this GE ad, with the thought bubble conveniently blanked out, and submit Lumpy the Coal Nugget’s thoughts to the comments.

Seems like its all about the DUI’s these days as now Lindsey Lohan, or favorite blond/brunette/red-head of Hollywood was caught red handed by paparazzi crashing her Mercedes and fleeing the scene, on foot! Sources say she might be off to the “big-house” to join her pal Paris for the same offense. Unfortunately their big contracts can’t get them out of this pickle. Can NBC please place a camera in these jail-cells. I have no doubt that these girls will find some way to get some cash out of this situation. -One more video with the full story after the jump

Via: Motorpasion , Source: spynbuy

CNET has some excellent, brief and enjoyable coverage of the China Beijing International High Tech Expo. CNET has focused on technologies that promise to green Beijing. China seems to be taking this challenge seriously, with one of the major deadlines being next year’s olympic games. Beijing may be one of the dirtiest cities in the world, but they’ve got a lot of brains working to change that.

Featured on CNET are innovations from "grasscrete," an "environmentally sustainable alternative paving system," to a 300 mph maglev train (both pictured above.)

Not pictured include extremely efficient renewable energy heating stoves, and a couple of good looking electric vehicles (a scooter and a bike) both powered by non-toxic lithium ion batteries.

China’s response to the environmental crisis is extremely important and, for the moment anyway, it looks encouraging.

Product branding creates instant recognition. When consumers have a brand lodged in their consciousness, the odds increase that this product that will be selected and purchased. Consumers are drawn to the familiar even if it is now a glass and not a bottle.

Companies spend big bucks developing brand recognition. Beverage companies are no exception.

Green Glass is converting empty, discarded bottles into elegant glassware. They began operation in Johannesburg, South Africa and have established a North American manufacturing facility in Central Wisconsin.

Green Glass recycles glass bottles so that they retain the original image and the consumer can connect with the product. Each glass retains the original shape and contour of the product. This presents shoppers with an image they will immediately recognize.

"They’re functional, so people will pick them up several times a day for years to come," Penrith said. "The glasses also connote a positive corporate commitment to environmental stewardship."

DuPont, BMW, Microsoft, Smith Kline Beecham, Perrier Group of America, John Deere, Wells Fargo, Ford, Minolta, Valpre Spring Water, South African Breweries and Seattle Coffee Co are all Green Glass customers.

No market for recycled glass eh? Green Glass demonstrates that this is not a valid point; they are tapping into an environmental demand to reduce the amount of waste that we send to the landfill, and creating an attractive product while doing so.

Source: Green Glass

…especially when you have illegally parked on the sidewalk, right in front of glass wall and you’re in such a hurry to avoid being ticketed. According to our tipster, this video was taken from a security camera in Athens, Greece on the day of the UEFA Champions League Final between Milan and Liverpool, May 23. –thanks for sending the video CC!

If somebody tells you that adding a little bit of water to your engine can get you 40% better mileage, they’re probably blowing a lot of hot air. If Bruce Crower, winner of the 2007 Popular Science Invention Award tells you it’s possible, be prepared to be blown away.

In today’s gasoline and diesel engines, the four strokes of the piston – intake of air, compression of the air/fuel mixture, combustion of fuel, and exhaust of the resulting fumes – generates temperatures above 1500°F. Crower’s new engine design harnesses this otherwise wasted heat by injecting water onto the blazing hot piston. The water instantly vaporizes  and expands in volume 1,600 times to power the piston through another two strokes. The resulting steam is then recaptured and fed through a condenser to be used again.

Not only does this increase the amount of power produced by the engine by about 40%, it cools the engine as it operates, completely eliminating the need for a cooling system. No radiator, no coolant, no water pump… it could shave as much as 1000 lbs off the weight of semi-truck engines.

Best of all, the technology could be used in any kind of internal combustion engine. Gasoline, hybrid, series hybrid, biodiesel, and it would always save huge amounts of fuel.

No word yet on when we might see this in passenger cars, but the designer’s credentials and a working prototype mean it’s not more than a few years off.

via Popular Science

Last Wednesday Google registered ClimateSaverPC.com and .org. And, since then, rumor and speculation have been somewhat rampant. I decided to wait it out, and am now, after some extra news has come in, letting you all know what I think is going on.

First, we all know that Google owns hundreds of thousands of computers. These, of course, are mostly servers, not PCs. And Google has worked very hard to ensure that these servers are extremely energy efficient in order to decrease their costs.

Second, Urs Hoelzle, Google’s Senior VP of Operations has recently been working on the issue of PC power supply inefficiency. The reality is that this is a huge problem. PCs power supplies are extremely inefficient, and there really is no good reason for this. Check out our stories on the 80 Plus initiative for more on that.

Third, Urs Hoelzle actually, himself, registered ClimateSaverPC.us. Linking Google’s buy directly to Urs.

Fourth, Urs told Nic Carr at Rough Type that they weren’t thinking of building their own PC, had never thought of building their own PC, and were likely never going to build a Google PC. Urs referred to the purchase of ClimateSaverPC as a "personal matter."

Fifth, other search engines (Snap and Yahoo) have been working on ways to engage their users in the climate crisis. Yahoo by allowing people to pledge to decrease their carbon footprint. Snap by offering their users a tiny application that greatly decrease the power consumption of their PCs.

SO! What do we know? Well…not very much.

But we can speculate that Google would like to get in on the climate change PR game. And, as Urs is linked to this whole thing, it’s possible that Google is working on a new power supply standard that will allow for a large increase in PC efficiency.

While I doubt that Google is going to be starting up a power supply manufacturing plant, I wouldn’t be surprised if they created a PR campaign that would outline steps for folks to make sure that their machines are as efficient as they can be. And / Or possibly to encourage component makers to adopt a new power supply standard.

All I can say is, it seems like the sort of thing they’d do.

Via ZDNet

In a recent inteview with Time Magazine, Apple chief Steve Jobs declared that there was no question in his mind that Al Gore would win if he ran for President of the United States.

Al and Steve are two of our favorite EcoGeeks, and we’ve been pleased to see them standing together. Gore is a member of Apple’s Board of Directors and reportedly played a large part in Apple’s new plan to green-up their business.

Jobs speculated that Gore’s experience in 2000 is keeping him from realizing his current potential. Frankly, I wouldn’t blame him…I had a hard time voting after the pain of the 2000 elections. But I sure would like to see that EcoGeek in the White House again, as President or in the newly created office of "Secretary of the Climate Crisis."

Via MacNN

We’re currently experiencing the rise of the compact fluorescent…and soon after will come LED lamps. But what comes after LEDs? The Organic LED of course. OLEDs are already used as cell phone and MP3 displays and futurists have them pegged in everything from wearable displays to photovoltaic windows. But the technology is a long way off, which is why we’re happy to announce that the University of Bath is leading a $1.7 million research effort to lay the groundwork for the OLED revolution.

OLEDs are so versatile because they are both thin and flexible. And they’re ecogeeky because they’re extremely efficient and can be reversed.

"What’s that?" you say? What I mean is that OLEDs, which generally use electricity to create light, can be reversed to use light to create electricity, basically making them a photovoltaic cell.

OLEDs still require a lot of research before they will be a viable, economical lighting technology. But it’d be nice if my solar powered shirt could display RSS feeds on my arm. And maybe OLEDs are going to get us there.

Via Physorg.com

BMW MINIs are surprisingly inefficient. You’d think that such a small car would have some impressive stats, but city / highway ratings for Mini Models top out at 23 / 31. BMW is working on the problem, however. The MINI Cooper D will be receiving the same treatment as a few other BMW models: regenerative braking systems and Auto Start-Stop functionality that will as much as double mileage of the vehicle.

BMW’s regenerative braking system uses an Intelligent Alternator Control (IAC), which improves upon traditional alternators "by only engaging when required to charge the battery", and collecting energy when the car is coasting or slowing down.

Other technologies used are an Auto Start-Stop Function and a Switch Point Display. The former turns the engine off when at a stop, and restarts automatically when the clutch is used, while the latter lets the driver know which is the most efficient gear after analyzing the "speed, road situation and accelerator pedal position".

With their previous and current ventures into regenerative braking, BMW seems to be going not for an eco-stance, but for their mainstay of a premium driving experience. It’s not as awesome as an all-electric MINI, but it seems like a pretty good deal for BMW owners as well as the rest of the world.

Via: Green Car Congress.