Wednesday, April 06, 2005

[Patents] Dye-sensitized solar cell It is an object of the present invention to provide a dye-sensitized solar cell which has high conversion efficiency and excellent endurance. A dye-sensitized solar cell includes a first electrode and a second electrode facing each other. A buffer layer and a porous layer are sequentially formed on the first electrode and a dye is adsorbed on the porous layer. An electrolyte is impregnated between the first electrode and the second electrode. The dye-sensitized solar cell also includes an anti-reflection film formed on the outer surface of the first electrode.  [FreshPatents.com: Notable Patent Applications - 03/31/2005] 3:08:41 PM Google It!    [Grants] Foundation Growth and Giving Estimates: 2004 Preview Philanthropy Source: Foundation Center Foundation Growth and Giving Estimates: 2004 Preview (PDF; 864 KB) "Foundation Growth and Giving Estimates is part of the annual Foundations Today Series of reports on foundation growth and trends in foundation giving. It provides a 'first look' at 2004 giving and directions for 2005 giving, together with aggregated actual 2003 giving and asset figures for the over 66,000 grantmaking U.S. foundations." [ResourceShelf's DocuTicker] 3:07:22 PM Google It!    [Government spending] Just Released, 2005 Congressional Pig Book U.S. Congress--Spending Source: Council Against Citizens Against Government Waste Just Released, 2005 Congressional Pig Book "Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) today released the 2005 Congressional Pig Book, a sweeping compendium of the pork-barrel projects in the federal budget. Congress spent more tax dollars on pork this year than in any other year in history. For fiscal 2005, appropriators stuffed 13,997 projects into the 13 appropriations bills, an increase of 31 percent over last year's total of 10,656. In the last two years, the total number of projects has increased by 49.5 percent." Summary ||| Direct to Full Text (Searchable) [ResourceShelf's DocuTicker] 3:05:23 PM Google It!    [Wastewater treatment] Biomimetic Water Treatment All sorts of cool things on Treehugger today... This post describes a water treatment system in Australia that's been nominated for the government's Global Eco-Tech Award. The "highly structued humus system" mimics a river ecology, according to inventor Dean Cameron: “I observed how river ecologies work and nature gave me the answer to waste treatment...In nature, the waste is not broken down in the water, as emulated by many treatment systems, but rather very efficiently by soil organisms on the river’s edge. So we copied what happens on the river edge..." Cameron's invention has been integrated into the Biolytix water treatment system. By noemail@noemail.org (Jeff McIntire-Strasburg). [sustainablog] 3:03:23 PM Google It!    [Corporate sustainability] Sustainability Trends for 2005 Thanks to Nick at TriplePundit for pointing us to this article from the "Sustainble Business Insider" at SustainableBusiness.com. The article points to three emerging business trends that bode well for progress towards more sustainable business practices in the mainstream: the rise of climate-neutral companies, enviro-metrics for accounting and the emergence of cradle-to-landfill stewardship. I'd certainly call these hopeful signs, but the sceptic in me is on the lookout for greenwashing. Also, these are good first steps, but only first steps -- I'd want to see many more companies engaging in a thorough recalibrating of their mission towards "Doing Well by Doing Good" (a quote from Ray Anderson's Mid-Course Correction) before I start celebrating. By noemail@noemail.org (Jeff McIntire-Strasburg). [sustainablog] 3:01:59 PM Google It!    [Green lifestyle] Sustainable DVD Rental Treehugger tips us off to Green Planet Films, a company like Netflix that focuses on "green-oriented film." This is a niche market for sure, but after a brief browse of their titles, I'd say they've got a pretty impressive collection. In response to Kevin Kosbab's TH post, I'd never thought of movie rental as a product service system, but of course it is. What a great example to use next time By noemail@noemail.org (Jeff McIntire-Strasburg). [sustainablog] 2:59:03 PM Google It!    [Green building] Guide to Planting Green Roofs and Living Walls Treehugger also points us to a new book, Planting Green Roofs and Living Walls, which: describes the historical development of both commercial and small domestic examples from all over the world. It also provides an introduction to the practical techniques required for constructing green roofs, explaining the weight-bearing considerations, materials, substrates, draining layers, modular systems, By noemail@noemail.org (Jeff McIntire-Strasburg). [sustainablog] 2:58:37 PM Google It!    [Hybrid cars] Toyota Announces Pricing and Fuel Economy of Highlander Hybrid Toyota's new Highlander Hybrid achieves higher performance than its non-hybrid predecessor, while boosting fuel efficiency by an estimated 30 percent. The vehicle couples a V6 engine with a more powerful version of Toyota's Hybrid Synergy Drive, yielding 268 horsepower at its peak power output. [EERE Network News] 2:58:01 PM Google It!    [Fuel cells] DOE Announces Four Hydrogen Demonstration Partnerships Automakers, energy companies, and fuel cell companies are now working in four teams to advance fuel-cell vehicles. DOE announced on March 30th the details of its "Hydrogen Learning Demonstration" partnerships, a five-year, $380-million project, for which DOE is providing half the funds. [EERE Network News] 2:57:30 PM Google It!    [Green building] Green Building Initiative Created in January, the Green Building Initiative works closely with the National Association of Home Builders and local home builder associations to create green building programs. [EERE Network News] 2:56:39 PM Google It!    [Alternative energy] Eastern States Offer a Variety of Renewable Energy Incentives Installing solar power, wind power, or a micro-hydro system in Massachusetts can now earn you a rebate, as can installing a solar water heating or solar power system in Maryland. Meanwhile, public schools in New Jersey have shown a strong interest in solar rebates, forcing regulators to set new rules. [EERE Network News] 2:56:13 PM Google It!    [Recycling] Berkely City Council establishes zero waste goal for city Batting 'zero' - and that's a good thing. Home town advantage: The Berkeley City Council 'made environmental history' when the Council officially - and unanimously - established one of the nation's first Zero Waste Goals, adopting a 75% waste reduction goal for 2010, and establishes a Zero Waste Goal for 2020. From the press release: Zero Waste is a concept that couples aggressive resource recovery with industrial redesign to eliminate the very concept of waste. 'If it can't be reused, rebuilt, refurbished, reconfigured, recycled, or composted, then it needs to be redesigned - or removed from production all together,' said Dan Knapp, founder and owner of Urban Ore, Berkeley's premier reuse retailer. 'In the 1980's when Berkeley set a goal of reducing waste by 50%, everyone said it couldn't be done', said Mayor Tom Bates who sponsored the resolution, 'Not only did we prove them wrong, but less than a decade later the State of California set that goal for all counties. I am confident that we will not only meet our Zero Waste goal, but give a boost to innovative waste reduction policy across the nation.' [Gil Friend] 2:55:44 PM Google It!    [Sustainable seafood] Sustainable seafood From Gil Friend: Fish futures. Thinking together today with a fine group of people brought together this Poisson d'Avril by CleanFish ('Fish You Can Trust') and PassionFish to discuss -- and impact -- the future of sustainable seafood. What are your favorite examples and success stories of how small players can move big markets? (CleanFish CEO Tim o'Shea thinks of the Pixar-Disney dynamic. Who owns animation today?) Disclosure: Tim's an old friend, and I'm an advisor to CleanFish. Shocking disclosure: there's sustainable farmed salmon -- no, that's not an oxymoron -- for dinner! More on sustainable seafood.... ...in my 'Sustainable Sundays' posting on WorldChanging.com. 2:52:18 PM Google It!    [Nanomaterials] New Nano Design Principle Could Dramatically Increase Efficiency of Thermoelectric Material Two researchers have developed a design principle for nanostructured thermoelectric materials that could dramatically increase their efficiency, eventually leading to widespread adoption of thermoelectric devices for waste heat generation from engines, among other energy applications. [Green Car Congress] 2:33:26 PM Google It!    [Fuel cells] Rolls-Royce in Venture to Develop Fuel Cell-Based Power System Luxury car maker Rolls-Royce plc signed an agreement Wednesday with a Singapore consortium that includes several Singapore government-linked entities to jointly invest US$100 million in a new venture to develop a commercially viable power system based on fuel cell technology. [ENN Business Headlines] 2:30:29 PM Google It!

© Copyright 2005 Laura L. Barnes. Last update: 10/25/2005; 12:09:48 PM.