Energy Use

Nokia Siemens, a leading manufacturer of cellphones and communications equipment, has unveiled a new base station that uses as much as 70 percent less energy than current models. Multiple base stations are necessary to provide coverage to an average American city, and Nokia estimates that converting them to this new technology could be equivalent to taking as many as 21,000 cars off the road in such a city.

Scientists are tinkering with tree DNA to create a new way of burning wood. No, not in a stove. In our cars and other engines driven by combustion. Using genetic engineering techniques, a team from the forest biotechnology group at North Carolina State University is trying to remake the nature of cellulose in wood. Their goal: reduce the lignin in cellulose that prevents the alchemy of turning wood to ethanol.

The potato chip and taco chip shelves of our conventional supermarkets are now awash with organic or more naturally whatever chips. The chip wars are as competitive as ever and the battles for our taste buds are getting greener. Now the chip mega-giant Frito Lay is recrafting its Casa Grande, Arizona, factory into a state of the art green chip facility...

On November 14, Britain’s Daily Mail reported that British Airways has been flying ghost flights across the Atlantic in order to preserve slots at airports.  The airline, which touts itself as an environmentally responsible company, has been widely condemned for the activity.  Considering the massive carbon impact of a single flight, this activity calls into question BA’s commitment to environmentalism.

Al Gore is apparently not running for president.  Instead, he has become a venture capitalist as a new partner in Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield, and Byers.  Gore will focus on finding start-ups within the alternative energy source industry, also known as clean tech companies.  For investors, Gore’s position only highlights a growing trend: encouraging green businesses that will pay big in the future.