Naturally Interesting

Earth2Tech covers 15 Algae startups. Check out http://www.livefuels.com/ and http://www.solenagroup.com/ for particularly interesting applications.

Today’s environmentalist can be found at a renewable energy start-up, one that is funded by venture capitalists concerned with both the environment and profit. Saving the world right now is focused on one thing: energy

and while the old green virtues of conservation, of simple living, must play a part in our response, the key will be technology. This is a race that will create new billionaires. It’s a huge opportunity for America. But it’s an opportunity that the U.S. will miss if it fails to enact the policies to match its technology. That’s the underlying message of Earth: The Sequel

Fred Krupp of the Environmental Defense Fund argues that renewable energies can be price competitive once they achieve economies of scale. And that will require governmental support, in Krupp’s view, through a carbon cap-and-trade system.

The idea that new technology can get us out of the climate fix that old technology put us in is an attractive one — especially if we can make a buck while doing so. Venture capitalists invested $3 billion in clean tech in 2007, according to Dow Jones VentureSource, and they’d like a nice return. (But at least the VCs are spending money — federal investment in renewable energy research is a paltry $1 billion, or roughly a day of revenue for Exxon Mobil.) But there’s no reason that business can’t be a major part of the climate change solution, or that profit isn’t concordant with a desire to save the Earth.

read more | digg story

Update 3/27/08: Wired has a little bit more information on the magic water machine. The new and improved part of Kamen’s distiller is that it is super efficient.

–

I’ve been trying to find out more about Dean Kamen’s water purifier and am not getting much. It is a vapor compression distiller which is not a new technology. So, I don’t know what is so new or exciting about Kamen’s version. Perhaps it is destined to be like the Segway (”[it] will be to the car what the car was to the horse and buggy”). Much ado about nothing.

On a related topic, Phillippe Rekacewicz has produced some great maps of world access to drinking water, sanitation, etc.

More on water access via Treehugger. My post on Dean Kamen’s water purifier.

The Colbert Report is not my usual source of news, but this is interesting. Stephen Colbert’s guest last night was Dean Kamen (inventor of the Segway) who presented his Vapor Compression Distiller. The distiller is a chemical, membrane, and filter free water purifier. Kamen claims the box draws pure drinkable water from oceans, poison, a 50-gallon drum of urine, anything. It is designed to require little maintenance and uses no chemicals or filters. The purifier can produce 10 gallons of water an hour on 500 watts of electricity.

If true the potential here is  astounding. Forget OLPC, kids in Africa don’t need computers, they need access to potable water.  But apparently Kamen’s purifier does not yet have outside verification of its reliability. I want know if this is legitimate. How does it work precisely? I guess we’ll have to wait and see.

News article at SFGate

Well, not quite. SOMS Technologies has developed an oil filter that only requires changing every 30,000 miles. Better yet - it will only cost $15.

Pros: Save money + less oil used = Happier environment

Cons: I’ll believe it when I have one in my car. This seems like one of those great, simple innovations, that never make it to market.

More here.