Cleantech Authority

We just received this notice from our partners at CarbonFund.org - an organization that helps us offset the CO2 produced through the operations of our website and business. The CleanTech Authority Network has been carbon neutral since 2007.Just a few moments ago, the US House of Representatives passed the historic American Clean Energy and Security Act (ACES), otherwise known as cap-and-trade.The vote passed 219-212. The bill's goal is to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 83% by 2050. While the bill still must go through the Senate and then conference before heading to the President, it represents a major accomplishment in...

While this isn't exactly clean technology it's definitely worth sharing! This year at the Maker Faire in Silicon Valley there was a 10 foot tall Van de Graaff Generator that had the crowd going wild. A Van de Graaff generator demonstrates a number of principles including the relationship between charge and voltage, Q = CV, where C is the capacitance of the dome. The capacitance of a sphere with respect to infinity is about 1.1 pF per centimeter of radius. The electrical energy stored in the Van de Graaff generator is CV2/2. Energies below about 10 joules (corresponding to a...

The CleanTech Authority Network is opening its doors to local publishers. Now anyone around the world who has an interest in Solar, Wind, Biomass, Electric Vehicles, Green Home, Hydro, Geothermal, or other Clean Technology can contribute his or her story to our site and in turn get published under their own name.A perfect article would be a product review, a "how to" guide for the solar rebates offered in your state or town, a research paper from a class you took, or a story about how you converted your car to a plugin hybrid.Our aim is to amass the most...

Over the past few months (March 7 - May 2, 2009) I took part in the Certified Nanotechnology Clean Technology Certification (CNCP) course being offered by the California Institute of Nanotechnology in San Jose, CA. The cohort I was part of was their third ever official class and this article is meant to give an overview on the course as it was at that time, provide guidance for prospective students, critique the offering, and identify alternative clean technology courses.I first discovered the Certified Nanotechnology & Clean Tech Professional course on Craigslist while adding events to our CleanTech Authority Events Calendar....

This past week I was hanging out with a good friend of mine who has an old IBM Thinkpad laptop, much like the one pictured below. Now the laptop has seen better days, the keyboard was recently replaced after apple juice got spilled on it, and ultimately he had to bargain with some Russian friends to replace the ram and try to reformat the hard drive because it got some kind of virus, he thinks conficker but who really knows? The whole thing was a little sketchy, eventually it stopped working completely. The thing is, my friend has a couple...

High in the Rocky Mountains, the town of Aspen, Colorado is home to the Aspen Institute and the annual Aspen Forum. Every year, scholars, leading professionals, and influential people from all over America, gather at an altitude over 7,500 feet to discuss and debate ideas. This year, the topic was "Powering the Planet: Energy for the Long Run". The forum lasted 4 days, from March 25-28, and touched on subjects ranging from climate change to efficiency, to the future of energy technology and policy. Just a few of the people who appeared there are: Lisa Jackson - Admin of the...

Today Hewlett Packard announced the launch of a new line of environmentally conscious and efficient personal computers called Z. Aside from the standard gains in performance and aesthetics, including physical size, that typify a normal PC line upgrade, the Z series delivers improved energy efficiency and serviceability.The new Z series computers will be the first to use Intel Nehalem processors including the Xeon 5500 series which represents a substantial boost in performance. In order to support the gains in hardware performance the Z series is built on a completely new line of chassis created by BMW DesignWorks. These new computer...

While studying at the California Institute of Nanotechnology under Dr. William Kao, once a professor at UCLA and employee of both Xerox and Cadence, I was presented with a list of the top ten challenges facing humanity in the coming decades. To my surprise, energy was the number one challenge followed closely by water. A bit lower was terrorism and war. Considering the change in focus (from war to energy) that the current Obama administration has set out, I feel optimistic that we can rise to the challenge that energy presents. Unfortunately I am unable to cite this list and...

While this isn't exactly clean technology news, we feel that it's an important announcement and want to offer our support to the natural parks in California where the CleanTech Authority Network is based. After all, part of the reason we care so much about clean technology is that we enjoy the natural wonders of wilderness and state parks that it helps preserve. This past Monday we received a note from the California State Parks Foundation describing the struggles and hardships they have endured over the past several years. Budget cuts causing backlogs in maintenance worth $1.2 billion and a recent funding cut...

In association with National Geographic, the Aspen Institute in Colorado is putting on an Environmental Forum from March 25 through the 28th. The event has been added to our CleanTech Events Calendar (which you can subscribe or add events to through Google Calendar).According to their website here the event theme this year is "Powering the Planet: Energy for the Long Run," and will present topics including climate change, energy extraction and use, innovation and technology, efficiency, conservation, plus many more. All sessions will be led by energy experts, government and business leaders, writers and photographers, and other knowledgeable and committed...