Did you watch the Grammy Awards this week? I did. It got me thinking: they should have awards like this for every profession, especially green tech! One web search later, I found they exist! The award ceremony is called the Clean Tech Open, and it was most recently held in San Fransisco, featuring the latest green thinkers from every section of the US. Recently Popular Mechanics did a feature article of a few prize winners:
Green Building Award: BottleStone
“…a combination of clay, cement, and old glass that looks uncannily like real granite, but takes much less energy to produce…”
Transportation Award: ElectraDrive
“…ElectraDrive aims to make electric conversion more accessible to the masses with its one-size-fits-all conversion kit. The kit’s designed to turn just about any car into an EV, whether it’s a sleek convertible or a hulking truck—you just take your car’s gas drivetrain out and put the company’s ElectraMount module in…”
Energy Efficiency Award: Viridis Earth
“…Viridis Earth manufactures $350 retrofit devices that can make your old a/c unit an energy-efficient wunderkind. One device cuts an air conditioner’s
energy consumption by 20 to 30 percent, a reduction so substantial that the retrofit typically pays for itself in less than a year…”
Renewables Award: Focal Point Energy
“Lots of companies that use hot water or steam for manufacturing rely on gas or electricity to generate their heat. But it’s much more efficient to gather sunlight and use it to heat the water directly… “To collect the heat, we use a reflective membrane made out of a Mylar-like material,” says Howard Harrenstien… The reflector focuses incoming sunlight into a concentrated beam, which can then be aimed at water-filled containers to make the contents boil.”
Green Building Award runner-up: Solar Red
“…By devising a system that can be put up by the same guys who nail on your roof tiles (no professional solar installer required), Solar Red has succeeded in cutting the cost of home solar by 25 to 50 percent…”
After the EU signed Kyoto, requiring it to reduce carbon emissions 8% below 1990 levels by 2012, many products and design changed there, diverging from US standards. Cars, for example, became smaller, lighter; and more fuel efficient. Even US automakers not known for efficiency make 62 MPG cars for Europe. Germany and Spain introduced Feed-in Tariffs that paid homeowners to make solar power on their roofs.But most interestingly, for Americans now considering energy efficient retrofits with a new “Cash for Caulkers” program being considered, a whole new industry was created by the need to supply new energy efficient building innovations. Energy efficient glass.
People are amazing these days. Last December, a 70-year old Indian woman gave birth to her first child. And now, just this past week, although not as physically impressive, a 70-year man from Colorado invented a line of solar-powered lawn equipment. So much for moving to that lakefront property in northern Florida.
Isn’t it great when you selfishly do something and it turns out to be good for everybody? The 
Imagine a life where you would never have to deal with 
Have you ever been too lazy to take out the trash so you just squish it down? Not wanting to go outside, you go to great lengths to squeeze the pizza box, milk carton and moldy leftovers all into that brimming under-the-sink waste receptacle.
Milan, a city renowned as one of the world’s capitals of design and fashion, recently announced a blueprint for the planet’s largest solar rooftop solar array intended for its 
Swiss adventurer Bertrand Piccard better check the weather report before liftoff if he wants his latest quest to be a success. The explorer is constructing a solar-powered plane to fly around the world in an effort to support sustainable development and demonstrate what renewable energy can achieve.
