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A group of Spanish developers working for a company called Ecofasa just announced a new biofuel made up from trash. This isn't a biodiesel made from used frying oil; instead, it's made from general urban waste which is treated by bacteria. The result of that bacteria? Fatty acids that can be used to produce standard biodiesel. According to the company's CEO, the process is fully biologic, competes with no feedstock and is really sustainable. However, the process doesn't yield that much actual fuel: just one liter of biodiesel from 10 kg of trash. The project is now in a development phase, but Ecofasa said that a commercially viable model could be ready in three to four years.

The challenge set by Ford Global Technologies is to design a Model-T for the 21st Century - an inexpensive, innovative and sustainable car. Deakin University is the only Australian university and one of only five worldwide invited to participate in the Challenge, part of the celebrations for the 100th anniversary of the fabled Model T; the car that changed the 20th Century. Deakin University's 'under wraps' design for the Ford Global Challenge left for Detroit on 29th August carried by Deakin's Tim de Souza (Chief Design Engineer) and Stuart Hanafin (Portfolio Coordinator). Deakin's project is code-named T2 ('TSquared').

Our Renewable Nation is possibly the most adorable project ever conceived to advocate renewable energy. It's an eco-video project helmed by the McCullough family, who are traveling across the country in a vegetable oil powered VW Beetle. They're visiting wind farms, solar installations, talking to companies developing sustainable technologies, and documenting all their interviews and travels on video. Each of the videos stars 9-year old Carrick McCollough, the cutest kid to campaign in the name of renewable energy. And it's effective. Don't believe me? Just watch the video after the jump, where Carrick implores grownups to not blow it for him and his generation. How can we say no to this?

Shin Abe doesn't find it odd that the picturesque little Japanese town of Kuzumaki, where he has lived all his life, generates some of its electricity with cow dung. Nor is the 15-year-old middle school student blown away by the vista of a dozen wind turbines spinning atop the forested peak of nearby Mt. Kamisodegawa. And it's old news to Abe that his school gets 25% of its power from an array of 420 solar panels located near the campus. "That's the way it's been," he shrugs. "It's natural." To Abe, it is. But the blase teen has grown up in an alternative universe - one that might be envisioned by Al Gore. That's because Kuzumaki (population 8,000) has over the past decade transformed itself into a living laboratory for the development of sustainable and diversified energy sources. "When I was growing up, all we had [to generate power] was oil," says Kazunori Fukasawaguchi, a Kuzumaki native who now serves in local government. "I never imagined this kind of change." (Read TIME's Top 10 Green Ideas of 2008.)

According to a Stanford University researcher, 'wind, water and sun beat biofuels, nuclear and coal for clean energy.' The scientist 'has conducted the first quantitative, scientific evaluation of the proposed, major, energy-related solutions by assessing not only their potential for delivering energy for electricity and vehicles, but also their impacts on global warming, human health, energy security, water supply, space requirements, wildlife, water pollution, reliability and sustainability.' Wow! The researcher found that some sources of energy were 25 to 1,000 times more polluting than the best available options. Some of his conclusions make sense, some are controversial, but read more…

The Scottish Government has created one of the biggest international innovation prizes in history - a £10 million challenge for advances in wave and tidal energy. At a ceremony this week in historic Edinburgh Castle, details of the 'Saltire Prize' were revealed to leading scientists, environmentalists and potential entrants after being finalised by a panel of international experts who comprise the prize Challenge Committee. Dr Anne Glover, Scotland's Chief Scientific Adviser and Chair of the Challenge Committee, said the Saltire Prize will be awarded to the team that can demonstrate in Scottish waters a commercially viable wave or tidal energy technology that achieves a minimum electrical output of 100GWh over a continuous two year period using only the power of the sea and is judged to be the best overall technology after consideration of cost, environmental sustainability and safety.

Sustained growth of biomass is contingent upon consistent weather patterns which by no means are guaranteed in an age of global climate change.

One of the most promising technologies available in sustainable energy is solar panels. As the technology matures, so does the efficiency of the panels.

Permaculture is actually an approach in designing human settlement and perennial agri-systems that copies relationships found in the natural ecologies. It is a design system for sustainable living and in all aspect of human endeavor.

DOE Report Analyzes U.S. Wind Resources, Technology Requirements, and Manufacturing, Siting and Transmission Hurdles to Increasing the Use of Clean and Sustainable Wind Power

Energy Results specializes in sustainable, energy efficient& green conservation products to make your home more energy efficient. We have large selection of green home products like energy efficient light bulbs, EnergyStar appliances, heating & cooling products, smart energy devices and much more.

The main ingredient in securing an electric-centric transportation future is the means and methods required to increase the capacity of sustainable ["green"] "base-load" power.

Can you explain to me and the readers why solar panels are so expensive? Why can we not get the cost of this energy down to US $0.15 per kWh while we're paying off the equipment? Why are we paying for future production capability today? It is like the current electricity providers are saying, "Well, your house will use 12,000 kWh this year so we want our $1,800 now" or worse "give us 20 years up front" as the solar industry does today! If the solar market really wants to see a green planet then I feel they need to get the green out their eyes! Can they not see that they can truly make every home owner self sufficient if they bring their costs in line. It seems as though this renewable energy game is for the wealthy. If I want my home to be totally self-sustaining, it would cost me $80,000! A: Ian, I am happy to respond to your question since I have spent my own money on both my net-zero-energy home and my zero-energy office building - so I am acutely aware of the costs.

In February, President Obama called for a doubling of the US renewable energy capacity within three years. Yesterday, Obama visited a wind energy company in Newton, Iowa and again emphasized the importance of new forms of power generation: "Now, the choice we face is not between saving our environment and saving our economy. The choice we face is between prosperity and decline. We can remain the world's leading importer of oil, or we can become the world's leading exporter of clean energy." vote nowBuzz up! With billions in stimulus dollars heading toward improving the electricity grid and building sustainable energy infrastructure, emission-free power may be coming to your neighborhood sooner than you think. Here are five of the biggest, most ambitious projects that are in the pipeline, both in the US and elsewhere.

Inhabitat is doing a "Energy 101" series to explain why smart grids are necessary - Energy 101: Where Does Our Power Come From ?. Today we're excited to announce the launch of our new Energy 101 series,. in which we'll be exploring the future-forward technologies that stand to upgrade our grids, reduce our energy footprint, and slow the speed of global warming. Unless you have been living in a cave for the past few years, you've probably heard terms like "energy conservation", "off-grid energy", and "smart grid" tossed around. But before getting into the nitty-gritty of transitioning to renewable energy, we should stop and examine where exactly our power comes from now. Unless you derive all your power from on-site renewable energy sources like solar panels or wind turbines, chances are that you're connected to the power grid, a vast network that delivers electricity from suppliers to consumers. Right now, most energy on the grid comes from generating plants. These plants still usually get power from traditional sources like coal, nuclear, and hydroelectric dams. But as concerns over carbon emissions, safety, and long term sustainability of these sources grow, electrical utilities have begun to switch over to renewable energy sources.

Being a green carpenter can be realized through prioritizing green building measures. Ecological construction uses renewable and sustainable resources and energy-saving tools.

Make sure that you are looking for sustainable furniture materials like bamboo, rather than traditional hardwoods like cherry and oak. Keep in mind that material and finish choices should be green as well.

They say people in glass homes shouldn't throw stones. Well, this is one glass home you're not likely to find a squabbling pair in. In 1984, Buddhist monks in Thailand began gathering bottles to decorate their shelters.

Sustainable Careers and Industry Blog, the Technical Green Blog

Energy Results specializes in sustainable, energy efficient& green conservation products to make your home more energy efficient. We have large selection of green home products like energy efficient light bulbs, EnergyStar appliances, heating & cooling products, smart energy devices and much more.