Alternative Fuels Now

In an undoubted victory in the fight to make the world more sustainable, Japanese lingerie company, Triumph, has created an organic cotton, solar bra.

We’ve been reminded in recent weeks that the world is a vulnerable place. First as many as 100,000 killed in the cyclone in Burma, and now 12,000 feared dead after an earthquake in China. But as we’ve seen over and over again, sometimes disaster response is even more important than being prepared for the disaster.

UPS just announced it has ordered 200 hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) - the largest commercial order of such trucks by any company - in addition to another 300 Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) vehicles for its U.S. delivery fleet.

We spend an awful lot of time talking about cars here at EcoGeek. And that’s not necessarily something that we’re proud of. We think that cars, in the end, can never be green…only greener. Which is why we love Carectomy, and also why we love these bike trees.

We’ve already talked about this giant floating solar thermal power plant that the UAE has its eyes on. But now a new kind of solar island is floating down the river of possibility. Peter Richardson’s Solar Lily Pad proposal for the International Design Awards ‘Land and Sea’ competition, pulled in first prize and the city of Glasgow seems to be seriously considering making the proposal a reality.

It’s not often that a blogger has the opportunity to meet with GM engineers and test drive a one-of-a-kind prototype, but that’s exactly the opportunity I was given the other day. GM first presented a run-down of the interesting tech (which we’ve written up here) and then handed over the keys so I could see what I thought first hand. The HCCI-equipped Saturn Aura I drove was hot off the proving grounds and the only one of its kind in the United States (there are two HCCI Opels in Europe, like the Opel pictured), and evolved out of an idea hatched way back in the 70s.

Completing the Circle: Gas at the Pump, War in Iraq, and Global Warming

Acciona Energy, an alternative energy company based out of Spain, can boast about its reputation for building clean technologies, and lots of them. They are the world leader in wind power, totalling 5,300MW in 192 separate wind parks, and built the first modern concentrating solar plant in the US, the Nevada Solar One (pictured above), to date the 3rd largest in the world, and they keep expanding. They announced today that they are planning on building 2 solar thermal plants in Cordoba, Spain, each with a capacity of 50MW, entering into service in 2010, and costing 500 million euros (roughly $850 million). The two facilities will produce an amazing 224 million KWh per year, the equivalent of 75,000 homes.

Among the highlights from the week in wonk was our first “Wonk of the Week” post, featuring an interview with renowned author and activist Bill McKibben. Topics included his new project, the 350 Campaign, as well his thoughts on the ongoing presidential race.