The Solar Impulse took off on its first test flight from Payerne field in Switzerland Wednesday, reaching an altitude of 975 meters (3,199 feet) and maximum speed of 45.9 kph (28.5 mph).  The plane’s wingspan is  63.4 m (208 ft).
Bertrand Piccard, the aviation pioneer who, with Brian Jones, completed the first non-stop circumnavigation of the globe by balloon in 1999, is the creative force behind this solar-powered venture.

UPS announced announced Monday that it was deploying 200 new hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) to the streets of Austin, Houston, Philadelphia, Chicago, Washington, D.C., Long Island, Minneapolis and Louisville. UPS already has 50 HEVs on the road in Atlanta, Dallas, Houston and Phoenix.
The new trucks will feature the same body and will appear identical to the iconic brown truck on the roads today, except for additional labeling identifying the truck as hybrids.
According to UPS senior vice president, Bob Stoffel, commenting on the advantages of hybrid technology said, …

The Bloom box verses solar — what are your thoughts when you compare the two videos?

Environmentalists and the media are enamored with the idea of renewable technology. Solar technology, in particular, has exciting possibilities. But, with a bit more research, two major problems with solar tech solutions quickly become evident.

Codexis Inc., a Redwood City, CA biotech company, filed a registration statement on Monday for an initial public offering to raise up to $100 million.
Codexis develops “biocatalysts that make industrial processes faster, cleaner and more efficient than current processes.”  The company focuses on the conversion of renewable resources into biofuels and pharmaceuticals. It partners with Shell, Merck, Pfizer and Teva. Pfizer uses Codexis’s technology to produce Lipitor® (for which Codexis won the EPA Green Chemistry Award in 2006).
This is not the first time Codexis entered into the IPO world. …

‘Tis the season for lists — the Top Ten — and even “green” was given a list this year — for sustainable building, transportation, and socially conscious green companies.
But first, here is an interesting video made a few years ago that is both humorous and thought-provoking.  It will be an interesting comparison.

The Department of Energy awarded  $338 million to geothermal energy projects Thursday.
In making the awards, Secretary Chu stated “The United States is blessed with vast geothermal energy resources, which hold enormous potential to heat our homes and power our economy.”
Russell Gold of the WSJ noted that the “usual geothermal suspects” fared well under the new DOE awards.  Ormat Technologies and AltaRock Energy (which we wrote about here ) are two high profile geothermal beneficiaries.
Other big names companies sharing in the DOE grant money include: GE, Honeywell, Johnson Controls, Baker …

What is happening with the global warming debate?  It seems to be taking a rather cutting rhetorical turn.  Here are a few views that just surfaced today in the news, although the speech was from several days ago. In an effort to publish two sides of a story, here is Lord Monckton.

Cape Wind, the first offshore wind farm proposed in the United States, has met with, and overcome many obstacles since it was proposed eight years ago, including well-funded NIMBY groups and powerful politicians.
Now two Indian tribes are trying to stop the project by having the Nantucket Sound listed on the National Register as a “Traditional Cultural Property.”
The tribes, the Mashpee Wampanoag and the Wampanoag of Gay Head, have brought their action under Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) claiming that the wind farm will interfere with their view …