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6.The Top 10 Green-Tech Breakthroughs of 2008

Green technology was hot in 2008. Barack Obama won the presidential election promising green jobs to Rust Belt workers. Investors poured $5 billion into the sector just through the first nine months of the year. And even Texas oilmen like T. Boone Pickens started pushing alternative energy as a replacement for fossil fuels like petroleum, coal and natural gas.

But there's trouble on the horizon. The economy is hovering somewhere between catatonic and hebephrenic, and funding for the big plans that green tech companies laid in 2008 might be a lot harder to come by in 2009. Recessions haven't always been the best times for environmentally friendly technologies as consumers and corporations cut discretionary spending on ethical premiums.

Still, green technology and its attendant infrastructure are probably the best bet to drag the American economy out of the doldrums. So, with the optimism endemic to the Silicon Valley region, we present you with the Top 10 Green Tech Breakthroughs of 2008, alternatively titled, The Great Green Hope.

10. THE ISLAND OF THE SOLAR

With money flowing like milk and honey in the land of solar technology, all sorts of schemers and dreamers came streaming into the area. One Swiss researcher, Thomas Hinderling, wants to build solar islands several miles across that he claims can produce hundreds of megawatts of relatively inexpensive power. Though most clean tech advocates question the workability of the scheme, earlier this year, Hinderling's company Centre Suisse d'Electronique et de Microtechnique received $5 million from the Ras al Khaimah emirate of the United Arab Emirates to start construction on a prototype facility, shown above, in that country. (Image: Centre Suisse d'Electronique et de Microtechnique)

9. NEW MATERIALS CAGE CARBON

Carbon capture and sequestration has a seductively simple appeal: We generate carbon dioxide emissions by burning geology — coal and oil — so to fix the problem, we should simply capture it and inject it back into the ground.

It turns out, however, that it's not quite so simple. Aside from finding the right kind of empty spaces in the earth's crust and the risks that the CO2 might leak, the biggest problem with the scheme is finding a material that could selectively snatch the molecule out of the hot mess of gases going up the flues of fossil fuel plants.

That's where two classes of special cage-like molecules come into play, ZIFs and amines. This year, Omar Yaghi, a chemist at UCLA, announced a slough of new CO2-capturing ZIFs and Chris Jones, a chemical engineer at Georgia Tech, reported that he'd made a new amine that seems particularly well-suited to working under real-world condition. Both materials could eventually make capturing CO2 easier -- and therefore, more cost effective.

Perhaps better still, Yaghi's lab's technique also defined a new process for quickly creating new ZIFs with the properties that scientists — and coal-plant operators — want. Some of their crystals are shown in the image above. (Image: Omar Yaghi and Rahul Banerjee/UCLA)

8. GREEN TECH LEGISLATION GETS REAL

On the federal and state levels, several historic actions put the teeth into green tech bills passed over the last few years. A review committee of the EPA effectively froze coal plant construction, a boon to alternative energy (though earlier this month the EPA ignored the committee's ruling and it is unclear how the issue will be settled). In California, the state unveiled and approved its plan to regulate carbon dioxide emissions, which could be a model for a nationwide system. Combined with the green-energy tax credits in the $700-billion bailout bill, the government did more for green tech in 2008 than in whole decades in the past. 

7. THE CATALYST THAT COULD ENABLE SOLAR

In July, MIT chemist Daniel Nocera announced that he'd created a catalyst that could drop the cost of extracting the hydrogen and oxygen from water.

Combined with cheap photovoltaic solar panels (like Nanosolar's), the system could lead to inexpensive, simple systems that use water to store the energy from sunlight. In the process, the scientists may have cleared the major roadblock on the long road to fossil fuel independence: Reducing the on-again, off-again nature of many renewable power sources.

"You've made your house into a fuel station," Daniel Nocera, a chemistry professor at MIT told Wired.com. "I've gotten rid of all the goddamn grids."

The catalyst enables the electrolysis system to function efficiently at room temperature and at ordinary pressure. Like a reverse fuel cell, it splits water into oxygen and hydrogen. By recombining the molecules with a standard fuel cell, the O2 and H2 could then be used to generate energy on demand.

6. PICKENS PLAN PUSHES POWER PLAYS INTO AMERICAN MAINSTREAM

Texas oilman T. Boone Pickens might be a lot of things, but environmentalist he is not. That's why his support for a nationwide network of wind farms generated so much excitement. While his solution for transportation, natural gas vehicles, may not pan out, his Pickens Plan is the most visible alternative energy plan out there and it began to channel support from outside coastal cities for finding new sources of energy.

Of course, no one said Pickens is stupid. If his plan was adopted and major investments in transmission infrastructure were made, his wind energy investments would stand to benefit.

5. SOLAR THERMAL PLANTS RETURN TO THE DESERTS

When most people think of harnessing the sun's power, they imagine a solar photovoltatic panel, which directly converts light from the sun into electricity. But an older technology emerged as a leading city-scale power technology in 2008: solar thermal. Companies like Ausra, BrightSource, eSolar, Solel, and a host of others are using sunlight-reflecting mirrors to turn liquids into steam, which can drive a turbine in the same way that coal-fired power plants make electricity. 

Two companies, BrightSource and Ausra, debuted their pilot plants. They mark the first serious solar thermal experimentation in the United States since the 1980s. BrightSource's Israeli demo plant is shown above. (Image: BrightSource)

4. OBAMA PICKS A GREEN TECH EXPERT TO HEAD DOE

President-elect Barack Obama ran on the promise of green jobs and an economic stimulus package that would provide support for scientific innovation. Then, Obama picked Steven Chu, a Nobel-prize winning physicist, to head the Department of Energy. Chu had been focused on turning Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory into an alternative-energy powerhouse. The green tech community rejoiced that one of their own would be in the White House.

That's because green tech is going to need some help. With the world economy falling into recession, the price of oil has dropped, even though there are serious concerns about the long-term oil supply. When energy prices drop, clean tech investments don't seem quite as attractive, and the renascent industry could be in trouble. It's happened before, after all.

Back in the '70s, geopolitical events sent the price of oil soaring, which, as it tends to, created a boom in green tech. But the early 1980s saw the worst recession since the Depression. Sound familiar? In the poor economic climate, focus and funds were shifted away from green tech. The last nail in the coffin was the election of Ronald Reagan, who immediately pulled off the solar panels Jimmy Carter had placed on the White House. The green tech industry collapsed.

History has given U.S. alternative energy research a second chance and environmental advocates hope that a different president will lead to a very different result. (Image: DOE)

3. SOLAR CELL PRODUCTION GETS BIG, GIGA(WATT)BIG

Every clean tech advocate's dream is a power-generating technology that could compete head-to-head with coal, the cheapest fossil fuel, on price alone. Nanosolar, one of a new generation of companies building solar panels out of cheap plastics, could be the first company to get there. Early this year, the company officially opened its one-gigawatt production facility, which is many times the size of most previous solar facilities.

Nanosolar, in other words, has found a process that can scale: it works as well in production as it does in the lab. That's the main reason that the company has picked up half-a-billion dollars in funding from investors like MDV's Erik Straser.

"[It's the] first time in industry a single tool with a 1GW throughput," Straser wrote in an e-mail. "It's a key part of how the company is achieving grid parity with coal."

2. PROJECT BETTER PLACE FINDS HOMES
Green technologies are dime a dozen, but a business model that could allow an entirely new, green infrastructure to be built is a rare thing.

Doing just that is the centerpiece of Sun Microsystems' SAP veteran Shai Agassi's vision for Project Better Place, a scheme that would distribute charging and swappable battery stations throughout smallish geographies like Israel, Hawaii and San Francisco. So far, there's very little steel in the ground, but in early December, the company's first charging location opened in Tel Aviv, Israel. Agassi's plan is one of several projects — like new biofuels rail terminals — that could create fundamentally new energy ecosystems.

Some of these systems, however, are actually throwbacks to earlier eras. As Peter Shulman, a historian of technology at Case Western Reserve University, likes to remind his students: in the early 20th century, before the Model T, one-third of all cars were electric. (Image: Joe Puglies/WIRED)                                                                          

1. CALERA'S GREEN CEMENT DEMO PLANT OPENS

Cement? With all the whiz bang technologies in green technology, cement seems like an odd pick for our top clean technology of the year. But here's the reason: making cement — and many other materials — takes a lot of heat and that heat comes from fossil fuels.

Calera's technology, like that of many green chemistry companies, works more like Jell-O setting. By employing catalysis instead of heat, it reduces the energy cost per ton of cement. And in this process, CO2 is an input, not an output. So, instead of producing a ton of carbon dioxide per ton of cement made — as is the case with old-school Portland cement — half a ton of carbon dioxide can be sequestered.

With more than 2.3 billion tons of cement produced each year, reversing the carbon-balance of the world's cement would be a solution that's the scale of the world's climate change problem.

6. What is a Netbook?

A netbook (a portmanteau of Internet and notebook) is a class of laptop computer designed for wireless communication and access to the Internet.^[1]

Primarily designed for web browsing and e-mailing, netbooks rely heavily on the Internet for remote access to web-based applications"^[2] and are targeted increasingly at cloud computing users who require a less powerful client computer.^[3] Netbooks typically run either Linux or Windows XP operating systems^[2] rather than more resource-intensive operating systems like Windows Vista.^[4] The devices range in size from below 5 inches^[5] to over 13,^[6] typically weigh 2 to 3 pounds (~1 kg) and are often significantly cheaper than general purpose laptops.

7. What is IVF – In Vitro Fertilization?

In Vitro Fertilization Pre-Embryo Transfer (IVF-ET) is a fertility procedure which first succeeded as recently as 1978 by Dr. Edwards (an embryologist) and Dr. Steptoe (a gynecologist) in England. Since then the technology has been further refined and developed by physicians and embryologists, with over 20,000 babies born worldwide.

In Vitro Fertilization Pre-Embryo Transfer (IVF-ET) is a fertility procedure which first succeeded as recently as 1978 by Dr. Edwards (an embryologist) and Dr. Steptoe (a gynecologist) in England. Since then the technology has been further refined and developed by physicians and embryologists, with over 20,000 babies born worldwide.

8. What are the services of Department of Science and Technology (DOST) in the Philippines

The .gov.ph domain is being managed by the Advanced Science and Technology Institute (ASTI), a research and development agency under the Department of Science and Technology (DOST). To subscribe for a .gov.ph domain, please access the .gov.ph Domain Registry Site (http://dns.gov.ph). Instructions and requirements to subscribe for a .gov.ph domain is posted on said site.

The Philippine eLib is a collaborative project of the National Library of the Philippines (NLP), University of the Philippines (UP), Department of Science and Technology (DOST), Department of Agriculture (DA), and the Commission on Higher Education (CHED).

The eTRC-elibrary is an internet-based computerized system tool to promote entrepreneurship by providing access to a wide range of technology, business and livelihood information as well as other vital requirements in establishing a business.

With the current thrust of TRC leadership to make it a centerpiece program, TRC has engaged in the enhancement of the eTRC to modify its components and to make it more user-friendly and easy to use. With the enhancements, anybody can access TRC's technology multimedia clips, in addition to the full text of its business and technology print materials using its Prepaid System facility.

In cooperation with private business partners and entities, standard training sessions are conducted, both at the center’s training facility and those of the clients.

science.ph. is more than just a story of information service initiative. It is a story of passion and commitment to public service. We are offering this site to our clients: the scientists, the researchers, the entrepreneurs, the academe, the industry – SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY INFORMATION INSTITUTE of the Department of Science and Technology is proud to present the first online access to S & T information resources in the Philippines.

The DOST Science and Technology Information Network of the Philippines (ScINET-PHIL) is a consortium of libraries and information centers of the 20 agencies under the Department of Science and Technology (DOST). It aims to organize and coordinate the information sourcing and sharing in the DOST system. Its general objective is to promote and improve the flow and use of science and technology (S&T) information through resource sharing and networking.

Tests, Analyses and Calibration Information System (TACIS) is an E-Government project funded by the Commision on Information and Communication Technology (CICT). It is an integrated information system that aims to enhance the operational capability of the DOST's testing, analysis and calibration services. It will provide interactive services to immediately address the queries and concerns of the clients through the Internet on a 24/7 basis. It will also facilitate the processing of information to expedite the generation of test reports and calibration services.

9. What are the Agencies of DOST

Philippine Council for Aquatic Marine Research and Development (PCAMRD)
	-	Philippine Council for Agriculture, Forestry and Natural Resources Research and Development (PCARRD)
	-	Philippine Council for Advanced Science and Technology Research and Development (PCASTRD)
	-	Philippine Council for Health Research and Development (PCHRD)
	-	Philippine Council for Industry and Energy Research and Development (PCIERD)

Who is the Secretary of the Department of Science and Technology?

A flag of many colors, that is how Department of Science and Technology Secretary Estrella Alabastro describes biotechnology during the opening of the National Biotechnology Week (NBW) Nov 24 at the Institute for Small Scale Industries in UP Diliman.

“If we could weave a flag for biotechnology, it would have three colors,” says Sec. Alabastro. “Red for medical, green for agricultural, and white for industrial applications.”  More colors may be added over time as the environmental, marine, and other biotechnology applications add their stripes, she tells.

Sec. Alabastro’s multi-color description of biotechnology stems from its being a multi-disciplinary science, cutting across various fields such as health and medicine, agriculture, marine, industry, and environment.

This year’s celebration of the NBW highlights 17 biotechnology products locally developed by scientists  from various research organizations such as UP Los Baños, UP Diliman, Philippine Coconut Authority, Central Luzon State University, Philippine Rice Research Institute, Philippine Carabao Center, and the Department of Science and Technology.

Sec.Alabastro underscores the importance of NBW as a venue to continuously learn from experiences of researchers and open channels of communication about new issues and their implications. “Biotechnology’s future will be bright as it continues to draw strength from diverse contributions. Its flag of many colors will continue to reflect the hues and patterns of many disciplines,” Sec. Alabastro says.

Other biotech products already developed by local scientists include biofertilizers, ethanol-production-inducing bacteria, and micronutrient enhancement products. As early as 1998, high-level biotechnology researches started, such as transgenic papaya, banana resistant to banana bunchy top virus, papaya resistant to papaya ringspot virus, delayed ripening of papaya and mango, Bt corn, marker-assisted breeding in coconut, and coconut with high lauric acid content.

Proclamation No. 1414 signed by Pres. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo Nov. 9 last year declared the last week of November of every year as “National Biotechnology Week” in a bid to arouse greater public awareness, education and understanding of biotechnology, including its many responsible applications. The government also takes the NBW celebration as an opportunity to increase awareness on the regulation of the new technology. (Framelia V. Anonas, S&T Media Service)