Green Career Central Blog

Green Career Tip - Rebuilding Greensburg, KS: A Look at an Emerging Green Economy

Have you heard about Greensburg, Kansas?

This community had an unusual opportunity to rebuild from the ground up after being flattened by a tornado.

The community’s journey provides an amazing glimpse into what happens as a community makes the decision to go green and acts on their plan.

Read or listen to this article to learn about their process, and the green jobs involved, in this unique insight into the green economy.

Follow the Green Money: LS9 Gets $25 Million, DOE Loan for $525 to Fisker Auto, Serious Materials Collects $60 Million

LS9 (based in South San Francisco) has received $25 million to continue its research into using e.coli bacteria that has been genetically modified to make diesel from various forms of biomass. (They have job openings.)

The Department of Energy has given a conditional loan guarantee of $528 million to Fisker Automotive to build an affordable plug-in hybrid vehicle in the U.S. The car, named the Nina, is expected to be in showrooms by 2012.

Based in Sunnyvale, CA, Serious Materials has collected $60 million from investors to continue its operations.  Serious Materials manufactures glass, windows and sheet rock that all help to reduce the amount of energy used by buildings.

The National Parks: America's Best Idea, a 6-part PBS TV Series Beginning Sunday

Noted film maker Ken Burns and PBS have teamed up to produce "The National Parks: America's Best Idea," a six episode series beginning Sunday night September 27 at 8pm ET/PT.  The show will cover the history of the National Parks, the people that played a pivotal role in shaping national parks as well as the incredible scenic wonders the National Park Service conserves and protects. 

One of the major points of the film is how a youthful democracy chose to make the country's pristine places available to all the world rather than turning them into gated communities of exclusive homes or outdoor theme parks. In so doing, they put millions of people to work, during the Great Depression, to renovate the parks we continue to enjoy today.

Be prepared to be inspired! Enjoy the series.

Green Career Trends: Solar City Builds Electric Car Charging Station, Employer Gives Employees a Free Commuter Bicycle, Microgrids Growing Within Smartgrid

Residential and commercial solar panel installer Solar City (based in Foster City,CA) has built a charging station in Santa Maria, CA for Tesla electric vehicles (and any other cars that are compatible) with plans to build 3 more stations between San Francisco and Los Angeles allowing drivers to cover the distance more easily. Also, Lotus Engineering has built a prototype 1.2 liter gas engine designed just for series plug-in hybrid cars.  The engine would only recharge on-board batteries.

When considering your next employer, you may want to ask if they offer a free bicycle as part of their benefits package.  Standing Stone Brewery (based in Ashland, OR) has given a free bicycle to any employee that will use it for at least 45 commutes a year.  By using the Business Energy Tax Credit provided by the state of Oregon, Standing Stone was able to lower the price of the new bicycles to about $300 each.  Reduced carbon emissions, improved employee productivity, increased customer satisfaction, greater public relations and reduced health premiums are just some of the benefits of this program.  Cheers!

To reduce the problems from cascading electrical power failures, microgrids are being created as one solution.  As the name implies, microgrids are electrical grids within the total grid.  Microgrids can have their own renewable electrical generation and distribution system area that the total grid may see as just one customer.  They can also purchase power from the larger grid at optimal times if needed and store their own energy when they have abundance.  Look for military bases, university campuses, business parks and municipalities to be the early adopters.

Green Career Tip - Moving from the Electric Grid to the Smart Grid: What You Need to Know Now

Does the energy grid baffle you? In this week's article, Carol helps you understand the basics with fabulous maps from NPR, and shows you ways delve deeper for more information.

Our current electrical supply system is a collection of regional networks that were built to generate, transmit, and distribute power from fossil fuels and river dams.  As more and more power comes from renewable energy sources, the grid must be updated to transmit and distribute power from different areas in the country and different kinds of power generation systems.

Read or listen to this week's tip and get informed on the grid!

Follow the Green Money: DOE to Award $14.6 Million, GreenBytes Receives $8 Million, Rennovia Raises $6 Million

The Department of Energy is funding 22 projects in the hydro power area with a total of $14.6 million.  New marine, hydrokenitic, research and conventional hydro power plants will be the recipients. The Electric Power Research Institute (based in Palo Alto, CA.) will receive $1.5 million.  (They have job openings in several U.S. cities from student to senior level)

GreenBytes Inc.(based in Ashaway, RI) has received $8 million from Battery Ventures.  GreenBytes provides data storage devices that are energy efficient and perform de-duplication services. (They have job openings.)

Rennovia (based in Menlo Park, CA) has raised $6 million to continue research into making chemicals from renewable biofeed stocks.  The $6 million is the first phase of raising $12 million.

Green Career Trends: Turning Biomass Into Useful Chemicals, New Lightbulbs- ESL's, IBM's Water Management Tools

Segetis (based in Minneapolis, MN) is a company that has found a way to take biomass from wood pulp, corn stover, palm fronds or even mixed municipal waste and create a chemical, levulinic ketal, that can then be made into other chemicals that are currently derived from oil and natural gas. (They have job openings.) Other companies in the same arena, turning biomass into useful chemicals, include Genomatica, OPX Biotechnologies, and Nature Works.

Electron Stimulated Luminescence or ESL light bulbs are the product of VU1 (based in Seattle, WA).  ESL bulbs do not contain the mercury amounts that Compact Florescence Light-bulbs (CFL) do, nor do they create as much heat as Light Emitting Diode (LED) bulbs do, they can last about 6,000 hours and match current incandescent bulbs in light color.  The price of the bulbs for in-ceiling canisters is expected to be around $20.  The company is working on other size and shape bulbs also.

There are those who are now using the term "peak water" to describe the human use and misuse of water, and others such as IBM that are creating ways for homeowners in Dubuque, Iowa to monitor their water usage.  In the near future companies may need to know their "water footprint" and how to reduce its size. 

Green Career Tip - Why We Need a Green Revolution: Insights and Opinions of Thomas Friedman

Are you looking for inspiration to make green changes now?

Last weekend my husband and I went to see Thomas Friedman, a best selling author and NY Times columnist speak about his most recent book, Hot, Flat and Crowded: Why We Need a Green Revolution - and How It Can Renew America.

This week's tip discusses the premise of Friedman's new book and some actions you can take to support the green revolution.

If we all start now, we have just enough time to solve this.

Read or listen to this article to learn how you can help revive America and save the planet.

Free Webinar with Daniel Goleman, Sept. 21, 2009

 

Daniel Goleman, author of Emotional Intelligence and former NY Times science reporter, will lead a live streaming webinar on the hidden environmental consequences of consumerism on our planet from his new book, Ecological Intelligence, on September 21, from 1:30 – 2:45 p.m. EDT (10:30 -11:45 Pacific DT).  This webinar is free and open to the public. To attend, you must register by September 18th.

• To register for the live webinar streamed on Transitioning to Green website, go to: http://transitioningtogreen.com/index.php/learning-and-development/webinars/sign-up  or email golemanevent@transitioningtogreen.com

 

This  webinar presentation will only be available live on September 21, from 1:30 to 2:45 PM on the Transitioning to Green Website. It will not be archived on the Transitioning to Green website.

About Daniel Goleman

Daniel Goleman is an internationally known psychologist who reported on the brain and behavioral sciences for The New York Times for many years. Daniel Goleman’s best-known book, Emotional Intelligence, has been published in 40 languages and became a worldwide best-seller. His articles on leadership are in Harvard Business Review’s “top must-reads.” His latest book, Ecological Intelligence argues that a coming wave of information systems will create marketplace transparency about the true ecological impacts of consumer products. This ecological awareness will create a market-driven mechanism that rewards companies best able to innovate and reinvent, making sustainability central to business strategy. TIME Magazine featured Ecological Intelligence on its cover as one of “Ten Ideas Changing Our World.”

 Transitioning To Green is a professional association dedicated to helping individuals and organizations make the transition to the new green economy. Spearheaded by Jeana Wirtenberg, Ph.D., co-founder of the Institute for Sustainable Enterprise and lead author of The Sustainable Enterprise Fieldbook: When It all Comes Together. 

 

 A Transitioning To Green Forum will be held at Fairleigh Dickinson University on October 4^rd. For more information log onto www.transitioningtogreen.com.
 

Follow the Green Money: Woodpellets.com Secures $11 million, Westly Group Raises $100 million, Hara Receives $14 million

WoodPellets.com (based in Goffstown NH) has secured $11 million to continue development and expansion.  They believe their system of home delivery will make them cost competitive with heating oil as long as the price of a barrel of oil remains between $60 - $70.  The wood used in the pellets is either discarded or sustainably harvested. Burning it reduces the amount of methane that would be released if the wood were sent to a landfill.  European utilities are looking at wood pellets to meet renewable energy requirements. 

Founder of the Westly Group, Steve Westly, announced that he has raised $100 million to invest in a variety of clean tech, electric car, smart grid, green building materials and recycling start-up companies.

Hara (based in Menlo Park, CA) has received $14 million to continue its development of software solutions for companies and muncipalities to handle their energy, resource, waste, carbon inputs and outputs.  Current customers include Coca-Cola, Brocade, Aerojet and the cities of Palo Alto and San Jose, CA. (They have openings in engineering, marketing and sales.)