Top Stories

Rebel without a car?—reliability medium.
Between January and August, J.D. Power and Associates analyzed hundreds of thousands of conversations on auto-related sites such as Autoblog, personal blogs, Twitter and Facebook to gauge the attitudes of Generation Y toward cars and the auto industry. "Online discussions by teens indicate shifts in perceptions regarding the necessity of and desire to have cars." "The negative perceptions of the automotive industry that teens and early careerists hold could have implications on future vehicle sales." "In Japan, the first major developed country to actually experience a decline in car ownership, disinterest among young people in owning cars — especially in urban areas such as Tokyo — is cited as one of the factors behind 'demotorization.'"  "Of course, there's always China . . . ." See Los Angeles Times Up To Speed blog.

Report: one in five US jobs to turn green.—reliability high.
"One in every five US jobs could be green by 2030, according to a major new report published last week by the American Solar Energy Society (ASES) that estimates the emerging energy efficiency and renewable energy (EE&RE) industries could employ 37 million people over the next two decades." From Business Green. Access report here. [Interesting finding: more than 75% of the net new jobs are created by energy efficiency activities, with jobs in wind, solar, biofuels, biomass, and geothermal together accounting for the rest. By far the most net new jobs are created in construction, more than ten times as many as in, for example, car manufacturing.]

Companies, Industries, Markets and Supply Chains

The Tiny Leader of the Pack.—reliability high.
"As the whole automotive world seems to be racing suddenly toward the age of electricity, the Reva Electric Car Company is in the lead, ahead of better-known local competitors like Tata Motors and global giants like General Motors and Toyota. . . . Reva has more all-electric vehicles on the road than any other company, but it still has a long haul before it can make the vehicles marketable for the masses." Its Reva i (G-Wiz) is being retired and replaced with city car NXR, which will meet European safety regulations, seat four and travel up to 100 miles on a full battery charge, at speeds of up to 65 k/h. More about the company. From The New York Times.

Abengoa Solar to Supply PG&E From 250 MW in Mojave Desert.—reliability high.
PG&E has agreed to buy 600 GWh of power per year from a 250 MW solar thermal plant to be built in the California Mojave Desert by the U.S. division of Abengoa. See CleanTechnica.

Sustainable Minds Releases New, Web-Based Life Cycle Assessment Software.—reliability high.
"Software and information services company Sustainable Minds has debuted its life cycle assessment (LCA) software, a Web-based program intended to help companies make greener design choices and understand the impacts of products and their parts." "The software is optimized for household appliances, housewares, consumer electronics, industrial and commercial equipment, and outdoor and sporting equipment." "The program costs $700 for a single user annual subscription and includes software and data updates. " See GreenBiz.

IBM Announces Major New Study on the Future of the Trucking Industry.—reliability high.
"IBM is announcing a major new study on the future of the trucking industry. Truck 2020 says that some of the traditional reasons for fleet purchases – such as the brand name of the truck – have gone out the window, and now there is incredible pressure for hybridization of trucks, which can cut costs and pollution. For example: 10,000 hybrid trucks on the road would reduce diesel fuel use by 7.2 million gallons per year and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 83,000 tons. Available video includes a narrated package on the trucking industry and animation footage on the hybridization of trucks." Video clips. From The News Market. PDF of study here.


Valley farmers look to solar power.—reliability high.
Solar installer Cenergy Power recently broke ground on a 540-kilowatt system at Minturn Huller in Chowchilla, an almond huller and sheller coop. The cooperative hopes the system will reduce its $45,000 to $50,000 a month electric bill by 20%. The cost of the $3.2 million system will be offset with a $1 million federal grant and a $600,000 rebate from Pacific Gas & Electric. It will be owned by Cenergy and Minturn has an option to buy it after seven years. See Fresno Bee.

Carvico chooses Biophyl for sustainable swimwear.—reliability high.
"Italian textile manufacturer Carvico has launched a new warp knitted fabric made with Advansa’s Biophyl, which will also be labelled with Carvico’s 'Green Vision' marque, a scheme showing how the company is striving to reduce its environmental impact." "The latest Biophyl range of fibres and yarns from Advansa are made with polyethylene terephthalate (PTT), a special polyester-like polymer, where the petroleum-based glycol is replaced with sucrose from corn." "Around 37% of the polymer used in Biophyl consists of this renewable raw material. Compared to nylon, which is often used in swimwear, the CO2 output associated with the production of the polymer is up to 63% lower." From EcoTextile News.

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