Green
Building a Smarter Grid
More than 60,000 electricitycustomers in the Pacific Northwest will soon take part in a new effort tocreate a regional “smart grid” for power distribution. The customers will testnew combinations of devices, software and advanced analytical tools that willhelp enhance the power grid’s integration, reliability and performance. And theTri-Cities will be one of the centers of…
Stirring Up Scum
What was once considered an environmental menace and a slimy annoyance is now being touted as a potential treasure. Algae has been identified as a prospective third-generation biofuel and, in the past few years, has caught the attention of many Washington companies hoping to decrease the world’s carbon footprint. Blue Marble Energy CEO and President…
Spokane-built Electric Car Gets Plug from Leno
Jay Leno test drives the Tango, an unusuall looking electric vehicle produced by Spokane-based Commuter Cars and gives it a nice plug. Check out Leno’s video here. The car, developed by Spokane care designer Rick Woodbury, is only wide enough for one passenger in the front and a second passenger in the back. But it’s…
Seattle algae startups join together and bloom
Two Seattle-based companies using algae to create biofuels, chemicals and other products have formed a partnership. Blue Marble Energy will produce “high margin biochemicals” from algae supplied by Bionavitas of Redmond. Earlier this year, Bionavitas unveiled a new method to increase algae yields by placing light rods deep into algae pools.
Klickitat Co. wind project nets $178 million
Windy Point Partners II LLC, a wind energy project near Goldendale, has received a $178 million investment from Siemens Financial Services to purchase more Siemens turbines and recapitalize its debt. Windy Point is being developed by Cannon Power Corp. of San Diego.
Back to the Soil
Dan Wolf’s neighbors have been laughing at him since 1997. That’s when he stopped plowing his wheat fields on the Palouse and started growing no-till crops. “I was tired of watching all the dirt run down the creek,” Wolf says. But nowadays, some of the locals’ chatter has died down. Wolf’s shaggy-looking fields produce the…
The Top 25 Innovators & Entrepreneurs
Innovation is like a flu virus. Once someone catches it, it spreads, mutates, until eventually it touches everyone. Some get the bug more seriously than others, but no one can deny its existence. Washington state caught the bug years ago when Bill Boeing decided to build new flying machines in Seattle. But more recently, a…
The 2009 Green Washington Awards
There are many ways to be green, but none of them are easy. For most businesses, being green is about cutting production waste, conserving resources and, above all, saving money. Others see green as a sure-fire marketing tool to build trust with consumers and strengthen a brand. For nonprofits and governments, the green movement is…
Talking Points: Jay Manning
Jay Manning, director of the Washington State Department of Ecology, developed an interest in environmental protection after watching the forests of his native south Kitsap County get carved up into subdivisions. First as an attorney and now as a civil servant, he has worked with the business community to achieve environmental objectives. Jay Manning, director…
Certifying Green
A host of companies around the world claim to offer quality, environmentally-friendly products. But how do you separate truth from propaganda? GreenCupboards.com has one answer. Spokane-based GreenCupboards.com puts green household products through a thorough evaluation and awards the best candidates with its own certification, similar to a Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval, then sells them…
Getting On Board With Transit Development
When Matt Griffin moved into Seattles Seaboard Building at Fourth Avenue and Pike Street in 2001, he and his partner owned a sports car and Jeep. Today, they are carless. They spend up to $1,000 a year on bus and taxi fares, but thats a small fraction of what it costs to own a car….
Green Footprint: Top Office Energy Busters
Not long ago, the concept of a green office was mainly considered a public relations mattersomething warm and fuzzy to appease the tree-huggers but not really a fundamental change in business practice. That was before businesses got a rude awakening this fall in the form of a Wall Street implosion and fears of a worldwide…