More SmartGrid consolidation

Sigma buys Z-Wave

Surprise. Surprise. There has been more consolidation in the smart grid segment, as Sigma Designs is seeking to buy Zensys.

According to Greentech, "Zensys is the primary driver behind Z-Wave, a wireless, energy-efficient protocol that allows lights, appliances, security cameras, thermostats and other devices to talk to each other. Z-Wave is a single chip solution and is cheaper than competing technologies like ZigBee and WiFi, say advocates."

Converted Organics: Growing Trash into profits

Turning trash into cash

Nice CNBC video piece on Converted Organics. Converted Organics turns food waste into organic fertilizer and is proving that waste doesn't have to be wasteful - at least not as wasteful.

Any green shopping in your town?

Clean and green clothing

I'm in LaCrosse, WI on my way to Madison, WI for work. Since there was a Crazy Day's event going on, I thought I'd do a little green shopping. To my surprise, green clothing was quite easy to find. Organic cotton, hemp and recycled fabrics were pretty easy to find. Kudos to the Simply Living store and Three Rivers Outdoors.

I live in Los Angeles, but hang out regularly in Pasadena, yet outside of Patagonia, green shopping seems easier here in LaCrosse than in Pasadena.

Rate your town's green shopping.

New book explores why corporations should go green

Pollution just isn't sustainable

CIO Insight has a review of the The Necessary Revolution: How Individuals and Organizations Are Working Together to Create a Sustainable World, a book which advocates the "regenerative economy" which argues that future corporate profits will be dependent on a companies ability to perfect green practices and to incorporate those into their businesses.

"What is required today is a new way of thinking about facing these business risks head-on, and finding the opportunities on the other side of those risks."

Solar brewed beer

Is your favorite brewery solar powered?

I'm a hop head, which means IPA's are one of my favorite varieties of beer, and one of the best is Anderson Valley Brewing Company's Hop 'Ottin IPA, possibly the hoppiest IPA I've ever tasted. The other day I picked up a 6-pack of this tasty brew and their bottle cap states that the brewery is now solar powered. Great beer brewed with green energy, what more can you ask for? More on Anderson Valley.

Hotel Terra: Jackson Hole's Hot New Green Hotel?

A top new green hotel?

This morning on CNBC, PowerLunch focused on the best new hotels with Travel and Leisure magazine. One of the hotels covered was the Hotel Terra in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, which Travel and Leisure called one of the best new green hotels. Hotel Terra was built with a premium on energy efficiency, such as insulation, ultra efficient windows and other green building techniques. Additionally, the hotel uses as many green products as possible, such as organic cotton towels and linens.

Greenwashing gauge for green investors

What makes a green company?

That's the question that ClimateCounts.org tries to ask of today's companies. During CNBC's green week, ClimateCounts was featured on The Color of Money. ClimateCounts surveys indicate that Canon, Nike, IBM, Toshiba, and Unilever are some of the top green companies. On the other hand, both Google and especially Apple, rate very low. Likewise, the fast food segment is also very bad.

More on green investing.

Can trash be turned into cash

Can you make money off recycling?

OK, I'm not talking about saving your beer cans, although considering how many people fight for my beer cans on trash day, that might not be a bad idea!

Anyway, CNBC has been focusing on a number of companies going green by turning trash into cash. For example, Copart, Inc recycles cars. On the other hand, Waste Management isn't just finding "higher margins and higher returns on capital" by turning trash into methane, which saves millions of barrels of oil, but the company is hoping to create an "environmental closed-loop methane-to-diesel program" where all garbage trucks would be powered by the trash they pick up.

More green investing.

Green Dell better than Apple

To be the most environmentally-friendly company

Apple is a fantastic company, as long as 'being green' isn't one of your decision-making factors. In fact, Apple is considered by many to be terribly ungreen.

On the other hand, Michael Dell is out to make Dell the most environmentally-friendly, green computer business. Not only is the computer maker reducing factory energy consumption, for example, it's also focusing on creating ever-more environmentally friendly products. For example, Dell's Energy Smart Servers might cost an additional $100, but they can save up to $200.00 per year in energy costs.

Dell, the only computer company to offer free computer recycling for consumers, will be launching some hot new green products later this year. Stay tuned.....

Disney Nature: Greenwashing?

Stick with the classics, like Bambi?

Disney used this year's Earth Day to build hype around its Disney Nature - a new brand that will cross all Disney channels. No doubt green is in, and many companies are using any spin they can find to appear green. Unfortunately, most companies are just greenwashing their true impact on the world.

Nonetheless, I think Disney Nature will be worth watching. I hope it also leads to more green action from the company.

Portfolio's Toxic Ten Companies

Ford slammed for failing to meet its hybrid promise

Portfolio.com highlights 10 American corporations that should be doing better regarding the environment. The list, in no particular order, includes Ford, J.R. Simplot Co., Cargill, Boeing, Apple, Southern Co., American Electric Power, Massey Energy, Chevron, and Alcoa.

Nice job guys!!

If green tech is so great, why does it need subsidies?

Securing foreign oil dependency isn't a subsidy?

I was watching CNBC's energy bill coverage this morning when I wanted to throw my shoe at the TV. A view was presented on the segment which I often hear, 'If green technology, such as hybrid cars or solar power, is so great, why do these technologies need subsidies'?

As if oil, for example, is subsidy free. Read more...

Is Hollywood really going green, or is it greenwashing

Who killed the electric car at Hollywood Goes Green

I went to the Hollywood Goes Green event this week, not because I'm trying to profit from Hollywood's green interests, but mostly because it offered an opportunity to test drive some of GM's hybrid vehicles. And, since I haven't yet driven the hot new Malibu, I though I'd give the Malibu hybrid a spin, even if it is a mild hybrid (more on this). There was also a cool panel that focused on who killed the electric car.

Still, I thought I'd give the rest of the event a chance, especially since there were some great vendors at the event with some cool products that I'll be writing about over the next few days.

Yet, while many at the event talked about greenwashing, it was hard not to feel the whole event was one big greenwash. If you looked around the conference rooms at the very swanky, old Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel on Hollywood Blvd., you would never have thought you were at a green event. This was an affair for business suits and the latest Hollywood fashions, none of which I'm sure were made in an environmentally-fashioned way.

The Hollywood goes Green event, however, wasn't always about what people weren't doing, but the small actions that were being taken and could be taken. Fair enough.

Nonetheless, as the green movement grows, I think Hollywood, even if it has the greatest intentions, smells green, the real green, money. Let's be honest, the green movement has been going on for decades, maybe forever, and Hollywood is a new participant in this movement. So, it comes across as a little hypocritical and disingenuous when Hollywood acts as if it has taken a leadership role.

Ultimately, the whole affair between Hollywood and the green movement, is a marriage of convenience, a marriage that at times will be more about greenwashing than going green, but more on that in a later post. If there wasn't publicity, aka money, in the green game, Hollywood would go back to its glitzy, bling-bling, red carpet ways.

Still, it cannot be denied that Hollywood can bring a lot of attention to green issues. Hopefully, however, that attention leads to action and not just a bunch of rich Hollywood stars patting themselves on the back because they drive a hybrid vehicle or use energy efficient lightbulbs.

Germany: Advancing the green economy

Germany leads the world in solar, wind and biodiesel energies in both market size and sales

There has been a lot of talk by politicians, activists and environmentalists regarding green jobs. Essentially, many believe that developing new green technologies can create new, high tech jobs in countries that embrace these technologies.

But is it true?

In Germany, a leader in advancing renewable energies, 235,000 green jobs have been created as the country has moved towards becoming cleaner, greener and more efficient.

Maybe the green economy does make sense?

U.S. - A world leader in green technologies?

The U.S. is a green leader?

"The United States, which rejected the Kyoto agreement, has never adopted a federal system of controls for carbon-dioxide emissions, although California has binding targets to cut CO2 emissions and other states are expected to follow.

The United States, however, has emerged as the world leader in developing clean energy technologies.

It involves a wide range of sectors, including wind, solar, biofuels, biomass (organic material to produce power and heat), energy efficiency technology, hydrogen and fuel cells, and tidal power.

"General Electric has been a leader in the campaign to develop new clean technologies that allows one to save energy and make money at the same time," said Dr. Andrew Dlugolecki, head of Andlug Consulting, a strategic consultancy on climate change and the financial sector based in Perth, Scotland.

He said oil companies, carmakers and power generators are increasing their investments in renewables and biofuels." More from Investors, big businesses see green in being green

Well, we should be the green leader, we're the biggest polluter and energy guzzler. Still, at least there is some positive momentum.

Fortune's Green Giants of Business

When the April 2 issue of Fortune Magazine hits newsstands on March 26, it will include a feature "a list of ten companies that go beyond what the law requires to operate in an environmentally responsible way. The companies cited by FORTUNE as being ahead of the learning curve on the strategic value of environmentalism in their industries include, in no particular order: Honda, Continental Airlines, Suncor, Tesco, Alcan, PG&E, S.C. Johnson, Goldman Sachs, Swiss RE and Hewlett-Packard." (press release)