Illustration of solar vent. (image: treehugger.com)

Anyone who doubts the persistence of good old-fashioned American innovation is advised to consider the Greenbuild International Conference and Expo, an annual convention showcasing the newest and most ingenious green tech products made by American hands. This year’s expo, held in the tremendous Phoenix Convention Center, comprised over 1,800 exhibit booths, making it the largest convention in Greenbuild history.

According to Treehugger.com, which covered the event, of particular interest this year was the Greenward Ridge Vent, a nifty piece of solar-heating equipment that can be fitted to any standard shingled roof. The Ridge Vent collects solar energy and uses it to heat water; but it is the thrift with which the vent performs its task that makes it remarkable. The Ridge Vent collects solar heat trapped in a home’s attic; the heat flows through the Ridge Vent around PEX plastic tubes, heating an ethylene-glycol-and-water mixture that is then pumped into a heat exchanger, preheating the home’s tap and fixture water even before it gets to the water heater. In other words, the vent effectively takes wasted energy and puts it to good use: a concept both simple and ingenious.

Close-up of demonstration Greenward Ridge Vent. (image: treehugger.com)

It is the Ridge Vent’s innocuous design that makes it so appealing. Unlike the typical solar collectors, which can make your home look like a lunar space station, the Ridge Vent is barely noticeable. That’s not to say you won’t notice its effect. According to Greenward, “With an average attic temperature of 120 degrees F., the Greenward Ridge Vent can reduce your energy consumption by just over 12 million BTUs a year and reduce your CO2 emissions by just over 1,400 pounds annually.” The fact that heating water by solar energy costs one tenth as much as heating it by electricity means that you stand to save considerably on your electric or gas bill.

The Greenward Ridge Vent is just one more example of brilliant solar technology to be produced this year. Conventions like the Greenbuild Expo and the annual Solar Decathlon have provided public forums for emerging solar technology, and have garnered well-deserved attention from the media. Advocates of solar (and other clean) energy will recall that despite stalled climate legislation across the globe, the Cleantech Group has predicted a bright future for green technology. We look forward to it.

(image: i.bnet.com)

Think of it as the circle of life for garbage. As reported by TreeHugger on Thursday, when municipal waste decomposes through natural means, it gives off gases that can be collected and used converted to fuel.

At Waste Management’s Altamont Landfill near Livermore, CA, landfill gases are being collected and processed to create clean, renewable fuels—and “closing the loop” on garbage collection by using the fuel to power garbage trucks. This facility is currently the world’s largest landfill gas-to-liquefied natural gas plant. This week Waste Management announced that its collaboration with Linde North America, part of the Linde Group, a leading global gases and engineering company, has begun producing fuel from landfill gas at the Altamont facility.

The process works like this: collected landfill gas is fed into a gas purification system, a process which includes compression, chilling absorption, and membranes to remove impurities—such as sulfur, carbon dioxide, nitrogen, and alcohols—from the gas stream. The purified stream is then fed into a natural gas liquefier where it’s cooled to below the natural gas boiling point of -260 F to produce liquefied natural gas (LNG). It is then transferred into an aluminum heat exchanger, where refrigerants—which cool the liquid—flow through one side while LNG flows through the other side. The cooled LNG is stored in a giant thermos-like tank to keep it at liquid temperatures until a truck picks it up to transport it to an LNG filling station. At the filling station, WM’s waste collection and recycling vehicles utilize the clean fuel.

When the Altamont facility is operating at full capacity, it is expected to process about 3 million cubic feet of landfill gas per day, which is equal to producing up to 13,000 gallons a day, or over 4 million gallons per year of LNG. This is enough to fuel 300 of Waste Management’s 485 LNG waste and recycling collection vehicles in 20 California communities.

An added benefit to this technology is that as LNG replaces petroleum-based vehicle fuel demand for diesel (which is very similar to heating oil), it could help lower heating oil prices, especially if it were to go into widespread use.

Watch Waste Management’s video explaining the process below:

Investment in green tech—like solar panels—is poised to grow regardless of a climate treaty. (image: beaupre.com)

Although many people are disappointed that next month’s meeting in Copenhagen seems unlikely to lead to a comprehensive climate treaty, it won’t make much difference to green-technology companies, reports Cnet news.

Cleantech Group, a company that provides tools to clients in the development of clean technologies, released an analysis on Thursday titled “Why Cop15 Doesn’t Matter,” referring to the 15th conference of international climate change talks scheduled to start December 7 in Copenhagen.

The group believes that any agreement between nations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions will stand as a “milestone” on the road to holding emitters accountable, but the lack of any agreement will still not deter or slow down the pace of green technology development.

“The private sector is not letting the (United Nations) bureaucracy get in the way of getting things done,” said Cleantech managing director Dallas Kachan. “The funds are already flowing.”

Flowing, indeed. Cleantech estimates that between $5 to $6 billion in venture capital will go to green technologies next year. But a political commitment from national governments—as opposed to international climate treaties—is as important as growing private-sector financial interest in green tech. Government programs designed to promote clean-energy technologies will be one of the primary drivers for investment in the short term, says Cleantech.

Since Chinese wind farms—like this one in northern China—use turbines built in China, Sen. Schumer wants US energy projects to rely on parts built in the US. (image: danishcarbon.dk)

On Wednesday HeatingOil.com reported that Americans are growing more and more concerned over Chinese efforts to invest in US renewable energy projects. This week a debate broke out over China’s role in a wind power project in Texas. Many Americans are concerned that most of the jobs that would be created by this project will go to China. The rancor of this debate is further compounded by the possibility that this project may be partially funded with some of the $22 billion set aside from the economic stimulus package for clean energy projects and job development.

This debate has now caught the attention of New York Senator Charles E. Schumer. According to the New York Times, the Senator is calling on President Obama to deny the use of stimulus money for projects that would largely require manufacturing outside of the US. Schumer went on to reference a study by the Investigative Reporting Workshop at American University, which found that “84 percent of ‘green’ stimulus funding has thus far gone to foreign companies.” Stating that the stimulus money “is supposed to create jobs in America,” the Senator vowed that he would introduce legislation to prevent such funding if actions are not taken.

Adding more fuel to the fire of this debate are China’s domestic policies concerning renewable energy projects and job development. According to Time, foreign companies have complained that they are hindered from conducting business in China due to the government’s subsidy programs and local content requirements. In March China authorized subsidizing 50 percent of certain solar power projects and up to 70 percent in remote areas. For wind power, the New York Times reports that China has a 70 percent local content requirement—meaning that 70 percent of all manufacturing associated with a project must be done in China—although these requirements were eased to some degree last week. Nevertheless, many foreign companies feel that such policies make attempts to breach the Chinese renewable energy market virtually pointless.

Arguing that the Texas wind project would not have progressed as far as it has if the United States had protectionist policies like those of China, Walt Hornaday, president of Cielio Wind Power (a partner in the Texas wind project), asserted that “international partnerships are essential to the development of low cost renewable energy in America.” In addition, Cappy McGarr, a partner with the US Renewable Energy Group, argues that the potential benefits to Texas from the wind project are being underestimated.

So while it remains to be seen how the Obama administration will respond to Senator Schumer’s call, some involved in the controversial Texas wind project—who ought to know—worry that action taken to promote US jobs could in fact prevent any renewable energy projects from breaking ground at all.