Earlier this week Joule Unlimited secured $70 million in funding.  The company happens to have algae facilities that turn carbon dioxide and sunlight into biodiesel and ethanol.  Meanwhile Bio Architecture Lab was able to get seaweed to create chemicals and biofuels.  Both processes use patented organisms to create the biofuel.

Using bamboo charcoal rather than forest wood in Africa has the potential to provide an excellent source of heat, economic opportunities, all while saving African forests.  Charcoal is used for both heat and cooking in large areas of Africa and is seen as a major factor in the decimation of forests and the desertification of parts of the continent.

Wildpoldsried, Germany is a little farming town that decided over a decade ago that they were going to move towards a green community without incurring debt.  Fourteen years later they have a diverse portfolio of renewable energy installations, new community buildings and more energy than the town needs.  By selling the excess energy, Wildpoldsried has eliminated all the towns debt and generates 4.0 million Euro (US $5.7 million) in annual income.

Some people might question whether there can ever be waste beer, others might question the concept of waste soft drinks.  Rest assured both types of drinks can indeed have batches that are undrinkable and therefore waste.  What is the best way to dispose of unsuitable drink products?  Why turning it into energy of course.

Ben & Jerry’s, some of the world’s best ice cream, my personal opinion of course, just got better.  The company which has always been known for it’s social and environmental activism as well as its ice cream.  Now Ben & Jerry’s parent company Unilever is going to green up its ice cream factory in the Netherlands.

Tobacco farmers rejoice!  A new use has been found for tobacco and it doesn’t require a warning label.  Scientists have found that a tobacco virus can be used to make “tiny components” for future batteries.  Tobacco has also been found to be a good source of enzymes, sugar and oil for biofuel production.

According to research released by NASA, humans are using more and more plant life for “food, fiber, building and packaging materials and biofuels.”  That increase is happening not just overall as the world population increases but also per person.

Biomass used to mean corn or soy.  Now it encompasses a wide variety of plants like rapeseed and jatropha, crop or forest waste or even animal and people poo.  Now you can add Giant King^™ Grass to the list of nonfood plant feedstocks.  It is renewable, carbon neutral and can be used in a variety of different applications.

Sanergy was conceived as a new model of sanitation that would not only provide clean toilets but would also be a new business model.  This new model is seen as a way to improve sanitation, health, the local economy, and the environment.

A Cambridge researcher, Nate Sharpe has developed a method for cleaning up sewage in slums using a bicycle, bucket, hose and pump.  Public housing and homeless shelters in industrialized countries are all connected to sewer systems that remove excrement.  In many slum areas of the third world, sewer systems are non-existent.  Bathrooms are latrines where urine and fecal matter can build up creating unsanitary conditions.