Safran and Honeywell have designed an electric green taxiing system or EGTS that allows jets to taxi on the ground without having to use their engines.  Instead the planes would use electric motors attached to each wheel and run by the plane’s auxiliary power unit.  The electrical system should provide better maneuvering control to pilots when docking at a gate and should save four percent of energy costs.

NASA has put out a proposal for a greener fuel source for launching satellites, rockets and eventually space taxis.  Space launches add “several kilotons” of carbon dioxide into the air each year.  So far it isn’t a large percentage of the CO2 that gets spewed from cars, trains, planes and ships, but over the next several decades that could change.  Because more governments and private enterprises are looking at space for new ventures, less harmful fuel is needed.

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.

The California Energy Commission has created new standards for battery chargers that would go into effect in February of 2013. The new chargers would contain technology that would shut the charger off once a gadget was fully charged, reducing wasted energy.  That wasted energy is sometimes referred to as vampire draw.

Parisian firm Influx Studio is proposing a radical retrofit of the Marina City towers in Chicago.  The renovation of the buildings would result in a variety of green innovations and architectural features that would result in renewable energy, vertical agriculture and cleaner air.

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.

Researchers in India have developed a new type of bead from paraffin and stearic acid.  It absorbs heat from the sun during the day and then releases the heat at night. The new beads should work well in climates like the United States Southwestern states.

Inkjet printers used to be a cheaper way of printing out office documents but lately, it seems that these printers can do so much more.  Just recently researchers at the University of Cambridge developed a new type of graphene ink that allows inkjet printers to print thin film transistors with greater electron mobility and electrical conductivity.

Researchers at Northwestern University have been improving lithium ion batteries.  So far they have come up with vast improvements on the anode side.  Next they plan to tackle the cathode.

Harold Kung, professor of chemical and biological engineering in the McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science, led the research which is published in Advanced Energy Materials.  The paper outlines their two major changes to battery technology.

High occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes were created to encourage more environmentally friendly travel.  The idea was that if you car pool (carry one or more passengers) with you, then you can have access to a special lane to escape traffic congestion.  In some places, people driving green cars (hybrids or electric vehicles (EVs)) could travel in the HOV lane even without passengers.  Lately, HOV rules have changed slowing things down.