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.

Every cloud has a silver lining, every disaster an opportunity.  The devastation in parts of Japan as a result of the earthquake and tsunami six months ago is now ushering in a new age of renewable energy.

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.

NIMBY. Not in my backyard.  It’s a familiar phrase to green technology.  Yes, we need to have more green energy installations but, and here’s the kicker, Not In My Backyard.  Well, that’s essentially what Donald Trump has just uttered.  Don’t build your offshore wind farm next to my multi-billion pound golf resort.

Like Dr. Frankenstein, who blended body parts of different people in an attempt to create life, GE and eSolar have blended different technologies to create a unique power plant.  They have combined natural gas, solar and wind power to create a unique hybrid power plant.

The IMPLUX wind turbine has been designed specifically for urban buildings.  The vertical axis, Omni-directional wind turbine is as tall as a one story building and is designed to sit on top of high rise buildings.  The IMPLUX would be hooked into the buildings electrical system generating power from winds that are prone to frequently switch direction without the need to rotate the turbine.

Researchers Mark Delucchi and Mark Jacobson conducted a study of what renewable energy resources would be required to meet world demand by 2030.  The number of wind and solar installations required is astonishing.  It can be done but the policy changes required of political is more than likely insurmountable.

Southwest Windpower showed off it’s most efficient residential wind turbine at CES last week.  The Skystream 600 is just the right size for residential use and expected to increase residential renewable wind energy exponentially.

A University of Colorado at Boulder study has shown that wind turbines produce positive effects on the microclimate near crops.  Those positive effects seem to be reduced fungal growth on corn and soybeans and increased carbon dioxide absorption.

For generations the Navajos have earned a living, gone to college, and survived on the profits from coal mining.  However times are changing and the Navajo are viewing the damage that coal mining has done to their nation and looking to new forms of income and energy.