August 30, 2010

Allison Transmission, a producer of automatic transmissions for the medium... [More]

August 24, 2010

Like many Pennsylvania towns, Fairless Hills has a long history... [More]

August 24, 2010

The Recovery Act is working, and Vice President Joe Biden had some metrics Tuesday to back up that claim.

With the help of American Recovery and Reinvestment Act investments, the United States is on track to double its renewable energy generation capacity by 2012 and significantly drive down the cost of electric batteries and solar technology over the next five years, Biden said to an audience of Recovery Act recipients at the White House.

Joined by Energy Secretary Steven Chu, Biden made the remarks during a speech to unveil a report, titled “The Recovery Act: Transforming the American Economy through Innovation,” that analyzed the impacts of Recovery Act investments in science and technology projects, many in the clean energy sector. [More]

August 17, 2010

President Barack Obama traveled to Menomonee Falls, Wis., Monday to visit ZBB Energy Corporation's renovated battery plant... [More]

August 11, 2010

Just outside Baton Rouge in Zachary, La., sits Novolyte Technologies, a battery component manufacturer in business since the early 1970s, making components for batteries used in everything from calculators to hearing aids.

But now, much of Novolyte's focus is on the growing, domestic electric vehicle (EV) industry. For Novolyte, this means manufacturing more electrolytes, a key component for lithium-ion batteries used in EVs. [More]

August 10, 2010

This time last year, Mary Jo Celichowski was at home in Oshkosh, Wis., unemployed and a little antsy after the motor parts company she was working at down-sized. Today, it's a bit different.

"We're extremely busy here," says the wind turbine parts buyer for Renewegy, which manufactures smaller-scale wind turbines. Celichowski joined the company in January. "I am currently busy purchasing components for the 30 wind units we are going to start building." [More]

August 10, 2010

Helios USA, a startup solar energy company based in Wisconsin, will begin manufacturing photovoltaic modules in Milwaukee this fall. The firm is the first in the state to do so. Helios, founded in February 2009, received a $1 million loan from the state in May 2010, funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, to assist with capital toward its 40,000-square-foot factory.

The company selected Milwaukee because of its location and well-prepared workforce. [More]

August 9, 2010

As major refrigerator manufacturers seek out products to make appliances more energy efficient than current ENERGY-STAR-rated models, small U.S. businesses like AcuTemp Thermal Systems in Dayton, Ohio, are ramping up production to meet demand.

"[Refrigerator manufactures] are searching for technologies," says Doug Roberts, vice president of business development for ThermoCor, LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of AcuTemp, which manufactures vacuum insulation panels needed to maintain precise temperatures for cold-storage products. "What we have been able to do is help [manufacturers] go above and beyond the ENERGY STAR requirements by as much as 30 percent." [More]

August 9, 2010

In northeastern Oregon, ZeaChem, a Colorado-based biofuel company, recently broke ground on a 250,000 gallon integrated cellulosic biorefinery. The technology development project is expected to be operating in 2011.

Combining the company's $6.25 million funding and a $25 million from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the new facility - located at the Port of Morrow in Boardman, Ore. - will have multiple buildings. The Recovery Act funding is supporting construction of the cellulosic ethanol production areas in the facility. [More]

August 6, 2010

Some biotech companies use outdoor ponds to make algae-based biofuels, but Harrison Dillon and Jonathan Wolfson, co-founders of San Francisco-based Solazyme Inc., are taking an inside approach: a pharmaceutical company's fermentation tanks.

"Oil that costs a $1,000 per gallon to make in a pond will cost about $1.50 to $2 per gallon in the next year or so using these kind of tanks," Dillon says. "We can use existing infrastructure for this process." [More]

August 6, 2010

Electron Energy Corporation is one of a kind.

According to Peter Dent, vice president of business development for the second generation, family-owned company in Landisville, Penn., is the last remaining U.S. producer of centered rare earth magnets. [More]

August 4, 2010

A research team at the University of Massachusetts Lowell is ironing out the kinks in blade manufacturing to make way for safer, lighter and cheaper blades.

The Wind Turbine Research Group (WTRG) at UMass Lowell has received $401,885 in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds to figure out where and why some blades "wrinkle"— a serious internal fracture caused by bunching up or buckling of materials during the molding process. [More]

July 29, 2010

Everything keeps getting bigger in the wind energy industry: turbines, blades and now the towers that hold them in place.

Today, most steel towers that support utility-scale turbines stand about 80 meters tall, but the Tindall Corporation wants to go higher using precast concrete to raise turbines over 100 meters in height to capture stronger, steadier winds - and more energy. [More]

July 21, 2010

"Traditionally, we made automotive products," says Scott McKay, General Manager for Merrill Technologies Group in Saginaw, Mich. "After several ups and downs in that industry, we’ve opened our eyes to finding ways to diversify our line of products, and one of those areas is in making renewable energy materials." [More]

July 15, 2010

The electric-vehicle industry received more support Thursday when President Obama delivered remarks in Holland, Mich., at the groundbreaking ceremony for an American Recovery and Reinvestment Act-funded battery cell plant.

The President said the Compact Power plant will create almost 600 jobs and help put more affordable, American-made electric vehicles on the road. [More]

July 15, 2010

Business is booming at UQM Technologies, a Frederick, Colo.-based manufacturer and developer of electric vehicle propulsion systems.

Last summer, UQM signed a 10-year contract to build motor and control systems for all electric cars to be manufactured by CODA Automotive of California. UQM aims to produce 20,000 of the propulsion systems over a two-year span. [More]

July 14, 2010

A wind turbine parts facility in Cuba City, Wis., is getting another chance after shutting down twice and laying off employees over the last two years.

The Wausaukee Composites, Inc. facility will reopen its doors this fall, thanks to new orders from international wind turbine companies that will keep production going into 2012 and beyond. [More]

July 13, 2010

It was 10 years ago when Robert and Gary Allen built the plant in Rochester Hills, Mich., where Allen Brothers Inc. currently manufactures roofing products. And for those 10 years, half the building stood unused.

The two brothers in charge - President Robert Allen and CEO Gary Allen - always intended to lease out that other half of their building but never really needed to. [More]

July 12, 2010

Last year, Israel Sanchez, a 31-year-old Newton, Kan., resident, was painting the blades of wind turbines for Enertech, Inc., a small-scale wind manufacturer. Now he's assembling the entire system.

"They promoted me," says Sanchez, taking a quick break from the assembly line in the 10,000 square-foot plant in Newton. "It's a new field for me, but I'm excited because it's all new experiences every day." [More]

July 2, 2010

The EV Project, a program of ECOtality North America, was already the largest electric vehicle (EV) infrastructure project ever undertaken. ECOtality is partnering with Nissan North America to deploy thousands of zero-emission electric vehicles and charging systems in the U.S. [More]