5 Cool Renewable Energy Companies I've found lately

Here's 5 cool, cutting edge renewable energy companies I've come across lately:

1. Big Belly Solar: formerly known as Seahorse Power Company, this Needham, MA company manufactures the BigBelly Solar Compactor - a completely sun powered public trash can that compacts its own garbage making its capacity 5 times greater than the average trash can. This increased capacity significantly reduces the number of trips to made by city crews to empty that trash can and according to BigBelly it can cut fuel costs and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by up to 80%.

2. MDI's Air Compressed Car: imagine a car that runs completely on pure clean air. That's what France-based MDI (Motor Development Inc.) has produced. They have developed a line fo "flow air" branded cares, like the MiniFlow Air and the CityFlow Air. All these cars used a compressed air engine and depending on the model have a range of around 100km before they need a refill. Some versions come with a dual engine that has a parallel gas engine which can increase the travel range to a whopping 900km with an average per 100km fuel consumption of less than 2 liters!

3. Mariah Power: this Reno, Nevada-based company recently released its Windspire wind turbine. The Windspire is built to harness energy under extreme conditions and very high wind. It can withstand hurricane-force wind speeds of up to 168 MPH.

4. BMP Biomasse Projekt: they turn beer waste into biofuel. Need I say more? BMP Biomasse Projekt, has developed steam boilers that safely burn the spent grain left over from brewing beer. In the process, Bengel and his partners created a system for effective anaerobic (oxygen-free) treatment of waste water from breweries as well.

5. Aquamarine Power: no list of cool renewable tech companies would be complete without a ocean wave/tidal energy company. Aquamarine is the maker of the "oyster" wave power system. This massive oyster sits offshore underwater and opens and closes with the ocean currents and that drives a piston which in turn produces read-to-use electricity. Aquamarine recently won the 2009 British Renewable Energy Award.

There's lots of companies doing cool things in the renewable energy sector. Leave a comment below and let me know about any you've come across!

Follow Kevin Grandia on Twitter: www.twitter.com/kgrandia

Comments

[Whitley2009]

Kevin, they look very promising. See if you can use my system of ethanol planting on the Interstate Highways and Electric Grid lands to interface with your research.

http://www.squidoo.com/whitleyhodges7

[research]

Shouldn't we enjoy use of our crops before turning them into fuel?

Waste BioFuels.

See my profile for details.