Promising Green Technologies That Could Make a Real Difference...

I have been checking out some promising green technologies beyond the usual suspects like solar and wind that could make a real difference either now or in the not-so-distant future...potentially great stuff include:

1. Geothermal (check out www.geothermaldiy.com): already commercially viable right down to the individual home or condo/commercial development level (at a cost of about $7K and up) and energy savings for heating and air-conditioning from 30-70%. This technology apparently already meets Energy-Star requirements, can be installed relatively easily in the yard as a DIY project or by a contractor) and qualifies for a 30% green investment tax write-off between now and 2016.

2. Fuel cell/hybrid technology (http://www.clearedgepower.com/) for single homes and small businesses - this interesting technology converts natural gas into hydrogen using a catalytic process, and then drives the hydrogen through a fuel cell system to generate direct current (DC) and heat, both of which can be utilized for electricity and heating/air conditioning.Use of this technology can apparently result in utility bill savings of up to 50% and a 1/3 reduction in CO2 emissions. This technology also qualifies for state and federal rebates/incentives.

Another technology that really interests me is an amazing "plasma" power technology that's truly "Back to the Future" stuff (see http://science.howstuffworks.com/plasma-converter.htm/printable). It can potentially convert waste to energy (sometimes generating 5x or more energy than it consumes!)...plants that can power 10,000 homes or more have already been designed and tested (see, for example:http://www.advancedplasmapower.com/index.php?action=PublicAPPCoBackgroundDisplay) ...the real breakthrough will come, as I see it, when we have home-based portable plasma energy systems that can, for example, be used to convert garbage and yard waste to energy or even autos powered by the technology (see this start-up:http://www.electronpowersystems.com/index.html). This technology is not yet ready for prime time... but is well worth watching closely as home-based commercial units are expected to come online as soon as the next 2-5 years.

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