The Week in Cleantech, Saturday edition: Did regulators ignore concerns raised over a U.S. nuclear fuel plant? And oil prices tumble as Gustav blows ashore.

Nuclear Shortcuts Exposed In U.S. Nuclear Fuel Facility: Government regulators allegedly disregarded expert advice in an attempt to fast track the completion of a nuclear fuel facility in South Carolina. The charge is leveled in the September issue of The Chemical Engineer magazine, which says Nuclear Regulatory Commission officials “hushed up” safety concerns raised by an independent engineering review. Dan Tedder, Emeritus Professor of Chemical Engineering at Georgia Institute of Technology, criticized the plant’s licensing documentation, saying he’d never seen such a “crazy system.” He called for a closer review of the procedures. An NRC spokeperson dismisses Tedder’s concerns as baseless. (Science Daily)

With little damage to oil patch, prices dip: Gulf oil and gas producers are so far reporting little damage from Hurricane Gustav, now a weakening tropical depression over northern Louisiana. It will take refiners a few days to assess their offshore facilities and transit terminals, but workers could begin returning to their posts by Wednesday. President Bush stated Monday that he’ll authorize purchases from the nation’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve to make up for any supply shortfalls caused by Gustav. Oil traded sharply lower on Tuesday’s Asian markets. (Houston Chronicle)

Toyota, GM Push Electric Vehicle Test Fleets In Order to Beat the Crowd: If you want a plug-in vehicle from Toyota or GM, you’ll have to wait until 2010. That’s if you’re a consumer. Fleet owners will be getting their first electric vehicles almost a year earlier. Why the delay in getting plug-ins to the showroom? Toyota’s Irv Miller explains that fleet operations will provide a real-world testing ground before electric cars make their way to consumers. Miller says fleets sales are a quick way to see how cars perform under a variety of road and weather conditions. (Earth2Tech)

Ener1 - Lithium ion battery prices may be cut in half: Enerr1, the supplier which recently announced a $70 million deal to power Th!nk’s latest electric cars, says they believe volume sales can significantly drive down lithium batter costs. How much? Chief Executive Charles Gassenheimer can see prices falling by up to 50 percent. With lithium battery prices at the top of costs involved in building plug-in cars, such a break would go a long way to improving plug-in affordability. Gassenheimer says that increasing European and U.S. demand should provide the sort of volume increases necessary to force lithium ion prices to a tipping point. (Autoblog Green)

Daimler Releases More Photos of Electric Smarts but Withholds Plans for U.S. Market: The folks at Daimler certainly know how to tease. The German automaker’s publicity department has been sending around juicy photos of the company’s upcoming all-electric smart cars. Daimler has been field testing a hundred car fleet of Smart ED (Electric Drive) vehicles in England for several months, stirring high consumer interest on both sides of the Atlantic. So far, though, the company has been coy about when they might appear on American roads. It still seems likely the first models will turn up in U.S. showrooms by 2010. (Green Car Advisor)

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Honda resurrects the Insight name for its upcoming hybrid; new clean air rules for small engines; and Siemens makes fake eco-friendly cellphones.

Paris Preview: Honda Insight concept to be new global hybrid: Honda will revive the Insight name and borrow heavily from the body styling of its well-received FCX Clarity when it debuts the company’s new dedicated hybrid vehicle. While still officially a “design concept,” photos released Thursday will probably be quite close to the production car. Honda has vowed to bring the Insight to market well under the price point of Toyota’s popular Prelude. Honda will send about 100,000 units to the United States next year. Look for a peek at the upcoming Paris Aito Show. (Autoblog Green)

E.P.A. Issues New Engine Rules: It’s long been known that smaller engines, such as those which power lawnmowers, produce more pollution than car and truck powerplants. But that’s changing. the United States Environmental Protection Agency Thursday unveiled new clean air requirements for boats and laen equipment under 25 horsepower. The rules will begin to go into effect in 2010. Experts believe the more stringent standards will require the use of catalytic converters, now common in automobiles. the EPA believes the regulations will produce much cleaner air during the summer, when lawn equipment is in heaviest use and outdoor activity is highest. (New York Times)

Sharp Develops New Technique to Halve Solar Cell Production Costs: Sharp claims it has developed a method for radically reducing the production cost of thin solar cells. The process — said to halve the amount of material and energy required for current cells — involves a substrata which is exposed to molten silicon. The cell is then trimmed by a laser. While the company is still holding details close to its chest, Sharp says the new process is designed for production on an industrail scale. (Good Clean Tech)

Transformers 2 Volt’s secret identity revealed!: Last week, we cited Autoblog Green’s sighting of what appeared to bea production Chevy Volt electric car on the set of the movie Transformers 2. Edmunds and others now report the car is actually a very thorough movie prop — a fiberglass shell built over an existing vehicle. While it’s likely the faux Volt closely resembles the real thing, we’ve still not seen the real McCoy. GM is expected to show its hand this month. (Autoblog Green)

Siemens EcoPhones a Big Maybe : If only they weren’t just mock-ups. Siemens is showing off concepts for more earth-friendly cellphones. The sleek looking mockups are designed to be made from eco-plastics and pourable woods, and at least one is solar powered. But Siemens says they’re just concept phones — for now. No works on whether any of the new green technologies might find their way to more conventional phones. (EcoGeek)

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A possible connection between global warming and violent hurricanes; auto sales plunge in August; and Boston eyes an all-hybrid taxi fleet by 2015.

Warmer seas linked to strengthening hurricanes: FSU study fuels global warming debate: A new report published today by Florida State University is likely to reignite the debate over the connection between global warming and stronger hurricanes. While the researchers involved are not climatologists and theor goals were not to prove the so-called “heat engine” theory of cyclone intensity, they found that the theory is, indeed, consistent with what is happening. The report — which appears in the current issue of Nature — finds that the strongest tropical storms really are getting stronger, and the trend appears connected with rising sea temperatures. The study is based on a computer crunch of storm and oceanographic data going back 25 years. (Eureka Alert)

GM, Ford, Chrysler, Toyota post sales drop as auto slump continues: The Big Three American car makers posted stunning, double-digit losses Wednesday as consumers stayed away from showroom floors, concerned more by economic uncertainty than gasoline prices. Toyota also posted a modest loss. One bright spot for U.S. automakers: truck sales, which rebounded to March levels. Nissan reported a surprising 13.6 percent increase in August sales, driven by a 32.6 percent jump in light truck sales. On the small car side, Ford’s popular Focus and Escape small SUV were standouts, as were the Impala and Malibu models for GM. (USA Today)

Shell comes under fire for role in Sakhalin audit: Royal Dutch Shell is taking heat for allegedly jiggering an environmental report on a massive oil and gas project. Internal emails show company officials attempted to downplay concerns about the proposed Sakhalin II field off Russia’s eastern coastline. The report was used by banks to determine whether the project would be safe to fund. Critics say Shell worked to have potentially damning environmental concerns buried deep in the report, rather than arranged in a single, easy-to-evaluate appendix. The $22 billion development was eventually given the green light, despite fears that the new fields might threaten fragile Arctic ecosystems. (The Guardian)

Mazda Planning Chevy Volt Rival : Chevy’s upcoming Volt plug-in car is already inspiring competitors, though the GM vehicle isn’t bound for showrooms until sometime in 2010. Mazda says it will produce its own Volt-like passenger car with an electric drivetrain backed by a gasoline charging engine. One difference: Mazda’s auxiliary powerplant will be a scaled-down version of the rotary engine in its RX-8 sports car. The first pre-production test beds are already being road tested in Japan. (Good Clean Tech)

Boston’s taxi fleet to go hybrid by 2015: Boston’s Mayor, Thomas Menino, is proposing that the city require cab companies to replace their fleets with hybrid vehicles by 2015. Menino termed the move an “essential step” in improving Boston’s air quality. But there’s a problem: where are the hybrids going to come from? New York City has already embarked on a similar program, but first negotiated with automakers to produce hundred of hybrids each month earmarked for taxi service. Battery supplies have not been sufficient this year to pace consumer demand for more guel-efficient hybrid vehicles. (Boston.com)

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Government regulators downplay safety concerns at a U.S. nuclear fuel facility; electric car news from GM and Daimler; and Panama picks CFLs over power plants.

Nuclear Shortcuts Exposed In U.S. Nuclear Fuel Facility: Government regulators allegedly disregarded expert advice in an attempt to fast track the completion of a nuclear fuel facility in South Carolina. The charge is leveled in the September issue of The Chemical Engineer magazine, which says Nuclear Regulatory Commission officials “hushed up” safety concerns raised by an independent engineering review. Dan Tedder, Emeritus Professor of Chemical Engineering at Georgia Institute of Technology, criticized the plant’s licensing documentation, saying he’d never seen such a “crazy system.” He called for a closer review of the procedures. An NRC spokeperson dismisses Tedder’s concerns as baseless. (Science Daily)

GM Exec: Chevy Volt Battery’s Performance ‘Flawless’: General Motors Vice Chairman and chief Chevy Volt cheerleader Bob Lutz says that the Volt’s lithium ion battery powerpacks are “performing flawlessly.” Lutz points out that battery longevity still remains the big question, and revealed that GM is budgeting to replace each Volt’s system within the warranty period. The Volt is expected to be sold with a ten year powertrain warranty. While currently more expensive than the nickel-metal hydride batteries used in vehicles such as the Toyota Prius, lithium ion promises quicker charging and deeper duty cycles. Their price is expected to decline as the auto industry shift to lithium ion and nickel prices continue to climb. (Cars.com)

Panama Launches Operation Light Bulb, Gives Away $13 Million Worth of CFLs: Panama was facing the need to expand its power-generating capacity. Instead, they’ve decided to give away $13 million worth of energy-saving Compact Fluorescent Lightbulbs (CFLs). The purchase price of the bulbs was a fraction of that required to build-out 60 megawatts of additional generating capacity. Each Panamanian should receive two free bulbs. (Treehugger)

Daimler Releases More Photos of Electric Smarts but Withholds Plans for U.S. Market: The folks at Daimler certainly know how to tease. The German automaker’s publicity department has been sending around juicy photos of the company’s upcoming all-electric smart cars. Daimler has been field testing a hundred car fleet of Smart ED (Electric Drive) vehicles in England for several months, stirring high consumer interest on both sides of the Atlantic. So far, though, the company has been coy about when they might appear on American roads. It still seems likely the first models will turn up in U.S. showrooms by 2010. (Green Car Advisor)

Affordable, Powerful Electric Scooters Coming Soon: The success of the all-electric Vectrix scooter is already attracting competitors. Powergenix says they’ll bring an affordable plug-in scooter to market featuring a new nickel zinc (NiZn) battery pack. The new NiZn construction offers up to 35 percent better performance than nickel metal hydride cells — but at about half the price if lithium ion batteries. Powergenix’ scooters are slated to debut in Europe and the U.S. next year. (CleanTechnica)

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Oil prices drop after Hurricane Gustav largely spares Gulf oil facilities; cheaper lithium ion batteries are coming; and solar garbage cans belly flop.

With little damage to oil patch, prices dip: Gulf oil and gas producers are so far reporting little damage from Hurricane Gustav, now a weakening tropical depression over northern Louisiana. It will take refiners a few days to assess their offshore facilities and transit terminals, but workers could begin returning to their posts by Wednesday. President Bush stated Monday that he’ll authorize purchases from the nation’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve to make up for any supply shortfalls caused by Gustav. Oil traded sharply lower on Tuesday’s Asian markets. (Houston Chronicle)

Ener1 - Lithium ion battery prices may be cut in half: Enerr1, the supplier which recently announced a $70 million deal to power Th!nk’s latest electric cars, says they believe volume sales can significantly drive down lithium batter costs. How much? Chief Executive Charles Gassenheimer can see prices falling by up to 50 percent. With lithium battery prices at the top of costs involved in building plug-in cars, such a break would go a long way to improving plug-in affordability. Gassenheimer says that increasing European and U.S. demand should provide the sort of volume increases necessary to force lithium ion prices to a tipping point. (Autoblog Green)

Rainwater Collection Gaining Huge Mainstream Momentum: Thanks to a few years of record droughts, home rainwater collection is experiencing a huge popularity boom. Prefabricated and DIY rainwater collection tanks are becoming an increasingly familiar sight in suburban backyards. While even Businessweek agrees that private rainwater collection eases water shortages, some states and municipalities view rainfall as community property and forbid its diversion. Rainbarrels and cisterns remain an important source of water for human consumption and agriculture, particularly in developing nations. (Jetson Green)

Toyota, GM Push Electric Vehicle Test Fleets In Order to Beat the Crowd: If you want a plug-in vehicle from Toyota or GM, you’ll have to wait until 2010. That’s if you’re a consumer. Fleet owners will be getting their first electric vehicles almost a year earlier. Why the delay in getting plug-ins to the showroom? Toyota’s Irv Miller explains that fleet operations will provide a real-world testing ground before electric cars make their way to consumers. Miller says fleets sales are a quick way to see how cars perform under a variety of road and weather conditions. (Earth2Tech)

Solar Powered Trash Cans Get Mixed Reviews: You can’t fault the makers of the Big Belly garbage can for applying fresh thinking to municipal trash receptacles. The slick solar-powered waste cans have their own built-in compactors designed to reduce the number of times they need to be emptied — and the associated labor costs. The Big Belly receptacles have been undergoing tests by several major cities since 2005. But despite the cans’ intended benefits, not everyone thinks they’re a success. New York is the most recent municipality to give the Big Bellies a thumbs-down. City managers cite cost — the Big Belly retails for up to $7,000 each — and consumer confusion as the reason for taking a pass. The Big Belly is apparently being mistaken for a mailbox, making wider deployment something ofa dead letter. (Celsias)

Power failures and connectivity issues resulting from Hurricane Gustav prevented Monday’s publication of EcoTech Daily. We apologize for the inconvenience.

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The Week in CleanTech, Sunday Edition: The oil industry says possible damage from Hurricane Gustav may not be so bad — and is this the new Chevy Volt?

Gulf oil braces for Gustav: Industry analysts say that while a major strike by Gustav on the central Gulf Coast would cause disruptions in regional oil production, petroleum facilities are generally less vulnerable than just a few years ago. Hurricanes Katrina and Rita virtually shut down Gulf platforms and transit facilities in 2005, but since then, measure have been taken to harden both land-based and offshore installations. New rigs have been built higher and are better anchored, old platforms have been reinforced, and pipelines are now buried deeper to improve their survivability. Friday morning computer models of Gustav’s possible track have moved eastward, reducing the immediate danger to Texas and Louisiana facilities. Meanwhile, the International Energy Agency moved Thursday to calm investor jitters by promising to release petroleum reserves in the case of major supply interruptions. (CNN Money)

FACTBOX - Energy and tax proposals in Obama speech: In his Thursday evening speech accepting the Democratic nomination for the Presidency, Barack Obama laid out his vision for energy reforms in the United States. Topping the list: a ten year, $150 billion investment in wind, solar, and biofuel development. Obama pledged to end U.S. dependence on Middle eastern oil within a decade, stepping up deployment of so-called “Clean Coal” technologies and nuclear power. The Illinois Senator promised aid to American automakers in the creation of smaller, more efficient vehicles, and said that green investment would yield up to 5 million high-quality jobs by 2018. (Reuters/EcoDiario.es)

Ford Spends $75 Million to Retool Michigan Truck Plant for Small Car Production: Ford Motor Company appears to be keeping its promise to retool truck and SUV assembly plants to produce a new generation of smaller vehicles. Company officials announced this week it will spend $75 million to convert a Michigan plant’s Ford Expedition and Lincoln Navigator line to produce their new C-Class passenger car. It’s a major project, and production isn’t expected until the 2010 model year. Ford says it will move to consolidate its model line, producing some of their successful European models in North America and Asian markets. (Treehugger)

Compressed-air storage coming to wind power: One of the traditional problems with windpower is producing base electricity — the juice which must be available to customers at all times, regardless of whether the wind happens to be blowing. Storing electrical energy on an industrial scale is not currently practical. But a New Jersey company thinks they have a solution: storing that energy in the form of compressed air. Energy Storage and Power plans to invest $20 million developing a system which would pump compressed air into underground caverns, such as depleted natural gas well or salt domes. The compressed air could then be released on demand to run turbines and generate electric power. (CNET)

BREAKING: Is this the production Chevy Volt in Transformers 2?: General Motors is expected to officially unveil the final production-ready prototypes of the Chevy Volt plug-in car sometime in September, but it appears their hand may already have been tipped. Autoblog Green has a gallery of video screen captures from the filming of the upcoming movie Transformers 2 which appears to show a production Volt in all its purple glory. The overall look is more streamlined than earlier concepts, and agrees with the small teaser photographs recently circulated by GM. (Autoblog Green)

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The Week in CleanTech, Saturday Edition: Windpower wins a big one in court; and companies rush to grab alternative energy tax credits before they expire.

Texas Breeze: Landowners Call Wind Turbines Ugly; Court Says Too Bad: The windpower industry scored a potentially precedent-setting court decision last week. A Texas judge dismissed a suit brought by landowners against FPL Energy, which operates wind farms. The suit sought to enjoin FPL from operating on the grounds that its turbines are noisy and unsightly. While sympathizing with the landowners, the court found that their complaints were not sufficiently grave to put a halt to FPL’s project. The American Wind Energy Association says that the average large turbine puts out about the same amount of noise at 1000 feet as a home refrigerator. (WSJ.com)

Wind, solar projects race to finish before tax credit expires: The clock is ticking on federal tax credits for renewable energy projects — now set to expire at the end of the year. That has suppliers of solar panels and wind turbines working full-tilt to fill orders and complete projects before the money runs out. Alternative energy companies report a huge boom in new installations. In California, new solar panel installations are up 74 percent over 2007, while the American Wind Energy Association reports that utilities are trying to install 8,000 megawatts of wind energy before January. it’s possible that the subsidies — which have wide Congressional support — could be renewed in the final weeks of this year’s session. But with uncertainty looming, projects for 2009 are already being scaled back or canceled. (USA Today)

Solar plane makes record flight : A British-built solar powered aircraft has set a world endurance record by staying aloft for more than three days. The unmanned Zephyr-6 completed its record demonstration flight for the U.S. military at Arizona’s Yuma Proving Grounds, powered by wing-mounted solar cells and kept aloft at night by high-efficiency lithium-sulphur batteries. While production versions of the Zephyr will likely find service as military reconnaissance platforms, civilian editions could be used for emergency communication relays, resource surveys, or weather research. (BBC)

Google ups investment into wind startup Makani: Google has already invested in solar power for its Mountain View campus and sunk $10 million into the development of geothermal energy. Now Google is entering the United States’ second biggest energy market: windpower. The company will front $5 million in development funds for Makani Power, a startup which promises to deliver wind energy at cheaper rates than current coal prices. Makani’s kite-based technologies, which have so far been kept under wraps, are reportedl;y ten times more efficient than turbine-produced windpower. (CleanTech)

Pics of 2009 Civic Hybrid Released; Car Has Nicer Options, but MPG Stays the Same: Honda has released images and details about its eagerly anticipated 2009 Civic Hybrid. The exterior sports some superficial styling changes, and Honda will be offering the Civic with a substantial upgraded set of convenience features and interior options. Disappointingly, next year’s Civic Hybrid does not improve on this year’s fuel economy. it’s still quite respectable — 40 MPG in the city and 45 MPG on the highway — but Honda has chosen to angle for new customers with luxury items, rather than new efficiency features. (Edmunds)

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Oil investors shake-off jitters in advance of Gustav’s approach; Barack Obama lays out his energy policies, and a sneak peek at the new Chevy Volt.

Gulf oil braces for Gustav: Industry analysts say that while a major strike by Gustav on the central Gulf Coast would cause disruptions in regional oil production, petroleum facilities are generally less vulnerable than just a few years ago. Hurricanes Katrina and Rita virtually shut down Gulf platforms and transit facilities in 2005, but since then, measure have been taken to harden both land-based and offshore installations. New rigs have been built higher and are better anchored, old platforms have been reinforced, and pipelines are now buried deeper to improve their survivability. Friday morning computer models of Gustav’s possible track have moved eastward, reducing the immediate danger to Texas and Louisiana facilities. Meanwhile, the International Energy Agency moved Thursday to calm investor jitters by promising to release petroleum reserves in the case of major supply interruptions. (CNN Money)

FACTBOX - Energy and tax proposals in Obama speech: In his Thursday evening speech accepting the Democratic nomination for the Presidency, Barack Obama laid out his vision for energy reforms in the United States. Topping the list: a ten year, $150 billion investment in wind, solar, and biofuel development. Obama pledged to end U.S. dependence on Middle eastern oil within a decade, stepping up deployment of so-called “Clean Coal” technologies and nuclear power. The Illinois Senator promised aid to American automakers in the creation of smaller, more efficient vehicles, and said that green investment would yield up to 5 million high-quality jobs by 2018. (Reuters/EcoDiario.es)

BREAKING: Is this the production Chevy Volt in Transformers 2?: General Motors is expected to officially unveil the final production-ready prototypes of the Chevy Volt plug-in car sometime in September, but it appears their hand may already have been tipped. Autoblog Green has a gallery of video screen captures from the filming of the upcoming movie Transformers 2 which appears to show a production Volt in all its purple glory. The overall look is more streamlined than earlier concepts, and agrees with the small teaser photographs recently circulated by GM. (Autoblog Green)

ExxonMobil Chemical Completes Manufacturing Facility to Produce New Specialty Compounds for Energy Efficient Tires: An Exxon manufacturing facility in Pensacola, Florida, is set to begin production of a new tire compound designed to improve fuel economy. The Exxcore™ tire liner reduces air loss between fillings, reducing rolling resistance. The new vulcanized compound also provides higher tire durability. Exxon engineers estimate that improved tire inflation could save 700 million gallons of gasoline each year reduce greenhouse gases by over 6 million tons. (Press Release)

What’s Your Solar Potential?: A new web service allows homeowners and businesses to model the potential efficiency of solar installations at their location using a sophisticated overlay of Google Maps’ satellite view. RoofRay calculates the amount of energy that could be produced on a given roof surface, based on panel size, orientation toward the sun, and roof pitch. By inputting estimated or actual energy usage, solar customers are also able to approximate the return on investment of proposed installations. (RoofRay)

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Tropical Storm Gustav reorganizes and threatens Gulf Coast oil facilities; compressed air energy storage for windfarms; and what’s your water footprint?

Gustav take an unexpected jog to the south, increasing threat to petroleum facilities: Early Thursday, an Air Force reconnaissance plane discovered Tropical Storm Gustav had reformed to the southwest overnight, pushing forecasts tracks westward toward the heart of the Gulf Coast’s oil platforms and transit facilities. Oil prices have pushed steadily upward over the past 48 hours on fears that the storm — now forecast to reach Category 3 intensity — might cause serious damage to the belt of offshore platforms and shipping terminals which stretch from Texas to the mouth of Mobile Bay. Industry officials say a major strike could halt production of up to 1.2 million barrels of crude oil per day. (National Hurricane Center)

Ford Spends $75 Million to Retool Michigan Truck Plant for Small Car Production: Ford Motor Company appears to be keeping its promise to retool truck and SUV assembly plants to produce a new generation of smaller vehicles. Company officials announced this week it will spend $75 million to convert a Michigan plant’s Ford Expedition and Lincoln Navigator line to produce their new C-Class passenger car. It’s a major project, and production isn’t expected until the 2010 model year. Ford says it will move to consolidate its model line, producing some of their successful European models in North America and Asian markets. (Treehugger)

Compressed-air storage coming to wind power: One of the traditional problems with windpower is producing base electricity — the juice which must be available to customers at all times, regardless of whether the wind happens to be blowing. Storing electrical energy on an industrial scale is not currently practical. But a New Jersey company thinks they have a solution: storing that energy in the form of compressed air. Energy Storage and Power plans to invest $20 million developing a system which would pump compressed air into underground caverns, such as depleted natural gas well or salt domes. The compressed air could then be released on demand to run turbines and generate electric power. (CNET)

Swift Enterprises Joins Race for Alternative Jet Fuel: The race to find an economical replacement for jet fuel is picking up steam. Indiana-based Swift Enterprises has developed aviation fuel made from landfill waste, sorghum, algae, and woodchips. It’s crazy expensive for now: about $60 per gallon. But that cost is expect to drop to about $1.80 per gallon once fullscale production gets underway. (CleanTechnica)

Our Water Footprint is Deeper than it Looks: Most people are familiar with the term “carbon footprint” by now. How about a water footprint? Social media and Green living blogger Max Gladwell explores the similarity between the two concepts. Consuming a glass of beer has a footprint of about 75 liters, while a kilo of corn weighs in at about 900 liters. A similar amount of beef accounts for nearly 1600 liters of fresh water. WaterFootprint.com has more. (Max Gladwell)

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Hurricane Gustav threatens the U.S. Gulf Coast and oil prices; organic photovoltaic power is on the way; and Vestas spends big on windpower advertising.

U.S. Gulf oil companies prepare for Hurricane Gustav: The petroleum roller coaster continues. Oil prices shot up again Tuesday on fears that Hurricane Gustav — now south of Haiti — might strengthen into a major storm and threaten Gulf Coast oil platforms and transit terminals. Royal Dutch Shell intends to begin evacuating offshore facilities Wednesday if the storm continues on a gulfward track. Most computer projections now show Gustav approaching the Louisiana coast sometime late Sunday on a course which resembles that of Hurricane Katrina. Both Katrina and Rita battered petroleum assets in 2005. About 25 percent of the U.S. oil supply passes through Gulf Coast facilities each year. (Reuters)

EnerDel ramping up battery production to supply Th!nk: EnerDel, a manufacturer of lithium ion batteries, is ramping up production capacity to supply the next generation of Th!nk cars. The Norwegian automaker plans a major push in the North American market, They’re planning to build at least one electric car in the United States, bringing it to market in the $25,000 price range. Th!nk has already secured a deal with the City of Indianapolis to expand its facilities there and hire an additional 850 workers. (Autoblog Green)

Converting Sunlight To Cheaper Energy: Researchers at South Dakota State University are working on a less expensive generation of solar power devices. Organic photovoltaics, or OPVs, are based on carbon polymers, rather than the silicon semiconductors in current solar photovoltaic design. SDSU Assistant Professor Qiquan Qiao says the organic designs promise to be less expensive and more flexible than their inorganic counterparts. Similar technologies may also be used to produce cheaper light emitting diodes. (Science Daily)

Vestas Launches $100 Million Consumer Ad Campaign: Are you starting to see ads for windpower on TV? It’s not an accident. Denmark’s Vestas — which claims a 23 percent market share of the world turbine market — has earmarked $100 million to advertise the benefits of windpower over the next two years. The campaign is designed to raise public support for wind technologies, the second largest source of power in the United States. The consumer-targeted ads will run on TV, print, online, and radio. (Environmental Leader)

Solar Verde Zero Energy Green Homes: So-called “zero energy” homes are making their way from the realm of the exotic to the subdivisions. Jetson Green profiles a new development of net-zero energy homes in the Chicago area. The Solar Verde houses feature a 4 kW solar photovoltaic system made with SOLARSAVE roof shingles, along with a host of environmentally friend features such as zero-VOC paints, CFL lighting, and recycled building materials. Prices are expected to be in the $340,000 range. (Jetson Green)

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