* Vinod Khosla talks to Wired magazine about his passion for ethanol, and does a Q&A with BusinessWeek. Can we say overexposure?

* Researchers at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory develop a semiconductor material that can convert more sunlight into electricity, making it possible to have solar cells with conversion efficiencies as high as 45 per cent.

* Cadbury signs up with Bullfrog for clean electricity purchase. In the United States, Wells Fargo makes a three-year purchase of green power representing an estimated 40 per cent of its electricity consumption during that period.

* Looking for a job in cleantech? Know something about wind energy? Apparently China is hungry for specialized talent, with only one university there having a program on wind technology. Could be time to brush up on that Mandarin…

* Fourteen Cellex fuel-cell forklifts are being tested at two Wal-Mart distribution centres as part of a four-month trial, which is three-quarters complete.

* Vancouver-based Azure Dynamics has signed an agreement with Ford Motor Co. that would let it develop a hybrid power train for Ford’s E350/450 commercial vehicles. (more detail).

* John Doerr of Kleiner Perkins seems to be trying hard these days to replace the “cleantech” term with “greentech,” but he crosses the line in this Red Herring article with the following rewriting of history: “‘Clean tech,’ as many past efforts at environmentally friendly industry have been called, hasn’t panned out from an investment standpoint.”

What garbage! I’m sorry, but “green” has more of a treehugger, enviro connotation than “clean.” Clearly this man is on a mission to coin a new term and claim it as his own.

* Vinod Khosla talks to Wired magazine about his passion for ethanol, and does a Q&A with BusinessWeek. Can we say overexposure?

* Researchers at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory develop a semiconductor material that can convert more sunlight into electricity, making it possible to have solar cells with conversion efficiencies as high as 45 per cent.

* Cadbury signs up with Bullfrog for clean electricity purchase. In the United States, Wells Fargo makes a three-year purchase of green power representing an estimated 40 per cent of its electricity consumption during that period.

* Looking for a job in cleantech? Know something about wind energy? Apparently China is hungry for specialized talent, with only one university there having a program on wind technology. Could be time to brush up on that Mandarin…

* Fourteen Cellex fuel-cell forklifts are being tested at two Wal-Mart distribution centres as part of a four-month trial, which is three-quarters complete.

* Vancouver-based Azure Dynamics has signed an agreement with Ford Motor Co. that would let it develop a hybrid power train for Ford’s E350/450 commercial vehicles. (more detail).

* John Doerr of Kleiner Perkins seems to be trying hard these days to replace the “cleantech” term with “greentech,” but he crosses the line in this Red Herring article with the following rewriting of history: “‘Clean tech,’ as many past efforts at environmentally friendly industry have been called, hasn’t panned out from an investment standpoint.”

What garbage! I’m sorry, but “green” has more of a treehugger, enviro connotation than “clean.” Clearly this man is on a mission to coin a new term and claim it as his own.

 A year ago I wrote a column in the Toronto Star and post here about the Ministry of Natural Resources and its attempt to use low-speed electric cars (from Dynasty Electric Car Corp.) in Ontario parks, only to be told by the Ministry of Transportation that doing so was illegal and that the cars had to be parked indefinitely. It was a completely silly situation: one ministry trying to embrace emission-free transportation at its green, beautiful provincial parks; the other stubbornly sticking to the strict interpretation of a law severely lacking in common sense.

So it was with great delight to get this e-mail from Nick Banks, general manager of Dynasty, today:

I am a regular reader of your blog and appreciated your story about our vehicle in provincial parks. It looks like you may have had some effect. From the Safety Policy and Education Branch of the MOT a memo has gone out to Ontario Municipalities indicating the start of an electric low-speed vehicle test in Ontario.

Also, this appears on Dynasty’s Web site:

Effective September 19, 2006, Ontario municipalities, conservation authorities and provincial parks can test electric low-speed vehicle (LSVs) on park roads. The vehicles will be allowed under the same basic conditions that allow the vehicles to operate in 47 US states and British Columbia…. We are excited that once again Dynasty cars will be rolling and hope that this is the first step to wider acceptance of our environmentally friendly and safe low speed vehicles in Ontario.

This is terrific news, and my hat goes off to Transportation Minister Donna Cansfield for getting this change done. Cansfield was energy minister prior to the transpo gig and I had a sneaking suspicion she would address the issue, given her strong support for conservation and renewables while in the energy beat. I should also point out her announcement yesterday that e-bikes (bikes that work in manual or electric mode) are now permitted on Ontario roads, and apparently the ministry is planning to permit Segway Transporters as well.

These are the kinds of progressive policy changes we need. BTW: In addition to Dynasty, it’s also good news for Feel Good Cars, which had the awkward distinction of being headquartered in a province that outlawed its low-speed electric ZENN cars.