If you follow the plug-in hybrid trend, then you know that Hymotion Canada is one of the few companies out there that specializes in converting hybrid-electric cars such as the Toyota Prius into plug-in hybrids. My podcast this week is an interview with Ricardo Bazzarella, founder and president of Hymotion, who talks about “plug-in momentum” and important developments in battery technology. He also talks about the significance of GM’s Volt announcement and speaks generally about the benefits of a plug-in approach.

My Clean Break column today takes a look at Canadian-designed Candu reactors and their ability to run on spent fuel from competing light-water reactors from Westinghouse, Areva and GE. Using the so-called DUPIC process (you can read the article to find out what the acronym means), the Candu can become a way for countries with light-water reactors (specifically, pressurized water reactors) to reuse/reduce their waste and somewhat cut their dependency on enriched uranium. I’m not a big fan of nuclear, but this is one of those lesser of evils stories: We’ve got light-water waste, we need to deal with it, so why not reuse it to slow down the accumulation of this waste? There are other benefits, and a bunch of risks — read the story to find out what they are.

Raleigh, N.C., is doing what all other cities across North America should be doing: investing in efficiency today that will pay off handsomely in the long run. The city is beginning to replace all public light fixtures with LED lights, beginning with public garages and street lights and eventually moving on to stadiums, parks, schools, gyms and other public places. It’s expected the energy savings will result in a payback of about three years, even though the lights cost far more than conventional fixtures.

Enzyme developer Diversa is acquiring privately held Celunol, a provider of cellulosic ethanol technology, for $154.7 million (U.S.) in stock.

“The combined company will be the first within the cellulosic ethanol industry to possess integrated end-to-end capabilities in pre-treatment, novel enzyme development, fermentation, engineering, and project development,” according to a company press release. “It will seek to build a global enterprise as a leading producer of cellulosic ethanol and as a strategic partner in bio-refineries around the world.”

It should be noted that Celunol, which counts Vinod Khosla as a major investor, has purchased pre-treatment and conversion equipment from Brampton-based SunOpta for use in its Jennings, Louisiana, facility. This facility, to begin operating this summer, will be the first commercial cellulosic ethanol production plant in the United States and will use sugarcane bagasse and wood as its feedstock.

Like we’ve begun to see in the solar market, this merger indicates that the biofuels sector is ripe for consolidation as smaller companies look for dance partners in an attempt to bulk up and attract investment. Look for companies such as Dyadic, SunOpta and Genencor to make similar moves.