Photos: Cleaner technology on display

The California Clean Tech Open, a competition in which participants created technology-enabled, environmentally friendly products and business models, announced its five winners this week in San Francisco.\r\n

\r\nThe transportation category winner was KiteShip, which has created giant kites that can help pull commercial ships. \r\n

\r\nAccording to KiteShip, nearly 2 billion barrels of heavy fuel oil are burned each year by ship fleets worldwide, creating three times the atmospheric pollution from all the cars on the planet combined. KiteShip’s kites are designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, as well as ship fuel costs by 25 percent.

Clean Tech finalist A-Z Comp shows off its water management method. A-Z Comp has developed a way to remove oil and hydrocarbon from bodies of polluted water, restoring purity. In this photo, graphene, a type of bonded carbon, is added to water to demonstrate how oil is absorbed.

NuEdison, another Clean Tech finalist, has developed a photovoltaic, or solar cell, module that requires less silicon to create than current modules. By requiring less silicon, NuEdison says, manufacturing costs can be reduced by 25 percent.

Nila, a Clean Tech finalist, has focused its efforts on improving the traditional production lights used on movie sets. The Nila Lighting System contains no lead or mercury and generates 70 percent less heat than traditional film lighting setups. The production light uses 50 percent less energy and lasts 25 percent longer than traditional lights, according to Nila.

The traditional motor (upper right) usually outputs 50 percent to 70 percent torque efficiency. Clean Tech finalist NovaTorque’s motor (left and lower right) promises 90 percent or more efficiency, reducing energy consumption and heat build-up.

Lexus, one of the sponsors of the Clean Tech competition, plans to release a hybrid-powered luxury sport sedan, the RX 400h, in 2007. It will be classified as a super ultra-low emissions vehicle (SULEV). The RX 400h can go from zero to 60mph in 6.9 seconds and gets 31 miles per gallon in the city and 27 miles per gallon on the highway, according to Lexus.