CleanTech OC Daily - 3/27/12

Prestigehybrids: Luxury cars with electric boost
Five luxury cars are battling the hybrid market and they boast advanced hybrid powertrains for excellent fuel economy, and in some cases, plenty of power. BMW, Infiniti, Lexus, Lincoln, and Porsche are all trying to compete in the hybrid market while still giving consumers a luxury experience.

Poop-powered zoo cart a dung deal in Denver

The Denver Zoo has taken a unique take on reusing animal waste – a gasification system is set to convert more than 90 percent of the zoo’s waste into usable energy, eliminating 1.5 million pounds of trash currently going to landfills annually. The new system will help the zoo save $150,000 in hauling costs alone.

Thestory of Energy Cache, a drop-dead simple energy idea

Energy Cache, with the help of Idealab investor and inventor Bill Gross, has created a hyper simple system that is Energy Cache’s intellectual property and the first of its kind system for energy storage in the world - a system of buckets on a line that picks up gravel at the bottom of a hill, and moves the gravel to the top of the hill; when the process is reversed the gravel moves back down the hill and powers a generator to produce energy.