Nordic Cleantech/Renewable Energy News

S.A.G.A. Swedish American Green Alliance

Welcome to the SAGA website, a sustainability exchange for Swedish and American researchers, entrepreneurs, policy makers, journalists, legislators, activists, industry leaders, academics, NGOs, and more.

SAGA makes connections, cultivates partnerships, and celebrates the ongoing story of progress toward a sustainable future.

BetaLED to Install LED Lighting Outside the U.S. Embassy

BetaLED will install energy-efficient light fixtures on Gärdesgatan outside the Embassy. The annual energy consumption will be approximately 47W per fixture. The life cycle is about 20 years and the fixtures do not contain any mercury.

A traditional high pressure sodium or mercury light source consumes about twice as much energy and needs to be replaced every 4 years. The new BetaLED energy savings range between 40-65 percent and the device is built partly from recycled material.

Swedish ABB creates jobs and invests  in the US

CS Stockholm has been working closely with DOE, Commerce offices, Swedish officials, and power equipment companies, like GE and ABB, on SmartGrid Stockholm-DC workshops for private sector partnering, market development, standards, and investments in the U.S.  Most recently, ABB (Vasteras, Sweden) has announced that the company is creating  more than 100 permanent jobs and is investing more than $90 million in a new Huntersville, NC cable factory for manufacturing high-voltage power cables for AC and DC transmission lines to meet growing demand for renewable power infrastructure. 

Swedish and U.S. Companies Team-up to Cut Emissions from Air Travel

A U.S.-Swedish industry consortium led by Swedish Civil Aviation authority LFV Sweden, and including airport operator Swedavia, SAS Scandinavian Airlines, GE Aviation and Rockwell Collins, has been awarded an active role in the Atlantic-Interoperability Initiative to Reduce Emissions (AIRE) Green Connections project to validate how existing technology can reduce air travel CO2 emissions.

40 Percent of Skanska Green Building Takes Place in the United States 

Financial newspaper, Dagens Industri, reports today that green building is a top-priority for construction giant Skanska. About forty percent of the company’s green buildings are erected in the United States.  “[In the United States] demand on green buildings is driven by a traditional combination of carrot and stick, and the energy rating system LEED has had a great breakthrough in many states”, says Cecilia Fasth, Green Business Officer at Skanska.

USGBC/LEED in the Nordics

International builders are increasingly adopting the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED Green Building Rating System -- the United States’ primary tool for green building -- with international projects now comprising 27 percent of LEED certified and registered projects. LEED projects are underway in 114 nations, with a particularly strong presence in Norway, Finland Sweden and Denmark. The first certificate was awarded to a shopping center in Lahti Finland. The owning company is hoping to achieve the same certification for two projects in development in Tallinn and Stockholm. (for more information read the whole article)      

On-line CleanTech Directory

We are offering an opportunity for US cleantech companies and organizations to engage with the Nordic and European cleantech industry (renewable/ alternative energy and energy efficiency) through our U.S. on-line cleantech directory.  Your company gets exposure on our Nordic website and at our Commercial Service offices throughout Europe, and will receive timely information on trade leads, events, and other business opportunities in the EU.  The directory will also act as a virtual matchmaking tool for both Nordic and EU companies looking for US products, services and partners. 

To receive participation agreement (cost is USD 300/year), send a short note to our website administrator  Maria Fidentzi