Reuters reports that the Chinese government has pushed forward with plans to increase levies on higher polluting vehicles with large engines and lower levies for motorbikes and other forms of small transportation — all part of an effort to combat pollution by financially punishing those who drive unnecessarily large vehicles. They’re also promising discounts on the purchase of hybrid-electric cars and other fuel-efficient vehicles. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Where’s Canada? Are we going to let ourselves be outdone by the Chinese — The Chinese — when it comes to progressive environmental tax policy?

If you’re searching for a terrific overview of the state of emerging energy technologies in Canada then make sure you take a look at this 113-page report just released by the National Energy Board. It covers wind, small hydro, biomass, geothermal, solar PV, fuel cells, ocean energy, clean coal and conservation technologies, and offers a province-by-province breakdown of how these emerging technologies are being explored and used. At the end it also discusses “options for action” and concludes with loads of great statistics, charts and tables that many who follow this area will find invaluable.

Update: I’ve had tremendous response, and want to thank those who sent in suggestions and even designs for me. I have a good selection to choose from and will try to put the new logo up some time in the next week or two. Huge thanks, again, to everyone who contributed their time and ideas.

If anybody out there has a creative streak and any ideas for a Clean Break logo, please forward them along. Charity is welcome if you happen to moonlight as a Web designer. I’m kind of getting sick of the plain text I use as part of the Blogware software. Time for a change, though I still like the colours on this site.

It’s quite likely Vancouver-based VRB Power’s stock will have a nice rise Wednesday morning. The company announced after the close of markets Tuesday that it had sold 80 units of its 5-kilowatt energy storage system to Magnetek’s Telecom Power Group, which will resell the units to a number of telecom operators in the United States. VRB also said it plans to sell another 50 units directly to market.

This is significant for a number of reasons. One, it’s the first big commercial sale that VRB has had. Two, it seems to be confined to 2006 and hints at a more impressive order book in 2007 and beyond. Three, this announcement puts 2006 orders ahead of some analysts expectations. Finally, there’s no question that VRB’s flow battery product is superior to lead-acid battery systems used by the telecom industry for back-up power. Once this initial product gets into the hands of telecom customers, the superior nature of the product will be further proven and momentum will build from there.

UPDATE: As expected, a 20 per cent pop in the shares of VRB Power this morning.

Red Herring reports that California is holding a competition to find local companies with the best new clean technologies, kind of like an X-Prize for cleantech. The California Clean Tech Open, conceived of by the MIT Club of Northern California and unveiled at the Cleantech Venture Forum today in San Francisco, has attracted a number of financial backers. The prize for best cleantech plan is $100,000 plus a year of free legal, accounting and PR services, not to mention office space. Four others will get $50,000 and the same perks.

Michael Santullo, co-chair of the competition, said it strikes the balance between large X-Prize type contests and smaller university contests that tend to focus less on business and more on technical and social aspects of a project.

A wonderful idea. And you never know, we could end up seeing an X-Prize for clean tech or energy. Click here and you’ll see that the X-Prize Foundation is accepting ideas for the next prize, building on the success of its space travel competition.

I’ve only got one request: That Cleantech Capital founder Nick Parker, inspired after his San Fran venture forum, come back home to Toronto and launch a Canadian Cleantech X-Prize contest. It can be turned into a TV show — like a cross between Canadian Idol and CBC’s Venture. I’m sure some specialty channel would lap it up.

Doesn’t hurt to nudge.