As it ventures into renewable energy, 3M is also making strides in its other energy business: batteries. The Minnesota-based manufacturer is already a primary supplier of cathode and anode materials to most of the world’s major battery suppliers and is credited with helping battery makers deliver a higher capacity lithium-ion battery to market.

But now 3M is working on a new material that can make lithium-ion batteries for such products as power tools, laptops and cars lighter. Here’s how it works: Because batteries are comprised of several cells, they typically require an electronic system to keep the cells balanced. “If one cell is doing more than another, you get a disbalance and then your battery won’t charge right,” explains Chris Milker, business manager at 3M.

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The U.S. auto industry is facing the worst downturn in several generations, one so dramatic that it threatens to take out many of the domestic manufacturers and their network of suppliers. While much of the blame rests with Detroit for building mediocre products, most agree that allowing car companies to fail would wreak severe damage upon parts of the country that are already shouldering an unfair share of the economic malaise. The challenge, then, is how to stimulate car sales without rewarding bad decisions.

A few years ago I retrofitted my home to run mostly on solar power, and was rewarded for doing so with a generous subsidy that amounted to about half the cost of the system. Such subsidies did much to stimulate demand for solar technology, and are being phased out as the industry approaches parity with other power sources.

A similar program could enable us to get a “two-for-one” deal by stimulating demand for electric and serial hybrid vehicles, while also rewarding car companies for ramping up their production capacity. While electric vehicles are more economically viable than they were in the 1990s, they are still substantially more expensive than conventional cars. In a severe recession, demand for new vehicles overall will soften, and for expensive vehicles, even more so.

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Solar power may produce electricity without burning fossil fuels, but it brings its own set of environmental bad news: toxic chemicals in solar panels and solar manufacturing processes. And many of the environmental risks associated with production and end-of-life are being ignored by solar panel producers and lawmakers, according to a new report out today from the Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition.

The 45-page report, entitled “Toward a Just and Sustainable Solar Energy Industry,” notes that, to solve the problem, panel manufacturers need to adopt “extended producer responsibility,” including take-back programs and environmental best practices now, while the solar industry is still in a nascent stage. As we’ve pointed out before, reclamation programs are a low priority for solar startups that are typically focused more on raising capital and building production, and many of those that do exist are in the pilot phase. Sheila Davis, executive director of the SVTC, tells us that panel makers “should look at this as an opportunity, not an economic hindrance.”

As a practical matter, solar panel makers could see cost benefits from reclaiming discarded panels; some of the materials used to make them — such as telluride and indium — are quite rare (and expensive). Some forward-thinking solar panel makers, such as AVA Solar and First Solar, have developed take-back programs where they set aside a certain amount of money from each panel sale to build up a reclamation fund.

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Following in the footsteps of U-Haul and Enterprise, Hertz rental cars is rolling out its car-sharing program in December, starting with New York, London and Paris. Unlike Enterprise or U-Haul, though, Hertz will be going after consumers.

“Hertz’s car sharing is located in city environments and is available directly to consumers. In addition, it is going after B2B business as well as B2C, government and universities,” says Paula Rivera, a spokeswoman for the company.

Called Connect by Hertz, the Hertz car-sharing service will mimic existing car-sharing services by providing access to cars in lots throughout cities as opposed to merely offering the service through its existing rental lots. “We’re starting out in neighborhood parking locations, specifically parking garages and on-street parking areas,” Rivera says.

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Cleantech industry insiders are hailing the selection of Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) as chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee as a win for the environment.

In a secret ballot, the House of Representatives on Thursday voted 137-122 for Waxman to replace former chairman John Dingell (D-Mich.). It’s the latest event in a long-standing rivalry between the two men, according to the Associated Press.

“The champion of the environment has replaced the champion of the automotive industry,” Daniel Becker, an environmental lawyer and director of the Safe Climate Campaign in Washington, told Bloomberg.

It’s not hard to see why environmentalists would favor Waxman.

As the head of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee, Waxman has taken a strong stance in favor of global warming legislation. Under his leadership, the environment has clearly been at the top of the committee’s agenda, with only one out of 50 announcements released this year not directly related to an environmental issue – and that was a report in March that found that the Environmental Protection Agency had been unjustified in its closure of several libraries.

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Many of the readers on this site support or invest in cleantech companies, of which green cars are an important component. We’ve all seen the dire predictions about what will happen if the Big Three automakers fold. Millions of people will be thrown out of work, the economy will implode, etc. If this happens in a vacuum, true, but nothing happens in a vacuum.

American automakers have been producing a mediocre product for decades, and have fought cleantech at every turn (remember the EV1?). They’ve earned their failure, and should be allowed to go into bankruptcy so that their assets and workers can be reallocated to companies that are not freighted with old baggage.

The government should send a clear message that it will bail out soon-to-be-idled auto workers and their suppliers, but not the companies themselves. Let’s look at where the real value is in the American auto manufacturing base.

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Japanese electronics maker Kyocera believes solar’s star is rising, and the company said it plans to expand its solar cell production to keep up with growing global demand, building a new large-scale solar cell manufacturing facility in Yasu City. Kyocera said it will be the company’s largest manufacturing plant in Japan.

The cost of the new facility was not disclosed, but Kyocera said that, combined with its existing Yohkaichi plant, the new site will more than double its annual production of solar cells to 650 megawatts (MW) by March 2012, up from a projected output of 300 MW this year.

Kyocera, which makes fine ceramic and semiconductor parts and telecommunications equipment, said its new solar plant is part of a strategy to continue as a fully integrated solar module manufacturer. The company said it covers the entire production process, from procuring and casting raw silicon to producing solar cells and assembling modules.

Earlier this year, Kyocera reportedly made a deal to help put some sun power into the next-generation Toyota Prius. Solar panels from Kyocera could be used to help power the car’s air conditioning system.

Construction of Kyocera’s new manufacturing plant is scheduled to start in early 2009 and be completed by the end of the year. The first solar cells are expected to start rolling off the production line in the spring of 2010.