Todd BrixCEO and Co-founderOCOchemTodd BrixNumber of employees you oversee: 5What is OCOchem?OCOchem is a clean-tech startup that is developing and commercializing technology to convert carbon dioxide, water and renewable electricity into an energy-dense, non-flammable liquid hydrogen carrier and chemical known as formic acid.What is formic acid? A simple naturally occurring...
New paint recycling tops 581,000 gallonsPaintCare, Washington’s new paint recycling program, reports it collected more than 581,000 gallons of surplus paint in its first nine months.The program operates 210 year-round drop-off sites, mostly at paint stores, and recycled 88% of the latex paint collected back into usable paint. Of the...
Hector Rodriguez smelled an opportunity while pressure washing garbage cans to earn extra money.He realized he could launch a business offering the service, as he knew just how stinky and filthy garbage bins could be. They also can be a breeding ground for all kinds of bacteria, especially on hot...
Over the next few years, we’ll be hearing a lot about Scope 1, 2 and 3.No, it’s not a revisit of a famous trial in Tennessee about a hundred years ago. The terms invoke science, however. Instead of a reflection on human ancestry, they look ahead to the future of...
The Broetje Family Trust is turning to solar power and water recycling to help fulfill its stewardship mission as it builds a new home for its three nonprofits in east Pasco.The $4.2 million, 30,000-square-foot building will house the trust’s three nonprofits, including a leadership academy with room for up to...
The Tri-Cities’ ozone levels, the highest in the state, have landed the region on national and state watch lists for the past five years.Since then, levels have improved but officials can’t pinpoint why. Concerns remain about them increasing again, which could prompt sanctions from the Environmental Protection Agency.“We’ve definitely been...
Burrowing owls that make their home in the shrub steppe habitat around Energy Northwest’s Columbia Generating Station in Richland got a hand with spring cleaning, courtesy members of Sagebrush Montessori School’s Roots & Shoots Ecology Club.The Richland students joined Energy Northwest’s environmental services department in February to clean and repair...
Friends of Badger Mountain, Current Vice President and Board Member, Former PresidentMarc SpinnerWhat is Friends of Badger Mountain?We are a board of volunteers, with approximately 12 active members. Friends of Badger Mountain (FOBM) is a group of professionals interested in trail building and the preservation of open space in the...
Every year on Arbor Day school children across the United States are told about the many benefits trees provide to people and the environment.To drive the point home, schoolchildren are given saplings to plant, so they can watch them grow and feel a connection to the environment. Invariably there are...
A 600-megawatt wind farm south of Kennewick will employ 300 during construction and help cement the region’s status as Washington’s center for wind energy.Scout Clean Energy of Boulder, Colorado, will apply for a conditional use permit from Benton County for its Horse Heaven Wind Farm project later this year.Pat Landess,...