The Sundance Channel's Big Ideas For A Small Planet is back. The eco-solutions show tidily takes on an issue - like, say Fuel or Drive in episodes from last year's season - and finds three "Big Ideas" to discuss in a half-hour. Sometimes, the episodes are paired with a longer documentary, such as with the series opening Crude Awakening.

For season two, the format of the show remains the same. The next episode, Transport, covers topics we're all in love with here on AutoblogGreen: how to get around in a more sustainable fashion. The breezy mood of Big Ideas makes the problems seem so darn solvable, which I think is a good thing. We all know congestion, global warming, dirty emissions and high fuel prices are a pain in the rear - is it that bad to take ten minutes to imaging how great it would be to live in a bike-friendly city?

This brings us to Transport. The show's idea number one is greener public transportation, which focuses on the efforts of New York City. City planners are working on making better bus lanes (with lights that can hold off a red light to allow an approaching bus through), installing more bike lanes with better bike parking at subway stations, and implementing congestion pricing for cars. The NYC plan to charge $8 per car is still in the works, having received City Council approval in April. One of NYC's greening efforts that not many people know about is how sustainable the garage where New York's subway cars are repaired and cleaned is - rain water is collected to be used to wash the cars, much work is done using natural lighting and there is, for a reason not explained in the show, a fuel cell. Segment one also tells us that there are 500 miles of bike lanes in NYC, and another 100 are on deck for the near future. But the real Bike City USA is Portland, Oregon. Read on after the break.

Last year, the Sundance Channel premiered the show Big Ideas for a Small Planet. AutoblogGreen took a look at two Season one episodes in particular, Drive and Fuel, because they directly related to our daily topics. Big Ideas is back for season two and if you weren't convinced by our reviews last year that this is a show worth watching, then fire up iTunes for a free download of the Power episode (I'm not sure how to link to something within iTunes, but if anyone knows the secret, feel free to share. UPDATE: thanks for the link, david r.). Of course, you can always watch a lot of the show online at the Big Ideas website.

As you might guess, the Power episode is about renewable sources of energy. The 25-minute show takes a look at the Solar Decathlon and the way wind power is replacing coal in Shenandoah, Pennsylvania.

[Source: iTunes]

At the Sundance film festival this week, Solazyme is promoting its scalable process that makes biodiesel from algae by driving a car through the busy streets of Park City, Utah. The Mercedes is fueled by Soladiesel, the Solazyme biodiesel that is "biodegradable, nontoxic and safe" and made using algae. Solazyme is working with Chevron on developing and testing the biodiesel. You can also see the Soladiesel car in Josh Tikell's Fields of Fuel documentary.

In a prepared statement, Solazyme CEO Jonathan Wolfson said, "Biodiesel from algae changes the landscape of renewable fuels. The concept of algal biofuel has been discussed for decades, and Solazyme's technology finally provides a scalable solution based on proven industrial processes. This fuel is just the first example of how algal oil will help the environment through new products that offer attractive economics and performance, as well as environmental benefits."

Solazyme is based in San Francisco. You can watch a video of this news from Solazyme after the break. Solazyme has also put their Multimedia News Release online here.

Related:

• Josh Tickell's Fields of Fuel documentary screening at Sundance on Monday
• Biodiesel Feedstock Development Agreement for algae biodiesel in Seattle

[Source: Solazyme, Inc.]

My how time flies. Back in December 2006, AutoblogGreen sat down with Josh Tickell, the author of Biodiesel America: How to Achieve Energy Security, Free America from Middle-East Oil Dependence and Money Growing Fuel and the driver of the Veggie Van. Back then, he talked about filming a cross-country biodiesel education trip in the van. That movie - called Fields of Fuel - is now finished and will be shown at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival. The world premiers screening is co-sponsored by Nova Biosource Fuels and will take place on Monday (the 21st). If you can't make it to the show, you can watch our own 2006 video interview with Tickell here. It's not feature-length, but it should give you an idea of where Fields of Fuel is coming from.

[Source: Nova Biosource Fuels, Inc.]

Just as Lexus' owners plan to increase hybrid sales, so does Lexus itself. They hope to help that cause by launching a broadband video channel that will focus on the types of things the affluent and eco-hip buyers of their cars would like. Plus, of course the cars themselves.

Lexus national interactive and contextual marketing manager Brian Bolain says the idea is to create "a parallel with the character of the brand." Lexus is also supporting Project Greenhouse at the Sundance Festival and the Sundance Channel's "Green" programming block set to debut in April.

Lexus currently offers versions of their LS, GS and RX as hybrid models.

Related:

• Toyota looking for 40% increase in hybrid sales this year
• Ed Begley Jr. promotes Project Greenhouse at Sundance
• Crude Awakening for Sundance Channel's new The Green documentary series

[Source: Ad Week via Marketing Vox]

A British family, the Strawbridges, is just trying to go green. They grow organic foods, pretty much eliminate fossil fuels from their lifestyle and try to produce as little waste as possible. They do this while a BBC crew follows them to film an eight-part, half-hour documentary series. Yesterday, Sundance Channel announced that this series, "Its Not Easy Being Green", will be coming to the US on the station's The Green primetime block early next year. I bet for a lot of viewers, watching the Strawbridge family make biodiesel on TV will be their first exposure to the homebrew process. The same's probably true for solar-heated shower and permaculture, and it's high time this sort of stuff reached more people. Being green's not all that hard, is it?

[Source: Sundance Channel]