Boeing

The Boeing Company (NYSE: BA) has signed a collaboration agreement with biofuel producer Hawaii BioEnergy LLC, an international consortium leading the alternative fuels race in Hawaii, to develop clean, renewable fuels for aviation.

Rising fuel prices are not just impacting American consumers at the pump, they are also impacting the commercial airline industry.

Engineers are constantly trying to make airplanes more efficient, and there's finally a big push to do so. In “The Future of Flight,” Special Correspondent Josh Zepps takes a look at how the aviation industry is evolving to meet new needs and pressures, with new aircraft designs and advanced fuels.

In his State of the Union address, President Obama called for “winning the future” by innovating world-beating clean energy technologies.

Here are three U.S. companies that are already winners by the President’s definition -- and are also enriching their shareholders: Polypore International, Inc. (NYSE: PPO) (market cap $2.41 billion) up 32.75 percent year to date, up 322 percent in 12 months; Hexcel Corporation (NYSE: HXL) (market cap $2 billion) up 13.8 percent year to date, up 89.4 percent in 12 months; Amtech Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: ASYS) ($239 million) up one percent year to date, up 187 percent in 12 months.

Solar cell manufacturers are consistently leap-frogging one another in production of the most efficient solar cell.

Boeing Co.  (BA) recently signed an US$89 million contract with the United States Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to develop and fly a high-altitude unmanned aircraft (UAV) for the Vulture II demonstration program. The solar-powered aircraft, SolarEagle, is a full-scale demonstrator designed to stay continuously aloft for five years at high altitudes.

A new survey conducted by the American Businesses for Clean Energy and We Can Lead shows a record number of businesses want congress to pass a climate bill this year.

Earlier this month, The Masdar Institute of Science and Technology was commissioned by Boeing (NYSE:BA) and biofuel tech giant Honeywell UOP, to study the potential of halophytes (a saltwater plant).

An infertile plot of land—strewn with unsightly weed-like plants—seems an odd place to tackle petroleum addiction.

But a tough and toxic tropical shrub being farmed in India produces an oil that is cheaper than crude, without the environmental drawbacks or ethanol's food versus fuel debate.