The U.S. Navy’s Seal Beach facility in California is now home to a new $1.9 million solar parking lot, thanks to funding from the federal Recovery Act. Aside from creating new green construction jobs, the new solar facility will save the Navy more than $30,000 per year in electrical costs. It’s just one part of an all-around solar power makeover for the Navy, which just this summer has commissioned another $100 million worth of new solar projects.

A team of researchers from the University of Nevada at Reno is out to prove that sludge from a wastewater treatment plant can be dried, powdered, gassified as biofuel, and then burned to generate electricity, which in turn can run equipment at the same treatment plant. Talk about having your cake and eating it, too! The question is whether the researchers can make their sewage sludge-to-biofuel process operate at a cost low enough to compete with the price of conventional fuels.

The 155,000-square-foot facility is located in Lockport, N.Y., and unlike conventional ones, it uses 95 percent less water and 40 percent less energy. The energy-efficient data center has a power usage effectiveness rating of 1.08, which is quite less compared to the industry average of 1.92.

Two scientists are on a path-breaking method to produce ’sea-urchins’ to expedite the work capacity and efficiency of photovoltaic devices. Jamil Elias and Laetitia Philippe are the two scientists from Empa’s Mechanics of Materials & Nanostructures Laboratory who have been successful in producing these tiny ’sea urchins’ which are ready to revolutionize solar-cell technology.

Energy supplier EDF have unveiled a new gadget that allows consumers to turn off their appliances from anywhere in the home. The wireless EcoManager enables householders to control and switch off their microwave ovens, TVs and stereos from any location, allowing them to cut needless energy use and save money on their bills in the process.

Six miles per gallon doesn't sound like much, but don't tell that to the Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority. The transit authority's new diesel-electric hybrid buses get two miles per gallon more than the diesel-only cousins they are replacing.

Starting early to develop China's own energy-efficient and new-energy vehicles a decade ago, China now has an established industry with the research and development of three types of these vehicles and three key technologies at its core. Zhang Laiwu, vice science and technology minister, made the remark Thursday at a press conference in Beijing, adding that China' s industrial pattern of green vehicles was relatively unique in the world, because of its early start to develop these vehicles.

The project on construction of a wind power electricity plant on Phu Quy Island has been implemented by the PetroVietnam Power Corporation. The project costs VND335 billion. The plant has capacity of 6MW and includes three 2MW turbines. The plant produces about 25.4 million of kWh annually. It will connect with the 22kV network and work smoothly with the diesel power plant located on the island. The project occupies permanent and temporary areas of 0.74ha and 0.87ha respectively.

On September 17, the Thien Tan Joint Stock Company was successful in connecting electricity sources from the Ha Nang Hydroelectric Plant with the national electricity network. The plant has been constructed in Tra Thuy Commune, Tra Bong District, Quang Ngai Province. The plant has capacity of 11MW and totally costs more than VND300 billion. The plant supplies 76 million of KW annually.

A recent study, conducted by the Rochester Institute of Technology, reveals that the total energy needed to make organic solar cells is less than the one needed to make inorganic solar cells.

The Dakne Hydroelectric Plant in Kon Ray District, Kon Tum Province has started running. The plant started construction in February 2007 and cost more than VND230 billion. Among those, VND180 billion equal to nearly 70 percent of the total capital was sourced from the An Binh Commercial Joint Stock Bank. The money granted by An Binh Bank was disbursed during the three year construction.

Nowadays, batteries are hardly meeting the normal consumer’s demand regarding their capacity and lifetime. Complaints about laptops whose charge lasts too little, or about electric cars not being able to charge as quick and last as long as gasoline are frequent. Amprius, a US-based company, addresses these issues and develops abattery that they say it can hold double the charge of regular lithium ion batteries.

Along with many lighting systems which have been improved and decorated to serve the 1000 year Celebration of Thang Long-Hanoi, the lighting system at Thien Quang Lake area is one of the early completed projects and has been put into use ahead of 2nd September - the National Day.

According to a report by the Energy Department under the Ministry of Industry and Trade, by August 2010, the Rural Energy Project II (EPII) and Amended Rural Energy Project II had been carried out in 1,566 communes in 25 provinces and cities, 366 communes more than expected.

On September 19 in Dan Thanh Commune, Duyen Hai District, Tra Vinh Province, the Vietnam Electricity (EVN) worked with the Chinese Dongfang Electric Corporation to start construction of the Duyen Hai Thermoelectric Plant 1 with capacity of 1,245MW. The project costs VND29.245 billion, 85 percent of which was sourced from the Chinese Import-Export Bank with 15 percent from EVN.

Siemens has launched its renewable energy business arm in India to get a sizable share in one of the fastest growing markets in the world. The German engineering giant has opened its business in India at just the right time given the abundant economic and policy incentives offered by the government to the project developers as well as manufactures in the renewable energy sector.

There are still funds available to help West Virginians replace home appliances with new, energy efficient models. In fact, residents can now take advantage of two programs aimed at saving consumers money and protecting the environment. Currently, the West Virginia Enery Efficient Appliance Rebate Program and the state's Energy Star® Sales Tax Holiday are both in effect.

The 27-nation bloc could make 90 billion liters (24 billion gallons) of so-called next-generation ethanol in 2020, about 65 percent of predicted fossil gasoline use, the London-based group said in a study. At least 100 refineries a year could be built in the bloc from 2013, it said. The EU currently has no commercial factories that refine biofuels from plant waste.

A research team from the ORNL (Oak Ridge National Laboratory) performed a microscopy research on lithium ion batteries. They found out how they actually work at nanoscale levels and provided invaluable data never gathered before.

A new directly solar powered air conditioning system has been unveiled in China that has the potential to not only make cooling a home green, but also save homeowners a huge amount of money at the same time. The machine is made by a company called Vicot.