We all know LED as being the flagship of green lighting, but what if those so-called “efficient” LEDs turned out to be even more energy-effective under certain conditions? The Kyoto University, in collaboration with Stanley Electric Co Ltd found a way to increase the emission intensity of silicon-based thin films by several times.

Being gifted with many active volcanoes, Central America wants to tap them for producing green energy which will cut its dependence on oil imports and also help reduce the CO2 emissions. Because the region is placed above shifting tectonic plates in the Pacific basin, it has great potential for geothermal power produced by heat stored deep in the Earth’s crust.

Authorities have pledged to speed up construction of green buildings in response to the surge in building energy consumption that has resulted from the country's rapid urbanization. Li Bingren, chief economist at the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development (MHURD), said at a press conference Monday that authorities had made numerous efforts to save energy and reduce emissions, yet energy use efficiency remains low.

A personal helicopter weighing just 230 lb created sizzling news when it flew on hydrogen with zero emission. With an ability to carry payloads up to 800 lbs, this pocket Hercules can fly for 90 minutes. Fitted with easy controls, this reaches a speed of 100 knots thanks to a pair of small yet powerful motors mounted on it. Two common and easily available things – Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and a catalyst – combined to bring about a milestone in personal aviation history with attention to the environmental issues as well! Avimech has combined these two to power engine in to an innovative machine.

On 14 September, Petrovietnam Fertilizer and Chemicals Corporation (PVFCCo) inaugurated the construction project of the system recovering CO2 from the exhaust of Phu My Fertilizer Plant. The project aims to increase annual urea fertilizer output of the plant by about 60,000 tons, while reducing 40,000 tons of CO2 emissions per year to protect the environment.

As we're faced with an increasingly large world population and ever-dwindling resources the race is on to produce cars that not only produce zero tailpipe emissions, but ones that are green to manufacture too.

Located in the district of Yen Thanh, Nghe An, Yen Thanh Tapioca Plant, directly under Engine and Agricultural Machinery Corporation in Nghe An, was established in 2003. During the past six years, the factory has always faced many problems of power consumption, emissions, waste water and environment pollution.

Should 1kWh of electricity be saved, we would reduce the amount of carbon dioxide emission into the environment by 0.5634 kg, helping mitigate climate change. So saving power should be one of the priorities to adapt to climate change.

Before joining the cleaner production component in the industry (CPI), during the production process, Ngoc Lap tea factory used to encounter major environmental problems such as high concentration of dust, noise pollution, and smoke from burning coal, which directly affected the working conditions of employees, worsen living condition in the neighborhoods and schools near the factory. The amount of carbon dioxide emission from the plant is about 2,500 tons per year.

Two heavy-duty manufacturing powerhouses, Peterbilt and Eaton Corporation, have teamed up to give garbage trucks a fuel saving green twist. This spring, Peterbilt announced its new Model 320 Hybrid which uses Eaton’s new hydraulic hybrid system to achieve up to 30% in fuel conservation, along with a consequent reduction in emissions and greatly reduced maintenance costs, too. Now four of the sustainable behemoths are set for their first run in Michigan, in the green-minded city of Anne Arbor.

A newly developed A/C refrigerant developed by Honeywell for the European market to have 99.7% lower global warming potential (GWP) will be used by GM to cool its entire fleet of 2013 models. The new low emission coolant was developed by Honeywell initially to meet EU standards which have long been much more strict than US NHTSA standards governing greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles.

The use of conventional energy such as fuel-wood and charcoal in rural and mountainous areas in our country has reduced the forest area and increased the amount of CO2 emission. Meanwhile, modern energies like electricity, gasoline, petroleum are becoming more and more costly, unaffordable for people in remote areas. A positive solution is to use biogas – an in-place and cheap energy source for farmers.

In Bac Ninh Province, there are many occupational villages and recycling facilities currently producing non-ferrous metal, which offers a high economic value for the local population. However, as these facilities are located among residential areas, waste and emission from the manufacturing process directly affect the residents nearby, disturbing their livings.

Japan's Toshiba said Friday it was working with Mitsubishi Motors to develop batteries for electric vehicles, as the race intensifies among automakers and technology giants to make emission-free cars. Toshiba, which spans electronic components, appliances and nuclear power plants has developed a fast-charging long life lithium-ion battery called SCiB (Super Charge ion Battery), which it plans to adapt for cars.

Many passionately believe that clean coal is not the answer to decreasing carbon emissions or increasing the supply of energy. In fact, since Obama's decision to set aside $2.4 billion dollars "to lead the world in CCS technologies," disagreements (and for that matter, debates) have surfaced about its legitimacy as a true carbon-fighting, energy-producing solution.

Really amazing are the innovative ways solar power is put into use. Now a team of scientists working in Sandia National Laboratories is focusing on exploring basic steps to make synthetic liquid fuel with the help of solar panels. The goal is that this will help considerably reduce carbon dioxide emissions.

U.S. policymakers can't count on that kind of dedication as they map out the electric-car future. President Barack Obama aims to get a million electric cars and plug-in hybrids on U.S. roads by 2015 to ease U.S. reliance on imported oil and cut carbon emissions. The first two mass-market electrics, Nissan's Leaf and the Chevy Volt, are set to hit the streets this fall.

Through energy audit and the application of some solutions and models of the project “Investigate, assess, propose solutions and develop energy-saving models for a number of schools, hospitals, factories and flower farms of Lam Dong” implemented by Energy Conservation Center of Ho Chi Minh city, more than VND500 million has been saved and a large amount of CO2 emission which causes greenhouse effect has been reduced.

After about eight weeks, workers will flush the system clean and start over with a new batch, he said. Carbon dioxide is trucked in for now, but the longer-term strategy is to locate the operation near a power plant that runs on coal or natural gas and captures its carbon dioxide. If a national cap on emissions is enacted, a power plant might be willing to pay a fuel plant to take its carbon dioxide gas. Another potential source is a conventional corn ethanol plant, which produces a pure stream of carbon dioxide.

But it's also one of the dirtiest with the world's 2,300 coal-fired power stations contributing around 40 percent of all man-made emissions, according to the World Coal Institute. Their continued use enrages many environmentalists who argue that we should be phasing coal out. But the coal industry is pinning its hopes on the rather oxymoronic-sounding "clean coal," which has become the umbrella term for a range of new technologies that share the aim of cleaning up coal in the 21st century. Earth's Frontiers takes a look at the options: