Adobe, the software giant, has installed 12 100-kilowatt solid oxide fuel cells, or Energy Servers, from Bloom Energy at the Adobe headquarters. The cumulative 1.2 megawatts of power that the fuel cells generate will provide Adobe with about one-third of the power it needs to run the building.

Last year, the Ocean Power Technologies (OPT) company has developed a tidal power generator that has now been connected to the energy grid at the Marine Corps Base Hawaii as part of the firm’s program with the US Navy to test wave energy technology, giving the US their the first-ever grid connection for a wave energy device.

Ahead of the 2020 deadline for constituent parts of the UK to hit renewable power targets, Scotland has raised its ambitions for real-terms energy saving by switching to eco-friendly alternatives.

A delegation representing 15 Finnish enterprises said here on Tuesday they wanted to look for local partners to develop renewable energy, wastewater treatment, industrial waste management and other environmental technologies. Some of the Finnish companies introduced their clean technologies at a seminar held here on Tuesday were Neste Oil Corporation, Cargotec, GD Power, Kemira, Fincumet, YIT and Outotec.

The new nano-ceramics would be key components in the next generation of capacitors. Like batteries, capacitors store energy, but there the resemblance ends. Batteries are designed to collect energy over a relatively long period of time, then release it at a low, constant rate. Capacitors charge and release large amounts of power very quickly. The basic principle has been around since the 18th century, but until recently one roadblock has been how to reduce them down to an efficient size.

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.

Recently-invented e-readers, though, do not have this issue, since they only use ambient reflections as their source of energy – mostly like regular paper. Still, current e-readers are limited to black and white, since their electrophoretic displays only know how to let light pass or block it.

China has shown fresh interests in the development of hydropower in Nepal. “There are opportunities for Chinese hydropower companies to participate in hydropower generation in Nepal,” said Qiu Guohong, Ambassador of China to Nepal, addressing the Nepal-China Non-Governmental Cooperation Forum meeting here in the valley today.

Verve Energy in collaboration with BP Solar are planning to build Australia’s largest ever grid-connected solar power plant. The photovoltaic power plant is expected to generate about 10MW of clean energy and according to the two companies, it will be built in Geraldton, Western Australia.

At the beginning of this month, the European division of Sanyo has officially released its new enhanced HIT solar panel. Dubbed HIT-N235SE10, the new 235 watt solar panel has an energy-efficiency of 21.1%, improving the performance in limited space installations and offering more power generation per square meter.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

New and unique ways of making solar panels more efficient in power generation are coming to light every day. The new kid in the block of one such device is a large transparent sticker applied to the front of the panel which increases the power output by about 10% or so. Genie Lens Technologies is the firm which has developed these polymer film stickers. These polymer films are imprinted with special kind of microstructures.

The Ca Mau Province-based Cong Ly Construction, Trading and Tourism Co., Ltd. began work on construction of a wind power plant on September 9. The plant will have a capacity of 99MW including 66 turbines to be built on 500ha, which spans from the coastal part of Vinh Trach Dong Commune in Bac Lieu Town, Bac Lieu Province, to Vinh Chau District in Soc Trang Province.

The project entitled, “Studying, Designing and Manufacturing Large-Diameter, Non-Rotary Pipe-Connection Automatic Welding Equipment Systems” was checked and accepted on September 11 in Hanoi. Dr Hoang Van Chau from the National Research Institute of Mechanical Engineering is the director of the project with the technology for manufacture of pressure pipelines for small and medium-sized hydropower projects.

The Egyptian wind energy industry is all set to contribute an additional 2,500 MW capacity to the nation. Under progress are field studies towards establishing wind farms by means of the private sector. These wind farms will be ideally located in the Gulf of Suez while slated to become operational by the year 2014.

A new study reported in the journal Applied Physics Letters in August this year (published by the American Institute of Physics), explains how solar energy could potentially be collected by using oxide materials that have the element selenium. A team at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in Berkeley, California, embedded selenium in zinc oxide, a relatively affordable material that could make more efficient use of the sun’s power.