Head of government's environmental transport policy urges businesses to enrol employees on subsidised eco-driving courses The head of environmental transport policy at the Department for Transport (DfT) has criticised the apparent lack of corporate interest in a government-backed scheme encouraging people to drive in an environmentally friendly manner.

Industry experts have warned that the long term trend for energy prices looks set to rise by as much as 10 per cent over coming years. With increasing energy costs, all farm businesses continually need to assess energy use and identify energy saving opportunities, many often will require little or no need for capital spend.

Powered by the world’s most advanced permanent-magnet motor, the light rail locomotive uses hydrogen as the energy source for the fuel cells powering the synchronous motor and frequency converter, units which have been independently developed by the China North Vehicle Yongji Electric Motor Corporation.

Ireland has been in the news lately for all the wrong reasons, starring in a soap opera of EU intrigue and enforced bank bailouts. In Dublin recently for the first time in years, I heard some good news in the midst of all the gloom. The country has a head start on most of the world in capitalizing on one of its few plentiful resources: renewable energy.

Men covered in clothing from head-to-toe and wearing protective breathing masks have been wandering the premises of some Tybee Island city buildings. But the buildings - which include city hall, the fire department's administrative office and the YMCA - have not been contaminated by some dangerous toxin.

Clean Currents will partner with Solar Cookers International to purchase and distribute the solar cookers, which will address the locals’ basic needs in boiling water and cooking food. Residents in the mid-Atlantic region who will purchase wind power off the grid can send solar cooking kits to locals in Haiti as Christmas gifts through Clean Current’s annual holiday giving campaign.

As countries such as China, the United States and Germany plow billions of tax dollars into renewable energy sources such as wind and solar power, Canadian energy companies say the federal government urgently needs to develop a national strategy to grab a piece of the global clean-energy market, which attracted $162 billion US in investment last year.

The creative juices of designers are now flowing into mice and keyboards that are becoming sleeker, smaller and more power-efficient. Microsoft and Logitech have blended eco-friendly technology and space-saving designs in their new mouse and keyboard products.

The solar industry called on Congress on Tuesday to extend a contentious grant program in the lame-duck session that it says produced 20,000 solar jobs in a year and half and helped to jump-start the U.S. clean energy economy. The U.S. Treasury's "Section 1603" Renewable Energy Grant Program, part of the $787 billion anti-recession stimulus of 2009, is slated to run out at year's end.

Businesses can save upto 30 per cent in power cost and carbon emission by moving to the internet based-cloud technology, a Microsoft study today said. "Businesses that choose to run business applications in the cloud can help reduce energy consumption and carbon emissions by a net 30 per cent or more versus running those same applications on their own infrastructure," Microsoft India Director (Server Business) Pallavi Kathuria told PTI.

One of my favorite science fiction ideas is in a short story called Light of Other Days about something called “slow glass.” Light took decades to pass through. In this story, the idea was that people could buy glass windows that took so long for the light to pass through, that they could nostalgically watch long gone scenes, such as their children playing outside as toddlers long after they had gone off to college, or green fields with horses where now ugly cities grew.

The World Bank's lending for renewable energy and energy efficiency projects increased by 300 percent between fiscal year 2007 and fiscal year 2010, to a record $3.4 billion. But over that same period, lending to fossil fuel projects also jumped 430 percent.

Snohomish County is pledging to cut energy use at its facilities by 10 percent as part of a Snohomish County PUD’s “Energy Challenge” campaign. The county is joining more than 150 local businesses and nearly 3,000 residential utility customers who have vowed to make comparable energy cuts. The goal is to save money and cut greenhouse gases, while reducing overall demand on the PUD’s energy supply.

CMU aims to save more than $600,000 over the next two years by reopening a gas turbine at the Central Energy Facility. The gas turbine was installed in 1991, but was shut down in 2002 because it was not economically efficient, said Steve Lawrence, associate vice president of Facilities

While some members of Congress seem to think that spending federal dollars on local projects is a bad thing, hundreds of farmers and rural business owners are eagerly taking the opportunity to improve their operations through federal clean energy loans and grants totalling more than $30 million. The funds, administered through the U.S. Department of Agriculture, will pay for 516 projects that install renewable energy equipment and improve energy efficiency at agricultural operations.

This thought constantly runs through the mind of Casey Lauer, director of energy and environment at K-State. It is a topic that is becoming debated more and more, and Lauer is one of many people on campus trying to figure out how the university can save money through decreased energy use. In Forum Hall in the K-State Student Union on Monday, Lauer and others spoke on the topic of energy consevation.

Smart metering solutions will allow the introduction of time-based tariffs and provide consumers with information about their electricity use in real time. But installing the equipment in each household will do nothing unless consumers are given adequate information about how to make use of them.

French glass and construction material manufacturer Saint-Gobain has announced an $80 million investment in SAGE Electrochromics to make energy saving glass. The partnership will focus on making electronically tintable ‘dynamic glass’ affordable for the mass market.

Today Osram Sylvania, a North American lighting manufacturer, announced that it will be commercially producing an LED light bulb designed to replace a 60-watt incandescent bulb. Millions of 60-watt incandescent bulbs are currently sold each year, but according to the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, these light bulbs must be phased out by 2014.

EnerNoc EfficiencySmart Energy Management Software cuts energy costs by 15% without undertaking any efficiency projects. EnerNoc, a well-established efficiency software company, released a new line of energy management software yesterday that the company's Senior Vice President of Marketing and Sales, Gregg Dixon, claims can help companies cut their energy costs by 15% without undertaking any efficiency projects.

Thanks to a $3 million federal stimulus grant given to the Utah Energy Program, solar panels will be installed in every school district in the state, at 73 Utah schools in all. Students will be able to track online how many kilowatt hours of energy their solar photovoltaic arrays generate, and teachers at the schools will receive training to teach students about solar, wind and geothermal technologies.

Italy, the country with the world’s first highway ever built (in 1926), is now preparing the addition of another motorway segment between Catania and Siracusa (the A18). But this is not just another motorway: it is the first fully solar-powered in the world, with 20 hectares-worth of solar panels.

The vast majority of the European Parliament has voted in favour of plans to release €146m of unused European Union (EU) funds to finance energy saving, energy efficiency and renewable energy projects. Today’s vote swing has given the go-ahead to amend legislation on the European Energy Recovery Plan (EERP) to channel unspent capital into a new fund.

A plan to install solar energy panels on two Reigate council buildings is set to save money and reduce carbon emissions, a councillor has said. Councillor Julian Ellacott said the solar panels could generate electricity worth hundreds of thousands of pounds over their 25-year lifespan.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is extending up to $200 million to facilitate private sector participation in natural gas distribution infrastructure in the People's Republic of China (PRC). According to ADB, the project will support the Government of the PRC's push to reduce coal consumption and increase the use of natural gas, a cleaner fuel that is better for the environment and in large supply in the PRC.

The heat radiating off roadways has long been a factor in explaining why city temperatures are often considerably warmer than nearby suburban or rural areas. Now a team of engineering researchers from the University of Rhode Island is examining methods of harvesting that solar energy to melt ice, power streetlights, illuminate signs, heat buildings and potentially use it for many other purposes.