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Feb 03, `08 — General Motors will showcase several gas-saving commercial vehicles at the 2008 Chicago Auto Show Feb 6 thru Feb 17.

GM’s Fleet and Commercial Operations (FCO) will display vehicles featuring outstanding fuel economy, E85 ethanol and biodiesel capability, and gas-electric hybrid vehicles designed to help GM customers go green without going broke.

Here are some of the gas-friendly vehicles designed for commercial and business use that will be at the Chicago Auto Show:

Chevrolet Express 3500 Cargo Van
GM’s clean-burning, dependable and powerful 6.6 L Duramax engine can use B5 biodiesel and comes in rear-wheel or all-wheel drive. The Express also has left-hand side load doors and remote release side panels for easy loading and access.

Chevrolet Silverado
The half-ton Silverado gives customers the choice of powering their truck with E85 ethanol, gasoline or a combination of both fuels. In addition, this 2008 Fleet Truck of the Year continues to delight fleet owners with its comfort, capability and best-in-class fuel economy.

Chevrolet Impala Police Pursuit Vehicle
The 2008 Chevrolet Impala Police Car can operate on cleaner-burning, renewable E85 ethanol, an energy source that can help reduce our dependence on petroleum. E85 has been a very popular choice among fleet customers – including law enforcement agencies – because its availability is growing, and because E85 vehicles are an affordable fleet option.

Chevrolet Tahoe Police Pursuit Vehicle
The Tahoe PPV is the only SUV rated as a police pursuit vehicle. The 2008 Tahoe PPV is powered by the Vortec 5.3L V-8 engine delivering 320 horsepower (238 kW) and 340 lb.-ft. of torque (470 Nm). The Vortec 5.3L features Active Fuel Management technology, resulting in improved fuel economy, and can operate on E85 ethanol.

Silverado Hybrid
The 2009 Chevrolet Silverado Hybrid is a full-size pickup that achieves 40-percent greater city fuel economy and a 25-percent improvement in overall fuel economy.

The hybrid system provides all-electric driving at low speeds, allowing fuel savings to be realized even when the truck is fully loaded or towing a trailer. Silverado Hybrid can tow up to 6,100 pounds (2,767 kg).

The Silverado Hybrid goes on sale in late 2008. More at Chicago Auto Show.

Also, the AP reports, “GM says the 2009 GMC Sierra hybrid gets a 25 percent improvement in fuel economy without compromising performance, while its GMC Denali XT concept - a low-slung, muscular utility vehicle - gets 50 percent better fuel economy than a comparable small pickup.

The Sierra is the next large GM vehicle to get the company’s new two-mode hybrid system, which has also been introduced on the Chevrolet Tahoe and GMC Yukon sport utility vehicles and the Chevrolet Silverado pickup. The SUVs are expected to go on sale early this year, while the Silverado and Sierra are scheduled to hit the market at the end of 2008.” More at AP.

This Reuters video shows, Earthrace, a futuristic-looking bio-diesel powered boat with a net zero carbon footprint, will attempt to break the round the world speed record.

The project aims to promote awareness of the environment and the sustainable use of resources. More at Reuters.

Excerpts from Wired article “Around the World in a Boat Fueled by Human Fat“:
“This Wired article writes in detail about an engineer and sailor from New Zealand still hopes to circumnavigate the globe in world-record time at the helm of a boat powered in part by the ultimate renewable fuel - human fat.

Pete Bethune, a former oil exploration engineer, is so committed to proving bio-diesel is a viable alternative to fossil fuel that he and two other Earthrace crew members underwent liposuction. Together they stripped more than 2.5 gallons of fat from their bodies, which produced almost two gallons of fuel - enough to go 9 miles under optimum conditions.

Circumnavigating the world - a 27,600-mile journey - is the ultimate maritime challenge, and this is the second time Bethune and his crew will attempt it. The first ended disastrously in March when Earthrace collided with a fishing vessel off the coast of Guatamala. One fisherman was injured and another lost at sea; Earthrace’s insurance carrier paid the families a settlement. Earlier voyages have ended with propeller failures and when the Colombian navy fired upon the boat.” More at Wired.

NEW YORK - Police have found a way to help save the planet and perhaps sneak up on bad guys at the same time: an all-electric, ultra-quiet scooter, Newsday reports.

Newsday further writes, “The New York Police Department will begin road testing four of the plug-in Vectrix scooters early next month _ part of a broader campaign to make the nation’s largest police department a greener one as well.

The 36,000-officer NYPD has been looking for ways to retool its massive motor fleet to guzzle less gas and inflict less harm on the environment. A handful of NYPD hybrid cars and so-called flex-fuel vehicles, which can run on both gasoline and ethanol, are already on the road.

Vectrix recently approached several big city police departments with the sleek, two-wheel scooters, but the NYPD was the first to take a serious look, said Andrew MacGowen, president of the Rhode Island-based company.

MacGowen said the Vectrix scooters, assembled in Poland, are the first all-electric vehicles to be government-certified to travel on any highway, street or road.

The Vectrix, which has a battery pack, is heavier than the Piaggio, but with a top speed of more than 60 mph, it’s nearly as fast. And riders cruise past the fuel pump: The scooters can be recharged simply by plugging into a standard outlet for two hours. MacGowen said recharging costs a fraction of refueling _ a savings he says would quickly cover the difference in price with Piaggios, which cost the NYPD about half as much.

The Vectrix can only travel 40 to 60 miles per charge, but police officials said they may be willing to sacrifice some range for zero emissions. Plus, the scooters would have the dual benefit of “reducing air pollution and noise pollution,” said Robert Martinez, the NYPD fleet director.” More at Newsday.

Stanford Report — Dec 18,`07 — Dan Stober writes an in-depth article on Stanford’s nanowire battery at Stanford news service.

Stanford researchers have found a way to use silicon nanowires to reinvent the rechargeable lithium-ion batteries that power laptops, iPods, video cameras, cell phones, and countless other devices.

The new version, developed through research led by Yi Cui, assistant professor of materials science and engineering, produces 10 times the amount of electricity of existing lithium-ion, known as Li-ion, batteries. A laptop that now runs on battery for two hours could operate for 20 hours, a boon to ocean-hopping business travelers.

“It’s not a small improvement,” Cui said. “It’s a revolutionary development.”

The breakthrough is described in a paper, “High-performance lithium battery anodes using silicon nanowires,” published online Dec. 16 in Nature Nanotechnology, written by Cui, his graduate chemistry student Candace Chan and five others.

The greatly expanded storage capacity could make Li-ion batteries attractive to electric car manufacturers. Cui suggested that they could also be used in homes or offices to store electricity generated by rooftop solar panels.

“Given the mature infrastructure behind silicon, this new technology can be pushed to real life quickly,” Cui said.

The electrical storage capacity of a Li-ion battery is limited by how much lithium can be held in the battery’s anode, which is typically made of carbon. Silicon has a much higher capacity than carbon, but also has a drawback.

Silicon placed in a battery swells as it absorbs positively charged lithium atoms during charging, then shrinks during use (i.e., when playing your iPod) as the lithium is drawn out of the silicon. This expand/shrink cycle typically causes the silicon (often in the form of particles or a thin film) to pulverize, degrading the performance of the battery.

Cui’s battery gets around this problem with nanotechnology. The lithium is stored in a forest of tiny silicon nanowires, each with a diameter one-thousandth the thickness of a sheet of paper. The nanowires inflate four times their normal size as they soak up lithium. But, unlike other silicon shapes, they do not fracture.

Research on silicon in batteries began three decades ago. Chan explained: “The people kind of gave up on it because the capacity wasn’t high enough and the cycle life wasn’t good enough. And it was just because of the shape they were using. It was just too big, and they couldn’t undergo the volume changes.”

Then, along came silicon nanowires. “We just kind of put them together,” Chan said.

For their experiments, Chan grew the nanowires on a stainless steel substrate, providing an excellent electrical connection. “It was a fantastic moment when Candace told me it was working,” Cui said.

Cui said that a patent application has been filed. He is considering formation of a company or an agreement with a battery manufacturer. Manufacturing the nanowire batteries would require “one or two different steps, but the process can certainly be scaled up,” he added. “It’s a well understood process.” More at Stanford.edu

Commission proposal to limit the CO2 emissions from cars to help fight climate change, reduce fuel costs and increase European competitiveness.

Brussels — Dec 19, `07 — The European Commission today proposed legislation to reduce the average CO2 emissions of new passenger cars to 120 grams per kilometre by 2012.

The proposed legislation is the cornerstone of the EU’s strategy to improve the fuel economy of cars, which account for about 12% of the European Union’s carbon emissions. The proposal further underlines the EU’s leadership and determination to deliver on its greenhouse gas commitments under the Kyoto Protocol and beyond.

President of the Commission José Manuel Barroso stated: “This proposal demonstrates that the European Union is committed to being a world leader in cutting CO2 emissions and the development of a low carbon economy. At the same time, we are committed to promote the competitiveness of our industry and its global technological leadership.”

Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas said: “The aim of the legislation is to reduce CO2 emissions from cars in order to help fight climate change. The legislation will also ensure important fuel savings which will translate into considerable benefits for consumers. Moreover, it will encourage the car industry to invest in new technologies and actively promote eco-innovation, which is a driver for more and high-quality jobs.”

Emissions reductions
The proposal will be a major step in lowering CO2 emissions in the EU. It will reduce the average emissions of CO2 from new passenger cars in the EU from around 160 grams per kilometre to 130 grams per kilometre in 2012 as part of the EU’s integrated approach to achieve overall 120 grams per kilometre. That will translate into a 19% reduction of CO2 emissions and will place the EU among the world leaders of fuel efficient cars.

How the legislation will work
The draft legislation defines a limit value curve of CO2 emissions allowed for new vehicles according to the mass of the vehicle. The curve is set in such a way that a fleet average of 130 grams of CO2 per kilometre is achieved. A manufacturer must ensure that by 2012 measured fleet average emissions are below the limit value curve, when all vehicles manufactured and registered in a given year by the manufacturer in question are taken into account.

This means that the level of emissions by heavier cars will have to be improved proportionately more than lighter cars compared to today. Manufacturers will still be able to make cars with emissions above the limit value curve provided these are balanced by cars which are below the curve as long as the fleet average remains at 130 grams.

The proposal will now be communicated to the Council and to the European Parliament as part of the co-decision legislative procedure. More at European Commission here and here.

Seoul, S Korea — On Dec 11, Seoul Semiconductor announced that it has launched the world’s thinnest chip-LED at 0.17mm, capable of producing more than two times the brightness of existing chip-LEDs. Seoul Semiconductor has applied for a patent for its new chip.

Seoul Semiconductor’s new chip-LED, WH108, measures 1.6mm in width, 0.8mm in length and 0.17mm in height, and represents a significant reduction in thickness. The WH108 is 15% thinner than the industry’s exiting thin chip-LED, which measures 0.2mm. The WH108 also delivers superior performance at a luminous intensity of 240 mcd, more than two times brighter than the existing chip-LED at a current of 5 mA.

WH108’s ultra-thin package and high brightness make it ideal for use in applications for cell phone keypad modules or touch pads, which will ultimately lead to thinner cell phones.

In addition, the WH108 is capable of producing the same brightness at a lower power, which helps extend the battery life of portable devices such as cell phones, digital cameras and laptops.

The WH108 has enhanced thermal characteristic, meaning it can withstand and perform reliably in demanding environments such as:
- Small lights: inner lighting of refrigerator, reading lamp of automobile
- Special illumination devices: endoscope illumination
- Automobile dashboard lighting

Prototype models of the WH108 in white, blue and green will be available to cell phone companies in Korea and globally in December 2007. Seoul Semiconductor will begin mass-production of the WH108 on a scale of more than 10 million LEDs per month in the first quarter of 2008. More at Seoul Semiconductor.

San Francisco, Calif — Arctic sea ice shrank drastically this summer, reaching a record low, largely because warm ocean currents ate away at the base of the ice sheet, new research says. The arctic ice cap melted at an unprecedented rate in mid-2007, losing an area of ice the size of the state of Alaska, US scientists said at a conference this week.

“The average rate of loss of sea ice every summer year to year up to 2006 was equal to an area the size of West Virginia,” or about 62,800 square kilometers (24,250 square miles), said Michael Steele, the senior oceanographer at the University of Washington in Seattle.

However the decrease in ice between 2006 and 2007 “was almost equivalent to the area of Alaska,” or some 1.7 million kilometers (more than 663,000 square miles), Steele further said.

“It was a huge retreat,” said Steele, one of the researchers who discussed the subject at the annual American Geophysical Union (AGU) conference in San Francisco, California.

At the fall meeting of the American Geophysical Union (AGU) in San Francisco, some scientists argued yesterday that the end of the perennial ice is near.

“If this trend persists, the Arctic would be ice-free [in the summer] by 2013,” said Wieslaw Maslowski of the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California. The researchers told a meeting of the American Geophysical Union that some of the observations had been astonishing.

“The further you go down this path, the harder it is to get back,” observed Don Perovich from the US Army Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory. “Things could come back, but basically it’s the fourth quarter and we’re down two touchdowns,” he said, using an analogy from American football.

The big thin
The extent of the sea ice cover fell to a record minimum in September of 4.13 million sq km, beating the previous low mark, set in 2005, by 23%. This was well publicised at the time, but some of the other “Arctic numbers” have not been so widely reported. Scientists say they demonstrate the step changes in environmental conditions in the northern polar region.

Warmth from below
A big driver behind the melt is the current warmth of the waters in the Arctic. In the summer of 2007, Arctic Ocean surface temperatures hit new maximums.

In waters just north of the Chukchi Sea (above Alaska and Eastern Siberia), sea-surface temperatures (SSTs) were 3.5C warmer than the historical average and 1.5C warmer than the historical maximum. SSTs of 4C were recorded.

This warming was probably the result of having increasing amounts of open water that readily absorb the sun’s rays, a phenomenon known as the ice-albedo feedback: less ice means less reflection and more absorption, leading to more warming and more melting.

“Water that is now circulating just 200 meters below the main ice pack is now significantly warmer than it was just five years ago,” said John Walsh of the University of Alaska, Fairbanks.

New research shows that carbon dioxide, one gas that traps heat in the atmosphere, can be captured as it leaves coal-burning power plants and then permanently sequestered in rock formations thousands of feet below the Earth’s surface.

How Much Time Is Left?
When asked how long the perennial ice might last, many researchers here shrugged their shoulders.

A report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released in February predicts that the summer sea ice may disappear early in the next century.

More at National Snow and Ice Data Center, BBC News.

September 9, 2007, sea ice extent compared to animation of Septembers 1979 to 2006 

BALI, Indonesia — Dec 16, `07 — A UN Climate Change Conference adopted a plan to negotiate a new global warming pact on Saturday, Dec 15, after the United States suddenly reversed its opposition to a call by developing nations for technological help to battle rising temperatures.

The adoption came after marathon negotiations overnight, which first settled a battle between Europe and the U.S. over whether the document should mention specific goals for rich countries’ obligations to cut greenhouse gas emissions.

The agreement launches a two-year negotiating process - the “Bali roadmap” - aiming to secure a binding deal at the 2009 UN summit in Denmark.

European and U.S. envoys dueled into the final hours of the two-week meeting over the EU’s proposal that the Bali mandate suggest an ambitious goal for cutting the emissions of industrial nations_ by 25 to 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2020.

EU Welcomes Agreement

European Commission President José Manuel Barroso: “There is only one planet. Together, developed and developing countries can reach success.”

The European Union welcomes the agreement reached at the UN climate change conference in Bali to start formal negotiations on a climate regime for the post-2012 period and on a ‘Bali Roadmap’ that sets out an agenda for these negotiations.

The conference set an end-2009 deadline for completing the negotiations to allow time for governments to ratify and implement the future climate agreement by the end of 2012, when the Kyoto Protocol’s first commitment period ends.

The decision explicitly acknowledges the findings of the recent scientific assessment by the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and recognises that deep cuts in global emissions of greenhouse gases will be required to prevent global warming from reaching dangerous levels.

The conference also took important decisions on several other issues, including launching demonstration projects to reduce deforestation, finalising arrangements for a fund to help developing countries adapt to the impacts of climate change, and scaling up financing for transfer of technology to developing countries.

The Bali Roadmap

The conference agreed to launch formal negotiations among the 192 parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) on action up to and beyond 2012. These formal negotiations replace a process of informal dialogue that has taken place over the past two years. They will involve the United States, which is a Party to the UNFCCC but not the Kyoto Protocol.

The decision to launch negotiations sets out a ‘roadmap’ to guide them which includes the key building blocks of a future agreement. These are: enhanced mitigation of climate change by limiting or reducing emissions; adaptation to climate change; action on technology development and transfer; and scaling up of finance and investment to support mitigation and adaptation. Four negotiating sessions are scheduled in 2008, starting in March or April.

The decision explicitly acknowledges the findings of the IPCC’s recent Fourth Assessment Report (AR4), emphasises the urgency of addressing climate change expressed in the report and recognises that deep cuts in global emissions will be required to reach the Convention’s objective of preventing dangerous levels of climate change.

In parallel with the negotiations under the climate change Convention, the 176 parties to the Kyoto Protocol will continue negotiations already under way on new post-2012 emissions targets for developed countries that are in the Protocol. For this negotiating ‘track’ the Bali conference agreed on an intensive work schedule for 2008 to accelerate progress.

A review of the Protocol at the next UN climate conference, in December 2008, will help to inform these negotiations on future commitments by developed countries.

The negotiations under both ‘tracks’ – Convention and Protocol - will be completed at the UN climate change conference to be held at the end of 2009 in Copenhagen. The EU and many other Parties insisted on this simultaneous deadline to ensure a coherent result.

More at UN Bali Reports,  EU.

Boise, Idaho — Micron Technology on Wednesday, Dec 12, announced production sampling of its new 1Gb DDR2 device fabricated on 68-nanometer DRAM process technology.

The new process, coupled with Micron’s 6F² technology, has enabled the world’s smallest production 1Gb DDR2 memory with a die size of just 56mm². Mass production of its new 68nm 1 Gb DDR2 products is expected to begin early next year, with DDR3 and other low-power DRAM products expected to follow in the second half of the year.

This new advanced memory technology will be targeted at server, mobile and other computing applications where the benefits of reduced die size, faster speeds and lower power consumption are most critical.

Upcoming DDR3 products developed on the new process will allow for speeds up to 1600 megabits per second (Mbps). The 68nm process also provides approximately 20 percent lower power consumption when compared to previous process generations.

Future DDR3 chips designed on the 68nm process will join Micron’s Aspen Memory family of energy-efficient products, which are specifically designed for applications where power reduction is desired such as data center servers and notebook computers. More at Micron.

Amsterdam, The Netherlands — Dec 04, ‘07 — At the annual Nokia World conference today, Nokia Oyj announced it has agreed with the world’s largest music group Universal to offer free 12-month access to Universal artists’ music for buyers of Nokia’s music phones.

The world’s top cellphone maker said it has signed up Universal Music Group International, owned by French media giant Vivendi, for its new “Comes With Music” offering and is eyeing similar deals with other labels before the offer starts in the second half of 2008.

Nokia said the new offering would differ from other packages on the market as consumers can keep all the music they have downloaded for free during the 12 month period.

“We set out to create the music experience that people are telling us they are looking for - all the music they want in the form of unlimited downloads to their mobile device and PC,” said Anssi Vanjoki, Executive Vice President and General Manager, Multimedia, Nokia.

“Even if you listened to music 24 hours a day, seven days a week, you would still only scratch the surface of the music that we’re making available. Comes with Music fulfils our dream to give consumers all the music they want, wherever they want it, while rewarding the artists who create it.”

“The financial barrier to try new music is completely removed. It fundamentally changes a lot of business logic in the music industry,” said Nokia spokesman Damian Stathonikos. The free access to new music could hurt peer-to-peer networking while also raising pressure on Apple Inc.

Nokia outlines its vision of Internet evolution and commitment to environmental sustainability:

Ovi - your personal dashboard to life
Nokia also gave further details of the upcoming Ovi Internet services environment. Ovi, meaning ‘door’ in Finnish, enables consumers to easily access their existing social network and content, acting as a dashboard to a person’s life.

“Ovi combines the mobile, PC and web environments into an easy to use experience with common user interface elements that provide consistency and simplicity,” said Vanjoki. “We started the Ovi services rollout with the individual services in navigation, music and games, and the next step is to provide an integrated experience. The complete Ovi environment and new services will be rolled out continuously throughout 2008.”

Towards greater environmental sustainability
Nokia also outlined its long heritage in addressing environmental issues and commitment to driving new initiatives in the mobile industry in areas such as energy efficiency, materials used in products, take back, recycling, and packaging. This was against the background of the launch of the Nokia 3110 Evolve, a mobile device with bio-covers made from more than 50% renewable material. The device is presented in a small package made of 60% recycled content and it comes with Nokia’s most energy efficient charger yet, using 94% less energy than the Energy Star requirements. More at Nokia.

Billboard delivers up to 3.4 kilowatts of renewable, solar energy.

SAN FRANCISCO — Dec 03, ‘07 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Pacific Gas and Electric Company today unveiled the nation’s first solar-powered billboard,located in San Francisco, Calif. The billboard is part of the utility’s new advertising campaign, titled “We Can Do This”, which features information about a variety of programs and services PG&E offers that reflect the company’s commitment to the environment.

The nation’s first solar-powered billboard is prominently located at 1000 Brannan Street in San Francisco, visible from the Highway 101 9th
Street exit. It is outfitted with 20 solar modules that can provide up to 3.4 kilowatts of renewable solar energy to the PG&E grid. The power
generated by the system exceeds the power used at night to illuminate the billboard’s lights. In addition to installing solar, PG&E replaced the
billboard’s halophane light fixtures with energy-efficient LED lights.

The solar panels, provided by SunTech Power, collect direct current (DC) electricity from the sun’s rays. Using a Fronius IG 3000 grid-tie
inverter, the renewable energy is converted to alternating current (AC) power and fed into the electricity grid.

With the debut of PG&E’s solar-powered billboard, the United States joins Canada and South Africa as the only countries worldwide to utilize
solar technology in this innovative way. Unlike the two Canadian solar-powered billboards located in Vancouver and Toronto, PG&E’s billboard is interconnected to the grid, providing renewable energy to the utility’s customers. The South African solar-powered billboard is also interconnected.

To see how you can become involved in helping to slow climate change, visit PGE.com/WeCanDoThis

Know your contribution to climate change
mobGAS will challenge individuals to make small changes to their daily routine in order to achieve significant reductions of greenhouse gas emissions.

Brussels — Nov 30, ‘07 — mobGAS is a new mobile phone application available in 21 European languages that allows users to see how their daily choices impact on climate change.

This smart technology, developed by scientists working at the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre, allows users to see the implications of the choices they make every day, in terms of the three major greenhouse gases – carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide.

Information about everyday activities – cooking, transport, lighting, electronic appliances etc. - is put into the application, and calculations made of individual emissions. A user diary of daily, weekly and yearly emissions can be registered on a secure website, allowing a comparison with national and world averages.

The application also includes an animation reflecting the user’s contribution to the Kyoto Protocol target.

Individuals can have a significant impact on reducing emissions. According to recent Eurostat figures, 21% of emissions are related to industrial and associated processes, while 31% are from energy production, 20% from transport, 9% from agriculture and 3% from waste, and the remainder from other sources.

All of this shows that individual behaviour, such as how we travel, the appliances we use or the food we eat, can make a real different to emissions. Lifestyle and consumer choices are a key factor, so it is important that people are aware of the implications of their personal choices.

By downloading the application to a mobile phone – something people carry with them almost all the time – it is possible to make use of quieter moments – travelling on a bus, or waiting for an appointment, for example – to input the data for that day. This could include the means of transport they took, how they heated their house, how long they watched television and what they ate.

From today, mobGAS is being made available free of charge to anyone who is interested. Communication networks and mobile phone producers will also be involved in rolling-out the technology at national level.

This technology will be demonstrated by scientists of the JRC at the EU pavilion during the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Bali from 3 December.

To download the application visit mobGAS

San Francisco, Calif — Nov 27, ‘07 — Google said on Tuesday it plans to spend hundreds of millions of dollars to help drive down the cost of electricity made from renewable energy below the price of coal.

The project, which Google is calling RE<C, using mathematical symbols to denote “renewable energy cheaper than coal,” will be based in Google’s research and development group and is hiring dozens of engineers and targeting investment financing at advanced solar thermal power, wind power, enhanced geothermal systems and other new technologies, Google said.

The Web services and online advertising group will be a big customer for the project, running computers and networks on the electricity and selling back what’s left to the power grid.

“Our goal is to produce one gigawatt of renewable energy capacity that is cheaper than coal. We are optimistic this can be done in years, not decades,” Larry Page, Google’s co-founder and president of products, said in a statement.

A gigawatt can power a city the size of San Francisco. An analyst at broker Raymond James noted the entire US solar cell generation capacity at the end of 2006 was only just over half a gigawatt, while 11.6 gigawatts came from wind power.

“We see technologies we think can mature into very capable industries that can generate electricity cheaper than coal,” Page further added, “and we don’t see people talking about that as much as we would like.”

The company also said that Google.org, the philanthropic for-profit subsidiary that Google seeded in 2004 with three million shares of its stock, would invest in energy start-ups.

As part of the initiative, executives at Google.org said they are working with two companies that have “promising, scalable energy technologies.” One of these, eSolar, based in Pasadena, Calif., uses thousands of small mirrors to concentrate sunlight and generate steam that powers electric generators. The other, Makani Power of Alameda, Calif., is developing wind turbines that will run on powerful and generally more predictable winds at high altitudes.

Page, in an interview, said that failing to investigate new businesses could hurt Google more than any potential distraction. “If you look at companies that don’t do anything new,” he said, “they are guaranteed never to get bigger. They miss a lot of opportunities and they miss the next big things.”

In a conference call Tuesday with reporters, Sergey Brin, Google’s other founder and president of technology, said the effort was motivated in part by the company’s frustrating search for clean, cheap energy alternatives.

“It’s very hard to find options that aren’t coal-based or other dirty technologies,” he said. “We don’t feel good about being in that situation as a company. We feel hypocritical. We want to make investments happen so there will be alternatives for us to use down the road.” Both founders declined to specify what the company now spends on energy.

Idealism is hardly new at Google. In their Letter From the Founders before the company’s 2004 initial public stock offering, Page and Brin wrote: “Our goal is to develop services that significantly improve the lives of as many people as possible. In pursuing this goal, we may do things that we believe have a positive impact on the world, even if the near-term financial returns are not obvious.”

Google does not disclose the energy consumed in powering its online services, but local energy experts say it ranks as one of Silicon Valley’s biggest energy customers.

“As Google grows, we don’t want our core business to be part of the problem. We want to be part of the solution,” said Larry Brilliant, head of Google.org, the company’s philanthropic arm which will direct the energy investments.

Brin said he felt the company would be “hypocritical” not to do something. Google and its founders are big promoters of electric cars and the roof of its headquarters in Mountain View, California, supports a large solar energy installation.

The push comes as oil prices near $100 a barrel and coal, which generates 40 percent of the world’s electricity, faces regulatory and environmental pressures that may boost prices.

Google plans to spend tens of millions of dollars in 2008 on renewable energy development and other efforts. Its initial focus will be solar thermal and enhanced geothermal systems.

Eventually, the company would spend hundreds of millions of dollars in for-profit “breakthrough renewable energy projects.” Hydroelectric and nuclear energy are not part of the project.

Page believes no more than 1,000 researchers worldwide are focused on renewable energy cheaper than coal. “We would really like to get those people in one room and give them resources.” More at Google.

NEW YORK — Nov 22, ‘07  — The Rockefeller Center Christmas tree is going “greener” — with energy-saving lights replacing old-fashioned bulbs on the towering evergreen this year.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg said he hoped the change to the midtown Manhattan display will inspire the tens of millions of New Yorkers and tourists who see the tree every year.

“Now they will see an example of green leadership which may inspire them to make greener choices in their own lives,” Bloomberg said Tuesday.The 84-foot-tall Norway spruce will be covered with 30,000 multicolored light-emitting diodes, or LEDs, strung on five miles of wire.

Using the energy-efficient LEDs to replace incandescent bulbs will reduce the display’s electricity consumption from 3,510 to 1,297 kilowatt hours per day. The daily savings is equal to the amount of electricity consumed by a typical 2,000-square-foot house in a month.

The owners of Rockefeller Center, Tishman Speyer, also showed off a new 365-panel solar energy array that will generate electricity on the roof of one of the complex’s buildings, the largest privately owned solar roof in Manhattan. The roof will reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 2,000,000 lbs. over its 30 year lifespan.

After the official tree lighting ceremony on November 28, the Christmas tree will be illuminated from 5:30 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. most days through the first week of January.

The Rockefeller Center tradition was started in 1931, when construction workers building the first part of the office building complex erected a 20-foot Balsam fir amid the site’s mud and rubble.After the tree is taken down in January, it will be cut into lumber to be used in houses built by Habitat for Humanity.

Nov 21, ‘07 — Digitimes is reporting on Taiwan planning to replace 460,000 traffic signal lights with LED lamps, with the total cost being between $31 million (NT$1 billion) and $62 million, citing a Chinese-language Commercial Time report, which cited Huey-ching, director general of the Bureau of Energy under the Ministry of Economic Affairs.

“All incandescent light bulbs are expected to be eliminated by 2012, with related production discontinuing in 2010″, noted Yeh in the report.

 More at Digitimes.

On Nov 06, SiCortex, the emerging leader in compact, low power Linux clusters, introduced the SC072 “Catapult”, a 72 processor cluster in a whisper-quiet, low-power deskside cabinet. The Catapult, priced at under $15,000, fills a gaping hole in the high performance computing (HPC) application development infrastructure by providing routine personal access to large numbers of processors.

The Catapult, like all of SiCortex’s systems, features a standard Linux environment, enabling applications written and tested on the 72-processor machine to run on other SiCortex systems and be easily ported to the world’s largest supercomputers.

A survey of industrial HPC users by the Council on Competitiveness found a growing gap between the capabilities of modern HPC systems and availability of application software that can use them efficiently. Until now, application development has been hamstrung by lack of access to high processor count systems.

SiCortex has broken this productivity barrier by extending its product line down to a high processor count system that can sit beside every developer’s desk.

“High performance computers commonly have thousands of processors today, but cost considerations dictate that only a small fraction are available to developers,” said Dr. Christopher Kerr of the Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

“The Catapult will make an enormous difference in programmer productivity by providing a deskside resource for high processor count development.”

SiCortex has introduced a new concept in high-performance computing by implementing a complete cluster node on a chip, including six 64-bit processors, multiple memory controllers, a high-performance cluster interconnect and a PCIexpress connection to storage and internetworking. With a total of 72 processors, 48 GB memory, and 3 PCIexpress ports, the Catapult draws less than 200 watts of power and fits in standard PC chassis. This eliminates the heat and fan noise issues that have previously made it impossible to put such a large cluster in a deskside environment.

“The HPC industry is increasingly challenged by the reality that applications developed on one or two processors almost never scale to hundreds, much less thousands,” said SiCortex CEO Dr. John Mucci. “When you start with 50 or more processors, however, you’ve opened the door to the development of an entirely new generation of high performance software.” More at SiCortex.

DRESDEN, Germany–BUSINESS WIRE–Nov 05, ‘07–Novaled achieved significant improvements for white OLEDs for lighting applications. An efficiency of 35lm/W and a lifetime of 100,000h were reached at a brightness of 1000 cd/sqm.

Based on its proprietary Novaled PIN OLED technology and materials, Novaled achieved significant improvements for white OLEDs for lighting applications. An OLED device with an efficiency of 35 lm/W at a brightness of 1,000 cd/sqm and a lifetime of above 100,000 h has been realized. The device exhibits CIE colour coordinates of x,y = 0,43/0,44 with a colour rendering index CRI of 90.

The OLED features a stacked setup with blue fluorescent and red/green phosphorescent emitter materials (hybrid approach). For the stacking layer and transport layer Novaled proprietary materials have been used. The OLED device is equipped with a standard outcoupling enhancement film. The measurement was carried out in an integrating sphere taking into account only the full forward emission with substrate edges and backside covered, thus corresponding to a real case application. At a brightness level of 4,000 cd/sqm the efficiency is 31 lm/W, with no significant changes in colour and CRI value.

“With this achievement Novaled proves once more the advantages of its technology and associated materials for an OLED device combining high performance and long lifetime”, says Jan Birnstock, Novaled VP Technology Transfer. “We are working on enhanced outcoupling solutions and large area devices. When associated with a proper phosphorescent blue, we are confident of reaching 100 lm/W combined with a long lifetime in the near future.” Novaled.

Ann Arbor, MI Embraces LED Technology to Reduce Energy Consumption, Greenhouse Gas Emissions. City to install more than 1,000 LED streetlights, joining Raleigh and Toronto in growing LED City community. ANN ARBOR, MI., OCT. 16, 2007 - Cree Inc, a leader in LED solid-state lighting components, and the City of Ann Arbor, Michigan, today announced that Ann Arbor will join Raleigh, N.C. and Toronto, in the growing LED City™ initiative. In an effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and energy consumption, Ann Arbor plans to become the first U.S. city to convert 100 percent of its downtown streetlights to LED technology.

Ann Arbor expects to install more than 1,000 LED streetlights beginning next month. The City anticipates a 3.8-year payback on its initial investment. The LED lights typically burn five times longer than the bulbs they replace and require less than half the energy. Each fixture draws 56 watts and is projected to last 10 years, replacing fixtures with bulbs that use more than 120 watts and last only two years.
Full implementation of LEDs is projected to cut Ann Arbor’s public lighting energy use in half and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 2,425 tons of CO2 annually, the equivalent of taking 400 cars off the road for a year. Detroit Edison, Ann Arbor’s local utility provider, will meter the new LED streetlights with the intent to gather sufficient information to develop new LED-based tariffs.

“This decision is based on three years of extensive research on the energy and maintenance savings associated with LED lighting, citizen surveys and a very successful pilot of 25 LED lights spanning an entire city block,” said Mayor John Hieftje. As a result, the City received a $630,000 grant from the Ann Arbor Downtown Development Authority to fund retrofits for the downtown lights. “This initial installation should save the City more than $100,000 per year and reduce annual greenhouse gas emissions by approximately 294 tons of CO2. Our plan is to retrofit all downtown lights with LED alternatives over the next two years.”

“We applaud the tremendous efforts by Ann Arbor’s civic leaders to make energy efficiency a priority for the City,” said Chuck Swoboda, Cree chairman and CEO. “We are especially pleased that Ann Arbor is joining the LED City program to share the results of their product testing and surveys with other municipalities to help accelerate the adoption of LED lighting worldwide.”

The LED streetlights currently installed in Ann Arbor are based on the New Westminster Series made by Lumec, Inc., which contains LED light engines from Relume Technologies, Inc. The light engines are based on the performance-leading Cree XLamp® LED.

More at City of Ann Arbor, Press Release (in pdf)

There are some conflicting reports surfacing on Australian government’s proposed regulations to ban most plasma and LCD HDTVs by the year 2011. Jesse Denzin-Weber of theInquirer is reporting “WITH AN EYE ON melting Antarctica, the Australian government is proposing regulations that would ban most plasma and LCD HDTVs by the year 2011.

After commissioning a report that found the popularity of high power-drawing TVs like plasma and LCD TVs is growing. The bigger and brighter screens get, the more power is required, and Australia is trying to crack down on energy consumption. This is the government that was looking into banning incandescent bulbs in favor of fluorescent bulbs earlier this year.

The government is proposing a new energy rating system based on six stars to inform consumers about the power performance of TVs.

The Australia Broadcasting Company (ABC) is reporting that under the proposed system the majority of current plasma HDTVs would not meet the requirements and would be removed from the market. In addition to placing limits on the maximum power consumption, the report also suggests that minimum energy performance standards should be put into place. This would keep poor performing products from being sold  in Australia.”

On  the same story Matthew Henry of Current.com.au writes “The industry body representing many of the leading TV brands has rejected suggestions that many current plasma and LCD TVs could be banned from sale within a year, which has been reported in the press today.

Australian Digital Suppliers Industry Forum (ADSIF) chairman, Ross Henderson, told Current.com.au that articles published in response to a new report on proposed energy efficiency standards for TVs were potentially misleading.

“The idea that plasmas and LCDs are going to disappear from the market is simply something that is not in the report,” said Henderson.

“The [Digital CEnergy] report is about suggesting guidelines to implement greater efficiency standards.”

The discussion paper, titled Television Energy Rating Labels: The case, and proposal, for MEPS and Labelling Televisions, argues for a labeling scheme to be introduced in 2008 with mandatory requirements phased in from 2009. But Henderson said home entertainment suppliers are in discussions with the government to work out a suitable timeframe.

ADSIF met with the Australian Greenhouse Office (AGO) last week to discuss proposals for an energy labeling regime.
“No manufacturers were arguing against energy efficiency standards, the industry supports it. It is just a discussion about the timing and making sure that due process is followed,” he said.”

More at theInquirer / Current.com.au