"BREAKING: GM Battery Czar Denise Gray Leaves Volt Team For California Startup" (greencarreports.com)

"A key member of the small team brought together four years ago to create the 2011 Chevrolet Volt electric car is unexpectedly leaving General Motors.

Denise Gray, director of global battery systems engineering at General Motors, will leave the company on Friday, March 5, to take an unspecified position with an unidentified battery startup in California....

What led Gray to leave the only company she'd ever worked for? "The opportunity to create and build and plant seeds and mold and shape an organization," she said--just as she was able to do with the small Volt team.

And in a theme common to many professionals who've left solid jobs to join startups, she said simply, "I didn't want to look back and say, 'I could have, I should have ...' "

Her new position, a senior leadership role, will keep her squarely in advanced battery technology. She'll work with products that can be applied to electrified transport and to stationary applications, and her job will include profit-and-loss responsibility...."

"G.M. to Close Hummer After Sale Fails" (NYT)

"General Motors said on Wednesday that it would shut down Hummer, the brand of big sport utility vehicles that became synonymous with the term gas guzzler, after a deal to sell it to a Chinese manufacturer fell apart.

The buyer, Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machines, said in a statement that it had withdrawn its bid because it was unable to receive approval from the Chinese government, which was trying to put a new emphasis on limiting China’s dependence on imported oil and protecting the environment.

Tight financial markets also hurt the deal. When the commerce ministry did not bless the transaction, the well-capitalized Chinese banks became reluctant to lend money to Tengzhong, even though it tried to set up an overseas subsidiary to buy Hummer. That left Tengzhong trying to borrow money from Western banks that have been curtailing their lending even to established borrowers, much less a little-known company from western China..."

"E.ON completes world's largest wind farm in Texas" (Reuters)

"E.ON Climate and Renewables said on Thursday it has built the world's biggest wind farm by completing the final phase of its Roscoe, Texas wind farm, bringing the installed capacity to 781.5 megawatts.

The more than $1 billion project, about 200 miles (320 kilometers) west of Fort Worth, surpasses the nearby 735.5 MW Horse Hollow wind farm, owned by FPL Group's NextEra Energy Resources, as the largest in the world.

"Completing the world's biggest wind farm took more than a $1 billion investment, coordination with more than 300 landowners and management of more than 500 workers," Steve Trenholm, chief executive of German-based E.ON AG's renewable unit in North America, said in a release..."

"France Backs Battery-Charging Network for Cars" (WSJ)

"The French government Thursday said it plans to spend €1.5 billion (about $2.2 billion) on creating a battery-charging network for electric vehicles as part of a broader state plan to encourage the development of clean vehicle technology and battery manufacturing.

It also said it would seek financing of €900 million for its €1.5 billion plan from a state loan that's planned to be launched next year.

The government will make the installation of charging sockets obligatory in office parking lots by 2015, and new apartment blocks with parking lots will have to include charging stations starting in 2012..."

Ford Launches Vehicle-to-Grid Software Trial for Plug-in Hybrids (earth2tech)

"It may not be the first thing that comes to mind when you think of big automakers, but in the coming rollout of plug-in vehicles intended for the mass market, software and communication between vehicles and the power grid will be a key piece of the puzzle. Today Ford, which has partnered with utilities, the Electric Power Research Institute and the Department of Energy, pulled back the curtain on a 3-year demonstration project to test out vehicle-to-grid software for plug-in hybrid vehicles...."

Bike of the future will never be stolen, has puncture-proof tyres and will play music as you ride (UK Daily Mail)

"It will count calories as you pedal, play music and use a solar-powered motor when you get tired - welcome to the commuter bike of the future.

Olympic cyclist Chris Boardman was today unveiling a design that he believes will be an everyday product within 20 years. The 40-year-old said the technology was already available, it just needed the will to put it all together.

The new bike includes an inbuilt computer system incorporating an 'unbreakable' locking device that allows only the owner to open it via fingerprint recognition

A mini computer on the handlebars counts the calories the cyclist is burning by monitoring each turn of the pedals.

Spoke-less wheels make the bike more aerodynamic while the tyres will be puncture-proof with self-inflating tyres...."

Bcycle - shared bikes system

How Toxic Is Your iPod? (SCIAM)

"There's a big question behind this podcast: how environmentally friendly is an iPod? The answer: this Apple is more brown than green. But it's getting greener.

Apple CEO Steve Jobs has not only revealed new environmentally friendly MacBooks, he has unveiled new iPods that are the most toxin-free ever. They’ve eliminated the poison arsenic and the brain-damaging mercury—and sheathed it in a recycleable aluminum skin.

Why do we care? When you trash last year's model—or any old technology for that matter, remember the Walkman?—it often ends up in a landfill or, even worse, exported to countries like China or India. There laborers are paid a pittance to smash, crack, melt and cook the materials out of old electronics. The result is local children with lead in the blood and adults poisoned by toxic fumes..."

Some interesting U.S. waste & recycling facts

"The U.S. is the #1 trash-producing country in the world at 1,609 pounds per person per year. This means that 5% of the world's people generate 40% of the world's waste.

Out of ever $10 spent buying things, $1 (10%) goes for packaging that is thrown away. Packaging represents about 65% of household trash.

On average, each one of us produces 4.4 pounds of solid waste each day. This adds up to almost a ton of trash per person, per year."

*** I see restaurant to-go containers as a significant contributor to these statistics. My friend just opened a pub and is using containers made from sugar cane fibers and corn plastic. Even the clear plastic-looking salad containers are biodegradable. They look the same as regular plastic containers, but take a second to look at your next to-go containers to see what they are actually made of. More info on these type of products from Eco Products: http://www.ecoproducts.com/food_services/food_containers/food_service_food_containers_index.htm.

The Masdar Initiative - Abu Dhabi, UAE

"Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, 13 January 2008 - The WWF and Masdar, The Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company, today launched a “Sustainability Action Plan” to deliver the world’s greenest city – Masdar City. Located near Abu Dhabi International Airport, Masdar City will be the world’s first zero-carbon, zero-waste, car-free city, aiming to exceed the 10 sustainability principles of “One Planet Living™”– a global initiative launched by the Worldwide Fund for Nature and environmental consultancy BioRegional.

Masdar City’s electricity will be generated by photovoltaic panels, while cooling will be provided via concentrated solar power. Water will be provided through a solar-powered desalination plant. Landscaping within the city and crops grown outside the city will be irrigated with grey water and treated waste water produced by the city’s water treatment plant.

The city is part of the Masdar Initiative, Abu Dhabi’s multi-faceted investment in the exploration, development and commercialisation of future energy sources and clean technology solutions. The six-square kilometre city, growing eventually to 1,500 businesses and 50,000 residents, will be home to international business and top minds in the field of sustainable and alternative energy..."

"Drilling for Hot Rocks: Google Sinks Cash into Advanced Geothermal Technology (Scientific American)

"For $1 billion over the next 40 years, the U.S. could develop 100 gigawatts (a gigawatt equals one billion watts) of electricity generation that emits no air pollution and pumps out power to the grid even more reliably than coal-fired power plants, according to scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Now Google.org—the charitable wing of the search engine giant—has chipped in nearly $11 million for this renewable resource: so-called geothermal power, or tapping the Earth's heat to make electricity.

That makes Google.org the largest funder of enhanced geothermal research in the country, outspending the U.S. government. The Australian government has pledged $43.5 million for such projects and already has several in the works, as do Europe and Japan.

But no such advanced geothermal plants are online in the U.S. at present, and may not be for many years to come...

"EGS is not for tomorrow," adds Lucien Bronicki, Ormat's co-founder and chief technology officer. "You have to reduce the cost of drilling to be able to go deep. You have to improve the efficiency of the pumps so you don't lose too much electricity pumping water around."

But for Google, one of the world's largest consumers of energy for its endlessly multiplying data centers, access to a googol's worth of clean energy is quite appealing. "EGS is a very exciting opportunity," Reichert adds. "We have a long way to go to bring it to commercial reality.""

Ikea investing 50 millions Euros in green technology

"...Ikea's pledge to invest €50 million ($77 million) in greentech points to a vast new market in which people would make more buying decisions that reduce their carbon footprint and allow them to use energy efficiently.

The company plans to invest in companies developing products that it could carry in its stores, including solar panels, energy-efficient lighting and water-purification kit..."

Wooden Laptop from Fujitsu

"Japanese laptop vendor Fujitsu asserts its environmental awareness by releasing a wooden laptop. The "WoodShell" PC adopts cedar wood and bio-based plastics for its housing...

Fujitsu's wooden laptop is only available in Japan at the moment, and it's unclear whether the company plans to launch it globally...

The WoodShell laptop was showcased at Japan Design 2008 alongside another, more conventional-looking, but still eco-friendly laptop called the FMV BIBLO NX. The latter is built from corn-based plastic instead of the more common, petrochemical-based materials."

Solar panels on big-box U.S. retailers' roofs! Cool!! (IHT)

"Retailers are typically obsessed with what to put under their roofs, not on them. Yet the biggest store chains in the United States are coming to see their immense, flat roofs as an untapped resource.

In recent months, chains including Wal-Mart Stores, Kohl's, Safeway and Whole Foods Market have installed solar panels on roofs of their stores to generate electricity on a large scale. One reason they are racing is to beat a Dec. 31 deadline to gain tax advantages for these projects. ...

American retailers are following the lead of stores in Europe, which are much further along. Store-roof projects are so numerous in parts of Germany that they can be spotted in satellite photos. Government subsidies there, however, have lasted for years.

"In Germany, there are none of the concerns you find in the United States about whether support will be around next year," said Jenny Chase, an energy analyst in London. ...

Bernard Sosnick, an analyst with Gilford Securities who has examined Wal-Mart's plans, said the day might come when people can pull their electric cars up to a store and recharge them with power from the roof or even from wind turbines in the parking lot.

"It's not as over the horizon as it might seem," he said."

Dynamic Architecture, in Dubai, UAE

Another amazing project from Dubai! This 80-floor rotating tower is set to be completed in 2010. 90% of the tower will be built in a factory and shipped to the construction site. The entire tower will be powered from turbines and solar panels. Enough surplus electricity should be produced to power five other similar sized buildings in the vicinity. The turbines will be located between each of the rotating floors. They could generate up to 1,200,000 kilowatt-hours of energy. The solar panels will be located on the roof.

"Gore Seeks 100% Green Energy" (from Financial Times)

"The US should aim to generate all of its electricity from zero-carbon energy sources within a decade, Al Gore, the former vice-president, urged on Thursday."

"...Jonathan Lash, president of the World Resources Institute, an environmental group, said: “We need to change the debate in this country from what we can’t do to what we can. America has led every major technological shift in the last 100 years, and we can lead the next one as well. The problem is not technology, it is political will...”