green

Count this as another perk of working for Google: free fuel for your electric car.

Google today said that it counts itself as the largest electric-vehicle charging station operator with about 200 chargers installed and another 250 ordered. The company's goal is to have 5 percent of its parking spaces equipped with electric-vehicle chargers, made available for free to Googlers.

"Our expanded charging system has already helped several Googlers decide to buy new EVs of their own, and we hope others will, too," wrote Rolf Schreiber, technical program manager for electric transportation at Google, in a company blog. … Read more

Nokia's chief technology officer may extend his current leave of absence into a permanent departure following a report from a Finnish newspaper that he's been unhappy with recent management decisions.

Citing information from two independent sources, the Helsingin Sanomat said that the CTO, Richard Green, will remain on his personal leave of absence until the end of the year but is unlikely to return to Nokia as a result of "differences of opinion over the company's strategy."

According to the sources, Green's conflict with his employer stems to some degree from Nokia's decision … Read more

Policy promoting green technology may be on the rise, but does that translate into well-developed technology--and, most importantly, more capital--for the states promoting it?

The results of an extensive study released Wednesday by consulting firm Clean Edge offers some answers.

The survey used more than 3,500 data points and 70 major indicators drawing from both municipal and private data sources to evaluate all 50 states in the U.S. for how well they did on policy, technology, and capital when it came to green tech.… Read more

The Seattle Seahawks stadium, Qwest Field Event Center, is adding solar panels to its roof.

The solar arrays from Fremont, Calif.-based Solyndra are racks of thin-film CIGS (copper, indium, gallium, and selenide) solar cells shaped like tubes. The racks will cover approximately 2.5 acres, about 80 percent, of Qwest Field, Solyndra announced yesterday.

Solyndra is known for its tube-shape solar cells that capture direct, diffuse, and reflected sunlight throughout the day without the need for a rotating mechanism, the method often used to maximize the efficiency of flat solar panels.

The arrays for Qwest Field will come from Solyndra's state-of-the-art solar manufacturing plant in California, which was built in part with a $535 million federal loan guarantee from the Department of Energy. The plant is a showcase for U.S. green-tech manufacturing: It employs over 1,000 people operating robotics manufacturing tools as a way to curb production costs and compete against inexpensive solar panels from China while keeping jobs in the U.S.… Read more

NXP Semiconductors has developed chipsets for CFL and LED light bulbs that allow the devices to be operated remotely via wireless networks and portable devices, the Dutch chipmaker announced this week.

The GreenChip iCFL chipset for CFLs and GreenChip iSSL chipset for LEDs have been adopted by lighting manufacturer TCP.

The bulbs can be turned on, turned off, or dimmed.

Both chips operate at the IEEE 802.15.4 standard, the low-rate wireless personal area network (LR-WPAN) standard for many wireless networks, including ZigBee, used to support home smart meters, smart appliances, and security systems.

But the bulb chipset has … Read more

Green Lantern fans, there's no need to freeze yourself! It's just another 30 days until the movie comes out, and in the meantime I have something that may ease the pain of waiting.

Mimoco, a maker of quirky designer USB thumbdrives, has teamed with DC Entertainment to announce a new line of drives based on Green Lantern Corps characters. Basically, they're little action figures of Hal Jordan, Tomar-Re, Kilowog, and Sinestro that can also work as USB flash drives.

The USB 2.0 drives come in capacities ranging from 2GB to 16GB. Apart from the figures themselves, which will be enough for most of you comics fanboys to adore for a month, there's also character-specific content preloaded on the drives, including wallpapers, avatars, screensavers, and other digital extras.

The Mimoco Green Lantern USB thumbdrives are available now starting at $23 for the 2GB version. The 16GB version costs around $60. Go get a couple and make yourself and your nerdy friends happy.… Read more

Many biofuel companies are finding the best way to make money is to stay away from biofuels, at least for a while.

A number of biofuel companies are first focusing on industrial chemicals or food supplements as they seek a route to get out of the lab and into the market. Chemicals used in everyday products, such as rubber or plastics, are also made from oil as fuels are but they can command higher prices than gasoline and diesel.

Start-up Verdezyne today will announce that BP Alternative Energy Ventures and Dutch chemicals company DSM are investing in the Carlsbad, Calif.… Read more

It might seem a little ironic, but automotive traffic could be the next source of green energy. A bill for a pilot program that will harness road vibration and convert it to energy passed 6-1 in the California State Assembly's Natural Resources Committee yesterday. It will move to the Assembly Transportation Committee for voting next week.

California Assemblyman Mike Gatto (D-Los Angeles) first introduced bill AB 306 in February.

Piezoelectric generation captures energy that cars, trains, or people generate as they move across surfaces and cause vibrations. These vibrations can be harnessed and converted to energy using piezoelectric materials … Read more

Scary things lurk in the closets and attics of laptop fans everywhere.

With an average lifespan of three to five years, old obsolete models can gather dust for a long time, and can be as hard to get rid of as the annoying bloatware that probably came preloaded on those very same laptops.

While spring cleaning, your two intrepid laptop reviewers dug up a pile of old laptops from circa 2001-2006--a motley collection straight out of Al Component's Vault. Fortunately, there are several good ways to recycle outdated electronics, from Best Buy's in-store drop-off program to periodic free … Read more