energy

Dell pitches smaller, greener consumer desktop PC

Updated 2:05 p.m. PT: Dell PR provided us with a photo.

How apropos: On Earth Day, a PC company says it's going to make a greener PC.

We already know Dell wants to be the greenest company on the planet, or in the solar system, or something. So as part of his remarks to the Fortune Brainstorm: Green conference in Los Angeles on Tuesday, Chief Executive Michael Dell previewed a desktop PC aimed at consumers.

The PC will be 81 percent smaller and will use 70 percent less energy than one of Dell's mini-tower desktops. And … Read more

Data centers fail to become greener, studies say

Despite high-profile pledges by major tech companies to green the grid, efforts to improve efficiency in data centers remain stunted, according to two recent studies.

Fifty-one percent of companies have a solid plan to green their IT operations, down from 55 percent in 2007, according to a study released Monday by Digital Realty Trust. The company owns and manages corporate data centers.

But highly publicized efforts to improve data center performance and design include those of the Green Grid consortium of tech bigwigs such as Microsoft and Advanced Micro Devices. The Climate Savers initiative, backed by Google, the World Wildlife … Read more

Hot kilowatts: Infinia, Stirling Energy Systems, eSolar get money

Three solar-thermal companies have raised money in the past week in a sector that's showing life, despite a choppy investment environment.

Infinia on Tuesday said it has taken $7 million from Asian contract manufacturer Foxconn Technology Group, part of a total of $57 million in a Series B round first announced in February.

The company uses a dish to concentrate sunlight onto a Stirling engine, which makes electricity. It intends to sell its 3-kilowatt devices to small-scale utility plants.

On Monday, eSolar said it has raised $130 million from Idealab and Google.org. Its solar-thermal systems, designed for utility-scale … Read more

Companies to watch: Electric power producers and efficiency

For Earth Day 2008, CNET News.com green tech reporters selected leading companies in five different clean technology categories. Here are the ones in the electricity business to watch.

It's hard to think of an electric utility as a real mover and a shaker. Most plod along, keeping the lights on, sending the bills out, and delivering dividends to shareholders.

But there are some exceptions and, as new energy technologies come online, power providers are on the front lines of clean tech. Which are worth calling out?

Pacific Gas & Electric PG&E is at the forefront of … Read more

Cool your house with chemical reactions

MENLO PARK, Calif.--Solid, meet liquid.

Acvio, a company out of Finland showcasing its technology at the Nordic Green conference this week at SRI International in Menlo Park, says it has come up with an air conditioning system that consumes 60 percent to 70 percent less power than conventional systems.

The energy savings comes because Acvio's system doesn't require a compressor to make cool air, the traditional engine inside air conditioners. It works like this: Warm air from the outside is collected and funneled toward a solid. The heat melts the solid and the melting process takes heat … Read more

Images: A glance at green labels

With so many "green" options appearing on everyday products, navigating the marketplace can be tricky if you're attempting to green your life.

Home Depot stamps efficient lightbulbs, low-toxic paints, and other goods as "Eco Options." SC Johnson sells Windex certified by Greenlist, the company's internal effort to reduce toxicants in its product line. Canon labels printers as "Generation Green."

Environmentalists may applaud corporate efforts to sell fewer polluting and poisonous goods and services. But some consumer watchdogs warn that the proliferation of green claims will confuse or mislead shoppers, and prefer that … Read more

Photos: Green homes on the cheap

There are all sorts of tech geeks working at CNET. I'm an energy geek, both at home and at work.

So how do you do the "green building" thing? Well, if you're wealthy enough to hire a sustainability architect, you have a new home built with bamboo flooring and solar panels (and lots of closet space.)

For all the rest of us, I've assembled a photo gallery on ways to "green" your lifestyle using some examples from my home. For a very thorough run-down of resources, check out "How to green your life&… Read more

Waste heat: The next frontier for clean-tech companies

China is the Saudi Arabia of waste heat, according to Roger Ballentine, president of Green Strategies.

The country's power plants aren't very efficient and, unlike Denmark or Japan, China hasn't invested a lot in technologies that can capture the heat and harness it to produce electricity. That means there's a vast amount of potential energy being squandered--or waiting to be tapped by an entrepreneur or two.

China isn't alone. Over half of the electricity produced in the U.S., for instance, never actually gets used for a productive purpose. A lot of it gets converted … Read more

How to green your life

Want to green your life in honor of Earth Day on Tuesday? Good luck. There's seemingly no limit to the potential catch-22s of trying to do the right thing by the environment.

For example, could so-called green fuel destroy rainforests and drive up food prices? Are organic vegetables shipped from South America really better than those grown conventionally yet closer to home? What if the making of solar panels would pollute a city in China?

Consumers are far removed from the design, mining, manufacture, packaging, and transportation involved in making goods available for daily life, while a complex global … Read more