Green news harvest: Solar's 'carbon payback'

A sampling of green-tech news with quick commentary.

• Bright Green: Solar Carbon Payback - Worldchanging
  A study calculates the difference between energy used to make solar panels and energy saved. Conclusion: solar panels of all types reduce carbon emissions in a few years.
• New Honeywell Service Helps Organizations Take Critical Step Toward Sustainability - Press release
  There are a lot carbon management software companies cropping up. Now, an established building management company is offering a greenhouse gas inventory system.
• Solar Shootout in the San Joaquin Valley - Renewable Energy World
  In the solar world, there's a raging contest between thin-film and polysilicon cells. Monitoring company Fat Spaniel is gathering data on two side-by-side solar installations.
• Green Roofs: Are They Worth the Expense? - New York Times
  New Yorkers say that street trees and white roofs are a cheaper way to go than Chicago's green roofs.
• 14 hours later, House Democrats hold the line on climate bill - Climate Wire
  Inside the sausage factory: at debate are ways to shield energy-intensive industries and consumers from higher energy prices. One passed amendment lets utilities adopt feed-in tariff for renewable energy.
• Cities Striving to Be Green - BusinessWeek
  Good snapshot on which U.S. cities are moving and shaking on sustainability and green technologies.
• LS9 and Procter & Gamble Launch Sustainable Chemicals Partnership - Press release
  Many biofuels companies have a potentially bigger opportunity selling bio-based plastics. This could be a significant deal for synthetic biology company LS9.
• Oracle Launches 'End-to-End' Smart Grid Software - Greentech Media
  The bulk of the revenue in smart-grid technology will come from utilities and guess who already has utility customers? Enterprise resource planning vendors like Oracle and SAP.
• Locke, Chu Announce Significant Steps in Smart Grid Development - Press release
  The Department of Energy boosts the size of grants that can be awarded for smart-grid projects in an effort to gel industry standards.