Green news harvest: Obama touts solar, geothermal

A sampling of green-tech news with quick commentary.

• Obama: Energy technology path to recovery - UPI.com
  Obama visits Nellis Air Force base's huge solar array and stumps for an export-driven clean energy economy over rising oil imports. In the same trip, he announced $467 million from stimulus act to speed development of geothermal and solar projects.
• GE eyes $1.5 billion in cleantech research by 2010 - Reuters
  GE is looking at green technologies to drive revenue growth and is hitting its own emissions reduction targets.
• For MTI, a dose of much-needed relief -- Times Union
  MTI, which had planned to have methanol fuel cell charger for gadgets, gets a lifeline from a federal research grant.
(Credit: Nellis Air Force Base)
• OutSmart Power pulls in $2M in startup funding - Mass High Tech Business News
  One of many companies focusing on getting better building energy data, OutSmart uses sensors to track and manage energy use.
• How GM is Making Electric Vehicles Relevant - Gas 2.0
  One of the key engineers behind the Chevy Volt says that GM, not auto start-ups, has the resources--distribution, etc.--to make electric vehicles the path to a cleaner car economy.
• Duke Energy: We Can 'Decarbonize' Without Painful Electricity Price Hikes - Climate Progress
  Column by Duke Energy's COO argues that carbon regulations, if done right, can move utilities to low-carbon energy sources. What he opposes is using regulations for other purposes, presumably something like health care reform.
• Solazyme Testing BlueFire Ethanol Cellulosic Sugars in Its Microalgae Renewable Oil Production Process
  Potentially interesting partnership where BlueFire makes sugars from municipal waste and Solazyme grows algae for fuel.
• Looking at Europe's Green Ways - NYTimes.com
  Good column examining how ideas and technologies on green tech are starting to flow across the Atlantic and, increasingly, to Asia.