There’s quite a few reasons to cheer Microsoft’s next-generation operating system, Windows 7, which launched today — it could drive down the price of computers, help you ditch Vista once and for all, and couldchange the dynamics of the memory business. But here’s another: Windows 7 has some nifty new power management functions that will [...]
Just two months ago, Ford Motor launched a trial of a software system meant to enable communication between its plug-in vehicles and the power grid, by way of smart meters and a Zigbee wireless connection. At the time, Ford’s Nancy Gioia, recently named director of Ford Global Electrification, told us Ford would consider developing a [...]
What can software do for hybrid fuel economy? Ford Motor and researchers at the University of Michigan plan to find out in a new project meant to speed development of more fuel-efficient hybrid systems. According to an announcement from Ford yesterday, the pair will run up to 175,000 computer design simulations of hybrid control systems, [...]
Skyline Solar wouldn’t seem to have the best timing. The startup, which makes concentrating photovoltaic systems, launched out of stealth mode in the midst of a solar shakeout. But the Mountain View, Calif.-based startup is finding the silver lining of the economic downturn: reduced demand in the automotive industry, which has opened up manufacturing [...]
Apple’s iPhone has apps for Car 2.0, for home energy management and for fuel efficiency. Now here’s one for clean power that I wasn’t expecting to see: a wind speed tester courtesy of small wind turbine maker Mariah Power. Todd Woody profiles the app in the New York Times’ Green Inc. blog this morning, and [...]
The wireless standard WiMAX might not be the sexiest of topics, but maybe the smart grid can lend it some buzz. This morning Grid Net, a startup that has developed smart grid software based on WiMAX, is officially launching itself, unveiling its software product and announcing Australian utility customer SP AusNet, as well as a [...]
From hybrid heavyweights Toyota and Honda, to Nissan, with its visions of electric world domination, to smaller brands like Suzuki, Subaru and Mitsubishi, Japan’s automakers are gearing up for a global hybrid and electric blitz. Some of the front runners in that move are on display at the Tokyo Motor Show, which kicked off Wednesday [...]
Carbon capture and sequestration — taking carbon dioxide emissions from power plants and other industrial facilities, and shoving them underground — represents one of the higher stakes bets in the fight against climate change. It’s unproven at large scale, yet deemed essential by the International Energy Agency and Energy Secretary Steven Chu as a tool [...]
When Darryl Siry, former Chief Marketing Officer for electric car maker Tesla, calculated the “implied value” for secretive ultracapacitor maker EEStor at over $1.5 billion, based on the entirety of Zenn Motor’s market cap, he was being somewhat cheeky. But the reasoning behind the calculation is the reality: The Canadian electric vehicle maker has given [...]
A new report published this week by the Lawrence Berkeley National Lab offers valuable insight culled from a decade’s worth of data into perhaps the most important metric in the PV industry: installed system costs before financial incentives. Because these incentives, like government tax rebates, can’t be counted on forever, installed costs — or the [...]
Yes Men Take It to the Hill: The climate-minded Yes Men stunt group offered up another prank today, just a day after punking the Chamber of Commerce with a fake press announcement — this time showing up on Capitol Hill in Survivaball suits to hector Sen. Arlen Specter and the Senate in general for their [...]
The investment and innovation pouring into lithium-ion battery technology for electric cars could be a major boon for a greener power grid. According to a new report out today from Pike Research, the global market for lithium-ion batteries in utility-scale applications (storing energy from intermittent renewable sources like solar and wind) is set to grow [...]
We don’t usually see recycling as much of a money saver for big ticket consumer electronics. Some electronics makers still charge a premium for devices that count ease of recycling among their green credentials, and some companies charge to reclaim their equipment for recycling. (For example, I’d have to pay $30 for Apple to take [...]
On Tuesday I had the pleasure of moderating a panel of environmentally-minded consumer electronics execs at the Consumer Electronics Association’s Industry Forum, an event where hundreds of the leaders and decision-makers in the industry gathered to talk shop. Together with my fellow panelists, Yalmaz Siddiqui, Office Depot’s Environmental Strategy Advisor, Jason Linnell, Executive Director of [...]
