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 [...]

  Sounds like the smart grid partnership between search engine Google and conglomerate General Electric could still deliver some real products, according to remarks from GE CEO Jeffrey Immelt at the Web 2.0 Summit on Tuesday evening. “We will see more collaboration between GE and Google around the home,” said Immelt and that could include actual [...]

  Whether you think the upcoming international climate talks in Copenhagen will deliver a solution for governments to fight climate change, or will ultimately turn out to be a global flop, one thing’s for sure: All eyes will be on the progressive city in Denmark in the second and third weeks of December, including those of [...]

  The party’s over, for now, when it comes to raising private capital for carbon-reducing technologies with a long onramp to profitability — and it shows in the array of regional finalists announced this morning for the Clean Tech Open, a business plan competition that has helped Aurora Biofuels, Lucid Design Systems and more than a [...]

  From roadside assistance and carjack halting to smart charging for plug-in vehicles — that’s the leap General Motors aims to make with its OnStar system. The communication system will let owners of the upcoming Chevy Volt program charge vehicles at different times to take advantage of off-peak rates, and could eventually make other equipment such [...]

  Thin film solar maker Nanosolar pulled back the kimono a bit last month, discussing some tech advances and demonstrating that it’s moved into high volume production. And now it’s time for more details about partnership announcements, considering the big solar conference Solar Power International 2009 is next week — this morning Nanosolar said it’s partnered [...]

  So there’s not too much for cleantech entrepreneurs and innovators in this video — except maybe PR lessons — but still, check out the clip of the fake press conference that the prankster vigilantes the Yes Men put together posing as the Chamber of Commerce and fake-announcing that the Chamber has reversed its position on [...]

  Utilities and companies are so desperate to grab a piece of the soon-to-be announced stimulus funds for smart grid projects that some groups are positioning their proposals like the awards are already a done deal. According to the New York State Smart Grid Consortium, a non-profit made up of New York-based utilities and businesses, if [...]

  The upcoming launch of a new generation of plug-in and hybrid electric vehicles is coinciding with the explosive popularity of Apple’s iPhone platform. Combine that with increased pressure on U.S. automakers to demonstrate innovation and advanced technology, and you get new smartphone applications pushing forward the idea of Car 2.0, or the intersection of vehicles, [...]

  Climate Change Hoax: A supposed press release from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce claimed that the Chamber was reversing its controversial opinion on climate change. Oh wait, don’t be ridiculous, that was just the Yes Men — WSJ Environmental Capital Blog.Green Phone Stats: ABI Research put out this research note last week that says only [...]

  For companies looking to sell energy efficiency tools, green building products and alt-fuel vehicles, a new scorecard from the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy could offer a roadmap to markets with some of the friendliest policies in the U.S. This year’s scorecard, which will be released in full Wednesday morning, ranks states according to [...]

  The White House believes it’s found the political version of a double whammy in the home energy efficiency retrofit market. There are about 130 million homes in the U.S. and a sizable chunk of them are good candidates for energy-saving projects, like air-duct sealing, insulation and double-panned windows. In promoting retrofits, the White House hopes [...]

  Thanks to strong backing from the U.S. government, cleantech investing actually delivered a solid third quarter compared to the rest of the venture-backed sectors, including information technology and biotech. So what happens once the millions from the stimulus package dry up? The third-quarter wrap-up on Green IT from GigaOm Pro looks at what happened this [...]