GM’s plug-in hybrid Chevy Volt has cost more than $1 billion to develop and it can run on electricity alone for 40 miles or more. Yet California regulators have rated its emissions on par with conventional gas cars like the Honda Civic and Toyota Tundra. What… Read More »
The Obama administration has just unveiled a proposal to require some of the biggest vehicles on the road — including school buses, fire engines, big rigs, large pickup trucks and vans — to slash fuel consumption and emissions by 10-20 percent between 2014 and 2018. Read More »
Solar energy accounts for less than 1 percent of the U.S. electricity sources, but $100 billion of private investment and continual government subsidies could push that to 4.3 percent by 2020, according to a new report from Bloomberg New Energy Finance. Read More »
Electric cars will soon be zipping around the streets of Northern Ireland, plugging in at charging stations installed with help from the United Kingdom. That’s the vision, at least, of a new partnership between the Renault-Nissan Alliance and the government of Northern Ireland. Read More »
Renewables rule the day when it comes to investments in the energy and utilities industry. A Dow Jones VentureSource report shows the renewable energy sector accounted for $221 million of the $359 million raised by the energy and utilities industry during the third quarter of 2010. Read More »
BMW Group is breaking into car sharing with a new pilot project in Munich that will let customers rent any current BMW model by the hour. It fits into much larger trends of innovation around providing mobility as a service — and growing competition for Zipcar. Read More »
Space tourism might sound like a vacation that’s well, out of this world, but making trips to the great beyond (in hopes, perhaps, of nabbing that Foursquare badge from astronaut Douglas Wheelock) will come at a heavy price for the climate. Read More »
Energy Secretary Steven Chu stopped by Google headquarters on Friday to talk about green technology. He would like China to invest in America’s green future, not own it. To challenge China’s growing lead, the U.S. may have to boost its support of homegrown technologies. Read More »
Nissan formally began production of its electric LEAF in Japan, a milestone in the trek to see a global automaker cranking out tens of thousands of electric vehicles. Now a long list of companies are racing to get their own EV factories up and running. Read More »
Move over, climate and energy wonks; this is shaping up to be a triple-feature week of the geeks. Steve Jobs talked energy and innovation with President Obama, Bill Gates poured $700,000 into the fight against Prop. 23, and Energy Secretary Steven Chu is heading to Google. Read More »
More Must Reads
- Four Reasons to Watch for Power Line Communications
- Several factors suggest the best option for networking homes may lie in wiring — not wireless.
- Social and Online Media Need Privacy Plan Now
- To save advertising and avoid government regulation, social media companies should seriously consider self-regulation.
- In Q3, E-Books and White Spaces Ruled
- E-books gained more ground, the FCC unleashed more white spaces and Apple continued to roll out hardware.
