Pig manure is one step away from a transformation of metamorphic proportions.  The lowly waste product, notorious for its impact on the environment and on human olfactory nerves, is on the verge of becoming an important alternative to petroleum now that scientists at the University of Illinois have developed a process for converting raw pig manure to crude oil.  With further development, the process may even yield biodiesel.

The NextGen solar paint is a liquid material that forms webs of nanoscale solar cells when it dries and it can be painted onto practically any surface.  Developed by the Argonne National Laboratory, the solar paint beats out thin-film PV cells in efficiency because it captures more wavelengths of light.

Sphelar solar cells, from the Kyosemi Corporation, debuted at the PV Expo 2010 in Tokyo. They are solidified drops of silicon, 1.8mm across, that are embedded into glass of any shape. Potentially, the technology could be integrated into a decorative dome on top of a building, glass bricks, or just an ordinary office or home window. Because they're round drops, they'll pick up the sunlight at all times of day.

Private solar installations are really taking off nationwide. In just two years, (about the same length of time it takes to get a pair of 250 MW solar power plants approved in California, for example), homeowners and businesses have added that much power to the Californian grid, just from individual rooftops throughout the state.

Now, there is speculation that Google wants to enter the utility market and help spread renewable energy more quickly. On December 16, Google created a subsidiary called Google Energy. No, it’s not about the energy you get every time you see one of their great new holiday graphics or find out about another great Google feature. This is about clean, renewable energy for powering our homes, businesses, computers, etc

Interesting article over on Wired about Kirk Sorensen and the community served by his Energy From Thorium blog. To hear these people tell it, thorium fission in fluid fuel reactors offers an idyllic vision of a boundless-energy-from-the-atom type future no one has really believed in since the early 50s. Thorium, reportedly, is abundant, safe, highly efficient as a nuclear fuel, and produces waste that is radioactive only for a few hundred years instead of tens of thousands.