Players can build their cities with ecofriendly options, such as wind turbines, hydrogen fuel stations, and green buildings. Their decisions will ultimately drive the climate of their city and even imperil it with disasters should their CO2 levels go too high. Pollution also affects the health of the population, and quality of life. Building these green options are more costly than conventional ones, which lends a realistic approach to the game as well.

The Nanogenerator uses a technique of lining up zinc oxide nanowires inside of a special electrode. Tiny filaments are sent into movement by natural forces like blood flow, walking, mechanical vibration or ultrasonic waves. The devices are so minuscule that thousands of them could fit on a head of a pin.

With the UN Bali conference drawing closer, steelmakers have called on governments to adopt a sector-specific approach to tackling CO2 emissions from the iron and steel industry, saying "regional policies" such as the EU-ETS only shift the problem to Asian countries, where environmental rules are less stringent

A hybrid electric train built by Bombardier just took its inaugural trip in France. Diesel locomotives have always been a kind of hybrid -- their diesel engines charge batteries which power a gigantic electric motor. But this new train can run on electric power from any source available (not just the engine.) The trains will be charged with grid power, and will produce roughly 20% less CO2 than non-hybrid versions.

Under Brussels' plan, if a country does not fulfil its quotas - i.e. produce enough renewable energy - then they would buy it elsewhere. Berlin fears that this market situation this will lead to a rise in prices for bio-energy, above the current fixed price in Germany.

What was remarkable in the press conference was the caution of Günther Verheugen saying openly that he was not sure that hydrogen would be the future of cars and stating in response to one of my own questions that he sees a lot of potential for electric cars.

All newly built homes to produce more energy than they consume by 2020. Renovate all existing buildings to save energy. Ban incandescent light bulbs by 2010. Reduce greenhouse-gas emission by 20% by 2020. Increase renewable energy from 9% to 20-25% of total energy consumption by 2020. Bring transport emissions back to 1990 levels. Reduce vehicle speed limits by 10 kilometres per hour. Taxes and incentives to favour clean cars. Shift half of haulage by road to rail and water within 15 years. Develop rail and public transport. Reduce air pollutants quantitatively. Create a national network of "green" corridors and nature reserves. Increase organic farming from 2% to 6% of total acreage production by 2010 and to 20% by 2020. Ecological groups to be stakeholders, like trade unions, in government negotiations. Create a body to review planting of genetically modified crops on a case-by-case basis.

Aptera has listed the full electric at $26,900 and the diesel hybrid at $29,900. As noted, the diesel hybrid will be a series plug-in, just like the impending Chevy Volt. This means that the car will run 100% on electric power, but a diesel engine will charge the batteries when they get low.

These references point out that such solar assist systems significantly raise the heating COP. So, the answer to the question is YES, it's possible to direct solar-heated air to the condenser of a heat pump and raise the heating COP.

Financing for green building projects may be easier to get from smaller banks who are competing with other smaller banks

The Weza is a fully sustainable  green source of power. It can however, be plugged in to recharge its 12V, 7Ah lead acid battery. This product is capable of starting vehicle engines ,(jumper cables included), and powering many other devices. It is portable, easy to carry, great for boats, motor homes  and campers.

In effort to move along the environmental message, British Liberal Democrats announced plans to abolish both gasoline and diesel powered vehicles by 2040.

This views electrolysers as a key path for dealing with the intermittency challenge. Again, a great vision, but the financial, infrastructure, and technical challenges must be judged against alternatives.

Wind power is great...but it sure would be greater if it were constant. Indeed...the wind doesn't blow all day every day. And so, it seems, we might be stuck with some of the less renewable (but more constant) forms of generating power. That is, unless we can find high-capacity, high-efficiency means to store the power when there's plenty of it, and use it when it's needed.

Demand for renewable energy is outstripping supply, pushing up prices and raising the specter that some states may not meet clean-energy mandates. Behind the shortage is the growing number of states requiring utilities to include clean energy in their power mix, as well as surging demand from big businesses.

But perhaps the ultimate eco-friendly server farm is a small 100 percent solar-powered data center in the Southern California desert called AISO.net.

water availability may limit new power plants. This is widely appreciated in the power sector, but doesn't get as much attention elsewhere

The Solar Bikini is designed to power up an iPod or cell phone and made for those who like to get sun but don’t want to get wet at the beach.

Okay, maybe the idea of having plug-in hybrids and electric cars that interact with the grid is far off in the future. But we all have to admit that it's an attractive future. It means as the grid gets cleaner, so do vehicle emissions. It means millions of cars collectively act as a huge battery storage system, drawing power when it's cheap and selling it back to the grid at a premium.

The purpose of the seminar was to bring together a range of academics to give a critique of the Energy White Paper – and they certainly were critical! So, without further ado, here are the key points form the speakers, with comments from me in italics where appropriate.