Eco-efficiency is a management philosophy that encourages business to search for environmental improvements that yield parallel economic benefits. The eco-efficiency module is designed to capture interest, to inform and to engage on issues surrounding eco-efficiency at different levels within an organization.

But no. In fact, we are usually subsidising the power companies to do what they are required by law to do already. Worse, despite us paying through our green noses, they still can't meet their targets. Then they rub our noses in it by selling what "green electricity" they do produce over and over again.

“The Smart Grid: An Introduction ” is a publication sponsored by DOE’s Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability. It is the first book of its kind to explore – in layman’s terms – the nature, challenges, opportunities and necessity of Smart Grid implementation.

The world runs on electricity. Demand for electron power in emerging economies is often 3-4 times greater than demand for oil. Because the old model of the electricity grid does not seem adequate in meeting the new demands of the 21st century, many energy pundits argue that access to electricity is the world’s biggest strategic energy issue.

While grid connected homes have been given a 30% tax rebate on all new solar installations in the recent Bailout Bill, off-grid homes receive nothing. What’s more there is no cap on the size of the solar installation so wealthy grid-tied homeowners will receive the biggest subsidy.

The soleckshaw is basically motor-assisted bicycle that features a motor driven by a 36-volt battery recharged - or swapped - at a solar charging station. The soleckshaw can carry three passengers and can go about 12.5 miles per hour. Drivers can drive under their own power on flat roads, then switch on the motor to go up hills or give themselves a break when the load gets too heavy.

Boston University's College of Engineering is launching a program, under a National Science Foundation grant, to develop the next generation of wireless communications technology based on visible light instead of radio waves. Researchers expect to piggyback data communications capabilities on low-power light emitting diodes, or LEDs, to create "Smart Lighting" that would be faster and more secure than current network technology.

While food-based biofuels are taking the heat for rising food prices, other solutions - like algae - are gaining a more serious following. For example, the UK’s Carbon Trust has announced plans for a project to make algae bio-fuels a commercial reality by the year 2020

The electricity certificate system is a market based system to support the expansion of electricity production in Sweden from renewable energy sources and peat. Its objective is to increase, by 2016, the production of electricity from such sources by 17 TWh relative to the production level in 2002. It is part of the country’s overall objective of moving Sweden towards a more ecologically sustainable energy system.

In this report, Greentech Media and the Prometheus Institute for Sustainable Development address the underlying fundamentals that will determine when ocean power technologies will become competitive with other renewable and traditional energy sources, what technologies will bring the industry to that point, and how investment, government policies and power sector buy-in will drive the growth of this industry. While today fewer than 10 MW of ocean power capacity has been installed worldwide, we believe that in six years the industry has the potential to break 1 GW of installed capacity on an annual market size of over $500 million.

The emerging ocean power industry is poised to grow from less than 10 megawatts of capacity worldwide today to more than 1 gigawatt in six years, reaching a market worth more than $500 million annually, according to a report by Greentech Media and the Prometheus Institute scheduled for publication next week.

(The Volt will be a ful-sized four-passenger car with a range of about 65 kilometres using only its batteries. It is scheduled to go into production in the United States in 2010.)

The Volt will use a battery with a capacity of 16 kilowatt-hours of charge. But that battery won’t dip below eight kWh of charge, so a full nightly charge would be eight kWh - about the same amount of power as is consumed by a water heater, a plasma TV or a computer and monitor left on all day.

Welcome to the Web Portal of the European Science Parliament (ESP). Right now there are around 100 professionals and laypersons from all over Europe in Aachen. They are discussing current topics of European importance – regardless of borders, backgrounds and age groups.  

An unconventional engine design is attracting attention as a potential alternative to hydrogen fuel cells or conventional engines in some hybrid vehicles. Called the free-piston engine, it could be used to generate electricity as efficiently as fuel cells yet cost less.

What if I told you that often installing microgeneration equipment does not help the environment?

In times of oversupply from renewables, it would be far preferable to be ramping up consumption of energy using moveable loads, rather than shutting down production from renewables.

Nearly 50% of global electricity supplies must come from renewable energy sources in order to cut CO2 emissions in half by 2050, the International Energy Agency (IEA) says in its latest study, “Deploying Renewables: Principles for Effective Policies.”

Elizabeth developed the POWERleap as her senior thesis project at the University of Michigan's School of Art and Design. She wanted to design a project that would educate people about their relationship and dependence on energy. Human bodies generate electricity, about 100 watts at rest, which (according to www.elizabethredmond.net) is enough to power the computer I am writing on.