But fewer than 20 countries account for more than 80% of global GHG emissions; they can be plunked down at a single conference table, as long as it’s at tropical resort. That’s the idea behind the Hawaii Conference. Similarly, California and the 16 states who planned to copy its legislation together make up about half the U.S. population.

One of the leading alternatives for producing clean power from coal -- Integrated Combined Cycle Gasification (IGCC) technology faces a precarious future due to rising capital costs and regulatory uncertainty. A process of gasifying coal that allows capture of carbon dioxide emissions, IGCC has tremendous potential for meeting future baseload generation demand but project momentum has slowed dramatically in 2007, according to a new study from Emerging Energy Research (EER). Despite delays or cancellations of several prominent IGCC projects in 2007, 48 projects with a combined capacity of over 25,000 MW remain in the global IGCC pipeline, according to EER.

Forty years ago, Harold Hay, 98, invented a simple, inexpensive way to heat and cool a home using the sun’s rays, but without the panels and wiring that come with conventional solar energy systems. He’s been pushing for its adoption ever since, trying to find footing in each of the solar industry’s last three boom-and-bust cycles. Yet, despite the merits of his pioneering technology, the energy establishment has shown only fleeting interest.

Material flows and emissions in all the stages of production of zinc, copper, aluminum, cadmium, indium, germanium, gallium, selenium, tellurium, and molybdenum were investigated. These metals are used selectively in the manufacture of solar cells, and emission and energy factors in their production are used in the life cycle analysis (LCA) of photovoltaics. Significant changes have occurred in the production and associated emissions for these metals over the last 10 years, which are not described in the LCA databases. Furthermore, emission and energy factors for several of the by-products of the base metal production were lacking. This review article aims in updating the life cycle inventories associated with the production of the base metals (Zn, Cu), and defining the production paths and emission and energy allocations for the minor metals (Cd, Ge, In, Mo, Se, and Te) used in photovoltaics.

In this timely book, Gwyneth Cravens takes an informed and clarifying look at the myths, the fears, and the truth about nuclear energy.

The air quality of urban areas would greatly improved if we could replace the thousands of diesel delivery trucks currently in use with zero-emission vehicles. In this vein, a company called  Smith Electric Vehicles will be introducing their electric trucks to the U.S.  Their Newton truck (pictured above) can be recharged via an regular electric socket. They have some pretty impressive features, including a range of up to 150 miles when fully charged. The battery system is rated at 120 kilowatts, and trucks have a maximum speed of 50 mph. The trucks also use regenerative braking to recover energy from the braking process.

Wind power, long considered to be as fickle as wind itself, can be groomed to become a steady, dependable source of electricity and delivered at a lower cost than at present, according to scientists at Stanford University. The key is connecting wind farms throughout a given geographic area with transmission lines, thus combining the electric outputs of the farms into one powerful energy source. The findings are published in the November issue of the American Meteorological Society's Journal of Applied Meteorology and Climatology.

Would electric cars really be any better for the environment than our current gas guzzlers? So much of our electricity comes from coal, after all, which isn't exactly the cleanest source of energy. Might we all be better off simply upgrading to more fuel-efficient vehicles—that is, ditching our Hummers in favor of Toyota Corollas?

Time to dispair? Not according to Monbiot: “We must confront a challenge which is as great and as pressing as the rise of the Axis powers. Had we thrown up our hands then, as many people are tempted to do today, you would be reading this paper in German. Though the war often seemed impossible to win, when the political will was mobilised strange and implausible things began to happen. The US economy was spun round on a dime in 1942 as civilian manufacturing was switched to military production(25). The state took on greater powers than it had exercised before. Impossible policies suddenly became achievable.

t was a huge event, with close to 2,000 participants and a palpable energy and a sense of - finally - progress. The conference was attended by the ministers for energy or senior political representatives  from several countries (the UK, Germany, several Nordic countries - see the link above) and happened at the same time as an important German government meeting that decided to increase offshore tariffs to 14c/kWh, a strongly supportive measure which is likely to be the starting point of a massive wave of investment in the sector in that country. Interestingly, despite that decision, and the excitement it generated, the UK market is still seen as likely to be bigger than the German one over the next 10-15 years, with all other markets being somewhat smaller.

John Hutton, business secretary, will outline at a conference in Berlin proposals to create 25 gigawatts of offshore wind energy capacity by 2020 in addition to that under construction.

A young married couple in their first home, shoestring budget, baby on the way - how can they possibly afford to add solar energy to their house? "By renting it", said Ed Begley Jr., six-times Emmy nominated actor and environmentalist. November 5, 2007

We decided to tackle a large problem—Power.  We were involved in the human power concept and developing the power for the one-laptop project per child project.  We took the opportunity, developing the underlying power technology for it.

The impact of a large share of wind power can be controlled by appropriate grid connection requirements, extension and enforcement of transmission networks as well as integration of wind power production and production forecasts into system and market operation. The state-of-the-art report presents the assessments of the impact of wind power on the reliability and costs of the power system conducted in different countries.

This article investigates the advantages and disadvantages of decentralized electricity generation according to the overall concept of sustainable development.

Valence believes its new generation of phosphate-based lithium-ion battery systems will move the electric vehicle industry one step closer to the Holy Grail -- finding a battery solution that is safe, intelligent, lasts longer and weighs less than outdated technologies being used today.

It's energy efficient, it's clean, compact and simple, and, above all, it's very cool.