You can start typing your 'cut out the misleading headlines' comments now if you like, but just because no other nation in the world recognizes the three-acre country of Dumpling Island, off the Connecticut/New York coast, doesn't mean I'm going to knock down island-owner and Segway inventor Dean Kamen's claims that his private island isn't part of the United States. In any case, independent nation or no, Dumpling Island has indeed become a net zero energy (shall we agree on?) locale. How? By replacing all the light fixtures on the island with LED lights:

If Self-Reliant Cities is a snapshot of a certain historical moment, why then have we decided to reissue it more than a quarter of century after its original publication? Because we deeply believe the energy and climate crises must ultimately be solved at the local level. It is there that the proverbial rubber meets the road, where theory becomes practice, where policy must be implemented. Cities are where more than two thirds of Americans and half the world's population live. Cities are the locus of authority closest to the people. Cities have significant authority over land use and building standards.

Technology Review has an article on efforts to expand and modernise the European energy grid, easing the way for large scale renewables, particularly offshore -Europe Backs Supergrids. Last month, the European Commission (EC) called for construction of regional electric transmission connections across the North Sea, around the Baltic region, and around the Mediterranean Sea, to distribute solar and wind power to and across Europe. It's all part of a plan to boost renewable energy from 8.5 percent of European energy consumption to 20 percent by 2020--and even more thereafter. But the EC, the European Union's executive body, acknowledges that getting these so-called supergrids built will mean forging new agreements between European countries for transmission planning and investment--much as the United States needs more cooperation between states to, for example, move wind power from the Midwest to major cities. "The wind power which consumers demand cannot be delivered without new networks," the EC report says, and "there is little strategic planning" between nations to build the required connections.

Smart Meters are hitting the news with ever increasing frequency (which means I really should pull my finger out and finish off a detailed post on them one day) - The (UK) Telegraph reports that "Smart metering alone will not make Britain meet its 2050 carbon emission targets. But the necessary cuts will not be made without them." - Smart metering is essential to hit 2050 cardon emission targets.

The Independent has a look at smart meters in the UK and how they can help people cut down on their energy bills - Smart meters: are they the answer to big bills?. With energy bills at a record high, millions of Britons may be worrying about how they are going to pay to heat and power their homes this winter. Cutting back on energy use is one way to limit the financial damage of wintertime, but so few of us know where to start. This is where the new generation of "smart meters" can come in.

Dubbed the "missing greenhouse gas," nitrogen trifluoride (NF3) was found by a recent study to have a global climate impact 17,000 times greater than carbon dioxide. The chemical is found in the LCD panels of cell phones, televisions, and computer monitors, as well as in semiconductors and synthetic diamonds. The chemical is not one of the greenhouse gases monitored by the Kyoto Protocol, due to the fact that LCDs were not produced in significant quantities when it was drafted.

In what was described as the United States' first statewide "green" building rules, the California Building Standards Commission said the code would help reduce the carbon footprint of every new structure in the state.

There have been major strides in producing everything from sandals to military hardware in more eco-friendly ways. Likewise, the reduction of waste has also been improved, through both new technology and behavioral changes. But perhaps the most intriguing sector of the "sustainability industry" is the one populated by companies and organizations capturing waste and converting it into useful, carbon-neutral resources.

A new international research project which could one day lead to a new source of safe, abundant clean energy for Earth was launched today by scientists, engineers and Ministers from across Europe, at a special event and press conference at the Science Museum in London. Today's launch event marks the start of a three year planning and preparatory phase of the European High Power Energy Research Facility ( HiPER ) project. This is the first step towards HiPER's long term goal, which is to facilitate the technological and scientific advances necessary to make nuclear fusion, which powers the sun, a possible source of energy in the future.

There are two different aspects to bear in mind when speculating on the future of energy. First, which will be the energy source? And, secondly, what will the energy vector of the future be? Let us now consider both issues. In 1960, physicist Freeman Dyson indicated, more or less directly, in an article in Science magazine on the search for extraterrestrial civilizations titled "Search for Artificial Stellar Sources of Infrared Radiation" the importance of solar energy in the development of any civilization. In that article Dyson pointed out that a technologically more advanced civilization than ours would build so-called Dyson Spheres, spherical structures surrounding a star, with the aim of taking maximum advantage of the radiation emitted. Therefore, his idea was that the future of an advanced civilization would necessarily opt for making the most of solar energy

WIND POWER faces difficult obstacles, but its supporters can at least point to wind farms already in operation. By contrast, tidal power, often touted as an environmentally friendly alternative, has struggled. A firm quoted on London's Alternative Investment Market believes it is on to the next big thing in carbon-neutral energy - wave power.

Storing solar energy in batteries remains costly and inefficient. But that may not be true for much longer. MIT researchers have discovered a way to store solar energy that could make solar power in homes a mainstream energy option and might even make power companies obsolete, at least for residential needs.

In an arid region of the western U.S. known as the Great Basin, the desert floor has recently been reaching temperatures in excess of 1,300 degrees Farenheit. No, this isn't due to global warming, but perhaps part of the solution to it. A Utah based company called IAUS (International Automated Systems Inc.) has developed a solar lens technology that transmits solar energy with an efficiency of 92%.

Scientists mimic essence of plants' energy storage system In a revolutionary leap that could transform solar power from a marginal, boutique alternative into a mainstream energy source, MIT researchers have overcome a major barrier to large-scale solar power: storing energy for use when the sun doesn't shine.

OSAKA, JAPAN- From the 22nd floor of the Nakanoshima Central Tower, the offices of Hisao Fukami, comes news of Toyota's newest patent as filed with the WIPO (World Intellectual Property Organization) International Bureau, and released for international publication July 17, 2008. The Fukami Patent Office is listed as the agent for Toyota, who applied for the patent and worldwide rights January 11, 2007. The motor is interesting in its use of an "externally applied light" to a light sensitive rotor kept in a "permanent magnetic state" to generate torque.

After emerging in 2006 from 15 years of hibernation, the solar thermal power industry experienced a surge in 2007, with 100 megawatts of new capacity coming online worldwide. During the 1990s, cheap fossil fuels, combined with a loss of state and federal incentives, put a damper on solar thermal power development. However, recent increases in energy prices, escalating concerns about global climate change, and fresh economic incentives are renewing interest in this technology.

For a number of years now, the LCD display has all but made the older CRT displays extinct. While LCD screens are still being improved on by making them thinner, brighter, and produce better image quality, researchers are always on the lookout for the next technology breakthrough.

The largest fully industrialized populus in the world could be entirely powered by a small fraction of solar desert energy, according to new plan The U.S. has some big plans for solar, both with building new power plants and through businesses and consumers adding solar panels to rooftops and unused land. However, no U.S. solar effort thus far compares to the ambitious plan that European Union (EU) officials are considering.

The incandescent lightbulb that wastes 90% of the electricity as heat is dying, we all know that. But a new breakthrough in solid state lighting might also kill compact fluorescent lightbulbs (CFLs) faster than some expected. Scientists at Purdue University have figured out how to manufacture LED solid-state lights on regular metal-coated silicon wafers (more details below). What this means is: much lower costs.

Scientists from the Universidad Carlos III of Madrid (UC3M) and the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC) have developed an environmentally friendly cooling technology that does not harm the ozone layer. This is achieved by using solar energy and therefore reducing the use of greenhouse gases.