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Today's environmentally conscious householder is becoming more aware of their impact and more willing to do something about it. Simple power saving devices for around the home are one of the best places to start and and encouragingly, they are continuing to appear. One of the greatest wastes of energy in the household is standby power and here to combat this, is the TrickleSaver. With the ability to sense when a TV or PC is off and shut down any connected peripherals like games consoles or printers, TrickleSaver is looking to make "vampire power" a thing of the past.

After six long years of planning, talking and hard work, the world finally got its first look at the 100% solar-powered Solar Impulse HB-SIA on June 26th. This remarkable feat of engineering, with the wingspan of a Boeing 747 but only the weight of an average family car, has over 12,000 solar cells powering four electric motors with a maximum power of 10HP. The aircraft prototype is expected to take its first flights before the end of the year.

Companies like Google and IBM are trying to lead the world in cutting-edge, efficient data centers. Not to be outdone, on Tuesday Yahoo announced they're hoping to change to future of data centers as well. The company unveiled plans to build one of the world's most efficient data centers in Lockport, NY and the details do sound pretty exciting.

Silence Is The Enemy was started in June 2009 to draw more attention to the sexually abused around the globe and to encourage everyone to talk about it and act. We have power and influence in our words, and we're able to speak for those who can not. We're asking all of you-bloggers, writers, teachers and concerned citizens-to use whatever platform you have to call for an end to the rape and abuse of women and girls in Liberia and around the world.

A consortium of 12 of Europe's largest blue chip firms yesterday formally signed up to the world's most ambitious solar energy project, agreeing to draw up detailed plans that could see energy from giant solar thermal power plants in North Africa meet up to 15 per cent of Europe's energy needs.

Dear EarthTalk: To what extent does human population growth impact global warming, and what can be done about it? -- Larry LeDoux, Honolulu, HI. No doubt human population growth is a major contributor to global warming, given that humans use fossil fuels to power their increasingly mechanized lifestyles. More people means more demand for oil, gas, coal and other fuels mined or drilled from below the Earth's surface that, when burned, spew enough carbon dioxide (CO2) into the atmosphere to trap warm air inside like a greenhouse.