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"Few places are as well suited for large-scale solar projects as California's Mojave Desert. But as mainstream environmental organizations push plans to turn the desert into a center for renewable energy, some green groups - concerned about spoiling this iconic Western landscape - are standing up to oppose them."

Solar cells are still very inefficient, but this is helping to chip away at that.

"The photovoltaic collector field will feature a 5.3-megawatt system, and will include 16,500 PV panels. The university says that once installed, the field will generate 5.5 percent of the campus' electrical power and bring down its energy costs by about 8 percent. Not too shabby. The 5.5 percent figure is an average stretched over the year. On super sunny days, the installation is capable of meeting up to 20 percent of the campus' power needs."

"Take a stroll in the sun because 1 hour out in that heat will power 3 hours of iPod playtime or 1.5 hours of cell phone talk time. Take it out as you head to the pool this summer and charge up your electronics. So, not only is this backpack cool and amazing but is also efficient with your energy usage and time."

"Benedict, who has already been hailed by some in the environmentalist community as a "Green Pope," is the head of the world's only carbon-neutral sovereign state. Last year, he had solar panels installed on the Vatican's rooftops--now a key source of the state's electricity. Then, he donated enough trees to an eco-restoration project in Hungary to nullify the small nation's carbon output. One of the first speeches given by the Green Pope included a call for Catholics to be 'better stewards of God's creation.'"

"The problem is threefold: a lack of education among appraisers about the costs and benefits of green construction; insufficient data for them to calculate the value of environmental benefits; and finally, real estate listing services that, in many parts of the country, do not take into account attributes such as solar panels and spray foam insulation in their market valuations."

"From the recent discovery of a species of wasp that enslave unsuspecting spiders to a new report from the United Nations that estimates a 500% growth over the next 10 years in computer waste in India alone, a lot has happened this week in green."