Copper end use trends

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NISKAYUNA, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--GE Global Research, the centralized research organization of General Electric (NYSE: GE), and GE Consumer & Industrial, today announced the successful demonstration of the world’s first roll-to-roll manufactured organic light-emitting diode (OLED) lighting devices. This demonstration is a key step toward making OLEDs and other high performance organic electronics products at dramatically lower costs than what is possible today.

From April 6, all homeowners in Britain will be free to install microgeneration equipment like solar panels without getting planning permission for them, as the government tries to cut climate warming gases emitted from coal and gas fired power plants in order to supply electricity.

the Cuban government is finally allowing general consumers to buy various electronics, including DVD players and computers, for the first time. Only companies and foreigners were previously able to buy computers, while the looming threat of terrible Hollywood movies had forced Cuban authorities to seize DVD players at the airport. The change is due to "the improved availability of electricity," and Cubans can look forward to also picking up microwaves, 24-inch televisions, and rice cookers to plug into the new juice. Of course, it's not all flip flops and high-fives: air conditioners will not be available until next year, and the deadly menace known as the toaster will be restricted until 2010.

It has recently started shipping its first panels to select customers. This spring the company will begin production of solar panels at a factory built to produce 25 megawatts of solar panels per year.

This approach saves money because the total costs of the molded plastic, other extra materials, and added manufacturing steps still are lower than the cost of the additional silicon used in conventional solar panels. Solaria also reduces costs by using manufacturing equipment already developed for the semiconductor industry, thus avoiding expensive customized equipment.

After crunching numbers for months with the help of Rensselaer’s Computational Center for Nanotechnology Innovations, the most powerful university-based supercomputer in the world, the research team concluded that the carbon nanotube bundles boasted a much smaller electrical resistance than the copper nanowires. This lower resistance suggests carbon nanotube bundles would therefore be better suited for interconnect applications.

. Masdar, the oil-rich emirate’s $15 billion renewable energy venture, and Spanish technology company Sener on Wednesday announced a joint venture called Torresol Energy to build large-scale solar power plants in Australia, Europe, the Middle East, North Africa and the United States.

The irony is too rich to leave unsaid: A leading oil producer invests billions in carbon-free energy while a leading consumer of fossil fuels - the United States - continues to subsidize Big Oil while while offering only tepid support for green technology

Torresol plans to build solar power plants using a technology it calls a Central Tower Receiver system. It’s similar to technology used by competitors like BrightSource in that fields of mirrors called heliostats focus the sun’s rays on tower that contains a receiver. In this case the receiver is filled with salt which when heated vaporizes water to create steam that drives an electricity-generating turbine. The company says it intends to have 500 megawatts of solar electricity online by 2012.

GE shows how to roll out OLEDs

  BEIJING, March 11 (Xinhua) -- China is to elevate the status of the State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA) to a ministry, among the major 27 ministries and commissions of the Cabinet, said Hua Jianmin, State Council secretary-general, on Tuesday.

The global use of renewable energy sources continued its rapid growth in 2007, with 40 gigawatts of new renewable energy capacity added throughout the world, according to a new report.

Considering how much impact our gadgets already have on our day-to-day lives, we not sure we don't already live in a mixed reality environment,

In 2007, more than $100 billion was invested in new renewable energy capacity, manufacturing plants, and research and development -- a true global milestone. Yet perceptions lag behind the reality of renewable energy because change has been so rapid in recent years.

Latin American nations could become important suppliers of ethanol for world markets in coming decades, according to an Oak Ridge National Laboratory study.

oyota's heavy duty division, Hino, is testing a new kind of plug-in hybrd...one without a plug. The batteries on the hybrid assist and even sometimes take over for the diesel engine. But the energy in the batteries doesn't come from a plug, it comes from a wireless charging system built into the road.

HONG KONG — Consumer prices in China surged to a 8.7 percent annual rate in February from a 7.1 percent rate in January, the fastest pace of increase in more than 11 years, China’s National Bureau of Statistics announced on Tuesday morning.

China announced separately on Monday that producer prices were up 6.6 percent in February from a year earlier, compared with 6.1 percent in January.

While it hardly comes as much of a surprise, Ericsson Chief Marketing Officer Johan Bergendahl is now predicting nothing short of the demise of WiFi hotspots, and he's saying that they'll be replaced by -- you guessed it -- mobile broadband.

When you take the consumer obsession with technology and put it inside an automobile, you have a potential recipe for danger. Fortunately, new, high tech in-car features—including reading text messages, controlling MP3 players and accessing the Internet—are safely offering drivers entertainment and useful information for an enhanced driving experience.

Rather than putting tubes on a rooftop, RES lays the collection system within concrete -- think the black asphalt of a road or runway. The piping connects to undeground storage areas.