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Toshiba, a company best known for making laptops and consumer electronics, on Monday said that it will enter the solar-photovoltaics business.

But don't expect to see Toshiba-branded solar panels on a home rooftop any time soon. The company's industrial and energy arm plans to build utility-scale solar power ...

Green fatigue is now pervasive.

Numerous environment-theme blogs and news sites over the past week have pointed to a statement put out by Lake Superior State University in Sault Ste. Marie, Mich., calling for the demise of all "green" labeling.

Since 1975, the university has been taking nominations for words ...

In a sign that waste may be a favored energy source this year, a small company on Monday said it has successfully plugged a vegetable oil generator into the electricity grid at a Boston-area restaurant.

The Vegawatt system, developed by Owl Power Systems, burns used-up vegetable oil from restaurant fryers ...

Corporate Social Responsibility Press Release

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Corporate Social Responsibility Press Release

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1.05.2009 - 08:51am ET » read more

Environmental and energy groups, including the association that represents almost 70 percent of the country's utilities, are urging swift passage of a stimulus package that includes provisions for energy efficiency programs that they say would help jumpstart an economic recovery through the creation of green jobs.

The groups made groups made their pitch to Congress before year's end as talks accelerated about the stimulus package being crafted by the incoming administration. » read more

Air New Zealand has completed a test flight partially using jatropha-based fuel, another experiment on the path to cleaning up the emissions and impact of flying.

The airliner sent a 747 on a two-hour flight Dec. 29 from and to Auckland International Airport. One of its four engines was filled with a 50-50 blend of fuel based on the jatropha plant and conventional jet fuel. » read more

Xcel Energy, Colorado's largest utility company, has mapped out an ambitious energy efficiency plan for 2009 that the firm says would save an amount of power equivalent to that generated by a new unit at a coal-fired plant.

The utility company spent $20 million in 2008 on energy efficiency. It expects to spend $63 million this year and $80 million in 2010 on programs that are geared to reducing energy demands by business and residential customers. » read more

Ball Memorial Hospital will plant a 30,000-square-foot green roof on its new $87 million extension called South Tower.

The roof, expected to be installed in spring, will be the second in Muncie. The first, installed in September, sits atop an arm of an arbor flanking the main building of the Minnetrista Cultural Center.

A contractor has not yet been selected for hospital project, but the new roof is expected to help reduce the hospital's energy expenses for the tower by 10 to 15 percent and has a projected cost of $400,000 to $550,000 dollars, according to The Star Press. » read more

The Indiana Department of Environmental Management has suspended six state-funded grant and loan programs for recycling and pollution prevention programs.

Putting the programs for businesses and local governments on hold will save about $2 million, and the department expects to hold off on the grants and loans for 18-30 months.

The department said the loans and grants require recipients to put up matching funds, which might not be feasible in the current economy. Programs already in place should not be affected, the department said. » read more

One of the world's largest reinsurers is calling for an international treaty to address climate change or face growing insurance losses from weather-related natural catastrophes.

Munich Re urged world leaders last week to reach a post-Kyoto successor at the next climate summit in Copenhagen in late 2009. Failing to do so will likely cause more financial and human losses; 2008 was the third most expensive on record, behind 2005 and 1995. » read more

A new agreement has been made that would divert more freight train traffic through Chicago area suburbs. Local communities upset about the increased traffic are expected to challenge the decision.

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This article from Next American City looks at the strengths and weaknesses of the website EveryBlock.com, an automated, geography-based information aggregator.

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