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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 ...

A solar-paneled Prius done by Solar Electric Vehicles.

Toyota is developing a solar-powered Prius, the Nikkei newspaper has reported yet again.

It was interesting when we heard about this in July.

But it seems to us that someone over at Toyota has now been fake-leaking/hinting news about ...

The inedible nuts of the jatropha plant consist of 30 percent to 40 percent oil that can be converted into biofuel.

Air New Zealand, along with Boeing, Rolls-Royce, and Honeywell, retooled one of the four Rolls-Royce RB211 engines on a Boeing 747-400 to run on an ...

This was originally posted at ZDNet's Between the Lines.

Dell has declared itself carbon-neutral, but good luck defining and auditing what that means exactly.

Assembling PCs at Dell's Hortolandia, Brazil, facility.

The Wall Street Journal has an interesting story on Dell and its carbon-neutral efforts. ...

How bright is the future for green technologies in the coming year? On the whole, the picture appears positive but still susceptible to swings in energy prices and political sentiment.

With an incoming administration that intends to spearhead a comprehensive energy policy and reduce carbon emissions, many expect to have ...

Dave Chameides shows off some of his trash, along with one of the worms that help him keep volume and odors under control. For a photo gallery of Chameides and other trash-tracking bloggers, click on the image.

How far would you go to demonstrate your ...

Mariah Power's Windspire vetical-axis turbines, which run silently, are available in custom colors to make them more pleasing to the eye.

Some new sculptures at Quinnipiac University will soon provide students with more than just eye candy.

The university has hired Mariah Power to install ...

NOTE: This is a transcript of a segment of 60 Minutes that aired Sunday.

President-elect Obama is 30 days from office. For a window on his future, turn west for a moment, to a chief executive who is already up to his neck in the nation's troubles.

This month, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger warned of financial Armageddon, as California faced a potential $40 billion deficit that threatened jobs, roads, schools, and public safety. At the same time, he's pushing some of the world's toughest environmental laws to make California a leader on climate change.

The governor agreed to take 60 Minutes along during his most challenging times. How does he deal with it all? Well, what would you expect a former action hero to say?

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

"The more difficult it gets, the more joy I find in it. Because it's just great to figure out all of the ways of bringing people together and shaping policy. But to get it done, to get there, is always a long process. But when you get it done, it's very satisfying," Gov. Schwarzenegger told correspondent Scott Pelley.

Maybe it was acting. When 60 Minutes met Schwarzenegger at the state Capitol in Sacramento, he had just declared a state of emergency. His budget plan touched off a political firestorm, which in California would, of course, be accompanied by a real one.

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Schwarzenegger and Pelley visited one Los Angeles neighborhood burned to ashes just weeks before--evidence to Schwarzenegger that even in these times, the greatest threat is climate change. "It all happened so fast, they couldn't save one single one of those homes. Over 500 homes here were destroyed within hours," Schwarzenegger explained, as they walked through charred remains.

"You know, there's been a lot of research that suggests that there are more fires, and there are hotter fires, because the fire season has been extended by climate change," Pelley remarked.

"Well, we have been doing some research in that, and we have seen the changes. We don't have a fire season anymore. It starts in the beginning of the year and goes all year around, and so it has created, of course, big challenges," the governor said.

Asked what he tells someone who says climate change is theoretical and questions the harm, Schwarzenegger told Pelley, "I always say, well, there were people that were debating over if the world is a globe. They thought for a long time it was flat. And there are still people who think that it's flat. And there are people that still live in the Stone Age."

...

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Most energy-conscious people know that when it comes to home insulation, more is better. But homeowner Alex Cheimets is literally thinking outside the box with his "superinsulation" plan.

Rather than just blow in a few more inches of standard cellulose insulation in his attic, Cheimets is in the throes of an ambitious project to seal the outside of his home with two layers of insulating foam board.

Known in building industry as a superinsulated home, the foam blanket will keep hot (and cool) air in, and also block the cracks that let in outside air. If all goes as hoped, he will cut oil consumption by 70 percent at his 80-year-old, two-family home in Arlington, Mass.

A superinsulated home has foam insulation placed on the outside of the walls and ontop of the existing roof.

For Cheimets, superinsulation has become a bit of a hobby, one that's been frustrating at times. He set off two years ago with good intentions--conserving energy for the benefit of his pocketbook and the environment. But like a cutting-edge user of new technology, he has had to overcome a number of unexpected hurdles, notably a lack of basic information and experienced contractors.

Luckily, Cheimets is persistent, organized, and, he admits, "a little obsessed."

Earlier this fall, contractors began work on the job, which is expected to be finished early next year. Along the way, it's become a pilot project that some hope will become a model for dramatically lowering energy consumption in the millions of existing homes.

Leading-edge green
Being a guinea pig for superlinsulated homes has paid off in some ways even before the home's co-owners receive next winter's heating bills.

Because his project is considered a model for retrofitting homes to be energy efficient, suppliers have donated windows and materials, halving the estimated price tag of $100,000.

...

General Motors high-profile Chevy Volt car program has not been compromised by the company's financial woes, according to a company vice president.

Jon Lauckner, GM's vice president global program management, on Thursday published an update on the Chevy Volt on a GM blog in an effort to dispel ...

Panasonic announced Friday it plans to acquire Sanyo Electric in a deal valued at 800 million yen ($8.9 billion), giving the electronics giant a leg up in the rechargeable-battery business.

The deal, which earlier this week reportedly had edged closer to coming together, aims to leverage their operations in ...

In venture-capital circles, clean tech has been on a tear, bringing in billions of dollars and attracting thousands of entrepreneurs. But now, some people are starting to add a voice of caution to the stream of upbeat financial news.

The U.S. National Venture Capital Association on Wednesday released results ...

The F3DM is based on BYD's F3 (shown here). While it may look generic, the car's technology as a plug-in is innovative.

BYD Auto's plug-in hybrid electric vehicle, the F3DM, is now on sale in China, the company announced this week at ...

The federal government will make billions of dollars worth of loans available to U.S. automakers to enable them to restructure and invest in fuel-efficient auto technologies like electric vehicles.

At a press briefing on Friday, President Bush announced the outlines of the plan which he said was meant to ...

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Cash-strapped auto giant General Motors has put plans on hold for a new factory to build the Chevy Volt engine, according to a report.

The Flint Journal of Flint, Mich., reported on Wednesday that the move is part of GM's efforts to reduce ...

In the race to deliver plug-in electric cars, European automakers have an early lead, according to Bob Kanode, the CEO of vehicle battery maker Valence Technology.

Austin, Texas-based Valence has been in the battery business since 1990. It already supplies batteries for the Segway Personal Transporter and is setting its ...

A consortium of 14 U.S. technology companies is seeking $1 billion in federal aid to build a factory to manufacture advanced electric car batteries, according to a report Wednesday night by The Wall Street Journal.

Aiming to catch up to Asian battery producers that already dominate the market, the

Radio-transmitting sensor developed by KSU engineers uses solar cells from high-end calculators to power itself.

Correction on Wednesday at 11:27 a.m. PST: A press release on which this story was partially based misidentified which NASA mission the technology will be used for. This post ...