GM to Invest $43M to Build Battery Plant: General Motors said today it will invest $43 million to build a lithium-ion battery pack assembly plant in Brownstone, Mich. for its extended-range electric Chevy Volt and other plug-in vehicles. — Reuters Cap-and-Trade Inventors Call for Carbon Tax: […] Read more »
Electron beam technology doesn’t usually get a lot of green ink, like electric vehicles or algae fuel. But conglomerate General Electric certainly seems to think it’s got potential for energy efficient manufacturing. This morning GE announced that its GE Energy Financial Services unit has invested more […] Read more »
General Electric’s Net Zero Energy Home project unveiled this week highlights the rising branding power of “net zero” buildings. The laudable goal of making buildings produce as much energy as they consume is easy for consumers to understand and easy for companies to use as a […] Read more »
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If you pay attention to the energy sector, then you’ve witnessed the recent parade of home energy management software launched by startups, huge IT firms and veteran electrical meter companies. With firms like Microsoft, Google and, most recently, GE entering the home energy management software space, ... Read more at GigaOM Pro »
With the prices of silicon falling, competition heating up among solar equipment makers and solar manufacturing capacity expected to far exceed demand this year, it may seem like the worst possible time to build a solar factory. Yet several thin-film startups, such as PrimeStar Solar and […] Read more »
General Electric has unleashed a ton of news about new smart grid tools and partnerships today — just days before the company plans to report its second-quarter earnings, which analysts estimate will be down slightly. It’s hardly a coincidence that GE is drawing attention to its […] Read more »
This week, once again, we heard even more noise from both startups and large firms looking to grab a piece of the smart energy home space. On Wednesday dueling announcements emerged from energy management startup Tendril and conglomerate General Electric about a smart appliance partnership, as […] Read more »
Microgrids — essentially mini, self-contained power grids that often need independent power generation and storage — are of particular interest to the military. Military bases are largely in remote locations and have to be prepared for events that could potentially separate them from the greater power […] Read more »
General Electric has said it could start selling some of its smart appliances — dishwashers, water heaters, microwaves and other devices embedded with communications technology — as early as this summer. But how will those appliances securely and efficiently connect with the grid so that utilities […] Read more »
A century ago, Michigan gave us the Model T. Now General Electric hopes scientists, engineers and technologists in the state will also be able to deliver key pieces of the smart grid. The company — already a heavyweight among smart meter developers — has just announced […] Read more »
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We knew that cleantech startups were getting less venture-capital funding, but it looks like later-stage companies are really suffering. At the Financing the Cleantech Vision conference hosted by Thomson Reuters’ Venture Capital Journal in Palo Alto, Calif., on Thursday, Virgin Green Fund partner Anup Jacob said […] Read more »
Silver Spring Networks and GE have charmed another utility for a smart meter pilot. Chicago-based utility Commonwealth Edison Company (ComEd) last week filed for regulatory approval of a pilot with 141,000 smart meters that will involve 23 different combinations of consumer-focused features and technologies for energy […] Read more »
How home owners will react to smart meters that can help them manage energy consumption is still a big question mark. Will they largely ignore or embrace home energy management tools, and what kinds of gadgets and software will it take to win them over? Illinois […] Read more »
General Electric set out a series of ambitious goals for itself when it kicked off its Ecomagination campaign back in 2005, setting revenue projections for a green product line, establishing targets for reducing overall greenhouse gas emissions, and slashing the amount of emissions associated with every […] Read more »
If you’ve followed the music biz’s uncomfortable adaptation to the online age, you’ve probably heard this one before: One segment within the industry is taking “a larger slice of a shrinking pie.” A new study from U.K.-based Juniper Research forecasts modest growth worldwide in mobile music […] Read more »
[qi:_earth2tech] WiMAX might be losing broadband mindshare in the U.S., but when it comes to adding digital intelligence to the power grid, it’s suddenly emerging as an early contender. WiMAX gear maker Alvarion, which is one of the top three manufacturers in the industry, along with […] Read more »
With giant companies like GE and Intel, and startups like Grid Net, testing out how wireless technology WiMAX can be used to build out the smart grid, it was just a matter of time before the companies that make WiMAX network gear started moving in that […] Read more »
The frenzy is building for the Palm Pre launch and already future Pre customers are making plans for launch day. I have heard from those who plan on hitting Wal-Mart or Best Buy first, followed by a trip to their local Sprint store should the others […] Read more »
Updated: As we reported last week, GE has been trialling its smart appliances — dishwashers, microwaves and other devices embedded with communications technology — in 15 homes in Louisville, Ky., as part of an effort to launch a smart product line later this year. Curious about […] Read more »
Some utilities have indicated to us that they’ve been uncomfortable with the fact that Google is building software and web tools for energy management and smart meters called PowerMeter. In their eyes, Google’s strong brand could dominate their relationship with the customer. But that hasn’t stopped […] Read more »
Back before the stimulus package or the Waxman-Markey bill, when no one was sure whether tax credits for renewable energy would be re-upped or allowed to fade away, U.S. mayors decided to adopt their own climate policy. In signing on to the U.S. Mayors Climate Protection […] Read more »
Updated with comments from GE: This month General Electric is powering through proposals for cleaner technologies for heavy-haul locomotives like, well, a freight train. This morning the company is unveiling a new locomotive model that it says will produce fewer emissions and offer better fuel efficiency […] Read more »
When General Motors decided on a supplier for the lithium ion cells in the battery packs for its upcoming Chevy Volt, frontman Bob Lutz explained that the risks involved with working with a startup helped tip the balance in favor of South Korea-based LG Chem. Referring to […] Read more »
Several months ago, GE started a trial installing smart appliances — dishwashers, microwaves and other devices embedded with communications technology — in 15 homes in Louisville, Ky. The data has now started rolling in, GE’s Charlie Smith said during a presentation for the California Energy Commission […] Read more »
Review: SlingPlayer on the iPhone, sans 3G (NewTeeVee) Photos: Better Place’s battery swap station (Earth2Tech) Mifi comes to Sprint with GPS, Simply Everything plan (jkOnTheRun) oDesk launches “groups” staffing project (OStatic) Apple takes the gloves off with 3 new ads (TheAppleBlog) Top travel sites for saving […] Read more »
Adding digital intelligence to the power grid is getting all the attention right now from Congress, investors and entrepreneurs, but a next-generation smart grid without energy storage is like a computer without a hard drive: severely limited. Energy stored throughout the grid can provide dispatchable power […] Read more »
Updated with comments from GE CEO Jeff Immelt: In the ongoing battle among states to lure big players in the emerging battery industry — with their potential to bring jobs as well as stimulus dollars — New York has just scored big. General Electric this morning […] Read more »
Microsoft is gaming us — that’s apparent with a peek at some tweets posted on the Office 2010 Twitter account. They keep denying they are working on their own phone and ducking rumors about a Zune phone, but these tweets are obviously designed to get the rumor […] Read more »
Uncle Sam, Hybrid Car Salesman: Soon the Obama administration and whoever is running GM and Chrysler will have to confront the challenge of how to sell the cars they want America to buy, given that demand for hybrid sales has plummeted. — Wall Street Journal Gaga […] Read more »
To many, wireless standards are an important part of creating networks that can easily communicate and be built on the cheap. To others, it’s more like a religion. Take Ray Bell, the entrepreneur, former Cisco networking exec and, most recently, founder of San Francisco smart meter […] Read more »
100 DVDs on a Single Disc; breakthrough in storage comes courtesy of G.E., and is a result of the company’s work in holography. (The New York Times) Court Says Limelight Doesn’t Infringe on Akamai’s Patent; legal battles have been ongoing since July 2006, Akamai says it […] Read more »
The announcement this week that Miami could soon be home to the nation’s largest smart grid project brought together some of the biggest companies in the space, GE and Cisco; one of its most promising startups, Silver Spring Networks; and the utility arm of the nation’s […] Read more »
The smart grid is being touted as the Swiss army knife of cleantech — adding energy efficiency to the power grid, saving consumers money on energy bills, and creating jobs. That’s the way Florida utility FPL Group sees it, and today FPL, Cisco, GE, Silver Spring […] Read more »
A123Systems looks like it’s making its way through the haze of the downturn, despite that lost deal to supply batteries to GM’s ( s GM) Volt and a stalled IPO. The good news started last week when the lithium-ion battery maker announced a deal to supply […] Read more »
As social media has exploded, web startups building social applications are offering users ways to manage that proliferation. Some, such as FriendFeed, provide a central place for users to aggregate different services, while others, like Facebook Connect, offer tools for federation — a single way to […] Read more »
Despite the fact that cleantech investment fell off a cliff in the first quarter of the year, talk of the “seeds of revival” (i.e. investment) is starting to creep back into both clean power projects and cleantech ventures thanks to the funds from the stimulus package. […] Read more »
The grand vision of small scale wind involves plunking tiny turbines (100 kilowatts or less according to the American Wind Energy Association) in backyards or on top of buildings in order to bring distributed clean power closer to the source that’s using it. Well, that’s the […] Read more »
Gary Vaynerchuk is like the James Brown of Web 2.0 — the hardest-working man in the social media business. Forget turning water into wine, Vaynerchuk has so far turned wine into a video/blogging/Twitter empire and is now expanding away from his digital roots and into a […] Read more »
It might be up for debate whether smart meters — electricity meters that provide real-time information about energy consumption and enable two-way communication between a utility and a consumer — will solve the U.S. power problem. But regardless, over the next couple of years an increasing […] Read more »
No matter how long or how deep a severe economic downturn, its residual effects can still be somewhat jarring, such as when a company with annual revenues of more than $182 billion is worth less on the stock market than one with $21.8 billion in annual […] Read more »
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