News

• NextDC gets green light for Sydney data centre

  By Chloe Herrick | 14 November, 2011 15:27

  Data centre operator NextDC (ASX: NXT) has been given the go-ahead to kick off construction on its latest data centre in Sydney, S1, which was initially announced back in March.

• Tax cuts, clean energy under carbon plan

  By AAP | 10 July, 2011 18:40

  Nine out of 10 households will get tax cuts or payment rises and more money will flow into clean energy as Australia's 500 largest polluting companies start paying a carbon tax of $23 a tonne from mid-2012.

• Ford debuts all-electric car

  By Nick Barber | 08 January, 2011 05:59

  Ford Motor Company debuted its first all-electric vehicle, the Focus Electric, at the 2011 International Consumer Electronics Show Friday. It is one of five new electrified vehicles that will be available in North America and Europe by 2013.

• Sharp buys US solar project developer

  By Martyn Williams | 22 September, 2010 15:06

  Sharp will acquire Recurrent Energy, a U.S. developer of solar energy projects, in a deal that will give the Japanese company a stronger position in the fast-growing solar-power generation business, the companies said Wednesday.

• New mobile charger cuts 'vampire' power drain to zero

  By John E Dunn | 15 September, 2010 04:02

  A team at London's City University has been granted a patent on a new 'green' technology that stops phone, laptop and MP3 chargers eating electricity even when nothing is connected to them.

• Oracle board against sustainability proposal

  By Chris Kanaracus | 09 September, 2010 05:32

  Oracle's board of directors has weighed in against a shareholder proposal calling for the creation of a board-level committee on sustainability, according to the proxy statement for the vendor's upcoming annual meeting.

• NEC develops green technology from non-food components

  By Veronica C. Silva | 28 August, 2010 09:22

  Japan's NEC Corporation may have found the answer to the nagging debate between saving the environment without necessarily starving the population. And NEC found the answer while addressing the demand for durable plastic for the electronics industry.

• MIT builds swimming, oil-eating robots

  By Sharon Gaudin | 27 August, 2010 07:00

  MIT researchers have used nanotechnology to develop a robot that can autonomously navigate across the surface of the ocean to clean up an oil spill.

• Vampire hunters: Devices reduce energy waste

  By Lincoln Spector | 26 August, 2010 10:47

  It's 1 a.m., and everyone in the house is asleep. The television is off. The computers are off. Your cell phones and MP3 players are plugged in but no longer charging. And all these products are still sucking electricity.

• Chip startup seeks to lower electric bills in data centers

  By Dan Nystedt | 17 August, 2010 04:50

  A new startup funded by major chip makers and investment firms is taking aim at electricity bills, the biggest cost in data centers.

• Off-the-grid gadget chargers provide power in a pinch

  By Elsa Wenzel | 30 July, 2010 14:07

  Keeping mobile phones and other portable electronics charged is a hassle if you make frequent business trips or work in multiple locations. Inevitably, your smartphone's battery dies far from a power source just when you need to make a crucial call or get directions to a meeting.

• Apple battery charger slays the vampire

  By Jeff Bertolucci | 28 July, 2010 05:36

  There may not be anything magical or revolutionary about AA batteries, but we need them to run a variety of electronic gizmos, including wireless mice and keyboards, as well as dozens of analog devices such as flashlights, wall clocks, and portable cassette recorders.

• Microsoft Hohm outs home energy hogs

  By Joab Jackson | 28 July, 2010 01:55

  Microsoft has expanded its Hohm energy monitoring portal so home owners can see, directly from their personal computers, how much power their homes use.

• Government agencies to receive all-electric cars

  By AAP | 15 July, 2010 15:52

  Three federal government departments, four state governments and industry groups will be among the first Australian recipients of Mitsubishi's innovative all-electric car.

• Climate change hits super funds

  By AAP | 16 March, 2010 09:58

  "The physical and policy impacts from climate change are already impacting specific assets and asset classes," the Climate Institute said in a statement summarising the survey's results.