Here are my latest picks of the most notable and noteworthy energy efficiency related news, features and happening in the U.S. and around the world.

Can a ’smart grid’ turn us on to energy efficiency?
According to research sponsored by the U.S. Government, improving the efficiency of the national electricity grid by 5 percent would be the equivalent of eliminating the fuel use and carbon emissions of 53 million cars…
http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/03/01/eco.smartgrid/index.html

Are greener gadgets even possible?
This is an excellent article making a strong argument that “until the need for the latest and greatest gadget is curbed, truly green consumer electronics will remain more a slogan than a reality.”…
http://www.sciam.com/blog/60-second-science/post.cfm?id=are-greener-gadgets-even-possible-2009-03-02

ReCellular gives phones a second life
130,000 cell phones thrown out every day. What is the Greener Gadget Solution? The Greener Gadgets summit convened a panel of four top experts in the field of eycling (e-waste recycling,) who presented some innovative solutions for solving this problem: Ron Gonen CEO of RecycleBank, Michael Newman VP of ReCellular, Carl Smith CEO or RBRC (Rechargeable Battery Recycling Corp.) and David Thompson Environmental Director at Panasonic…
http://www.mnn.com/technology/gadgets-electronics/blogs/recellular-gives-phones-a-second-life

DOE might make pending appliance standards ‘more aggressive’
The Energy Department is considering a stiffening of pending federal energy-efficiency standards for appliances, Energy Secretary Steven Chu said today. Chu also suggested a change in the Energy Star labeling program run jointly by U.S. EPA and DOE. Floating the idea of a “superstar” category of perhaps the top 5 to 10 percent best performers, Chu said this would allow manufacturers to claim that their products would ultimately save consumers the most money despite higher up-front costs…
http://www.nytimes.com/gwire/2009/03/04/04greenwire-doe-might-make-pending-appliance-standards-more-9979.html

Energy Efficiency
Up to 75% of the electricity used in the US today could be saved with efficiency measures. Developing countries, which will account for 80% of global energy demand growth to 2020, could cut their demand by more than half using existing technologies to improve energy efficiency, according to McKinsey Global Institute…
http://internationalrivers.org/en/node/3914

‘Napping’ data centers could cut energy use by 75 percent
Researchers at the University of Michigan have announced a plan to save up to 75 percent of the energy that power-hungry computer data centers consume by putting idle servers to sleep when they’re not in use…
http://www.zdnetasia.com/news/business/0,39044229,62051961,00.htm?scid=rss_z_nw

Green push stalled by weakened economy
As the economy slows to a near halt, environmentally-conscious initiatives across a wide spectrum of industries are being put on hold as upfront costs exceed current budgets. For now, it seems the green push, including property design and construction, city planning, consumer products and more, will have to wait until the economy rebounds…
http://www.thebusinessledger.com/Home/Archives/CommentaryViewpoints/tabid/86/newsid415/625/Green-push-stalled-by-weakened-economy/Default.aspx

Ford CEO Mullaly expects “major portion” of Fords will be electric within a decade
At a conference in California this week, Mulally declared, “In 10 years, 12 years, you are going to see a major portion of our portfolio move to electric vehicles.” Mulally told the conference that internal combustion efficiency will also improve dramatically over the next decade, and more hybrids will join the lineup including a plug-in hybrid that will debut in 2012…
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/weblogsinc/autoblog/~3/KMhZmo4lrSE/