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Google working on "smart" plug-in hybrid charging

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Google Inc is in the early stages of looking at ways to write software that would fully integrate plug-in hybrid vehicles to the power grid, minimize strain on the grid and help utilities manage vehicle charging load. More...

09-30-2009 10:00

Google plans new mirror for cheaper solar power

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Google is disappointed with the lack of breakthrough investment ideas in the green technology sector but the company is working to develop its own new mirror technology that could reduce the cost of building solar thermal plants by a quarter or more.

"We've been looking at very unusual materials for the mirrors both for the reflective surface as well as the substrate that the mirror is mounted on," the company's green energy czar Bill Weihl told Reuters Global Climate and Alternative Energy Summit in San Francisco on Wednesday.

Google, known for its Internet search engine, in late 2007 said it would invest in companies and do research of its own to produce affordable renewable energy within a few years.

The company's engineers have been focused on solar thermal technology, in which the sun's energy is used to heat up a substance that produces steam to turn a turbine. More...

09-10-2009 09:41

Shoppers' cars will soon be able to power supermarkets

Shoppers' cars will be used to power supermarket tills in a revolutionary new scheme. The weight of vehicles driving over road plates into a new eco store will power a generator that creates enough electricity to keep checkouts ringing. The system uses the same type of technology Formula 1 cars use to convert kinetic energy created during braking into speed. More...

06-17-2009 07:21

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