This post was written by Sahra Bean
On FOXNEWS.com, Greg Palkot discusses Germany’s Freiburg town is abandoning fossil fuels for small hydroelectric dams and hi-tech wind turbines. Much of the quaint town’s landscape is now dominated by solar panels, which top everything from its highways to its city hall. With laws that encourage the use and development of green technology and jobs, about 15% of all power in Germany is green. As most of the technology that’s being used to great effect in Germany was developed in the U.S, the principal consultant of the environmental energy firm Intelligent Renewable Energy, Rian van Staden, sees the green energy projects getting replicated in America soon.
Read the full article here
According to surveys conducted on 3,000 customers by the hosting provider Rackspace Inc. this year and the last, businesses are losing interest in green technology. While last year only 41% of Rackspace customers were unwilling to sacrifice performance to reduce global warming emissions, the percentage number has increased to 62%, which is shocking. The survey also indicated that the percentage number of people unwilling to pay a premium for green products and services, such as renewable energy, recycling, conservation or carbon offsets, have risen from 8% to 30%.
Office Depot Inc. has just opened its first “Green” store in Austin, TX. Office Depot’s “Green” store has been pre-certified for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standards by the USGBC. The store will use less water and energy during its daily operations and increase recycling efforts to diminish the size of its “overall environmental footprint.”
IBM plans a rich-media Webcast on 15th August, 2008 to promote the center, which sits behind a private firewall in IBM’s “green spot” in Second Life. IBM is using content produced by King Fish Media to create the Webcast, which will be hosted by On24.com. IBM hopes to use the data center as a demonstration area for its eco-friendly technologies and services.
Telkonet Inc., as a pioneer in modern, centrally managed solutions for integrated energy management, networking, building automation and proactive support services has announced the launch of the in-room, occupancy-driven Telkonet SmartEnergy ™ (TSE), energy management solution. It has planned the installation of its innovative system throughout the eco-friendly and luxurious, Metro Hotel, located in downtown Milwaukee, Wisconsin. As one of the world’s top 500 hotels and one of Milwaukee’s Green Travel certified venue, the Metro Hotel selected TSE after a comprehensive trial phase. This solution is based on Telkonet’s revolutionary, Recovery Time™ technology which is highly efficient and is in line with Metro Hotel’s green energy strategy and focus on the improvement of guest satisfaction. TSE will be installed throughout the hotel, during August with the help of Wisconsin’s energy efficiency and renewable energy initiative, ‘Focus on Energy.’ The Metro is a latest amongst the 5-star hotels in Milwaukee that opted for Telkonet’s advanced energy management solutions.