Green Options

European energy giant E.ON “turned on” what is reported to be the largest wind farm in the world this week, in Texas.

The farm contains 627 wind turbines on almost 100,000 acres of land near Roscoe, Texas.

More than fifty years after the electrical industry launched the “Medallion Homes” campaign to push U.S. homeowners into an all-electric future, General Electric is taking it to the next level.  The appliance giant has announced that by 2015 it will have developed a complete all-electric net zero home appliance management system that includes enough solar and and wind capacity to take a home off the grid, and even generate enough power to sell back to the local utility.

Hydrocarbon (HC) refrigerants are a “natural” cooler widely used in domestic and commercial refrigerators all over the world, except in the U.S. and Canada. HC refrigerants produce less greenhouse gasses than hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) technology, but they aren’t approved for the U.S. market - yet.  Now Greenfreeze, the Greenpeace-developed HC refrigerant, is poised to enter the U.S. thanks to a boost from an unlikely pair of companies, Ben & Jerry and General Electric.  It’s not a moment too soon: a new study has fingered HFC refrigerants and other so-called F-gasses as a rapidly growing source of emissions responsible for global warming.

Smart meters will have their own web pages that can be presented on social networks.

Earlier this week, General Electric (GE), announced a huge step in towards transforming the electric grid in Houston, Texas — one of the largest grids in the United States.

GE will work with CenterPoint Energy to implement a smart grid system called Advanced Metering System (AMS) that is designed to provide Houston-based consumers with the ability to better monitor and manage electric use and cost in near real-time.

President Obama’s stated desire to invest in smart-grid and broadband infrastructure syncs nicely with Google’s desire to improve the nation’s broadband infrastructure and build a smarter grid.

Part of President Obama’s proposed economic stimulus plan includes investing in smart grid infrastructure and what better horse to hitch your trailer to right now if you’re a big American company looking to launch your new smart grid advertising campaign?

Oh, and it also helps if you own the network.

According to Clean Break, General Electric has dumped all plans for revitalizing their century-old incandescent lightbulb. Instead, it plans to focus on light-emitting diodes (LED) and its organic counterpart — the OLED.

Propeller planes aren’t exactly known as the pinnacle of aircraft luxury, but a new propeller engine currently being designed by Rolls-Royce makes up in efficiency what it lacks in comfort. The company claims that the engine could save an airline three million dollars and 10,000 tons of CO2 per year if it is introduced on 100-200 seater planes.

General Electric and Mubadala Development have just announced a multi-billion dollar partnership that will give a huge financial boost to a plan to develop a clean-energy walled city in the United Arab Emirates. Masdar City, scheduled for completion in 2015, will get all of its energy from sustainable sources, and will create zero net greenhouse gas emissions. It will also be completely car-free.

As part of its partnership with Mubadala, GE will fund a giant research center in the heart of the city that will house a think tank of technologists working to develop sustainable energy and water technologies. The company will also commit up to $50 million to Masdar’s cleantech investment fund.