New wind projects made up 42% of the U.S.'s total new power-producing capacity added last year, adding 8.4GW of new facilities into the grid. That brought the U.S. total up to 25GW, one more than Germany's 24GW.

These figures are coming in from even before the “Obama bounce” expected from the new president's vows for more clean energy initiatives. Last week, the Senate Finance Committee approved $31 billion in tax breaks to boost alternative energy supplies and efficiency. [Ars Technica and Scientific American]

Better yet, in addition to having a power source that lasts the life of the device, the new radio technology powering these prototype remotes is also low-cost to boot. Oh, and the remote would have an increased range as well, making it effective up to 100 feet—even through walls. Triple threat!

Contrary to popular belief, there are no magical gnomes hiding inside Green Peak's remote controls. Instead, inside the remote you'll find a pair of cheap lithium ion button batteries. Using these instead of AA or AAA batteries could go a long way toward eliminating some of the 8 billion batteries that head to landfills each year.

Today, Green Peak is hard at work pitching the tech to big name companies like Sony, Samsung and Philips, for use in their RF remotes this fall. There was no shortage of upcoming TVs and Blu-Ray players from those companies at CES this year, each with their own remote, so this is the kind of tech that could really make a difference. [DVICE]

The LED program was detailed in a section of Title III, a Department of Defense program, and will be completed by a company called Cree. The LEDs will reduce power consumption by 22%, and pay for themselves in four year's time.

The program is being billed as a way to save money and reduce energy consumption, but because this is the Department of Defense we're talking about, there was some ass-kicking verbiage in the description. In addition to providing a clean light source, the LEDs will also “promote creation and strengthening of domestic industrial capabilities to support national security needs.”

That's right. These aren't just super-efficient light sources, folks. They're terrorist-fighting, Jack Bauer LEDs, and they're taking names. [CleanTechnica]

According to Nokia, the NHCC will allow third-party developers to create services that are added onto the accessibility platform. That way, you'll rarely come across an incident where some new smart home tech you bought doesn't actually work with your main controller. NHCC works with Z-Wave, ZigBee and KNX, three of the most common command languages for home networks. It will be launched some time in 2009. [Nokia via Treehugger]

The most pressing one is that changing to nuclear will help reduce the amount of emissions from planes and keep them flying in the air longer. A plane sipping on nuclear energy could take off in London, land in Australia, and then go to South Africa without needing to refuel, and it'll have zero impact on the atmosphere as well.

Plus, the safety risks we tend to knee-jerk envision with nuclear are tied more to its image in popular culture than any real scientific facts. Nuclear submarines have been around since the beginning of the Cold War—when was the last time you heard of an actual meltdown related to one of those? Now compare that to the tons of other fuels that have been leaked into waters over the years. Safe nuclear planes have been feasible since the 1950s, but lost favor when the military decided to start building intercontinental ballistic missiles instead.

While there are a few genuinely valid concerns we need to address before we actually let nuclear-powered planes take off—how to automatically jettison the reactor in case of a plane crash and what to do with spent fuel, for instance— there's no reason why we shouldn't at least hit the power button on research. [Times UK via Crunchgear]

About two hours of spinning would be enough to run a custom LED light source for six to seven more hours, significantly extending the amount of time families can work. Using LEDs will also help families avoid kerosene lamps, which drastically reduce air quality inside the home when they are used. The Indian government is already giving away several of the e-charkhas to Indian residents under its “Funds for Regeneration of Traditional Industries” program. A good thing, since very few of the people who need it can afford the roughly $200 it costs. [Inhabitat]

All you need is a Fiat car with Microsoft's Blue&Me System, an onboard computer that's currently offered in some Fiats, Alfa Romeos and Ford cars. Download the Eco Drive software from the internet, load it onto any USB drive and plug it into the auto PC's port. The program will then measure your fuel consumption, speed, breaking style, and gear shifts to determine ways you can drive better. In case you don't have a Fiat car, but still want some tips to keep in mind, they have a couple on their website. [Cnet]

The smart thermostat lets you change your home heating and cooling preferences either through the panel or online. The online part is especially interesting—if you've run out the door and suddenly realize you've forgotten to turn the heat off, just log onto their website and change your settings there. Ecobee is available for pre-order, with a delivery ETA of early 2009. Oof, hope we actually get this thing before the winter engulfs us! [Ecobee via Josh Spear]

Unlike its conventional counterpart, the free-piston engine doesn't have a mechanical connect between the piston and a crankshaft. Instead, magnets at the center of the piston's rod move past metal coils to create an electrical current. The engine's configuration allows it to combust fuel quicker, improving efficiency, emissions and easily optimized for different fuels.

The bad news: they're hard to control (variations in combustion cycles can cause poor performance) and they're incredibly loud (the quick explosions need to be muffled somehow). But automakers such as GM and Volvo are already investigating putting the engines in future vehicles. Lets hope their forays into this don't take as long as their exploration of fuel cell options. [Technology Review via Treehugger]

The move is important since data centers are becoming an ever-increasing drain on the energy grid, accounting for about 1.5 percent of all electricity consumed in the U.S. in 2006 (expected to rise to 2.5 percent in three years). While the efficiency levels Google touted are admirable, data center trackers cautioned that the test results hadn't been verified by a third party. [NYTimes]

If this method of powdering methane gets commercialized, other gases may also get similar treatment. For instance, storing CO2 as a powder could finally make carbon sequestration viable and hydrogen as a powder would do wonders for fuel cell technology. [Discovery]

Rohm estimates that around 15 billion kilowatt hours of electricity, roughly the output capacity of two nuclear reactors, are consumed every year in Japan by devices on standby. In the U.S., vampire power is estimated to cost consumers $3 billion annually.

Experiments have already shown that an average game console could cut its power use by roughly 70% if it adopts circuits incorporating the new technology—exciting news for people like me, who tend to forget to power off their Wiis at night. Rohm says it'll start producing the circuits on a commercial basis within a year or so. [Japan Today]

You can get these in Australia, but expect this technology to spread far and wide before too long. Someday all fan blades will be made this way. Hey, somebody, pick up this blade design for a PC case fan, and then half the RPMs will equal half the noise. – Charlie White

Product Page [Sycamore Ceiling Fan, via Treehugger]

This car is more of a tech demonstration built to win an eco-marathon miles-per-gallon contest than a practical automobile (a similarly built car was capable of 131 mpg last year), and Axon plans to build a more practical and affordable hatchback to be released next year. Yeah, a car with a windshield would be nice, Axon.

We say, lash up this carbon fiber technology with some of the latest electric motors and battery technology, and our dependence on foreign oil could be over quicker than you can say "peace in the Middle East." – Charlie White

100+ MPG Sports Car: Caterham Seven Roadsport [Treehugger]

It's an efficient way to save energy from those power-sucking wall warts, trickling veritable kilowatts down the drain while you sleep. If only we'd wire up our houses for DC, none of those bulky bricks would even be necessary. Nice try, Mr. Edison.

This model is set up for use in the UK, but we're thinking this is such a painless energy saver that someone might want to bring this idea to these shores. While you're at it, make it cost less than $60. – Charlie White

Product Page [Nigel's Eco Store, via Oh Gizmo]

"I'm going to just plead with all of you, let's get the power supply problems fixed, or let's get all these devices talking together."

Google is pushing for a standard where nearly everything runs on 12-volt power. See how cool this could be, after the jump.

A great side effect of this push from the "don't be evil" Google guru would be the elimination of annoying wall warts, instead distributing power inside homes and businesses at 12 volts. That would bring plenty of power for everything but amp-sucking appliances in the kitchen and laundry room, and pave the way for lots of reasonably-priced, easier-to-install and way-cool low-voltage lighting. Another upside would be a savings of 40 billion kilowatt hours over three years, worth $5 billion. It would be safer, too. Yeah, Larry, let's don't be evil. – Charlie White

Google Pushes for PC Electrical Efficiency; Side Effect: No More Wall-Warts [treehugger]

This feat leapfrogs Japan-based Nichia Corp., which in March of this year announced a white LED capable of 100 lumens per watt. All this remarkable efficiency is a far cry from everyday incandescent bulbs which suck up gobs of energy and create lots of heat, all the while only giving up 10 to 20 lumens per watt. Heck, even compact fluorescents can only do 50 to 60 lumens per watt.

These ultra high-efficiency LEDs will prove themselves to be valuable not only in solar lighting fixtures, but in everyday uses around the home and everywhere else, too. Now if they can just get the cost of manufacturing these LEDs down to a reasonable level, the energy savings could be world-changing. – Charlie White

New Record for LED Lumens-per-watt. The End is Near! [Dvorak Uncensored]

LED-Flex [Transmaterial, via Treehugger]

Mule Lighting