energy

Green is the new black; math is the new cool; and Google CEO Eric Schmidt has some formulas for increasing energy efficiency, job creation, money saving, and how the Internet will fend off global warming. Sound far-fetched?  Schmidt says, “It’s just a math problem.”

File this one under U for "Uh, Wow, Okay." Before you do that, here's a summary of a Washington Post editorial entitled "If Everyone's Talking, Who Will Listen?":

Google could have promoted energy conservation by lighting up gigantic "save electricity" billboards.  Instead, in at least one country, the search giant has taken the equally unproductive path of turning its homepage black.

Google is exploring the use of a variety of forms of renewable energy in an effort to reach its goal of creating 50 megawatts of renewable generating capacity for its operations by 2012.

About three months ago, Ask joined a tree-planting program created by Dell to offset carbon emissions.  Those trees are presumably doing just fine.  The bigger piece of news relates to energy-efficient servers the two companies discussed, and those are also on track.

When it comes to saving money, small amounts matter - spending a mere five bucks on lunch, five days a week, amounts to $1,300 per year.  In terms of saving energy, the same idea applies, and so Blackle - a dark version of Google - was born.

A West Coast pilot program is giving brains to household appliances by enabling them to connect to the Internet and gather information about real time energy costs and make decisions about the best times to kick on or power down.

Enron announced that it has reached an agreement to settle civil claims related to natural gas and electricity from 1997-2003, which include claims filed during proceedings of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC).