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Greenpeace has launched an effort to pressure Facebook to stop polluting with coal, but Facebook counters by saying its newest data center will be a model energy efficiency.

On Wednesday, Greenpeace executive director Kumi Naidoo sent a letter sent to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, urging him to take steps to lighten Facebook's environmental footprint.

Naidoo said that the environmental watchdog group was dismayed by Facebook's plans to build a large data center in Prineville, Oregon. Due to Facebook's rapid growth, that facility will be twice as large as first anticipated and the local utility runs an "… Read more

Cisco Systems on Thursday said it intends to acquire wireless sensor maker Arch Rock, a move that beefs up Cisco's smart-grid and data center businesses.

San Francisco-based Arch Rock makes a system for collecting information from mesh networks of IP-based wireless sensors, routers, and servers. Its sensors are placed in data centers and buildings to monitor heat and other environmental conditions to optimize cooling and improve the overall energy efficiency.

Financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.

Privately held Arch Rock is also developing wireless communications for utilities called Phy-Net Grid. The system is designed to use Arch … Read more

Silicon start-up Smooth-Stone has received $48 million from a syndicate of investors including ARM, Texas Instruments, and Highland Capital Ventures.

Smooth-Stone's goal is to bring the virtues of low-power cell phone technology to servers and, as a result, bring down the staggering power consumption at large data centers. Mega data centers can house tens of thousands of servers and the largest can use between 5 and 20 megawatts of power. One megawatt, equal to 1 million watts, can power about 1,000 homes.

Smooth-Stone joins other start-ups such as U.S. Department of Energy-backed SeaMicro, which is using Intel'… Read more

Apple on Tuesday introduced a rechargeable battery charger that it says is the sleekest and greenest way to power your Mac peripherals.

The Apple Battery Charger has a power-management system that cuts the power when AA batteries are fully charged to nearly eliminate the vampire draw. The charger draws 30 milliwatts once batteries are full, compared with 315 milliwatts for other nickel-metal hydride rechargeables, Apple said.

The charger kit costs $29 and includes six Apple batteries, which Apple says will last hundreds of charges and up to 10 years. The charger can work in other countries and with other rechargeable … Read more

General Electric on Monday said it will invest in and partner with SynapSense, a start-up that makes a system for reducing data center energy with the help of wireless sensors.

GE Energy Financial Services is joining existing investors to put $5 million into Folsom, Calif.-based SynapSense, which was founded four years ago. The start-up had previously raised $20 million from Emerald Technology Ventures, Sequoia Capital, Robert Bosch Venture Capital, American River Ventures, Nth Power, and DFJ Frontier.

SynapSense is one of a handful of companies designing data center energy management systems, which use sensors to collect environmental data from … Read more

If all the commercial buildings in the U.S. that exist as of 2010 were retrofitted to be more energy efficient, the country as a whole would save over $41.1 billion a year in energy bills.

That's according to the report "Energy Efficiency Retrofits for Commercial and Public Buildings" released Thursday by Pike Research.

Of course, in order to get to that $41.1 billion per year in savings, the owners of commercial properties would have to invest in the initial retrofit adaptations and construction upgrades. So how much is that going cost? Well, as it … Read more

The smart grid for Plumas-Sierra County, Calif., is now operating via the television broadcasting system's "white space," software and service supplier Spectrum Bridge announced Wednesday.

The TV white space spectrum is the portion of unused broadcast TV channels that became available with the national switch from analog to digital TV broadcasting.

The space is prized because it can provide a venue for data exchange rates significantly faster than the current standard Internet Wi-Fi, and can be broadcast for extended distances and through obstacles, making it ideal for use in smart grid communications.

For years, Dell, Google, Microsoft, Motorola, and others lobbied the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to open up the space … Read more

Investment in security for smart electrical-grid systems will grow tremendously over the next five years, according to a report released Wednesday by Pike Research.

With the U.S. electrical grid--and other national grids worldwide--poised to become smart systems with integrated communications, the possible threat of sabotage has become an obvious concern. To that end, the U.S. government has set aside funding to develop security protocols. Others are following suit.

Between 2010 and 2015, the report predicts, about 15 percent of all smart grid investments will be spent on cybersecurity. This will represent a total global investment of $21 billion … Read more

Global sales of electric vehicles are set to rise this year due to worries about security of oil supply, the environment and fuel costs, UK consultancy J.D. Power said on Friday.

Global sales of electric cars are expected to reach 940,000 units this year compared with 732,000 units last year, with the number jumping to 3 million in 2015, J.D. Power analysts said in a report.

The uptake of battery powered cars is seen as key to fighting climate change by cutting carbon emissions, as well as a way to wean economies off imported or difficult … Read more