Green-tech news harvest: Wave power, World Bank clean-tech fund

Here's a sampling of recent green-tech news:

• Compression Could Reduce Data Center Energy Use by 95% - EcoGeek
  The specific company pitch aside, compression could make a difference in data center space and energy usage. Last week, IBM Software general manager Steve Mills told me 75 percent of corporate data is redundant.



• Underwater Wind Turbines? - CleanTechnica
  Another wave/tidal power design, called BioWave, that uses biomimcry, or copying nature.
• Costs to Build Power Plants Pressure Rates - WSJ.com
  Because of rising commodity prices, it costs twice what it did in 2000 to build power plants today, says energy research firm CERA. Utilities could push energy efficiency harder to avoid building new plants.
• Rockefellers Seek Change at Exxon - NYTimes.com
  Fascinating drama playing out as the descendants of Standard Oil's founder submit shareholder votes to urge Exxon to move into alternative energy for environmental reasons.
• Biofuel powered microbial fuel cell wins World Bank's "Lighting Africa" grant - Exchange Morning Post
  The microbial fuel cell, developed at Harvard University, uses dirt to draw small amounts of electricity--enough to light an LED lamp.
• World Bank to Raise $5.5 Billion for Climate Funds - Bloomberg.com
  In Japan, rich nations pledge money to fund clean-energy technologies and projects in developing countries until 2012, the year the Kyoto Protocol expires.