In the search for a clean, planet-friendly fuel, the startup Qteros has discovered and refined a microbe it calls the Q Microbe that turns biomass -- switchgrass, wood chips, grass, corn stover or even municipal liquid waste -- into ethanol.

In the energy and climate change debate, environmentalists are mostly united in their feelings about coal (very bad), gasoline (avoid gas guzzlers), nuclear energy (scary), hydropower (small is better than big), wind (good unless you worry about birds), solar thermal (nifty) and rooftop solar PV (even niftier). But what about natural gas?

Sunil Paul thinks big. He also is well-connected in D.C. and has an exquisite sense of timing. He released his report Gigaton Throwdown in the company of green jobs czar Van Jones and key players from Energy Secretary Steve Chu’s brain trust on the eve of the House vote on the climate bill.

Rarely does an industry come to Washington and hold a press conference to talk about why it wants to be given a leg up over the competition. But that's what the solar power industry did this week.

What would it take to aggressively scale up clean energy to have a major impact on jobs, energy independence and climate change over the next 10 years? The Gigaton Throwdown report asks just that -- and offers answer to the question.

OAKLAND, Calif. -- Two new reports on the impacts of moving to a low-carbon economy show putting money toward energy efficiency, building retrofits and renewable energy projects can create 1.7 million new jobs, significantly more than the same investment in fossil fuel industries.

BRACKNELL, UNITED KINGDOM -- New partnerships with utilities in the United Kingdom, Germany, Sweden and Norway have boosted Dell's worldwide renewable energy power sourcing to 26 percent, the company said.

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The Solar Electric Power Association named PG&E the most solar integrated utility in 2008. Cumulatively, Southern California Edison took the top spot.

HOUSTON, Texas -- Waste Management already generates renewable energy by incinerating trash and converting methane from its miles of landfills. Now the company is wading into a new venture that can turn garbage into synthetic gas for heating, ethanol or electricity.

The Obama Administration gave geothermal energy generation in the U.S. a huge shot in the arm Wednesday with the announcement of $350 million in stimulus funds to scale the barriers of tapping the Earth’s heat as a steady renewable power source.

David Sokol, the chairman of MidAmerican Energy (majority controlled by Berkshire Hathaway), is about to start testing a utility-scale battery storage plan that could change the renewables game forever.

A new guide called "Show Me The Money" sheds light on the various programs and potential sources for federal funding for all energy sectors, including wind, solar, biomass, green building and energy efficiency.

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- The networking giant yesterday outlined a new IT solution to make the country's electrical infrastructure more energy efficient and responsive while creating thousands of new jobs.