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The effect of millions of electric vehicles connecting to the grid during peak hours has been feared and discussed since long. While charging vehicles during off-peak hours may be good for utilities, in an interesting turn it may even earn some money for the owners. More specifically, EV/PHEV owners in West Texas and Illinois are being paid to charge their vehicles during off-peak hours, and that’s clean wind energy we’re speaking of.

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Mount Kilimanjaro is Africa’s highest peak, and used to be covered in snow throughout the year despite its proximity to the equator. The ill-effects of global warming however, have put up a drastic picture of the mountain, whose slopes went ice-free this year; probably for the first time in 12,000 years.

The World Solar Challenge started off in 1987, and features teams of some of the top engineering colleges from around the world vying to get hold of a top spot, while traveling thousands of miles in solar powered racecars. The challenge puts up a grueling task for the vehicles which are powered by only solar energy. This year, the cars covered a distance of nearly 1,864 miles through a route that stretched from Darwin in Northern Australia to Adelaide in South Australia.

Designers and architects Iosa Ghini Associati have proposed a solar powered monorail system for the city of Bologna, Italy. Called Energy Belt, the 5084 meter long system will connect the airport to the city center. The monorail will operate at heights varying from 7 meters to 25 meters, will have an intermediate stop at Lazzaretto, and will be entirely powered by solar energy collected by photovoltaic panels placed at the track’s southwest side to maximize energy gain.

The vast expanse of the Sahara desert has since long been seen as an available source of solar energy that can be tapped. However, there isn’t much progress to show on the issue. Now the idea seems closer to reality with a German-led consortium of 12 companies that intends to harness the desert sun to power Europe.

Southwest Airlines has unveiled a prototype that will help the skies go greener. Until now, little progress has been made in making the aircrafts environment friendly, and the new prototype aircraft Southwest displayed appears to be a step in the right direction. The new aircraft does not have any ground breaking technology as such, but a healthy dose of innovativeness is what makes this flier eco friendly.

The Gazprom Tower, or the Okhta Tower has been given a green light for construction, upon completion of which it will be the tallest building in Europe. To be built in St. Petersburg, Russia, the 77-storey tower isn’t just about height, the modern building will also be full of environmentally friendly features.

Going green and appearing clean is sort of the big mantra in the corporate world these days. Consumers have displayed a clear preference for companies with green inclinations, and the corporate world is moving fast to cutback on emissions, and appearing green for the consumers.

A study by researchers at the University of Sao Paulo, Brazil, has found that ethanol can be a viable alternative to gasoline for vehicles, and at the same time, its use can effectively reduce emissions. Brazil is one of the world’s largest producers of sugarcane, and cane-based ethanol. Researchers found that the ethanol provides nearly eight times the energy used to create it, and that number could increase further with the introduction of new technologies and plant varieties.

On Indian Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khans birthday, an Australian Fan of his, every year buys a piece of moon  for him !

Shahrukh confirms, “Yes, an Australian lady buys a little land on the moon for me every year on my birthday. She has been buying it for a while now and I get these certificates from the Lunar Republic Society.”

SRK says he has met his fan and she will be in touch with him thru emails “She writes me colourful emails (in the sense one line is red, one is blue and so on). I feel blessed to have the love of so many people worldwide.”

According to online lunar real estate agency, http://www.lunarregistry.com/, the Sea of Tranquility is the most sought  after address on the moon.