CleanTech start-ups are grabbing increased interest and investments from venture capital groups that placed almost $2 billion into eco-friendly companies last year and increased the funding pace with another $773 million during the first quarter of 2010. Clean energy business owners and industry professionals attending EngEx 2010 will hear more about the growing investor confidence in renewable energy from Will Coleman, a partner at Mohr Davidow Ventures and a member firm of the National Ven-ture Capital Association (NVCA), during his keynote address, “CleanTech and Venture Capital Funding,” on July 29.
Lisa Bicker, president and CEO of CleanTECH San Diego, will open the three-day conference at the San Diego Convention Center. Ms. Bicker leads the non-profit membership …

Human-driven changes in the earth’s atmospheric composition are likely to alter plant diseases of the future. Researchers predict carbon dioxide will reach levels double those of the preindustrial era by the year 2050, complicating agriculture’s need to produce enough food for a rapidly growing population.
University of Illinois researchers are studying the impact of elevated carbon dioxide, elevated ozone and higher atmospheric temperatures on plant diseases that could challenge crops in these changing conditions.
Darin Eastburn, U of I associate professor of crop sciences, evaluated the effects of elevated carbon dioxide and ozone on three economically important soybean diseases under natural field conditions at the soybean-free air-concentrating enrichment (SoyFACE) facility in Urbana.
The diseases downy mildew, Septoria brown …

Global Temperature Report: May 2010

First five months of 2010 second warmest on record
Global climate trend since Nov. 16, 1978: +0.14 C per decade
May temperatures (preliminary)
Global composite temp.: +0.53 C (about 0.95 degrees Fahrenheit) above
20-year average for May.
Northern Hemisphere: +0.78 C (about 1.40 degrees Fahrenheit) above 20-year
average for May.
Southern Hemisphere: +0.29 C (about 0.52 degrees Fahrenheit) above 20-year
average for April.
Tropics: +0.71 C (about 1.28 degrees Fahrenheit) above 20-year average for
May.
April temperatures (revised):
Global Composite: +0.50 C above 20-year average
Northern Hemisphere: +0.80 C above 20-year average
Southern Hemisphere: +0.20 C above 20-year average
Tropics: +63 C above 20-year average
(All temperature anomalies are based on a 20-year average (1979-1998) for
the month reported.)
Notes on data released June 7, 2010:
In the race to …

If you are interested to start your own home energy-saving project, then it is a good idea if you are going to try having your own complete solar panel kits. This is actually one of the simplest things that you can do because these kinds of things are very affordable and easy to find. If you are going to search through the different specialty and hardware stores, you will realize that there are several kinds of these products that you can choose from.
The only thing that you will have to worry about is the quality. If you want to have your own complete solar panel kits, there is a need for you to make sure …