The Guardian

Vast greenhouses that use seawater to grow crops could be combined with solar power plants to provide food, fresh water and clean energy in deserts, under an ambitious proposal from a team of architects and engineers.

The Sahara Forest project would marry huge greenhouses with concentrated solar power (CSP), which uses mirrors to focus the sun’s rays and generate heat and electricity.

MIT news

In a revolutionary leap that could transform solar power from a marginal, boutique alternative into a mainstream energy source, MIT researchers have overcome a major barrier to large-scale solar power: storing energy for use when the sun doesn’t shine.

Dr. Dave Worsley from Swansea University’s School of Engineering is researching ways to create solar cells by painting on “flexible steel surfaces commonly used for cladding buildings.”

The New York Times

Former Vice President Al Gore said on Thursday that Americans must abandon electricity generated by fossil fuels within a decade and rely on the sun, the winds and other environmentally friendly sources of power, or risk losing their national security as well as their creature comforts.

Reuters

Toyota Motor Corp plans to install solar panels on its next-generation Prius hybrid cars, becoming the first major automaker to use solar power for a vehicle, the Nikkei business daily reported on Monday.

Green Biz

Solar power is quickly becoming a cost-effective alternative to fossil fuel-based energy sources, and in less than a decade may cost the same as retail electricity rates across the U.S., according to a new report from Clean Edge and Co-op America.

The groups’ Utility Solar Assessment (USA) Study, offers a way for utilities, solar companies and regulators to bring solar power to 10 percent of the total domestic energy supply by 2025.

The Guardian

Soaring oil prices have led to such a boom for solar power that the industry could operate without subsidies in just a few years, according to industry leaders. At the solar industry trade fair in Munich over the weekend, there was growing confidence that the holy grail known as “grid parity” – whereby electricity from the sun can be produced as cheaply as it can be bought from the grid – is now just a few years away.

YAHOO

Discusses the possibility of making solar power free of any carbon emissions, and more generally, the solar industry’s attempts to improve the efficiency and cost of the technology. The viability of solar has been growing rapidly, and improvements in those two areas will only increase the accessibility, and thus effectiveness of solar power.

Santa Monica opens a “sustainable” parking lot, powered by solar energy, marking another first for the United States. However, some argue if this is really sustainable:

“North Americans still believe in the myth of endless wide-open spaces; perhaps that’s why things like the Santa Monica garage make sense here. If we can’t be pried out of vehicles, at least we can park them in environmentally decent buildings.”

Wall Street Journal Europe

Energy, its cost and the environmental implications of its sourcing and use have risen to the top of the world political agenda. With this in mind, EU leaders agreed last year on the outline of a new energy-climate policy. The member states and European Parliament are now considering specific legislation designed to increase Europe’s energy efficiency by 20%, cut its greenhouse-gas emissions by 20% and boost its use of renewable energies to 20% of total energy consumption – all by the year 2020.