Electric Car Blogging

Electric car company Tesla Motors will not continue its trade secret suit against rival car maker Fisker Automotive, following an arbitrator’s ruling in Fisker’s favor.

Fisker Automotive said on Monday that an arbitrator found an interim award in favor of Fisker Automotive and the auto design company which …

Legendary rocker Neil Young made a special appearance during Salesforce.com’s Dreamforce conference keynote address. He didn’t mention cloud computing, but talked about his 1959 Mark IV Lincoln Continental.

Neil Young and Marc Benioff

(Credit: Stephen Shankland/CNET News)

Young has spent more than 0,000 to green …

Originally posted at Outside the Lines

Classic brown cardboard will replace elaborate plastic packaging for some Amazon.com items.

(Credit: Amazon.com)

Sometimes the greenest technology improvement is going back to the old low-tech option.

Amazon.com announced Monday it’s working with retailers to cut back on the packaging you’ll need to open to get to your goods.

The Seattle-based company plans to start shipping items in plain brown cardboard boxes, instead of putting a pre-boxed or plastically sealed item inside another Amazon box. The cardboard box will have Amazon, and in some cases the retailer’s name, on the front.

Memory cards, for example, are often sold in disproportionately large clear plastic packaging to prevent shoplifting at physical stores. Transcend’s memory cards when bought via Amazon will be shipped in a recycled cardboard envelope. Children’s toys, such as a Fisher-Price pirate ship set, will be shipped in a plain brown box with cardboard padding and a plastic bag holding the toy people and whatnot.

So, in addition to being less annoying to open, the new packaging will also be more environmentally friendly, according to Amazon.

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Solar start-up CaliSolar has raised a total of 2 million to go ahead with plans to manufacture solar cells from upgraded metallurgical silicon, according to a report.

Citing a regulatory filing, PEHub reported that CaliSolar has raised almost million in a series B preferred stock funding and million …

SolFocus, a maker of concentrator photovoltaic systems, has signed a 3 million (80 euro) deal with Empe Solar, a Spanish group that promotes solar energy use.

SolFocus panels, made of mostly aluminum and glass, are 95 percent recyclable.

(Credit: SolFocus)

Concentrator photovoltaic (CPV) systems typically use lenses and mirrors to …

VeraSun Energy, an ethanol producer that failed to foresee a drop in corn prices earlier this year, filed for bankruptcy protection Friday.

The Sioux Falls, S.D.-based company said it will continue to operate during bankruptcy, including making feedstock purchases and paying employees.

A VeraSun ethanol plant in Nebraska

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Tesla Motors on Sunday said it has finalized million in convertible debt financing, which it will use to accelerate production of its Roadster electric sports car.

The company last week said it was seeking money to overcome a low-cash position of million. Elon Musk, its chairman, CEO, and …

Cool Earth Solar has one of those radical green-tech ideas that may actually make a real commercial impact.

In the next two weeks, the company plans to start testing a prototype solar plant built around rows of reflective balloons hung on poles. The solar balloons, which are eight feet in …