Computer technology is always about being one step ahead of competitors. Information technology moves faster than light it seems, and by the time your new computer arrives at your doorstep, it is already out of date. Dell, whose computers can be found in most offices, homes, and campuses across the country, has been doing its best to stay ahead of the curve.

Proving it is both environmentally friendly and hip to the trends of popular culture, Dell has just finished installing a grove of solar trees at its Corporate headquarters in Round Rock, Texas.

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I am a firm believer that if electric cars are to gain widespread acceptance, they first need to be proven in America’s congested cities. Most city dwellers usually don’t drive that far, have access to alternate forms of transportation, and likely spend more time on their iPhones than in a car anyway. It is the perfect proving ground for electric cars.

The MINILUX Solar Car concept realizes this, and rather than serving as an expensive paperweight while sitting idle, it can actually return energy back to the grid. It’s pretty neat looking too, aside from those funky wheels.

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Concept car designers have a great job. These vehicles don’t really need to have any basis in reality, they just have to look cool and generate buzz. Sure, when they are practical it is all the better, but sometimes good ideas and good looks don’t always translate into the real world. Take, for example, the BMW Lovos concept, designed by 24 year old Anne Forschner, a design student at Pforzheim University in Germany.

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Panasonic Corporation just announced that it will sponsor Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s (MIT) Solar Electric Vehicle Team (SEVT). The team will be competing in the upcoming Global Green Challenge (GCG) to be held in October of this year in Australia. As part of the sponsorship, Panasonic will provide the team with its a high-capacity (2.9 Ah) lithium-ion batteries.

The MIT SEVT student team will compete in the World Solar Challenge with a solar powered car using Panasonic lithium-ion batteries to store its solar generated power. Separately, Panasonic will provide the same high-capacity, lithium-ion batteries to a team from Japan’s Tokai University which is also competing in the same category.

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Cambridge-based Joule Biotechnologies has come out of the dark today to announce a radical technology designed to mimic photosynthesis using bio-engineered micro-organisms to make ethanol fuel from carbon dioxide and sunlight.

Because of the abundance of these raw materials, Joule Biotechnologies should be able to make ethanol economically, sustainably and at stable prices.

Prices would be competitive with fossil fuels at $50 a barrel.

By using materials with an unlimited supply, it solves most of the sustainability issues associated with making ethanol with corn, switch grass, or other plant materials. Joule’s system does not require raw materials in short supply like fresh water and agricultural land like traditional biofuel production. Quite the opposite.

An ideal “farm” might be a coal-powered electricity plant in Texas that’s belching out carbon dioxide in the sunshine.

Each acre can produce more than 20,000 gallons of ethanol or hydrocarbons annually; far more than recent algae estimates, which Sims says come in around 2,000 gallons. It can make transportation fuels at $50 per barrel or less; rivaling current gas prices, but without the pollution or greenhouse gases of fossil fuel.

Here’s how it works:
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