PG&E Taps Silver Spring Networks for Smart Grid: PG&E, one of the country’s largest utilities, has picked Silver Spring Networks to provide smart grid services for some 5 million customers through the utility’s SmartMeter program upgrade - Press release.

EEStor Gets Third Party Verification on Energy Storage TechUltracapacitors: EEStor says they have had their ultracapacitor-based architecture technology verified by a third party, lending some insight and credibility to the otherwise secretive startup - Clean Tech Group.

Tesla Fender Bender in San Francisco: Hours after being delivered to it’s new owner, Tesla production car #6 unceremoniously found itself wedged between a Camry and a Mercedes in a car accident not serious enough to deploy any airbags. Check the link to see pictures of of the partially-crushed Roadster - Wired.

Electric Car Roundup from 2008 British International Motor Show: CNet does a quick rundown of some fo the electric vehicles being showcased at this year’s motor show - CNet.

Woe to the ethanol makers out there, because higher corn prices this summer will mean even more shrinking profits for ethanol producers says a report from Texas A&M University. There’s also the potential for more variability in the price of corn this summer, because supply is relatively inelastic and worldwide demand is still high.

The rise in corn prices and volatility of such pricing will likely cause problems for those investing in ethanol plants such as AltraBiofuels, which plans to build an 84-million-gallon corn-ethanol plant or shareholders of Pacific Ethanol which recently said it would raise money after suspending plans to build another ethanol plant. The A&M report estimates that prices for corn this year will likely average $4.66 per bushel with 70 percent of the likely prices falling between $3.13 and $6.32 per bushel.

Given that current prices for ethanol are averaging about $2.20 per gallon in the Heartland and $2.30 on the West Coast, the expected average corn prices will be putting a squeeze on produces (see chart). Should a drought or other problem occur to lower yields ethanol producers might find themselves in the red. And that’s never a great place for a green company to be.

MIT Researchers Boost Fuel Cell Power: MIT engineers are using a new material that boosts the power output of direct methanol fuel cells by 50 percent and reduces material costs. The applications for such technology include mobile electronics - Press release.

Farm Bill, with Energy Provisions, Gets Veto-Proof House Vote: The House passed the Farm Bill by a vote of 318 to 106. The Bill includes nearly $2 billion in subsidies and loan guarantees for energy crops, biofuel development and biorefinery construction - ClimateIntel.

Honeywell Working with Airbus, JetBlue on Jet Biofuel: UOP LLC, a Honeywell company, and Honeywell Aerospace will partner with Airbus, JetBlue Airways, and International Aero Engines to study the production and use of sustainable biofuels for commercial aircraft - Green Car Congress.

Fish as Water Quality Inspectors: Communities in New York, Washington and California are using bluegill fish to detect potential toxins and contaminants in the water, an idea originally developed by the U.S. Army - Celsias.

The future of biofuels belongs to biology, and startups are getting more and more funding to engineer alternative fuels. Synthetic biofuel startup Gevo has raised another $17 million in a Series C funding according to Pehub.com. Existing investors Khosla Ventures and Virgin Green Fund participated, as well as new investors Burrill & Co. and Malaysian Life Sciences Capital Fund.

Using technology developed at Caltech, the three-year-old Gevo is working on engineering enzymes that can convert waste and other cellulosic feedstocks into alternative fuels like butanol, which can be used in the existing petroleum supply chain. Butanol, when used as a fuel, is more similar to gasoline than ethanol. Like ethanol, butanol is an alcohol compound, but with four carbon atoms instead of two; the different chemical structure gives it characteristics that make it more compatible with existing infrastructure.

When Gevo raised its Series B last July, CEO Partick Gruber said those funds would be used to continue developing the technology. We’re waiting to hear back from Gevo’s execs on how these latest funds will be used.

Gevo competes with other synthetic biology firms like Craig Venter’s Synthetic Genomics. Synthetic Genomics Chief Financial Officer Chuck McBride told us back in April that the company was in the process of raising a round of funding in the “$100 million to $200 million range.”

Oil giant Shell’s decision to pull out of the world’s biggest planned offshore wind farm to be built in Britain resulted in a storm of criticism last week. Politicians and environmentalists accused Shell of being “greedy” and “irresponsible” in the British media. Many also believe that the move is part of a larger trend by Shell away from its renewable energy initiatives.

And the future of the London Array wind farm seems uncertain now. Shell was one of the three shareholders in the project together with German power company E.On and Danish utility DONG Energy. When fully operational, the wind farm would have provided electricity to power 750,000 homes, or around a quarter of London — its 341 turbines would have generated 1,000 megawatts of power.

The decision of Shell is also a major setback for Britain as London Array has been the symbol of the country’s renewable energy future. Britain is having a hard time meeting the European Union’s target of producing 15 percent of the country’s total energy from renewables by 2020. London Array wind farm was designed to provide around 10 percent of the renewable electricity produced in Britain by 2010.

It seems ironic that the decision made by the oil giant that has marketed itself with its renewable energy plans came only days after the company reported record profits. Shell has declined to give a detailed reason for its decision to sell its 33 percent share in the wind farm. However, Shell has said it plans to pursue other wind projects in the US where government incentives are more competitive and permitting easier to obtain.

Oil giants like BP and Shell often groom themselves through marketing campaigns as being very interested in alternative energies like biofuels, solar and wind power. And they are investing in these areas. But when earnings time comes around, it becomes clear just how puny these initiatives are when measured against their oil and natural gas businesses.

On Tuesday, BP and Shell reported earnings for the March quarter. Unsurprisingly, record oil prices led to record profits at both. BP’s revenue grew 43 percent to $88 billion from the year-ago quarter, while profit rose 63 percent to $7.6 billion. At Shell, revenue grew 56 percent to $114 billion, and profit rose by 25 percent to $9.1 billion.

And yet eight years after BP launched its “beyond petroleum” campaign, backed up with lots of big speeches about hydrogen and other alternative energies, its alternative energy unit is dwarfed by the petroleum business. BP doesn’t break down revenue by operations, but the division to which alternative energies belongs posted a loss of $193 million in the latest three-month period, twice as large as a year earlier.

That division, dubbed simply “other businesses,” also includes BP’s shipping and aluminum subsidiaries. So it’s hard to see exactly how much money is made from all the solar, wind, biofuel, clean coal and hydrogen energy that BP is involved in.

Shell’s report offered even less insight. Although the company describes itself on its home page as “a worldwide group of oil, gas and petrochemical companies with interests in biofuels, wind and solar power and hydrogen,” those interests aren’t mentioned in its earnings release.

X Prize Foundation Puts $100M Up for Cleantech: In its largest prize to date, the X Prize Foundation will award $100 million for breakthroughs in biofuels, energy storage, power generation for developing nations, and other categories - Business Week.

“Q&A: Wave Power”: With everyone from San Francisco to Scotland talking about wave power it’s best that you get yourself acquainted - Guardian.

Shell on a “Quest” For Carbon Capture: The European oil giant says it will examine carbon capture and storage at one of its Canadian refineries in a program nicknamed “Quest” - Bloomberg.

SynapSense Measures Server, Weather Conditions: SynapSense can provide real-time information on server room weather - humidity, temperature, pressure differentials, hot spots - which IT managers can use to adjust setup and air conditioning - CNet.

Tesla in Monaco with Bono: In preparation for their European sales launch, electric car maker participated in the Top Marques Monaco auto show where Bono checked out the Roadster - Tesla Motors.

Sen. Boxer: EPA “Is In Crisis”: Sen. Barbara Boxer said that EPA’s decision to deny California’s waiver application has caused a huge amount of drama in the agency - Cleantech Media. Also check out Environmental Capital’s take of the “brouhaha” and “intrigue” - WSJ.

GM Having Battery Supply Problems: GM has put Cobasys on their “list of distressed suppliers.” Cobasys supplies GM with nickel metal hydride batteries and this hiccup could be problematic for the hybrid lines of the Saturn Aura and Vue and the Chevy Malibu - Autoblog Green.

EnerNoc - High Revenues but Post Losses: The demand response company reported fourth quarter revenues up 234 percent year over year but posted losses of 48 cents of share - CNet News.

Scientists Discover Plant Gene Controlling CO2 Uptake: Teams from the University of Helsinki, UCSD, and Japan working together have discovered a key gene in plants controlling carbon dioxide uptake for photosynthesis and water evaporation - Biopact.

Where is that Farm Bill?: After all that haranguing and press last year over the Farm Bill, the Chair of Senate Ag Committee says the most likely scenario is “an extension of the present farm bill.” What are we paying these guys for again? - Grist.

Chrysalix and Robeco From Joint Clean Tech Venture: Chrysalix Energy Venture Capital and asset management firm Robeco have formed Sustainable Energy Technology Venture Partners with €50 million in startup capital for European cleantech - BusinessWire.

Gushan Files for $250M Biodiesel IPO: Said to be the largest producer of biodiesel in China, Gushan filed with the U.S. SEC for an American Depositary Share sale - CleanTech.

Study Finds Ethanol Out-Performs Gas: A study cosponsored by the DOE and the American Coalition for Ethanol found that blends between E10 and E85 can get better fuel economy than regular unleaded gasoline - Ethanol.org.

PG&E Billboard Also a Power Plant: A new billboard off the 101 in San Francisco can generate 3.4 kilowatts of energy during the day from 20 solar panels - LiveScience.

Congress Considers $21B Energy Tax for Renewables: Proposed by two Democrats, the legislation would undo some oil tax breaks and put money toward carbon capture, energy efficiency, and other renewables - CNNMoney.com.

East Bay Announces “Green Wave” of Research and Manufacturing: Leaders from Oakland, Berkley, Emeryville, and Richmond said “The Silicon Valley of the green economy is going to be here in the East Bay” - San Francisco Chronicle.

Senate Minority Leader Calls Energy Bill “Troublesome:” Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. spoke out against the Renewable Portfolio Standard that would require utilities to generate 15 percent of their power from renewable sources - CNNMoney.com.

Computer Servers Pollute Like SUVs: Global Action Plan released a report saying that the carbon footprint of computer servers is a huge threat to climate change - NewScientist.

High-Tech World Stuck on Coal: An op-ed on the fact that the 21st century that has harnessed the power of the atom is still using 19th century’s coal to power itself - NYTimes.

Cow Manure Startup Bankrupt: E3 Biofuels, which used cow manure to power its ethanol plant, has filed for bankruptcy - Greentech Media.