Selling the Smart Grid to Average Joe: Smart grid analyst Jesse Berst examines how the Electrification Roadmap released this week by a coalition of heavyweight CEOs could be an inflection point for the smart grid. “Electric transportation is something the public wants; it will take a significant infrastructure upgrade to make it happen; and it can only happen if everyone gets really good standards.” — Smart Grid News

Cap and Trade for Power Plants Only?: A small bipartisan faction of Senate moderates has begun examining the idea of passing a bill that deals only with greenhouse gas emissions from power plants, rather than a comprehensive cap and trade system covering broad sections of the U.S. economy. — Greenwire via NYT

EU Green Lights New Energy Standards for Buildings: The European Union late Tuesday agreed on new energy-efficiency standards for all buildings constructed (or significantly renovated) after 2020. — Dow Jones Newswires

Quantum Dots for Longer Battery Life: “You probably don’t know it, but you live in the dawn of the Golden Age for waste heat research.” A breakthrough “quantum dot device” at MIT, plus technology from Cleantech Open runner up Alphabet Energy and ARPA-E grant winners MC10 and Photonic Devices, offer the latest examples. — Greentech Media

ZeaChem Plant Construction Under Way: “Start-up ZeaChem has begun construction of a plant to convert wood chips into ethanol and specialty chemicals, a small step forward for the long-awaited cellulosic ethanol industry.” — CNET’s Green Tech

Dutch to Try Road Tax Alternative: The Dutch government has approved a plan to replace the annual road tax on cars with mileage fees in an effort to reduce traffic congestion and vehicle emissions. Starting in 2012, GPS devices will be used to monitor vehicles, tracking the time, hour and place each car moves and then sending the data to a billing agency. — The Independent

Carbon Capture for Geothermal Energy: Carbon dioxide generated by power plants may find a second life being cycled underground, helping to bring heat to the surface where it can be used to generate electricity. Backers of this as-yet-unproven concept secured a big endorsement with the recent award of $338 million in stimulus funds for geothermal energy research. — Technology Review

Climate Deal Out of Reach: President Obama was forced to acknowledge this weekend that a comprehensive climate deal was beyond reach this year, placing him “in the awkward position of being, at least for now, as unlikely to spearhead an international effort to combat global warming as his predecessor — if for different reasons.” — New York Times

Got Greenwash?: Joel Makower goes searching for greenwash at the mammoth green building expo Greenbuild and finds, “Green building has matured from the exception to the rule, with the market…producing an increasingly gushing pipeline of products and services that, increasingly, are reducing the environmental toll of the built environment.” — GreenBiz.com

China’s Suntech Heading to Phoenix: China’s largest solar panel manufacturer, Suntech Power, announced plans today to open a plant in Phoenix, Ariz. Set to begin production in the third quarter of 2010, the facility will be the company’s first U.S. plant. — NYT’s Green Inc.

Why Open Source for the Smart Grid Needs a Kick-Start: Berkeley Labs has been working on an open source version of a system for demand response services for the power grid for more than five years. But only one company in that time has commercialized a version of the open source platform — a sign that utilities are very far from embracing open source for the smart grid.

Explosion!: Lithium Battery Safety Still a Problem: Multiple explosions and a major fire at Toxco’s Trail, British Columbia recycling facility this week added fresh fuel to smoldering fears about the safety of lithium-ion batteries for use in the upcoming generation of plug-in vehicles, as well as for recycling and disposal of the devices.

For Xcel Energy Customers, Microsoft’s Hohm is Now Live!: Microsoft’s energy management online tool Hohm is now live and available to utility Xcel Energy’s 3.4 million customers — a big step for the computing company’s energy tool and a sign of how companies are building ways for customers to start monitoring and managing energy consumption before smart meters get installed in larger numbers.

5 Reasons Wi-Fi Will Take a Back Seat for the Smart Grid: Despite attempts by companies and industry groups to paint the wireless standard Wi-Fi (the one commonly used within buildings for Internet connections) as a winner for smart grid rollouts, it’s looking like Wi-Fi will end up taking a back seat for the next generation of the digital power grid.

Former VC to Lead DOE Loan Guarantee & Green Car Loan Programs: The Obama administration has named a former VC, Jonathan Silver, to head up highly competitive loan programs that have awarded direct loans and guarantees to venture-backed companies including Tesla Motors, Fisker Automotive and Solyndra.

Army Orders Recycled-Plastic Bridge: “Axion International Holdings has won a $957,000 contract to provide the U.S. Army with two bridges made from a thermoplastic composite and recycled plastic.” — CNET’s Planetary Gear

Reinventing the Interstate: Op-ed contributor Karrie Jacobs argues for invention of new uses for the almost 47,000-mile long Interstate highway system, since it “can’t always be a ghetto for the internal combustion engine.” The corridors could be used for new rail or power lines, for example. — New York Times

Freight Fight: “U.S. truck operators are under pressure to improve energy efficiency as rail companies tout their green credentials and bid to win more freight haulage.” — Reuters

Fill ‘em Up: “The Copenhagen Central Station has been the most massive bicycle magnet in the country for a century.” Now the city plans to hold a design competition and build a 7,000-bike parking complex behind the station by 2013. — Copenhagenize

Climate Plan B: “Less than a month before international negotiators meet in Copenhagen with the ambitious goal of crafting a deal that will curb the world’s greenhouse gas emissions for years to come, the Obama administration is considering scaling back by endorsing a limited, short-term climate pact instead.” — Washington Post

Texas Homebuyers Go for Efficiency: “Texas is a national leader in the number of Energy Star qualified homes in the United States, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. Four Texas markets earned spots on the top 20 list.” — San Antonio Business Journal

Winners and Losers in the Upcoming Energy Shift: The International Energy Agency’s “vision of the next two decades would make T. Boone Pickens crow: Wind power and natural gas are the two big winners under the IEA’s climate-change scenario.” The forecast doesn’t look so bright for clean coal and nuclear power. — WSJ’s Environmental Capital

Cell Tower Power Blowing in the Wind?: “Helix Wind announced Wednesday that it’s beginning a trial run in Southern California to see if its wind turbines might be useful for powering cell phone towers.” — CNET’s Green Tech

Big Blackout in Brazil Sparks Grid Scrutiny: The failure of three transmission lines at the world’s largest operating hydroelectric plant created a domino effect blacked out large swaths of Brazil and Paraguay for more than two hours late Tuesday — a sign, experts say, of the “dangers of interconnection.” — New York Times

Metabolix Prices Stock Offering: Massachusetts-based bioplastics developer Metabolix has priced a public offering of 3 million common shares at $9 each. Funds will be used for “working capital and other general corporate purposes.” — Mass High Tech

Meet the Tesla Roadster Sport: Model updates to the Tesla Roadster for 2010, including push button controls and a touch screen for checking battery statistics, make “the previous generation car seem like something hacked together in a garage.” — CNET’s Car Tech

China Solar Snaps Up ThinSilicon: China Solar Power, which makes thin film amorphous silicon photovoltaic modules, today announced that it has acquired Mountain View, Calif.-based ThinSilicon, a developer of thin film manufacturing process technology. — Press Release

Brits Get Protection for Climate Beliefs: An English High Court judge has ruled that “belief in man-made climate change and the alleged resulting moral imperatives” deserve the same protection in the workplace as religious convictions. — The Economist

Wave of PV Equipment Purchases on the Way?: After seeing a significant decline in equipment sales this year, Manz Automation expects a new wave of capital equipment spending as photovoltaic manufacturers seek to boost cell conversion efficiencies to remain competitive. — PV-tech.org

Forecast: U.S. Emissions Set to Dip Next Year: The U.S. Energy Information Administration said today it expects the country’s carbon emissions from the burning of fossil fuels to fall 5.6 percent this year, largely due to reduced energy consumption in the industrial sector as a result of the weak economy, as well as changes in the electricity supply mix. — Dow Jones Newswires

Green Consumer Habits in the Recession: American consumers, with their tendency to make green purchasing choices based on personal self-interest, have more in common with their counterparts in developing economies than one might ever have imagined. — Joel Makower’s Two Steps Forward

Building the EV Ecosystem: “Parts suppliers for electric-powered vehicles, many of them small specialty electronics builders, will have to substantially improve to meet very stringent auto industry quality and reliability requirements.” — Autoblog Green

Cash for a New Clunker: The $3 billion cash-for-clunkers program “was kinda sorta supposed to send inefficient, high-polluting, belchy vehicles to an early grave. Instead it put a lot of new large, inefficient vehicles on the road.” — Grist

Real Climate Bill Fun Starts Next Week: The climate bill isn’t going to live or die on its environmental credentials, but rather on its cost. So decisions made in Sen. Max Baucus’ finance committee hearing on the bill next week could make or break public support. — WSJ’s Environmental Capital

Sunflower Goes to Masdar: Energy Innovations announced that it has signed a contract to provide its “Sunflower” concentrator photovoltaic system for installation in Masdar City, near Abu Dhabi. PV-tech.org

Opinion: Why Venture Capital Needs to Back More “Now” Innovations: The current pace of progress won’t help us reach the emission reduction levels needed to avoid the serious climate change impacts forecast for 2050. The solution? Pump as much venture capital into “Now” innovations as we do into new technology.

EcoFactor: Finally a Smart Way to Control Thermostats: The software that 3-year-old startup EcoFactor has developed to intelligently manage connected thermostats is one of those game-changing technologies that makes you think: Wait, the industry doesn’t already do it that way?

Beyond Salt: Desalination Startup NanOasis Eyes Wider World of Clean Water: Startup NanOasis, recently awarded a more than $2 million ARPA-E grant, hopes to not only provide tech for desalination projects in California, but also sell into the market for water filtration systems in developing countries

Tendril Partners With Game Maker; “Eco-Warrier” to Gain Strength as Lights Dim: Tendril Networks, which makes energy-management technology for consumers and utilities, is partnering with an unnamed “major computer game manufacturer” to build a new computer game whose main character, an “eco-warrior,” will gain power as users reduce their energy consumption in their homes.

Applied Materials Buying Advent Solar, Cheap: While the amount for the deal is not being disclosed, it “was done very cheaply,” Lux Research analyst Ted Sullivan told us. “Investors did not get their money back — pennies on the dollar is a very safe assumption.”

Senate Panel Green Lights Climate Bill, Sans GOP: Sen. Barbara Boxer has moved the energy and climate bill out of the Environment and Public Works Committee and onto the Senate floor, despite a Republican boycott of the debate. But that doesn’t get the bill any closer to garnering 60 votes. — WSJ’s Environmental Capital

Smart, Sure — But Does it Fly?: Being smart can only get you so far. Al Gore talked on The Daily Show With Jon Stewart about the “super grid.” Not a bad idea, but Stewart says he needs “a grid that can fly and shoot lasers out of its eyes.” — VentureBeat

Should Chinese-Backed Wind Farm Get Stimulus Cash?: Sen. Charles Schumer is calling on the Obama administration to block stimulus funds for a $1.5 billion Texas wind farm that would use turbines made mostly in China. American and Chinese backers were planning to request $450 million in stimulus funds. — NYT’s Green Inc.

Solar Software Set for an Upswing: Solar companies spend a lot of time talking about making solar installations simple, but they tend to focus on the hardware. The growing solar market presents some good opportunities for software startups like Vela Solaris. — Greentech Media

On the Hunt for Smart Grid Industry Leaders, Innovators: EnerNex and the National Institute of Standards and Technology are looking for more industry leaders and innovators to participate in a panel meant to support NIST’s efforts to coordinate and accelerate development of smart grid interoperability standards. — Smart Grid News

Terms Set for Panasonic’s Sanyo Takeover: Panasonic said today it plans to make a tender offer for a majority stake in smaller rival Sanyo after negotiating with regulators for approval of a $4.45 billion deal that would transform Panasonic into a cleantech powerhouse with business in solar panels, fuel cells and rechargeable batteries for hybrid and electric vehicles. — Wall Street Journal

Buffett’s Big Rail Bet: “Is Warren Buffett’s $26 billion purchase of Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad a bet on 19th-century industry or the 21st-century economy? Neither, it seems—it’s the perfect hedge.” — WSJ’s Environmental Capital

Al Gore Q&A: Elizabeth Kolbert talks with Al Gore about his new book, “Our Choice,” covering the rise of Chinese environmentalism, the ongoing Congressional debate over a cap-and-trade system, and what he learned in the course of his research. — The New Yorker

Fisker Lines Up Emil Frey Group for EU Distribution: Plug-in hybrid vehicle developer Fisker Automotive, which so far has announced 45 U.S. dealership agreements and two smaller European distributorships, said this morning that it has now signed the 100-plus dealership Emil Frey Group to handle much of its European sales and service. — Edmunds Green Car Advisor

Envisioning Car 2.0: The electric car will eventually “be a kind of ultimate mobile device, produced in expanding networks for expanding networks; a piece of hardware manufactured by a burgeoning supplier grid and nested in an information grid interlacing the electrical grid. Building out these three networks will be more profitable, and a greater engine of economic growth, than building the cars themselves.” — Inc.