PlanetSolar

World's biggest solar powered boat sets sail. This sleek catamaran-styled yacht, named the PlanetSolar, measures 102 feet long, almost 50 feet wide and 24-1/2 feet high (31 meters by 15 meters by 7.5 meters), but its most interesting feature is that it’s covered with 5,382 sq ft (500 sq m) of solar panels that gather sunlight and help it sail the sea nice and smooth.
Built by Knierim Yachtbau and designed by PlanetSolar SA of Switzerland, the world’s largest solar boat has a futuristic shape that gets the eye. The vessel has been unveiled for the first time during a press event held at the HDW shipyard in Kiel.

Pond power

Driven by fluctuations in oil prices and seduced by the prospect of easing climate change, experts are intensifying efforts to squeeze fuel out of a promising new organism: pond scum. As it turns out, algae - slimy, fast-growing and full of fat - is gaining ground as a potential renewable energy source. Experts say it is intriguing for its ability to gobble up carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, while living happily in places that are not needed for food crops. While no one has found a way to mass produce cheap fuel from algae yet, the race is on. University labs and start-up companies across the country are getting involved.