With a history of conducting dedicated research into aeronautical energy conversion devices, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration has long been considered a leader in the development and application of renewable energy products and systems. One of the most recent energy conversion systems developed by NASA is a bioreactor which has become known as the OMEGA system, due to it being an offshore membrane enclosure for growing Algae. The OMEGA system has shown the capability to produce energy efficient and environmentally sustainable aeronautical quality oil through the use of algae. The development by NASA is set to assist the bio fuels industry in taking renewable energy to a new level and also assist in the process of water recycling and purification.

Norway has proven itself to be a consistent player in the development of green fuel technologies and has once again taken the spotlight with its latest green technology innovation, the Tofte Osmotic Power Plant. The Tofte Osmotic Power Plant which utilizes a process that extracts the chemical energy which is produced by a groundbreaking osmosis procedure when salt and freshwater collides. Initial testing showed that the Osmotic Power Plant was capable of producing ten kilowatts of energy continually, although it has been speculated that with continued refinement the Osmotic Power Plant will be capable of producing a continual twenty five megawatts of energy.

Jane Sarasohn Kahn from THINK-Health moderated a session at Health 2.0 2009 in San Francisco on Wednesday 7, 2009 entitled "The Consumer Aggregators." Wayne Gattinella, CEO of WebMD, Dr. Roni Zeiger, Director of Product Management for Google Health, and David Cerino, GM Consumer Health Solutions at Microsoft all weighed in on what their prospective companies have been up to in healthcare.

Jane started the session by commenting that this year 35% of Americans are using social networks online for health-related issues. That number is up sharply from just one year ago. She added that 1 in 5 Americans are going on line to look for financial tools for health care. She then turned to the vendors and asked for an update on what Google, Microsoft, and WebMD are doing with their technology for the healthcare market.

Panelists (left to right) David Cerino, Wayne Gattinella, and Dr. Roni Zeiger with host Jane Sarasohn Kahn

One of the world’s leading developers of low-emission vehicles has agreed to produce tens of thousands of vehicles a year starting in 2011, marking one of the most significant developments so far in green transport. In collaboration with the French car maker Renault, Better Place has plans to initially sell the cars in Denmark and Israel, with scope for expansion.

Green cars up to now have tended to be somewhat cramped in terms of space, so Renault’s promise to develop a saloon and a van along with the compact city car will be music to the ears of people seeking to convince customers to adopt the green cars.

Metropolis Magazine recently announced the winner of their 2009 Next Generation Design Competition where the entrants were challenged to "fix our energy addiction." A team of French designers have won the prize with an innovative, practical way to create renewable energy wind farms.

Their Wind Turbine Towers, called Wind-it, install wind turbines in out-of-use electrical transmission towers. The idea is simple and elegant. Because the turbines are installed into the old electric transmission towers, it is easy to get the power into the power grid.

Dr. J. Craig Venter and the team of scientists at his institute are at the forefront of synthetic biology. They are working on, among other things, the creation of a bacterium that will both pull carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere and create natural gas. You might think this sounds like a far off dream, but they are optimistic they can get this done sooner rather than latter.

Dr. Venter's track record makes the claim more noteworthy. Here's a list of thing's Dr. Venter has accomplished already:

In a trial by AT&T, consumers in Atlanta can get a "netbook" for $50 when you sign up for their internet service. The netbook differs from a regular PC because the new breed of PCs are built to connect to and run applications on the network. The netbooks are much thinner and smaller and are configured with less features than a regular PC. The also won't run out of battery nearly as fast.

Is this a game changer? DisplaySearch, a unit of the NPD Group comments, "With the economic crisis on everyone's minds, many buyers are adjusting their discretionary spending and purchasing mini-notes as lower-priced alternatives to notebook PCs." The San Jose Mercury News is reporting that the market for netbooks will be growing by 65 percent this year compared to 3 percent for regular PCs. The New York Times suggests that the netbook could control 10 percent of the PC market by the end of 2009.