Applied Materials CEO Mike Splinter advocated for a mix of direct investments and tax incentives when he met with President Obama today.

Splinter was part of a group of CEOs from large companies, including Google, IBM, Jet Blue Airways and Micron Technology, who spoke with Obama. The president, in turn, used the opportunity to lobby for the business community’s support of his proposed $816 billion stimulus package.

While the president chatted with the business execs, the House of Representatives was set to vote on the stimulus package today.

Splinter spoke about the importance of investing in solar and championed ideas that also had been presented by the Solar Energy Industries...

Texas Gov. Rick Perry doesn't much care for the "increasingly activist" U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and he's willing to put Texas in the forefront of promoting plug-in hybrid electric vehicles to get the federal agency off the state's back. That, according to Perry's state of the state address Tuesday, in which he proposed a $5,000 tax credit for Texans who buy plug-in hybrids if they live in "non-attainment" zones for air quality standards. Those include the metro areas of Dallas-Forth Worth, Houston, Galveston, Beaumont, Port Arthur and El Paso. "Rather than wait for more mandates and punishments for environmental non-attainment, let’s continue encouraging...

An Israeli solar startup called BrightView Systems has raised $6 million, but you will have to wait to find out what the company does.

The Series A funding came from Israel Cleantech Ventures, which provided the money to  BrightView in mid-2008. Hasso Palttner Ventures in Germany is another investor.

What we know is that BrightView thinks its technology can fix some shortcomings in solar cell production. But whether that means the company is developing equipment or software remains to be seen. The company, which isn't disclosing its technology, plans to launch its first product this year. 

The market already has large equipment makers, including GT Solar and Applied...

Changing World Technologies thinks the public is ready to invest in its waste-to-biofuel business. It will be bucking a trend. The West Hempstead, N.Y.-based maker of biodiesel and organic fertilizer from animal and food processing waste is seeking to raise about $33 million by selling 2.8 million shares through an "OpenIPO" auction process being managed by W.R. Hambrecht & Co. That's the same method that Google used to go public in 2004, but it's still a "very unconventional" way to do it, said John Quealy, an equity analyst for Canaccord Adams. But "given the turmoil that the capital markets are in, I think companies need to be a bit more inventive in going-to-market...

Scientists at Brookhaven National Labs have identified bacteria that can boost the growth of poplars on marginal land. That's good news for Zeachem, the startup that wants to produce cellulosic ethanol from the trees. Zeachem says it will be able to squeeze 135 gallons from a bone dry ton of plant matter with its "acetic adid-to-fuel" process. That's unusually high, and one of the main reasons to keep an eye on this company. The scientists, along with colleagues from Belgium's Hasselt University (mascot: The Golden Spuds), identified 78 different bacteria ordinarily found in the roots of poplars and willows and then tested them on various trees in greenhouse conditions. Some...

Desalination could dramatically help the looming shortage with water. The problem is the membrane. Right now, desalinting seawater largely revolves around pressurizing water and forcing it through a membrane to purify it. The process takes a lot of energy and hence a lot of cost. Desalinating seawater can cost as much as 50 cents a liter. A collection of private companies and research institutes in Spain have begun to experiment with capacitive deionization for purifying seawater. In this, two electrodes would be placed in a tank. The ions (i.e., salt particles) would be drawn to one electrode. The ions would absorb the ions, which could then be released in a regeneration cycle....

There is no shortage of international organizations on energy policies, such as the International Energy Agency. But some countries still see a need to create a new body that focuses exclusively on renewable energy.

So officials from Germany and other countries met in Bonn, Germany today to launch the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), which will set out to promote and coordinate renewable energy and climate change policies among industrialized and developing countries.

Spain, Denmark and Abu Dhabi are among the founding members who have signed the treaty to join the organization. About 80 countries are sending representatives to the meeting in Bonn. Plans to form the...