In the last few years, many companies have begun adopting energy saving technologies as a matter of good business in a world with high and volatile energy prices.

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To be sure, there are potential opportunities in the development and implementation of energy-saving technologies in the next decade, including wind and solar energy, but it's doubtful that many jobs can be generated without a major shift in the economic climate here.

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But first we will have to invest heavily in new, energy-saving technologies.

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It developed energy-saving technologies to power and cool its massive data centers around the world and erected a 1.6-megawatt solar panel at its headquarters.

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If every home in the U.S. were to implement these energy-saving technologies, it would be the equivalent of taking all the homes in California, New York and Texas off the power grid (32 million homes).

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"Chancellor Merkel's coalition government has made an important contribution to the economic upswing by introducing investment programmes for energy-saving technologies, and measures to encourage small business investment, " said Gustav Horn, director of the Macroeconomic Policy Institute.

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The agency also announced plans to test an additional dozen energy- and water-saving technologies this year as part of its Green Proving Ground program.

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Going deeper down the rabbit hole, Radiator Labs is exploring some nifty technologies such as an Xbee mesh network, which it's using to evaluate the energy-saving benefits at play.

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