This technique dramatically extends the potential of wind-up power, and brings more power-hungry devices, such as the landmine detector, within its scope.

ECONOMIST: Clockwork technology

Energy-efficiency and fuel-switching, for example, accounted for 40% of the projects started last year, while biomass, wind- and hydro-power made up another 24%.

ECONOMIST: Climate change

He's already shamelessly playing up his support for wind-power subsidies in the Hawkeye State.

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The lime-green devices run on electromotive energy from a wind-up mechanism--thus allowing the machines to be used in areas lacking a regular power supply.

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"This FAA approval allows Cape Wind to move forward and jump-start the new American industry in offshore wind power that will help light up the East Coast, " Cape Wind spokesman Mark Rogers told CNN.

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The shake-up also calls for councils to be given the power to halt all wind farm applications for a year and suggests homeowners should be compensated for lost value because of turbines.

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Not to be outdone, England just flipped the switch on the world's largest wind farm, and in Paris, Schneider Electric set up kinetic energy-harvesting tiles that generate power from runners in the Paris Marathon.

ENGADGET

NRG, meanwhile, has been ramping up its investments in solar and wind power as well as rolling out an electric car-charging network in the petro capital of Houston, of all places.

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The investments will, among other things, hook up new wind farms and nuclear power stations to the electricity grid to replace traditional coal-fired power stations, and enable more liquefied natural gas imported from Qatar and elsewhere to be added to the gas network as North Sea gas supplies dwindle.

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