Norway

Norway has announced plans to build the world's largest wind turbine.  The turbine will measure 533 feet high with a rotor diameter of 475 feet.  With that big size will also come big power - the turbine is expected to have a capacity of 10 MW, or enough to power 2,000 homes.

By Evert Cilliers

Abigail Tucker in Smithsonian Magazine:

Solar. Wind power. Wave power. Geothermal. Tidal power. If you're a regular EcoGeek reader, you're probably pretty familiar with the different major power generating alternatives to the burning of non-renewable fossil materials. But still, osmotic power generation is likely something you haven't heard of before. Your first question is likely 'How do you use osmosis to generate electricity?'

The European Commission (EC) said Tuesday it will allocate 18 million euros (25 million U.S. dollars) to boost next generation 4G mobile networks.

The funding is used for research on the Long Term Evolution (LTE) Advanced technology that will offer mobile Internet speeds up to a hundred times faster than current 3G networks, the EC said.

The EC said it made the investment decision last month, and the new projects are expected to start in January 2010.

Microsoft faces charges of breaking antimonopoly laws in Russia. The Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) of the Russian Federation initiated a case against the software behemoth alleging that Microsoft violated Russian law when it took its Windows XP operating system off new PCs and the boxed versions off store shelves.

The Finance Minister of Norway, Kristin Halvorsen, has proposed a ban on selling any new gas-only cars in the country starting in 2015. Any cars sold in the country from then on would have to be able to run at least partially on electricity or other alternative fuels. Hybrids and biofuel-compatible cars would be allowed.

John Crace i

The United Kingdom has some of the richest wind resources in the world. For years this potential lay untapped, but efforts in the UK are at last taking off.

Google has announced another round of layoffs, this time for about 200 people in sales and marketing. The move comes two months after the search giant said it would scale back hiring of recruiters.

"Just under 200 were affected with about half those working in North America," said Matt Furman, a Google spokesperson. "Everyone affected was told yesterday. Each person will be given a chance to find another job at Google and if they can't or they choose to leave, they will be given severance."

The company also offered the affected employees outplacement support.