Google pulls the plug on PowerMeter energy monitoring service
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 Google Inc. has decided to close Google PowerMeter, an electricity-monitoring web service the company said failed to pick up enough users over the last two years. In its official company blog last week, the California-based company said PowerMeter was a “trailblazer”, designed to give household and business access to data about their energy usage over the internet for free. But according to Bill Weihl, Google Green Energy czar, said it “didn’t catch on the way we would have hoped.”
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The United States Department of Energy awarded .3 million to eight advanced geothermal energy projects all in their feasibility study stages.California projects took more than half of the total allocation, or .605 million. Projects in Connecticut, Louisiana, Texas and Utah were also supported.The financial assistance represents a Phase 1 investment where the chosen projects could conduct feasibility studies for technologies that recover geothermal heat for electricity production. 
American carmaker Ford looks to tap Google’s cloud computing technology to achieve fuel and energy efficiency for their vehicles. Researchers in the auto company have been tinkering for two years with the Google Prediction Application Processing Interface, a system which accesses Google’s machine-learning algorithms to analyze historic data and predict outcomes based from them.
OSLO, May 24 (Reuters) – Norway wants to channel billions of dollars to renewable energies in developing nations, building on a scheme to protect tropical forests to which Oslo has been the biggest donor, officials said. With cash to spare as the world’s number six oil exporter, Norway wants governments and private investors to join a plan it calls Energy+ to promote green energies such as solar or wind power to combat climate change.
TOKYO, May 25 (Reuters) – Japan’s Prime Minister Naoto Kan is expected to announce a drive toward renewable energy, including slashing the cost of solar power, when he meets fellow leaders of the G8 rich nations group later this week, media reports say. One target will be to increase the use of solar power 15-fold by 2030, according to the Asahi newspaper, while the Nikkei business daily said every new building, including residential houses, will be required to have solar panels by then.
United States government agencies have allotted over 0 million and million for the advancement of solar photovoltaic and small hydropower technologies, respectively. The Energy department will be giving 2.5 million in funding over a period of five years to support the development of advanced photovoltaic-related manufacturing processes in the country through its Sunshot Advanced Manufacturing Partnerships program.
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