• GM's Big Solar Bid: General Motors' venture capital arm is making a $7.5 million equity investment in solar energy system company Sunlogics to help it set up a corporate headquarters and manufacturing facility. The auto maker has also signed up to have Sunlogics instal solar vehicle-charging canopies at Chevrolet dealerships and GM facilities. GM will additionally enter a power-purchasing agreement, with Sunlogics installing large-scale solar arrays on GM buildings, and GM buying the energy they produce.

• Ice, Ice Savings: Making and melting ice has become a key energy-saving technique at SAP's U.S. headquarters. The company's Newtown Square, Pa., location uses electricity during off-peak times to make enough ice to fill 16 large ice cooling tanks, and during the day the ice cools air heading into the building by chilling air pipes, writes CleanTechies.

• Fueled Through Tequila: In addition to producing tequila and agave syrup, the agave plant is an excellent feedstock for biofuels, according to researchers at the  University of Illinois. As reported by Inhabitat, the researchers found two agave species can create higher yields of biofuel than corn, soybeans and sorghum, and as a co-product of tequila production.

• Plastic Bag Use Creeps Up: Plastic bag use in the U.K. has been a high-profile national issue, with efforts by government, major supermarkets, green groups and even some media to cut down on bag consumption. But while bag use went down 40 percent between 2006 and 2009, the Guardian reports, it started inching up last year with a 5 percent increase. The government is calling for retailers to push that figure back down, with some threatening action through laws. "If results do not improve we will consider additional measures to make this happen, including legislation," recycling minister Lord Henley was quoted as saying.

• Sun-Free Energy: Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have developed a photovoltaic (PV) system that turns heat into electricity, without requiring any sunlight typically needed by PVs. The system converts heat into specific light wavelengths that the PV cells can most efficiently turn into electricity, and they can run on any source of heat, such as from hydrocarbons like butane, radioactive decay or the sun.

_{Solar vehicle-charging canopy image courtesy General Motors}