Energy efficiency and the white space spectrum have come together thanks to Google, a young company specializing in wireless tech, and an electric utility that also deals in telecommunications.  The organizations announced that the first smart grid wireless network trial is underway.

First, dogs were allowed in the offices.  Next, goats were brought in to cut the grass.  Now, bees have also made their way onto Google’s property, with four new hives arranged at a safe distance to raise awareness about Colony Collapse Disorder (and supply employees with honey and wax).

Love to see non-profit organizations like Earthjustice embracing social technologies.  Each time someone “checks in” at an Earthjustice poster in the San Francisco BART stations, one of Earthjustice’s donors will give $10 to support their cause. The ads, featuring images of Lake Tahoe, oil rig platforms, and the little furry endangered pika, can be found throughout the BART stations coming this summer.

Two wind farms in North Dakota now enjoy the support of a certain search giant.  Google announced this afternoon that it’s invested $38.8 million in the farms, and believe it or not, this may be a move that both environmentalists and investors can get behind.

The Shelton Group has released some interesting survey results showing that the majority of Americans would like to "go green," but not at the expense of their own convenience. It’s not that the results are particularly surprising, but they are interesting in that they are broken down into what percentage of participants would be willing to give up what devices if they could help the environment.

Four months ago, a report claimed that the act of performing two Google searches produced as much carbon dioxide as boiling a kettle of water.  Google wasted little time in disproving the idea.  Now, the search giant’s returned to the concept and tossed out even more comparisons to show how "green" it is.

Google’s trying quite hard to be a environmentally conscious company, and yesterday evening, its Green Energy Czar (yes, that’s a real title) wrote a blog post listing some efforts.  Unfortunately for the search giant’s image – and possibly for Mother Nature, too – a document released at about the same time revealed that the EPA’s looking into an alleged chemical leak. 

Times Online ran an article citing several studies about Internet use and the consumption of energy. Information used for this report suggested that Google searches are responsible for a large amount of CO2 emissions.  The article reads: