News you might have missed: 23 March 2009

Skipped the papers and newsfeeds over the weekend? Never mind: Greenbang is here to keep you up to date on the latest cleantech news and development:

• UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is urging citizens to send a strong message about the need for battling climate change during this year’s Earth Hour observation;
• The Environmental Audit Committee of MPs is calling for a universal system of carbon labelling for products;
• Solyndra Inc., a California solar company, will receive the US Department of Energy’s first alternative-energy loan guarantee of $535 million;
• Total installed solar capacity in the US grew by 17 percent in 2008 (PDF), rising by 1,265 megawatts to a total of 8,775 megawatts, according to The Solar Energies Industries Association’s “2008 Year in Review”;
• Renewed World Energies plans to build a $29 million plant in South Carolina for converting algae into fuel oil;
• National Semiconductor Corporation has acquired Act Solar Inc.