News you might have missed: 4 May 2009

Having trouble keeping up with all the latest and greatest from the world of cleantech? Following are some headlines you might have missed:

• A team of engineers have developed the UK’s first retro-fit plug-in hybrid system that aims to reduce vehicle carbon emissions;
• The World Bank’s International Finance Corporation will begin lending to growth-stage clean technology companies as part of its efforts to promote environmentally sustainable businesses in developing economies, Environmental Finance reports;
• Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, have created a invisibility “carpet cloak” from nanostructured silicon that conceals the presence of objects placed under it from optical detection;
• The New York Times reports on Germany-based SolarWorld’s expansion efforts in the US;
• The Times Online explores the viability of Ireland’s goal of putting 350,000 electric vehicles on the road by 2020;
• BMW is exploring two pathways for waste heat recovery in vehicles: one thermoelectric, the other thermodynamic, Green Car Congress reports;
• Mercury levels in the Pacific Ocean will rise by 50 per cent within the next few decades as emissions from coal-fired power plants and other sources increase, according to researchers from Harvard University and the US Geological Survey.