In the opening speech of the National Clean Energy Summit in Las Vegas last night, Bill Clinton offered a list of ten actions the United States could take to help solve the energy crisis and perhaps convince other nations to join in the crusade.

He emphasized that any such plan would have to be economically feasible if we are to convince others to follow suit. Without further ado, here are his suggestions:

1. Congress should put a price on carbon and establish a cap-and-trade system.

2. Tax credits for clean energy should be renewed and lengthened. The current time frame is three years. Clinton thinks that should be doubled or tripled in order to stimulate investment

Kelley Blue Book (KBB) has started a green section to provide information on the environmental impact of new and used cars. The focus is on current and upcoming alternative fuels, hybrids, and upcoming electric cars. KBB Green has also released its list of the top ten new green cars.

At the top of the list is the Toyota Prius, Honda Civic Hybrid, Smart ForTwo, and the Nissan Altima Hybrid. One feature allows users to calculate when buying a vehicle with a higher price and better gas mileage will pay off in savings. KBB is known as one of the foremost automotive authorities and this move signals

Organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs) seem destined to be a clean, eco-friendly solution to lighting in the very near future. OLEDs are basically LEDs whose electroluminescent surface layer is composed of organic compounds. The compounds can easily be laid down in rows and columns on a polymer substance that holds them in place. OLEDs can be used for television and computer screens as well as lighting. The OLEDs' advantage over LCDs lies in the fact that they require no backlight, allowing them to operate on far less power, and thus far longer on a single charge. They can also be made much thinner than LCDs and manufactured more effectively than both LCDs and plasmas.

That being said, GE has been working on some innovative lighting designs that use OLEDs. Due to their paper thin design

What if instead of brewing beer you could brew crude oil? A Silicon Valley company is doing just that. Genetically modified microbes feed on renewable sugars and excrete hydrocarbons instead of alcohol. LS9 envisions their products being used directly in

any application where petroleum is required. Advantages to fermented petroleum include the fact that the renewable raw materials grown to feed oil-producing microbes will remove more carbon from the atmosphere than burning the fuels will release. Not only carbon-balanced, the process is economically

The Magenn Power Air Rotor System (MARS) uses helium to float at 400-1000 feet altitude, where the winds have potential to produce double the electrical output over ground based systems. The MARS is portable and generates power as the stationary rotor spins facing the wind.

Prototypes have already flown and a 10-25 kW version is planned for production by 2010. Advantages of the MARS include competitive electricity prices at under 15 cents per kWh. The units are not a threat to birds or bats, and operate extremely quietly. Magenn plans to initially target markets where infrastructure

The latest and greatest light bulbs from Nexxus Lighting are here. The Array PAR30 is an LED bulb using only 7.7 watts of power with a brightness equivalent to a 75W standard bulb. They are the first LED bulbs to achieve 95 lumens per watt. These warm or cool white additions to the Array series of bulbs are rated for

a whopping 50,000 hours, over 25 times longer than incandescents. Unlike florescent lamps they power up immediately and can be used with standard dimmers. When the time finally comes to dispose of or recycle expired bulbs, rest assured the PAR30 is RoHS compliant, containing no mercury or lead.

The Nature Mill composter really looks like a great product that efficiently turns your organic waste into nutrient filled compost that can be used for a garden.

The Nature Mill works at any time, day or night, and can convert up to 120 pounds of waste into compost every month. Simply throw your organic waste - waste food, rotten vegetables or fruit, coffee grounds, etc. - into it and the Mill does the rest. The waste remains in the upper chamber in "hot composting" conditions that include mixing, air flow, heat and moisture. The energy released

Lenovo's M57p eco sips less power than a 60 watt light bulb, yet comes full-featured for the corporate or small business user. The case saves on space and materials, measuring just 9x11 inches, with a 3 inch height. Not only is the machine

Energy Star 4.0 certified, but when it comes time to recycle or dispose of the unit the components are RoHS compliant (no heavy metals or dangerous flame retardants). The Intel processor is a Wolfdale-based Core 2 Duo E8400 rated at 45 watts. When the desktop is idling, power consumption

Over 15 million alkaline batteries are disposed of every year. Finally, one NiMH AA rechargeable battery promises to be convenient, affordable, and reusable. Moxia Energy won a 2008 Gold Product Design Award from International Forum Design (iF) for the product. The USBCELL plugs directly into any USB port and reaches

a full charge in 5 hours. Plugging these batteries in or using an approved standard NiMH charger for even just a few minutes provides enough juice for a quick boost. These brilliant, cordless devices can be used anywhere AA batteries are needed, and charge in any computer or gaming console. A two-pack

Developed by The Laundry Alternative Inc., the Spin Dryer could be up to 100 times more energy efficient than a conventional dryer and could reduce total household energy usage in the U.S. by 6 - 10 percent.

The typical tumble dryer uses about 5,000 watts and run for close to an hour per cycle. The Spin Dryer has short 2 - 3 minute cycle and only uses a maximum of 300 watts. The Spin Dryer works by spinning at a whopping rate of 3200 revolutions per minute, compared to the much slower 500 rpm conventional dryer. This high speed allows the Spin Dryer to extract much more water than a typical washing machine