Massachusetts ocean energy; Biodiesel Pipeline Starts Operations; GM Says Volt to be sportier than Prius, Insight; President Obama announces new light bulb standards; Solar vest won’t win you any friends

Massachusetts Master Plan for Ocean Energy. Massachusetts has released a draft of a plan that would govern the permitting and management of projects such as tidal and wave energy farms. Creating the management plan would yield maps and studies showing sensitive habitats that would require protection, as well as sites that are suitable for energy projects.

First Biodiesel Pipeline Starts Operations. A 5% biodiesel blend moved from Mississippi to Georgia, and also from Mississippi to Virginia, via the Plantation Pipe Line Company, which is owned jointly by Kinder Morgan with a 51 percent stake, and Exxon Mobil with 49 percent. What do you guys think about this?

GM Says Volt to be sportier than Prius, Insight. While I do hope they can make this possible, I guess we will wait until at least 2010 to find out. GM wants to make the Volt a better handling, more sporty car than the Prius or Insight, to appeal to people looking for a more substantial driving experience. I am a big fan of the Prius and think GM will need to really “bring it” to make the Volt successful.

President Obama announces new light bulb standards. New national minimum energy efficiency requirements for light bulbs will save more energy than any other standard ever issued by any administration. The new standards, announced by President Obama today, will make the hundreds of millions of fluorescent tube lamps that light offices, stores, and factories more efficient. They also will phase out conventional incandescent reflector lamps, effectively extending the phase out of inefficient incandescent products initiated by Congress in 2007 to the common cone-shaped bulbs used in recessed light fixtures and track lighting.

Solar vest won’t win you any friends. Sure, you may look a little silly, but at least your gadgets in your pockets will be charging using the power of the sun! The entire back of this vest is covered with solar panels, and as our friend Siel from Mother Nature Network says – “it appears this bully magnet’s actually being created and sold to geeky environmentalists!”