Test Driving the Electric Ford Focus; Largest solar plant in U.S.; Indoor Recycling Bins; Gadget Makers Going Green; Electric Trucks in Kansas City

Test Driving the Electric Ford Focus If you have seen the new Jay Leno show, you might have seen the all-electric race car version of this car – it’s pretty cool. But for the rest of us, this Focus will hit the market in 2011 followed the next year by a plug-in electric Escape sport-utility vehicle.

Largest solar plant in U.S. set to go live in Florida For nearly a year, construction workers and engineers in this sleepy Florida town of citrus trees and cattle farms have been building the nation’s largest solar panel energy plant. Testing will soon be complete, and the facility will begin directly converting sunlight into energy, giving Florida a momentary spot in the solar energy limelight. The Desoto Next Generation Solar Energy Center will power a small fraction of Florida Power & Light’s 4-million plus customer base; nevertheless, at 25 megawatts, it will generate nearly twice as much energy as the second-largest photovoltaic facility in the U.S. I wonder how long it will stay “the largest”?

Top Indoor Recycling Bins While you can always use a regular old trash bucket like I do, Bon Appétit just posted their top indoor recycling bins over on their Conscious Cook blog. Whatever you do and however you do it, just make sure you recycle!

What Gadget Makers Need to Do To Get Ready for the Green Wave Together with my fellow panelists, Yalmaz Siddiqui, Office Depot’s Environmental Strategy Advisor, Jason Linnell, Executive Director of the National Center for Electronics Recycling, and Jeff Kellogg, VP of the Natralock Division at packaging giant MeadWestvaco, we put together this list of the 10 things that consumer electronics makers need to do to get ready for the shifting landscape of environmental regulations and consumer attitudes. One thing I want to add? Please do not attempt to greenwash us – we will call you out!

Electric Trucks being produced in Kansas City Smith Electric Vehicles US Corp has produced the first electric truck at its new assembly facility in Kansas City. Launched in the UK in 2006, the Smith Newton is the world’s largest road-going electric truck.