Starbucks Goes for LED; Fueling a fleet with Biodiesel; Road Trains; Energy Efficient Desalination; Mini E leases

Starbucks Goes for LED Lights Coffee behemoth Starbucks will replace conventional lights with light emitting diode (LED) bulbs in 8,000 stores by March of next year.

U.S. Foodservice-Atlanta Fuels Fleet with Biodiesel The distributor is using B5 fuel, a 5-percent blend of diesel made from vegetable oils, animal fats or recycled restaurant greases, to run its 185 tractor-trailers.

Europe Testing “Road Trains” to Cut Fuel Use Have you ever been driving in rush hour and wished you could just zone out and read a book during your trip instead of stressing about the traffic? Well, the EU is testing a way to make that possible while cutting fuel consumption at the same time. The idea is that eight vehicles would travel as one “train,” linked by wireless sensors. It’s believed that the system, called Safe Road Trains for the Environment (SARTRE), could cut fuel use by 20 percent for cars traveling in the trains.

Breakthrough in Energy Efficient Desalination Technology Saltworks Technologies, a Vancouver, BC cleantech company, is positioned to revolutionize the desalination industry with a breakthrough technology that uses far less energy than current commercial processes.

BMW mull lengthening Mini E leases There are two reasons an extension would be good for the automaker: it would keep customers happy and to it would make sure the project is in operation long enough for BMW to get the data that it is looking for. This data includes information on how often the EV was charged and how it was driven. If people couldn’t drive their EVs because they were not able to charge them, then BMW doesn’t get its gigabytes of data, so an extension might be best all around.