However, for most other people, however, it remains a challenge to find electric charging stations to refuel.

As a result sales of electric cars have been left behind, with most consumers going for hybrid options that at least offer the possibility of running on fossil fuel.

But with interest in going green growing among consumers, and with tougher emissions standards to kick in from 2013 across the European Union, companies are beginning to introduce new solutions.

At this year’s Geneva Motor Show, several car components firms exhibited portable chargers while others announced deals with major automakers to build more charging stations to ease refueling headaches.

Swiss company, Green Motion, exhibited several types of chargers at the show, ranging from a portable gadget that weighs just 6 kilograms (13 pounds) to a 210 kilogram installation which looks much like a petrol pump.

“People will want to charge at home,” a spokeswoman for the firm said, as she showcased the portable version.

Another Swiss firm, Alpiq E-Mobility AG, announced an agreement with Toyota to fit charging infrastructure at its 250 dealers across Switzerland.

In addition, it will also offer a charging station to go with each of Toyota’s best-selling hybrid car Prius.

It is an “an important step towards establishing e-mobility in our country,” said Alpiq managing director Peter Arnet.

“Electricity is the way to go in the future especially if we want to have zero emission vehicles,” declared Chevrolet Europe’s president Susan Doherty who drives to work in an electric car daily.

Dr. Mullin was looking for microbes capable of breaking down cellulose and converting it to biofuel.

Mullin’s lab machines are gently jiggling a dozen small glass containers filled with cellulose and TU-103, a bacterium he found in the droppings of an African zebra.

To date, his microbe has thrived on cotton waste, a pure cellulose composed of fibers, twigs and seeds; on bagasse, the mulchlike residue of squeezed sugar cane; and on chopped-up copies of newspaper with water added.

Dr. Mullin, is one of many scientists and companies involved in the feverish competition to develop an economically viable biofuel substitute for gasoline.

Making alcohol from sugars is easy, but with biofuels is to start not with sugar but with cellulose, the tough carbon latticework, indigestible to humans, that serves as plants’ armor against predatory pests.

After the cellulose is transformed into sugar, it can be fermented and distilled to make alcohol.

To do the whole job at a cost that makes it possible for a biofuel and to compete with gasoline is not easy.

Processors for decades make ethanol from cornstarch and other sugars, but these are food products. Using them to make ethanol raises the demand for staple commodities like corn and cane sugar, keeping prices high.

Breaking down cellulose is an ‘expensive step,’ according to Harvey Blanch, a chemical engineer who is chief science officer for the Department of Energy’s Joint BioEnergy Institute.

For that reason, some environmentalists are wary of biofuels. Making ethanol from sugars encourages farmers to put vast amounts of land into single-crop production, risking environmental damage from pesticides and fertilizers.

Instead of producing ethanol which is very expensive, Dr. Mullin is switching to the production of butanol, a compound with four carbon atoms and a higher energy kick than two-carbon ethanol.

Unlike ethanol, which is mixed with gasoline, butanol can power automobiles by itself. And because it does not absorb water when transported, as ethanol does, it could use gasoline pipelines, tankers and other fossil fuel infrastructure.

Production of butanol directly from cellulose would eliminate the need for two processes, one to get from cellulose to sugar and a second to get from sugar to alcohol.

Making butanol straight off, Dr. Mullin wanted a microbe that could do it in the open air, a difficult requirement but it can be cheaper.

Of the 40 cultured strains, Dr. Mullin’s team found at least 14 that made butanol. The team’s plan was to test the strains in turn until they found the one that best matched the desired criteria.

The first sample, from zebra droppings, turned out to produce a ‘monstrous cellulase,’ Dr. Mullin said. The bacterium grew in the open air. And its optimum operating temperature was body temperature, 98 to 99 degrees Fahrenheit, easily achieved and maintained.

Dr. Mullin found the liquid he needed. Now his team are tweaking temperature and broth mixture to minimize fermentation time. They also need to demonstrate that their bacterium can break down wood chips, paper mill waste and other feed stocks.

When the wind is not blowing, or even blowing too fast as in the recent storms, other sources of electricity have to be used, mostly gas and coal.

A study in the Netherlands found that turning back-up gas power stations on and off to cover up shortage when there is little wind actually produces more carbon than a steady supply of energy from an efficient modern gas station.

However it takes a surge of electricity to power up the fossil fuel stations every time they are needed, meaning more carbon emissions are released.

The research cited a new report by the Civitas think tank which warns that Britain is in danger of producing more carbon dioxide (CO2) than necessary if the grid relies too much on wind power.

Ruth Lea, an economic adviser to Arbuthnot Banking Group and the author of the Civitas report said, “If you use less gas in a highly efficient gas turbine you use less carbon dioxide than having wind backed up by gas.”

The Dutch report, published at the end of last year by retired physicist Dr. C. le Pair, also points to the carbon emissions produced in building wind farms, that last a relatively short period of time compared to conventional power stations.

The report concludes: “The wind projects do not fulfill ‘sustainable’ objectives. They cost more fuel than they save and they cause no CO2 saving, in the contrary they increase our environmental ‘foot print’.”

The report also found that wind power is ‘horrendously expensive’, especially offshore wind, because of the cost of taking the turbines out to sea and installing the structures.

The fact that the power source always has to be backed up by fossil fuel stations also increases the cost.

During the day, Tepco updates electricity use every five minutes.

Forecasts and actual use hovered around 75 percent of capacity at the end of July. Yukihiko Tayama, a Tepco manager specializing in demand and supply, said that so far this summer, overall demand had yet to come dangerously close to capacity.

Japan consumes about half as much energy per capita as the United States. But it has been pushed to even greater lengths since the nuclear disaster this year. The accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant and the resulting backlash against nuclear power have left only 17 out of Japan’s 54 reactors online.

Japanese are bringing to energy conservation a characteristic combination of national fervor, endurance, sloganeering technology and social coercion.

Japan obliges to adopt power austere measures, the government alerts its subscribers through their cellphones if overall demand nears capacity.

To back up the call to conserve, electricity reports that forecast the day’s power supply and track demand in real time have become as much a part of this summer as the scorching sun and humid air. They are delivered along with the weather on the morning news.

Preliminary figures indicate that regions under conservation mandates have met reduction targets and even exceed them.

Local governments are holding contests soliciting conservation ideas; households are cutting back beyond the hours during which conservation is in effect, from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.; and companies have shifted days off to weekdays and undertaken other measures not only to avid penalties but also to contribute to the national effort.

At Meiwa Rubber, a manufacturer of printing equipment with factories in Tokyo, lights were dimmed, the use of hot water is restricted, and the air conditioning was curtailed. An employee tracked the factory’s power use with software supplied by Tepco.

If demand neared the company’s maximum use for the year before, orange lights flashed on the factory and management floors; if demand threatened to outstrip maximum use, red lights flashed, leading employees to shut down three air conditioning units.

The government’s target is 15 percent cut in energy consumption but they are aiming 25 percent, according to Tatsuo Nakahara, 63, the company’s administrative manager. He added that in the months after the March disaster, the company had already succeeded in conserving 20 percent.

Offices here have been directed to set the room temperature to 28 degrees Celsius, though the real temperature, especially on hot days, has climbed above 30 degrees in many offices.

“We’re doing this for Japan, so it can’t be helped,” said Jun Nakada, 36, a salary man whose office lighting has been dimmed to two fluorescent tubes from eight.

According to a 2009 report, 43 of the 61 significant Arctic oil and gas fields are in Russia. The Russian side of the Arctic is rich in natural gas, while the North American side is richer in oil.

With recent unrest in the Middle East, new oil from Russia could prove vital to world supplies, as long as global demand for oil continues to rise. Russia has surpassed Saudi Arabia as the world’s biggest oil producer.

Arctic ice poses various threats to drilling rigs and crews. And if oil were spilled in the winter, clean up would take place in total darkness. In February, Royal Dutch Shell postponed plans for drilling off Alaska’s Arctic coast.

The Arctic Ocean is a forbidding place. But that is not stopping Russia from drilling for oil, or Western oil companies from eagerly following.

But the oil companies will venture where other big countries have been wary of letting oil field development proceed, for safety and environmental reasons.

Russia, where onshore oil reserves are slowly dwindling, signed an Arctic exploration deal in January with the British Petroleum giant BP, whose offshore drilling prospects in the United States were dimmed by the Gulf of Mexico disaster last year. Other Western oil companies are now having a similar discussions with Russia.

The Russians take a far different view. As its Siberian oil fields mature, daily output in Russia could be reduced by nearly a million barrels by 2035, according to the International Energy Agency. With its economy dependent on oil and gas, Russia is forced to go offshore, using foreign partners to provide expertise and share the costs.

Daniel Yergin, the oil historian and chairman of IHS Cambridge Energy Research Associates, said Russian drilling is critical. The Arctic will be one of the critical factors in determining how much oil Russia is producing in 15 years and exporting to the rest of the world.

While the United States and Canada balk, other countries are proceeding. Norway, which last year settled a territorial dispute with Russia, is preparing to open new Arctic areas for drilling.

The waters of the Arctic are particularly perilous, and whales, polar bears, and other species depend on the region’s fragile habitats.

The US law does not ban incandescent bulbs, but creates new standards for them, basically requiring increased efficiency, so that the bulbs with a lighting equivalent of 100 watts consume just 72 watts.

More than a dozen Republican lawmakers are backing efforts to repeal the 2007 law that requires bulbs to consume less energy.

Meanwhile Texas has enacted a law that would exempt itself from the federal requirement, and other states are debating similar legislation.

Some consumers have also begun hoarding the old incandescent bulbs based on an erroneous fear that these will be banned starting January 1 and consumers will be forced to buy compact fluorescent lamps or other new types of bulbs.

Representative Joe Barton and others argue that the new law, which was signed by Republican president George W. Bush, would force consumers to switch to compact fluorescent lights (CFLs), most of which are not made in the United States.

But the survey also showed 59 percent of respondents “eager to use more energy efficient lighting solutions,” the company said.

Industry representatives say there are public misconceptions about the law, including the notion of a ban on incandescent.

Larry Lauk, spokesman for the American Lighting Association, said any new legislation may not change what manufacturers are doing in creating more efficient bulbs that use halogen, LED or other new technology.

About 64 percent of the poll respondents believed ‘natural energy’ such as wind and solar power would replace nuclear power in the future, while 24 percent said they did not think so.

The Fukushima nuclear plant has leaked radiation since the March 11 earthquake and tsunami severely damaged cooling systems at the plant, leading to reactor meltdowns.

The nuclear disaster has forced the evacuation of tens of thousands of people from their houses, businesses and farms in a 20-kilometer (12-mile) radius around the plant.

The prime minister of Japan Naoto Kan has announced a full review of government energy policy, including plans for more reactors, and a push to boost renewables to at least 20 percent of the electricity supply by the 2020s.

Chancellor Angela Merkel has accepted the findings of an expert commission on nuclear power whom she appointed in March in response to the crisis at Japan’s Fukushima plant.

The commission found that it would be viable within a decade for Germany to mothball all 17 of its nuclear reactors, eight of which are currently off the electricity grid.

Environment Minister Norbert Roettgen announced the gradual shutdown early Monday after seven hours of negotiations at Merkel’s offices between the ruling coalition partners. He said the decision was “irreversible”.

The decision, will oblige Germany to find the 22 percent of its electricity needs that were covered by nuclear power from other sources.

The government must now determine how it can make up the difference with renewable energy sources, natural gas and coal-fired plants.

If Germany scraps its nuclear plants by 2022, it will be the first major industrial power to give up atomic energy.

There is also a proposed jatropha plantation to be put up in Dakatcha Woodlands in Kenya where a study has been made whether biofuels made from jatropha would save emissions of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere as compared to fossil fuels.

The Dakatcha woodlands is home to over 20,000 people and is the ancestral land of the indigenous minority Watha and Giriama tribes.

The biofuel is by itself is environmentally friendly and a good source for alternative green energy but the process of producing it the way it is done currently could cause up to six times more carbon emissions than fossil fuels.

These emissions are based throughout the production and consumption process if we are to consider jatropha as the source of raw materials in the production of biofuel.

The study has found that the production process would emit 2.5 to 6 times more of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, according to a launched report by international organizations.

The ill effects of the plantation is that it would evict the tribes from their land and destroy their livelihoods and sacred burial sites.

“In a Kenya where up to 10 million people risk going hungry, it is irresponsible to destroy people’s farms and homes simply to fuel cars in Europe,” David Barissa from Action Aid Kenya said.

The area, more than 100 km north of the port city of Mombasa, has 350 species of birds as well as lions, elephants, rare sharks and reptiles including the Tana writhing skink, according to the Britain’s Royal Society for the Protection of Birds.

Kenyan environmentalists opposed to the project have called on the government to revoke a decision to allow a controversial biofuels project to go ahead.

Crops like sugarcane and corn are used to produce biofuel, an alternative to fossil-based fuels like petrol.

The project, being initiated by the Kenya Jatropha Energy Limited, plans to put up a plantation of jatropha caucas which has been touted as a potential solution to the search for new sources of energy.

As small scale renewable energy becomes cheaper, more reliable and more efficient, it is providing modern power to people who live far from slow growing electricity grids in developing countries.

“Renewable energy becomes more and more important in less and less developed markets,” said Adam Kendall, head of the sub-Saharan Africa power practice for McKinsey Company, the global consulting firm.

Renewable energy technologies designed for the poor include simple subterranean bio-gas chambers that makes fuel from the manure of a few cows and mini-hydroelectric dams that can harness the power of a local river for an entire village.

Investors are reluctant to pour money into products that serve as a dispersed market of poor rural consumers because they see the risk as too high.

In India, Husk Power Systems, a company supported by a mix of private investment and non-profit funds, has built 60 village power plants in rural areas that makes electricity from rice husks since 2007.

In Nepal and Indonesia, the United Nations Development Program has helped finance the construction of very small hydroelectric plants in remote mountain communities.

Morocco provides subsidized solar energy home systems at a cost of US$100 dollars each to remote rural areas.

What has most surprised some experts in the field is the recent emergence of a true market in Africa for home scale renewable energy.

As the cost of reliable equipment decreases, families have proved ever more willing to buy it by selling their agricultural produce or borrowing money from a relative overseas.

The proliferation of cellphone use in rural Africa has been an enormous motivator. Due to Lack of banks, the cellphone has been embraced as a tool for commercial transactions as well as personal communications.

The cheap renewable energy systems also allow the rural poor to save money on candles, charcoal, batteries, wood and kerosene.

In Tunsifu, Kenya, small scale dairy farmers are benefiting from an underground tank in which manure from just 3 cows is converted to biogas, which is pumped through a rubber hose to a gas burner while in Kiptusuri, also in Kenya, solar panel that can be placed in a window or on a roof and is connected to a desk lamp and a phone charger is a ‘must have’ item in the area.