Green tech patent deadline extended

The US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has extended the deadline for its programme that expedites the processing of patent applications related to green technology, says Earth Techling.

Set to expire on 8 December, the USPTO pushed the deadline for filing petitions under the Green Technology Pilot Programme all the way back to 31 December 2011. Pending green technology-related patent applications made in the past year that hadn't been part of the pilot program can now jump in for special consideration.

The programme, which allows qualified applications to leapfrog others, began last December. As of 2 November, the USPTO had received 1 595 petitions. Out of that total, 790 were accepted for review and 94 patents have been issued. The agency said that under the green programme, applications receive their first action within 49 days.

The US and China are collaborating on something - the reduction of pollution and the scientific partnership announcement has been made by the US Energy secretary Steven Chu, unveiling one of the largest collaborations of this kind in the world, states Green Optimistic.

“This is one of the largest research collaborations between two countries,” Chu said, pointing to the $150 million investment earmarked for the initiative over five years from private and public funding.

The two countries will share technologies affecting carbon capture and sequestration, electric vehicles and green buildings. No building will be built to host this, as researchers will continue their work and at the same time share their expertise with each other. This initiative has been started by president Barack Obama, after an official visit to China a year ago.

Walmart Canada hosted a grand opening of the 450 000-square foot Balzac Sustainable Distribution Centre, which includes 'green' features, writes Airdrie City View.

Including LED lighting, hydrogen fuel cell technology, use of solar and wind energy, green building design and infrared technology, the company says the facility will be about 60% more energy efficient than Walmart's traditional refrigerated distribution centres.

Key features of the distribution centre include high-efficiency doorways between temperature zones, use of waste heat from the refrigeration system to heat the building and the use of ammonia rather than more harmful refrigerants.