NCET

Google.org, the nonprofit charitable wing of online search engine giant Google.com, recently announced a major investment in enhanced geothermal systems research and development.

The organization will invest more than $10 million in the technology and mapping of geothermal hot spots.

Enhanced geothermal Systems consist of deep wells drilled miles into the Earth to access the globe’s natural heat. Water is then pumped into the holes, heated and pumped out to generate steam, which turns a turbine to create electricity.

Unlike the geothermal energy plants in Northern Nevada, the system does not require that the water already be under the Earth’s crust. That means it can be developed almost anywhere.

Like traditional geothermal power, the system can generate electricity 24/7.

The technology is under development in Australia and other places.

Technorati Tags: Google.org, Google.com, In Business Las Vegas, Stephanie Tavares, NCET, Nevada’s Center for Entrepreneurship and Technology

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Can you play poker with no cards, no chips and no dealers?

Poker players at Excalibur are about to find out. When they wander in the casino’s poker room on Friday, they will find a fully automated poker room. Resort officials have decided to equip the casino’s poker room with electronic poker tables to boost interest in the game. North Carolina-based PokerTek is providing 12 of its PokerPro tables to the Excalibur for a six-month trial run. Read full story:

Technorati Tags: HOWARD STUTZ, Las Vegas REVIEW-JOURNAL, Steve Kahn, PokerTek, Excalibur, John Gurzinski. Chris Halligan, Todd DeRemer, technology, NCET, Nevada’s Center for Entrepreneurship and Technology

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Education, prior work experience and financial backing are crucial factors in the success of entrepreneurs, according to a new book by Robert W. Fairlie and Alicia M. Robb and funded in part by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation. The book examines why Asian American-owned businesses do well in comparison to white-owned businesses, and African American-owned firms do poorly in relation to both. The book also explores the broader question of why some small businesses succeed and others fail. Read full story:

Technorati Tags: NCET, Nevada’s Center for Entrepreneurship and Technology, Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, entrepreneurship, Robert W. Fairlie, Alicia M. Robb

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The green in “green energy economy” is money as much as environmentalism.

That was the message Tuesday from academics, business leaders, governors and other politicians to more than 1,000 attendees at the National Clean Energy Summit at UNLV.

The tone was set in the morning by T. Boone Pickens, a Texan famous for making billions in the oil industry. He is spending $58 million of his own money touting a plan to use a 4,000-megawatt wind farm to free up natural gas for use by trucks and buses. Pickens said the country is “getting close to a disaster” by spending $700 billion a year on foreign oil. Read more:

Technorati Tags: National Clean Energy Summit, UNLV, T. Boone Pickens, Rose McKinney James, Harry Reid, Jim Murren, MGM Mirage, Van Jones, Center for American Progress Action Fund, Green for All, Danny Thompson, Nevada AFL-CIO, Somer Hollingsworth, Nevada Development Authority, BrightSource Energy, Solar Millenium, El Dorado Energy, Dina Titus, Ormat, Michael Bloomberg, Ben Kieckefer, Jon Summers, David Ashley, Randolph Townsend, Janet Napolitano, Jon Huntsman, Hilda Solis, NCET, Nevada’s Center for Entrepreneurship and Technology

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Former President Bill Clinton challenged Americans Monday to make the United States a model of renewable energy use for the world to follow.

Clinton also called for a new system to transmit electrical power to urban areas from many of the remote places where it can be generated.

“Let’s face it,” Clinton said. “We’re not close, not even close, to where we need to be.”

To focus the nation on affordable energy free of greenhouse gas emissions, the federal government needs to offer tax credits for companies to invest in large-scale solar plants and wind farms complete with a more efficient transmission system.

Clinton called on industry and government to re-imagine the economics of clean energy, which requires a heavy front-end investment. When installing a solar power plant, 80 percent of the costs are up front, Clinton said. Read full story:

Technorati Tags: Former President Bill Clinton, renewable energy, University of Nevada Las Vegas, Sen. Harry Reid, Center for American Progress Action Fund. T. Boone Pickens, Michael Bloomberg, Troy Wade, Department of Energy, Keith Rogers, Las Vegas Review-Journal, NCET, Nevada’s Center for Entrepreneurship and Technology

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