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The government is poised to disclose that Ford, Tesla and Nissan will be among the first beneficiaries of a $25 billion loan program to help develop fuel-efficient vehicles.

Toyota Motor Corp. got 180,000 orders for the new Prius hybrid in Japan in just a month, far surpassing its target of 10,000 vehicles in monthly sales, the automaker said Friday.

The third-generation Prius, which rolled out a month ago, has been a big hit here, partly because of tax-breaks and other new government incentives that are meant to perk growth during the nation's downturn.

The manufacturer of a hydrogen car unveiled in London on Tuesday will make its designs available online.

With tax incentives gone, big banks are exiting the clean tech game. Can private equity and the government fill the void?

Climate-change heavyweights U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon and Nobel prize winner Al Gore urged more than 500 business leaders on Sunday to lend their corporate muscle to reaching a global deal on reducing greenhouse gases. The CEOs of PepsiCo, Nestle, BP and other major world businesses began meeting in Copenhagen, where politicians will gather in December to negotiate a new U.N.-brokered climate treaty.

President Barack Obama is asking consumers to put their money -- up to $1,300 per new vehicle by 2016 -- behind his plan for higher efficiency standards for cars and trucks and tougher rules on their greenhouse gas emissions.

Urban visionaries in London and Seoul, two of the world's busiest capital cities, foresee buses gliding through their streets with speed, ease and efficiency - without emitting the exhaust fumes that scientists say are contributing to global warming. Under Mayor Boris Johnson's vision, London's iconic red double-decker Routemaster buses would be back on the streets - but powered by electricity, not gasoline.

Wal-Mart has always been an intimidating taskmaster in China, extracting the lowest possible prices from suppliers. Last year it raised the bar a notch for these thousands of mostly small manufacturers, requiring that they meet or exceed all local environmental regulations. Wal-Mart gives them tips on how to boost energy efficiency and cut consumption of raw materials. It also delivers a blunt threat: Manufacturers have until 2012 to meet the new standards or risk being cut from the supply chain.

Britain's Prince Charles will follow in the footsteps of former U.S. Vice President Al Gore with an upcoming book and film documentary on the environment, the prince's publisher said.

The Book Industry Environmental Council, a coalition of publishers, booksellers, librarians, printers and paper manufacturers, announced Thursday a goal to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 20 percent in the year 2020 (based on 2006 numbers), the equivalent, the council says, of pulling 450,000 cars off the road.