Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT) has announced that it will pay more for "green" products. The company is making a commitment to sourcing good quality products that will be better for the environment.

Reuters reports "bad quality products create waste, and so having tighter standards on the social side, on the environmental side and on the quality side will reduce waste," Matt Koestler, Wal-Mart's senior vice president of sustainability, said. The company has also been making a drive to use more renewable energy.

Wal-Mart already is feeling the stress of a slowing economy. Its same-store sales were weak last month, especially in the US. That means it is not likely that it will absorb these higher costs for "green" products. Customers are likely to get that privilege.

The news highlights the growing tensions about using "green" products and services, which very often have a higher price. Hybrid cars often cost as much as $5,000 more that their gas-driven counter-parts.

With money tight, especially for low- and middle-class shoppers at Wal-Mart, skipping the "green" would probably be their preference.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com.

Wal-Mart will pay more for 'green' products, so will customers originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 08 Feb 2008 06:35:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

M2E Power has reportedly received a total of $8 million in funding from a group of venture capital outlets including: OVP Venture Partners, Highway 12 Ventures, @Ventures, the CMGI Inc. (NASDAQ: CMGID) clean technology venture unit, and various angel investors. The first round capital funding, it is said, is to be put to work developing "no battery" power sources in mobile devices for military applications with the long-term focus being on civilian applications such as for iPods, cell phones and cameras.

Business Wire reports that M2E, in partnership with General Dynamics Corp. (NYSE: GD), has filed six patents on technology exploiting the Faraday Principle, which involves creating electricity by passing magnets through coils. The reader may wish to note that his principle of electromagnetic induction was proven viable in 1831. Rob Day, principal at @Ventures stated, "They've reached the stage where they've proven this really does work. Prototypes are in actual D-cell or A-cell batteries." You may read about some of the details at AOL Money and Finance.

Continue reading M2E and General Dynamics fire an $8 million salvo into the battery camp

M2E and General Dynamics fire an $8 million salvo into the battery camp originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 17 Nov 2007 13:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.