When corporate America first started talking about lean manufacturing in the 1980s and 1990s, they were looking at ways to cut costs while maintaining customer satisfaction. These days, companies are also interested in portraying themselves as environmentally conscious, but are concerned about the costs associated with green initiatives.

Missouri S&T researchers are part of a new effort that aims to transform the nation’s power grid into an Internet of sorts for energy – a grid that will speed renewable electric-energy technologies into every home and business.

You probably won’t be able to drive down the highway in your own non-polluting vehicle that runs on hydrogen power any time soon. Nor will you be powering your whole house with hydrogen-based technology in the coming years. Someday soon, though, you might own a cell phone equipped with a hydrogen-powered fuel cell instead of a battery. The cell phone would come with an insert-ready hydrogen pack and a small solar array for charging.