Apple met with leaders of five environmental groups in China yesterday to discuss pollution concerns. According to a report from The Wall St. Journal, Apple told the groups it had launched audits of 15 of its suppliers who have been suspected of violating environmental regulations, and has completed reviews of 11 of those.

The details of the meeting were confirmed by Chinese green activist Ma Jun, who serves as the director of the Institute of Public & Environmental Affairs based in Beijing. Another environmental group director, Li Li of EnviroFriends, was also present at the meeting. Both leaders were relatively happy with the outcome of the discussions, as Apple was taking the right steps to address the issues at hand.

Mr. Ma told the WSJ that Apple had asked the companies accused of polluting to take corrective actions and give a timeline, but Ms. Li thought Apple could do more. Details on what she meant by that were not provided, however. Apple also said it would take environmental issues into consideration when it awarded future contracts, according to Mr. Ma.

Apple PR, in typical Apple fashion, declined to comment on the meeting.

Outside of the pollution concerns, one of the criticisms Mr. Ma had for Apple was its lack of transparency. He felt the company should name the suppliers under investigation and the suppliers themselves should have to disclose the steps they are taking. ”Apple is trailing far behind in terms of transparency and pushing for the polluters to be held publicly accountable for their problems,” he said.

Apple’s annual supplier report  for 2011, released in February, stated that Apple took corrective actions on 80 facilities that weren’t storing hazardous material properly and 41 that weren’t disposing of or recycling waste properly. But again, it didn’t list either the companies or the violations.

Lack of transparency is a common complaint from environmental organizations when it comes to Apple. For example, in Greenpeace’s 2011 Apple report card (Nov. 2011), the group notes that Apple’s Suppliers Code of Code of Conduct states that “suppliers shall comply with the most recent version of Apple’s Regulated Substances Specification, 069-015 and with any applicable laws and regulations prohibiting or restricting the use or handling of specific substances.”

But Greenpeace notes that’s it’s impossible to evaluate Apple’s communications with its supply chain on hazardous substances because Apple won’t disclose its Regulated Substances Specification.

Overall, Greenpeace gives Apple a 4.6 out of 10 across all its environmental sectors, including areas like energy use, green products and sustainable operations. Says Greenpeace, “Apple would score more points on the other criteria with greater transparency of its data in reporting the greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) of its supply chain and disclosure of the documents it uses to communicate with its supply chain for chemicals management.”

Solar manufacturer Solaria and solar performance monitoring software and hardware provider meteocontrol have today announced a partnership that will see meteocontrol’s Virtual Control Room (VCOM) monitoring system added to Solaria’s projects. The system aims to help Solaria’s customers increase their solar yields through remote management.

With meteocontrol’s VCOM system, developers and utilities will be about to tap into the remote, cloud-based operating system to monitor and manage their PV systems’ performance in real-time.

Solaria, which designs, produces and sells silicon PV modules to solar system integrators, project developers, utilities and other power producers, just this week announced it now offers a new 270-Watt high-performance solar module that’s been optimized for industrial and utility-scale projects. The 1 x 1.9 meter frameless modules, now shipping, are also available in a complete integrated tracker package that combines modules, trackers and design services to optimize system performance. They are just the type of system that would benefit from a monitoring solution like the one from meteocontrol.

The partnership also fits in nicely with Solaria’s goals to improve the economics and system performance of solar installations, while also reducing the complexity of solar operations management.

Last month, meteocontrol partnered with Princeton Solar Solutions (PSS), a N.J.-based solar provider, which is now also using the VCOM system.

Facebook, the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and clean tech startup Opower are today announcing a partnership on a new social networking-based energy application that will help consumers monitor, improve and compare their home’s energy usage with their friends and other Facebook users.

The app, designed to improve energy awareness, has the potential to combine the 800 million+ users on Facebook with Opower’s network of over 60 utility partners reaching 55 million U.S. households. However, the social app will start off with just a few participating utilities when it launches in early 2012.

Opower, a software-as-a-service company, currently helps electric and gas utilities understand their customers and how they’re using power. Home owners use Opower’s online applications to gain insights into their usage patterns, set personal goals to reduce consumption and even receive alerts if they’re headed towards a big electric bill at the end of the month. The proactive alerts give customers a chance to reduce consumption before it’s too late.

Now, the new Facebook application will bring some of these same features to the social networking service. Participating users will be able to automatically pull in data from their utility provider in order to benchmark their home’s energy usage against a national average of similar homes, compare their energy use with their Facebook friends, enter energy-saving competitions and share tips on how to become more energy efficient. In addition, users will be able to share their energy use, ranking and group participation to their Facebook News Feed.

The NRDC’s involvement will be to provide additional environmental expertise while also seeking out new partners and encouraging consumer participation.

Commonwealth Edison (ComEd), the City of Palo Alto (Calif.) and Glendale Water & Power (GWP) will be the first U.S. utilities to offer their customers the ability to import usage data into the social energy application. Combined, these utilities offer access to 4 million customers, including all of Chicago’s residents.

The NRDC states that improvements to energy efficiency has the ability to generate $700 billion in cost savings in the U.S. alone, but consumer participation is key to making that change happen. The organization is no stranger to the use of word-of-mouth techniques in this area, going all the way back to its Hood River Conservation Project in the 80′s which, at the time, leveraged real-life social networks to spread word of an energy improvement program. Now it hopes to use word-of-mouth on Facebook’s online network to enact similar behavioral change.

The organizations will formally announce the partnership later this afternoon. More information will be posted to Facebook’s “Green on Facebook” page.

This week, GM announced it will launch an all-electric vehicle under the Chevrolet brand, the Spark EV. The car is basically an electric version of the Spark mini-car and will be sold in limited quantities in the U.S., including California, starting in 2013.

The company also announced it has started working on its new concept vehicle, the Chevrolet EN-V.

The Spark EV will be built using feedback from Chevy’s electric vehicle demonstration fleets in Shanghai (Sail EV), Korea (Cruze EV) and India (Beat EV), the automaker states. The car’s nanophosphate lithium-ion battery packs will be provided by A123 Systems. Other than that, details are scarce.

Information on specific markets, range, quantities and pricing are not yet available.

In addition, GM announced that it has begun work on its next-generation EN-V concept car, which will also carry the Chevrolet badge. This car will feature one of those crazy, futuristic designs in the form of a 2-seater, zero-emissions vehicle developed specifically for increasingly crowded urban areas.

The Chevrolet EN-V (short for Electric Networked-Vehicle), will add new features like climate control, personal storage space and all-weather and road condition operation. It will also include elements from the original EN-V, like its small footprint and maneuverability, battery electric propulsion, connectivity and autonomous driving capabilities.

General Motors is partnering with a car-sharing startup called RelayRides on a new venture that will allow GM owners to rent out their idle vehicles via the OnStar service and their mobile phone. The program will launch first in California in 2012, before expanding to other markets.

RelayRides, a peer-to-peer car-sharing marketplace lets auto owners choose to rent out their car when they’re not using it, with the car’s owner controlling the rate and availability through the online service.

It’s different from other car-sharing networks like ZipCar, for example, as it doesn’t have its own fleet – all sharing is peer-to-peer. And unlike former TechCrunch Disrupt winner Getaround, the company sends out its own reps to install the device in your vehicles. Now, with the new GM partnership, RelayRides will be able to leverage the built-in OnStar service to unlock the doors, control the engine and track the car. Chevrolets, Buicks, GMC and Cadillacs are all supported.

RelayRides takes 15% of the list price for itself, 20% for its $1 million insurance policy and the remaining 65% goes to the vehicle owner. If the borrower ever wrecks the car, RelayRides handles the insurance claim and your personal policy isn’t affected. Drivers are also vetted first, to verify their driving records are up to par.

RelayRides was founded in June 2010. The company currently operates in San Francisco and Boston. It plans to rollout to additional markets based on consumer demand.

GE is leading a $22 million investment in San Francisco-based green builder Project Frog, which helps speed up and reduce the cost of traditional construction by using a combination of new technologies. The company improves on current methods by combining semi-custom designs with a pre-engineered kit of energy-efficient building materials. The end result are building that use at least 25% less energy than the strictest building codes in the U.S., and as much as 80% less energy in some parts of the country.

GE was joined by other investors including Claremont Creek Ventures, Greener Capital Partners and RockPort Capital Partners, but the investment amount for each participating firm was not disclosed.

In addition to the creation of the prefab materials, Project Frog also performs advanced 3D modeling to analyze buildings in each location. This process allows customers to optimize their building kits for the greatest energy efficiency.

Project Frog’s kits take one to six months to produce – less than half the time as required for traditional construction – and are delivered to project sites ready for assembly. This helps keep construction costs down while finishing projects more quickly than before. Typically, projects take 6 months, says the company.

The new investment will be used to expand Project Frog’s sales, execute on orders and will help pay for the installation of one of the company’s prefab buildings at GE’s Learning Center in Ossining, N.Y.

Project Frog was one of the winners of GE’s smart grid challenge in June, which awarded 10 startups with ideas on how to reduce energy usage $63 million to split.

2011 Boulder TechStars graduate Simple Energy is teaming up with San Diego Gas and Electric (SDG&E) to help the utility engage its customers in energy conservation efforts.

To accomplish this, Simple Energy is running an energy saver contest that offers a social gaming experience with real-world rewards.

The contest is in collaboration with the White House’s recent smart grid announcement, which detailed a number of new initiatives meant to accelerate the modernization of the U.S.’s electric grid through the use of smart grid technologies.

In the case of the Simple Energy contest called “Biggest Energy Saver,” the idea is to make energy saving a fun game where customers compete against their neighbors to waste less, and subsequently lower their electric bills.

Using data from the home’s smart meter, SDG&E will measure year-over-year energy consumption (kWh) of the participants for three months. Customers can “compete” by making changes to their home, like weatherizing doors and windows, sealing air leaks, adjusting thermostats, switching to energy-saving lightbulbs and more.

Participants are also encouraged to visit www.biggestenergysaver.com, where they can join with others in an online community to talk about smart meters and how to use smart technology to reduce their electricity consumption, control their electric costs, and help the environment.

The contest is sponsored by GRID 21, a new non-profit organization committed to engaging electricity customers in reducing consumption. During the course of the 3-month challenge, daily top savers are entered into drawings for $25 gift certificates to local stores, monthly savers can win an iPad 2 and the “Biggest Energy Saver” of them all wins a gaming laptop worth $1,500.

It does seem to be a bit odd that the energy saving contest awards energy-gobbling gadgets as prizes instead of something like discounts on new insulation or weather strips, for example. However, those awards clearly reflect the desire of today’s electricity-using households to fill their homes with more and more devices, which, in aggregate, help put a strain on the grid.

Teaching the early adopters of smart meters, who are also likely to be the gadget-obsessed top power consumers, how to better save energy may not be such a bad idea.

Ford Motor Company and the leading car-sharing network Zipcar have just announced a partnership that establishes Ford as Zipcar’s largest auto source for Zipcar’s University program. The new, two-year alliance will reach students at over 250 university campuses here in the U.S.

Ford will start shipping its vehicles, primarily the 2012 Ford Focus and Ford Escape, to colleges starting this week.

Zipcar says that it will add 650 Ford vehicles this academic year and up to 1,000 during the life of the agreement. In addition, thanks to Ford, Zipcar will begin offering $10 off its $35 annual membership fee for the first 100,000 new University program members who sign up for Zipcar. It will also offer $1 off the hourly rate for the first 1 million hours of use on any of the Ford cars on select campuses, bringing it down to $7.50 per hour.

While the Ford Escape (an SUV), isn’t the most fuel-efficient car in Zipcar’s lineup, the Ford Focus, which gets 40 mpg (highway), is a better fit for students looking for a more environmentally friendly ride.

Scott Griffith, chairman and CEO, Zipcar, says the alliance will help Ford and Zipcar prepare the next generation of drivers for “the future of urban transportation.” And by that, he seems to mean the idea of renting a car instead of buying one.

“We’re targeting a generation that only knows how to buy music by the song so paying for a car by the hour is a natural for them…” Griffith says.

Ford, however, sees the move somewhat differently. For many of these young drivers, Zipcar is their first experience behind the wheel. And when they finally choose to leave the program to buy a car of their own, they will (hopefully) be considering a Ford, the auto maker believes. It’s also why one of the cars provided, the Focus, includes high-tech features like the MyFord Touch and SYNC systems – things that have appeal to the smartphone-toting, always-connected young adult market.

Zipcar’s University program has been in operation for 8 years. It has partnerships with universities such as Harvard University, Yale University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Stanford University, the University of Southern California, the University of California – Berkeley, Loyola Marymount University, Florida State University, the University of Michigan, Michigan State University, George Washington University, and others.

The network has over 605,000 members in total and over 9,000 vehicles in the U.S, Canada and the U.K. College rentals account for around 10% of Zipcar’s business.

Today, EnergyHub launched its new, comprehensive, in-home energy management system for U.S. consumers. The system includes the EnergyHub Home Base, for centralized management of the electricity usage in the home, as well as The EnergyHub Thermostat, Sockets and Strips.

The Home Base also connects to the Web via Wi-Fi, allowing users to remotely manage individual components via Web-based or mobile applications that run on iOS and Android devices.

The new system is notable not only for its ease-of-use – just plug in your devices, and you’re ready to go – but also because it’s now available outside of a utility-sponsored program.

Previously, the company sold its hardware to utility providers, who then installed the devices in customers’ home. Today’s launch of a direct-to-consumer offering democratizes access to these same energy monitoring systems and tools.

The EnergyHub Home Base is the central station for interacting with the home’s connected devices, where it displays your current and projected energy use on its colorful touchscreen. Here, data is tracked in real-time, and you can program various usage parameters in order to control energy usage automatically.

There are also modes called “At Home,” “Goodnight,” and “Away” that let you program various configurations that can be enabled with just one touch.

The system’s Wireless Thermostat lets you track and manage your home’s heating and cooling systems, while EnergyHub Sockets, Strips and Heavy Duty Controllers let you monitor individual appliances.

The Home Base comes in two versions: ZigBee and ERT-compatible, which refers to two common radio types used by smart meters. (This video helps explain which one is right for you).

And when you’re away from home, the EnergyHub Web-based and mobile apps help you switch between the various modes and remotely control appliances.

EnergyHub pricing is as follows:

• Home Base + Thermostat  – ZigBee version: $299.99 / ERT version $389.99
• Starter Kit (Home Base + Socket + Strip) – ZigBee version $324.99 / ERT version $414.99
• Starter Kit + Thermostat – ZigBee version $399.99 / ERT version $499.99
• Sockets, Strips, and Thermostats are also available individually for $39.99, $89.99, and $99.99, respectively

EnergyHub raised $14.5 million in a Series B round last week, as two new investors, Acadia Woods and the New York City Investment Fund, joined existing investors .406 Ventures and Physic Ventures. The funds will be used to support commercial deployments and the launch of the new Mercury wireless thermostat software service.

Electric bike maker FlyKly is bringing its stylish, powerful and eco-friendly bikes to San Francisco after having a blowout launch in New York earlier this summer. The company, which opened up shop on June 20th, sold out its entire stock of bikes in July at a pop-up store in Soho. Now, the bikes are being made available in San Francisco.

Calling these things “bicycles” seems odd, though – a term that conjures up streamers from from the handlebars and a wicker basket tied to the front. Instead, these “bicycles” look more like scooters. But since the bikes don’t go over 20 MPH, you don’t need a license to drive them.

The new bikes come in two designs: vintage and modern, each which sport a 100% electric lithium-ion battery. For just a $1′s worth of electricity, you’ll get 1,000 miles of riding, says FlyKly, at 40 miles per charge. (The battery reaches a full charge in just a few hours.) The battery is also removable, so you can charge it anywhere you want. And if the battery ever runs out, you can pedal manually to keep going.

Like ordinary bikes, FlyKly bikes can be parked and tied up to fenceposts, bike racks, sidewalks and parking garages offering spaces for bikes. The steering column and rear wheel are locked when parked. And just in case, the bikes also include a GPS tracking system for locating your bike if it ever starts moving when you’re not on it.

Oh, and in case you were wondering, “Kly” is a Greek word that means “constant energy or movement.”

FlyKly sells the bikes for $1,900 and shipping is free in the U.S. You can learn more about the bikes on the company’s website here: www.flykly.com.

Ford Motor Company is teaming up with San Jose-based solar panel maker SunPower to offer a rooftop solar system option which will be sold alongside the upcoming Ford Focus EV. The “Drive Green for Life” program, as it’s being called, involves mounting solar panels on a customer’s home.

These panels wouldn’t be used just to charge the Focus itself, however. They actually help offset the cost that comes with having to charge the car, something which most electric car owners do every night.

The 2.5 kilowatt solar panel system would offset the cost of about 1,000 miles per month, says Ford. After federal tax credits, the cost of the system would be around $10,000. Some local and state rebates may also be available, but it’s still a fairly pricey system.

At least Ford and SunPower are targeting the appropriate demographic. The option should appeal to environmentalists who want to buy an electric car, but don’t want to  feel guilty about consuming all the extra electricity needed to charge it. After all, it’s not really that “green” to drive electric when you’re charging your car using fossil fuels.

The solar system itself consists of 147 square feet of rooftop panels. There are 11 panels, measuring 4 feet by 2 feet. Customers will be able to monitor the panels’ performance online and via a specially designed iPhone app. SunPower also provides a 25-year warranty for the system, which is installed at customers’ homes by Best Buy’s Geek Squad. Best Buy also has the contract with Ford to install the home chargers.

Pricing and an exact launch date for the new 2012 Ford Focus isn’t available yet, but the car will go on sale first in California and New York in Q4 2011. Ford also plans to launch 5 other electric or hybrid-electric models in 2012 in North America, and in Europe by 2013.

Read the rest here…

MIT’s Daniel Nocera has apparently made a major advance just recently, producing an artificial leaf that not only uses cheap materials, but is ten times as efficient as a real leaf at the photosynthesis process.

The technology simulates photosynthesis by using sunlight to split water into hydrogen and oxygen; only a short while ago did Nocera manage to create a system, using a “proprietary solution of cobalt and phosphate,” that was able to convert sunlight at a better efficiency than solar cells. It can use dirty water, too, unlike some existing electrolysis/fuel cell solutions.

His study has only just been submitted to Science, and has not been reviewed or replicated, but that didn’t seem to matter to Tata, the Indian industrial giant, who have decided to work with Nocera — presumably to manufacture and distribute the system in India. With lots of sun and a huge population, it’s a natural fit.

Of course right now there’s very little information, no paper, and no pictures, so let’s all just take this info with a grain of salt and wait until we hear more.

[via SlashGear and Wired UK]

In areas like this, power is not always generated at a major regional installation like a nuclear or coal plant, and relying on hydroelectric power depends on weather patterns that are more prone to long-term failure (e.g. drought) than something like solar. Suntech has donated dozens of these solar systems to the community; the founder and CEO says:

We’re proud to invest in preserving the region’s fragile ecosystem by providing an economically-viable and sustainable solution for electricity generation. From the desert sands of Arizona to the peaks of the Himalayas, anyone can look up and harness nature’s cleanest and most abundant energy resource.

And he notes that the extremely high plateau provides an excellent environment for solar: low moisture and temperatures, but intense sunlight. Good for these guys; distributed, medium-size power grids like this are a great way to both improve living conditions in remote areas and advance the science and presence of renewable energy solutions.

[via Inhabitat and Treehugger]

It certainly looks that way. The country has been having a national discussion ever since the Japan nuclear crisis, and the consensus seems to be that nuclear http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-12825342 isn’t worth the risk. Instead, the country will embrace alternative forms of energy, including renewable sources.

Germany may be able to become the first post-nuclear country, but that’s because it’s been in the cards for some time now. There were already plans in place to transition away from nuclear power over a 25-year period, but domestic politics had postponed the phase out.

Since the Japan situation, Germany has shut down seven of its 17 nuclear reactors while inspectors see if they’re safe enough to bring back online.

The conversation there now is: are we in a position where we can replace these things that have to potential to be quite destructive with, say, windmill farms and solar panel arrays? Going green on a massive, massive scale, if you will.

The debate could be relevant here in the U.S. because it gets about the same amount of its total energy from nuclear power plants (around 23 percent) as we do here.

If Germany can do it—ad Germany isn’t usually as sun-bathed as we are in places like Arizona, California, Florida, Texas, etx.—then why couldn’t we do it?

Surely scientific progress isn’t going to stop at nuclear power plants as they exist today, right?

Clean Republic, a local Seattle start-up literally run out of a garage, seems to be of the opinion that what matters is simplicity, modesty in design, and of course low cost. In 2010 they’ve gone from prototype to 1,000 kits shipped and although they’re not bucking to be a billion-dollar company, they are building a sustainable business and could be trading in millions pretty soon.

Michael Shope is the CEO, a local and a fellow graduate of mine from Garfield High School here in Seattle. He came into the scene with the simple intention of building a better electric bike for the American market. Part of the issue is commitment: many bike makers are selling models with motors and battery integrated, with 500 watts or more of power. At between $1000 and $3000, they tend to be almost as much of a consumer commitment as a motorcyle or scooter. I considered one myself when I was driving two miles to work back in 2006, since really I just needed a hand on the hills here in Seattle, which anyone will tell you are murder (especially with the rain and the drivers here). But $2000 was rent money, and I already had a car and a regular bike. Shope was counting on people like me, who would love to quit petrol but didn’t want to buy a whole electric bike platform.

The Hill Topper is an original design on an established e-bike principle: the front wheel of your bike is replaced by one with a hub-mounted motor, the battery clips to your frame, and there’s a single button remote for spinning it up. Like other electric bikes, it’ll maintain your speed, boost your pedaling, or propel the bike itself if you need to take a break. Unlike other electric bikes, it can be installed in a couple minutes with no expertise at all, and the whole setup only weighs six pounds. It costs ~$750 for the light, Li-ion 20-mile battery and $400 for a heavier, 10-mile battery.

They’ve sold over a thousand kits to date and are selling them as fast as the co-founder can put them together in North Dakota. Who would have thought Americans would want something cheap and easy? Shope notes: “You already have a bike that you like and is perfectly adjusted and measured for you, just how you like it, and is made of much higher quality components that the expensive full electric bikes are. It just doesn’t make sense to spend $2k on an e-bike when you can just pop our wheel on your own.”

That said, they face tough competition; major bike companies like Trek and Giant, as well as electronics and battery players like Sanyo, are already established and have sold millions in other markets. The pricing is volatile and new battery tech will probably be adopted or developed by the big guys first. However, the ability to turn your ten-year-old junker into a viable commuter vehicle is a serious draw, and although they’re not the only ones offering this type of device, they’re doing it their own way with their own design and that’s worth acknowledgment.

You can order your own online, or if you’re in Seattle, drop by Electric Bikes Northwest to pick one up in person. If you’re feeling extra-green, try picking up some plant-based grease as well.

[image credit: Capitol Hill Seattle]

[via NotCot]

If there were a superhero who was powered by 100W lightbulbs it’s safe to say his days of fighting crime in California are over. The state will end the sale of 100W light bulbs after the current supply has been exhausted. It’s part of the federal Energy Independence Act and Security Act of 2007. Silly name aside, the law will go into effect in the coming years across the country.

Why are we banning 100W light bulbs? To conserve energy, of course, in order to make us energy independent. Green, if you will. Hmm.

What it will do is lessen the amount of electricity we consume. The California Energy Commission says the elimination of the 100W bulb will save Californians some $35.6 million.

Once they’ve eliminated 100W bulbs, people will initially be pushed toward 72W bulbs. We’ll have moved all the way down to 40W bulbs by 2014.

Are graphics cards (and processors) now going green? AMD is certainly trying, having noted that its E-350 APU “demonstrated a significant reduction in the overall product ‘carbon footprint’” compared to previous AMD Anthlon processors and Mobility Radeon graphics cards. We’re talking a 40 percent reduction in carbon emission over the life of the APU. This is the part where the smart-aleck know-it-all calls into our radio show and demands that all the egghead scientists complaining about global warming should come and plow his driveway. There’s a difference between weather and climate, sir. Calm down.

AMD says that the reduction in carbon emission is primarily due to lower energy consumption when in use. (AMD also made a few changes to its manufacturing process that helped lower carbon emissions in the actual production of the APU, which is also neat.)

The lower carbon footprint can also be attributed to the fact that a single APU does the job of both a CPU and GPU.

In other AMD news, did you guys see the leaked photos of the 6990, the next-gen dual GPU card? While it’s great that AMD is committed to dual GPU cards, perhaps 2011 should be the year when AMD also commits itself to changing people’s perceptions about its driver releases? No one’s asking for 15 percent performance increases every month, but a bit of stability, perhaps some extra love and care paid to CrossFire? Something along those lines.

Let 2011 be the year of rock solid driver releases. That would be swell.