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Investors and cleantech entrepreneurs alike should take note of this pie chart from OnGreen , a just-launched online marketplace for cleantech startups seeking funds. The information is gleaned from OnGreen's beta site, which already has 350 companies seeking $1.9 billion in capital ($142 million is sought by companies that already have funding).

Over two thirds of students in U.S. high schools are below a proficient reading level

Drive through the Midwest and it's only a matter of time before you hit corn and soy fields that stretch as far as the eye can see. It's no surprise, really--the U.S. government lavishes the two industries with cash, spending $15.4 billion in subsidies for corn, cotton, rice, wheat, and soybeans in 2009 alone.

The Tata Group continues its ever-expanding quest to bring resources to low-income citizens of the world, this time with an announcement that it has joined up with MIT scientist Daniel Nocera, founder of SunCatalytix , to create power from water. Specific terms of the deal have not been disclosed.

Art can change the world. Just ask the artists who have submitted works to Freedom to Create , an arts and culture foundation that leverages the power of art to address injustice in places where there is no freedom to express it otherwise. This Thursday, March 24, the organization is bringing an exhibition of some of the top selections from the 2010 Freedom to Create Prize--an annual competition for artists who address social injustice--to New York City.

Carbon capture and storage (CCS), a technique that captures carbon emissions from industrial and coal-fired plants and buries them underground, is understandably controversial.

Diners at Francesco's Restaurant in San Francisco, The Spotted Pig in New York City, and at thousands of other restaurants participating in this week's UNICEF TAP Project are in for a surprise: They will be asked to donate $1 for the privilege of drinking tap water with their meals.

Japan's ongoing nuclear crisis has triggered radiation hysteria all over the world--thyroid-protecting potassium iodine pills are flying off the shelves in the U.S, Geiger counters are selling out in Paris, and all of a sudden, everyone seems to care how close they are to a nuclear plant. Enter RDTN , a crowdsourced radiation site that aims to keep users up to date on exactly how high radiation levels are in Japan and on the West Coast of the U.S.

As if you needed another reason to check out Google headquarters in Mountain View, California, electric vehicle technology startup Evatran announced this week that it has installed a Plugless Power charging station at Google HQ. This is the first public installation of Evatran's wireless EV charger, which uses something called "proximity charging" to juice up Googlers' Nissan Leafs and Tesla Roadsters.

Earlier this month, we looked at the X-Ar, an exoskeletal support that attaches to the arm and shoulders, allowing users to keep their X-Ar-attached arms outstretched for hours on end. Now we have video of the gadget in action. The device, manufactured by Equipois, could prove invaluable to anyone who works with their arms all day--think surgeons, jewelers, and factory workers

Wallace "J" Nichols is crowdsourcing his life's work. And saving his home in the process. It's difficult to make it as an independent scientist.

For most electric vehicle drivers, so-called " range anxiety " shouldn't be an issue--drivers usually have enough foresight to stop at a gas station before gasoline runs out, so why wouldn't the same be true for EVs? Granted, there are fewer charging stations than gas stations currently on the streets, which is presumably why French automaker Renault is advertising a "get you home guarantee" for its electric vehicles. Autobloggreen reports that Renault will offer a replacement vehicle for stranded motorists while their EV charges up--assuming that the vehicle ran out of juice within what it deems a realistic range.

CoolPlanet Biofuels, a startup that churns out biofuel from cellulosic waste (think plant waste and woodchips) just snagged an undisclosed amount of cash from Google Ventures in its Series B round of funding. This comes after an $8 million funding round last year, which included GE and North Bridge Venture Partners. Out of all the biofuel players in the market, why is CoolPlanet getting so much attention

This past week, Fast Company visited Tesla Motors headquarters for a look at the automaker's progress on its first mass-market vehicle, the Model S electric sedan.

Novozymes , a biotechnology company that does everything from building better biofuels to removing trans fats in foods, has figured out how to sustainably transport large amounts of live fish across long distances. The company's venture into live fish transportation came about as part of a partnership with Aqualife, a Danish cleantech logistics company that specializes in the global fishing industry. When a caviar production facility in Abu Dhabi asked Novozymes if it could transport 140 metric tons of live sturgeon from Germany, the company had a solution: move the fish by sea freight using specially designed Aqualife containers and Novozymes' microorganisms