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This article is part 7 of an 8 part series. Read part 6 here . Geoffrey Moore’s latest book, Dealing with Darwin , addresses how to achieve innovation at each stage of a company’s development.

Last week, French oil and gas giant Total spent an attention-grabbing $1.4 billion for a majority stake in U.S solar company SunPower .

Do you dream of helping others when you “make it big”? Do you imagine all of the good that you can do once you have no money woes whatsoever

(PhysOrg.com) -- As part of the European Union's commitment to remaining at the forefront of technology, the European Commission (the governing body of the European Union) has laid out plans for three initial high powered lasers to be built in Eastern Europe with a fourth to come at a later date. The first superlaser in the project is to be built near Prague, with a goal of achieving exawatt class, which would make it at least a hundred times more powerful than anything that exists today.

In the past two weeks, Google has made two staggeringly large renewable energy investments: a $168 million investment in the Ivanpah solar farm, and a $100 million investment in the world's largest wind farm . We had a chance to speak with the man behind these investments--Rick Needham, Google's Director of Green Business Operations and Strategy (pictured in stylish duds, center)--to find out why the search engine giant has seemingly all of a sudden become a major clean energy player. When Needham came to Google in 2008, the company had already made early-stage clean energy investments through Google.org (the company's philanthropic arm), but Needham spent most of his time figuring out how to make Google's own operations more energy efficient.

Illustration by Dan Winters When supersecretive agriculture giant Cargill decided to attack the no-calorie-sweetener market dominated by Sweet'N Low, Splenda, and Equal, it sent its best marketers and scientists to basement war rooms and covert labs. Only now can the inside story of Truvia -- and its unlikely success -- be told. SAYS ZANNA MCFERSON , plucking a stevia leaf from a plant on her desk and biting into it, "I knew there had to be something we could do with it." Through the expansive windows of her corner office at Cargill's headquarters, an Aspen-like mega-lodge on the outskirts of suburban Minneapolis, she stares out at the snowy pines and at the horizon beyond

Chances are, you've at least heard of Kiva , the microfinancing nonprofit that allows users to give bite-sized loans to entrepreneurs in poverty-stricken regions. Because people like to feel good by offering cash to worthy causes (or so we've heard), Kiva has done exceptionally well, funding $200 million worth of microloans since its launch in 2004. And as of today, you can specifically fund what are, in our opinion, the smartest entrepreneurs--the ones who realize that efficiency is the key to becoming self-sufficient.

New data suggests that in Europe, iOS is twice as big a market as Android, and the news comes as rumors resurface about Amazon's Android tablet hopes. It would seem the bookselling giant has an uphill struggle ahead.

After a decade of dealing with environmental and regulatory red tape, the first offshore wind farm in the U.S.

Fearing that war-crimes allegations could arise from future conflicts, the IDF is considering turning troops into impromptu combat journalists who will document wartime operations on video. As the Israeli military gears up for a likely ground war with the Palestinian military organization Hamas, the nation's brass is hoping a new plan could deflect possible war-crimes charges. The solution: Bringing cameras into the warzone.

Introducing a nationwide intranet that one high-ranking official calls a "Halal Internet." In: censorship and e-banking. Out: sex and profanity. The Iranian government, wary from the internet-driven 2009 demonstrations and the recent Arab revolutions, is planning to wall-off much of the country's online access.

The Fast Company reader's essential source for breaking news and innovation from around the web--updated all day.

We had a feeling that BrightSource Energy was destined for big things when Google first announced it was investing $10 million in the solar thermal startup in 2008. After all, Google only invests in impressive ( TechnoServe , eSolar ) and profoundly weird ( wind power from kites , anyone?) companies.

The Dewey Decimal System has never looked so... dewy

Ethonomic Indicator of the Day: 93% of U.S.