Kawasaki-based NEC Electronics Corp. and Renesas Technology Corp. (a joint venture between Hitachi Ltd. (HIT) and Mitsubishi Electric Corp.) pushed back the proposed merger of their business operations until the end of September for the second time this year.

Due to a delay in completing due-diligence on the companies' assets, including the manufacturing and sales sites worldwide, the companies had decided to postpone the contract to the end of July. Again in July, the companies decided to postpone the agreement to integrate business operations at NEC Electronics and Renesas until the end of August.

In April 2009, both NEC Electronics and Renesas had been negotiating to integrate business operations. The consolidation took place to weather the difficult economic conditions, weak demand and pricing pressure that weighed heavily on chipmakers. This merger would make the combined company Japan's largest chip maker with more than 30% market share, and the third-largest chip

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January 22, 2009 - Obamarsquo;s inauguration this week signals a change in the level of support that the alternative energy and clean tech sectors will get in Washington, and other world leaders know it. This week at the World Future Energy Summit in Abu Dhabu UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change chairman Rajendra Pachauri said he expects the U.S. position on climate change at Decemberrsquo;s meeting in Copenhagen will be critical and will set the tone. Bush never took a lead role. That being said, attention to climate change issues has never been greater on a global scale because countries, all facing economic erosion on an unprecedented level, are all moving to a strategy which effectively kills two birds with one stone: infrastructure investment and investment in green technologies as a primary catalyst for stimulating their own economies. Obamarsquo;s $800 billion fiscal stimulus package is no different. nbsp; The United Nations ...

IDC reported this week that companies are becoming increasingly focused on their Green IT initiatives. In its most recent survey amongst 1,500 C-level business and technology executives across 10 industrial countries:nbsp;middot; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; Energy costs continue to be the most pressing factor driving green IT adoption, with 71% of respondents saying this is their highest priority;nbsp;middot; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; Amongst U.S. respondents, 77% identified energy as the most important factor behind green adoption of their companies;nbsp;middot; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; Amongst European respondents, 74% identified energy concerns as the number 1 driver of green initiatives.nbsp;The bottom line is that companies are focused on cost savings associated with reducing power consumption, which will continue to drive their plans to invest in energy efficiency.nbsp;The greatest potential for energy savings worldwide is with buildings, which consume 40% of global energy and are responsible for about the same percent of CO2 ...