Staff analysis

Rich Uncle Pennybags is changing his ways, putting away his coal-fired power plants and investing his Monopoly money in green technology.

Just in time for Earth Day, Pawtucket, R.I.-based Hasbro (NYSE: HAS) announced that it would make a more environmentally friendly version of the classic Monopoly board game.

No, it's not being made out of bamboo or bioplastic.

No, the car isn't being replaced with a plug-in electric hybrid.

And no, Mr. Pennybags isn't exchanging his vest for one made out of organic cotton.

It's no longer news that rising commodity costs (such as oil) have been making alternative commodity sources (say, like tar sands) increasingly cost-effective.

But it is news when the reverse happens.

A paper mill in the central Canadian province of Manitoba is no longer accepting paper for recycling because the price of newsprint has dropped so low that it's no longer cost effective to recycle.

Instead, the mill plans to simply cut down trees to make its paper.

Will a luxury car lose street cred if it starts talking about fuel efficiency?

Australia’s orange-bellied parrot is so rare, it’s estimated less than 200 of them can be found in the wild. For years, the governments of South Australia, Victoria and Tasmania have worked with conservationists to protect the critically-endangered bird. They’ve found that saving the species may not necessarily be synonymous with saving the environment.

IBM has introduced a 3D online multiplayer game to help teach kids about renewable energy.

Intended for use in and out of classrooms, PowerUp challenges teenagers to help save the planet "Helios" from ecological disaster.

Don't have a market for your technology? Make one. Then franchise.

That's what tiny Xynergy (PINKSHEETS: XYNG) of Carson City, Nevada is planning to do for its hydrogen generator, details of which are vague, but which it touts as "the only one in the world that can turn hydrogen into real power in a cost efficient manner."

The company plans to open a restaurant this summer in Boulder, Colorado using its hydrogen generator as its primary power source. The restaurant is also to feature "revolutionary" refrigeration systems currently in prototype form developed by Xynergy.

If it were a little bigger it might serve as a banana boat.

Cue the Jaws theme.

Just two weeks after introducing the fuel cell company's first commercial product at the Consumer Electronics Show, Power Air (OTC:PWAC) CEO Remy Kozak has made a different kind of announcement.

Stepping down from his executive position "effective immediately," Kozak is to remain with the Livermore-based company until the end of February to ease the transition of power.

Israel doesn’t think India's cows are good enough.

Surprisingly, India agrees.

According to The Economic Times, the Israeli agricultural minister offered India technological assistance in improving dairy production. This apparently includes applying "the genetic properties of Israeli cows" to the local livestock, according to the article.

The lack of protest is unexpected given that India is arguably the only other place on earth [ed.: other than California?] that happy cows could call home.

Pity Carnival cruises. Not only has its public relations office had to deal with passengers falling deathly ill of noroviruses, but now it has to fight charges that it releases too much carbon.