Shares of computer technology developer Intel Corporation (Nasdaq: INTC) rose 2% Thursday after chief technology officer Justin Rattner unveiled the company’s latest technologies at the Intel Developer Forum.

Included in the company’s list of new developments were the Near-Threshold Voltage Processor and the Hybrid Memory Cube. Intel claims that both technologies will consume significantly less energy compared to similar devices currently deployed.

Although it is still being developed as a concept CPU, the Near-Threshold Voltage Processor will drop its power consumption to 10 milliwatts which would allow the processor to continue to run powered by “a solar cell the size of a postage stamp.”

The Hybrid Memory Cube, a concept DRAM, operates seven times more efficient when compared to current DDR3. Despite the fact both of these models may not become products themselves, Intel says the research could open doors for a vast array of products that are much more energy efficient.

Research and development of the Near-Threshold Voltage Processor is part of Intel’s target “to reduce energy consumption per computation by 100- to 1000-fold for applications ranging from massive data processing at one end of the spectrum to terascale-in-a-pocket at the other.” For Intel, investment in energy efficiency is not held to the products it develops.

In February, the company said it’s renewable energy credit purchase will exceed 85 percent of its estimated U.S. electricity use and to date its global investment arm has invested $150 million in clean technology business.

The 2011 Corporate Renewable Energy Index, or CREX 2011, developed jointly by Bloomberg New Energy Finance and Vestas Wind Systems (VWDRY.PK) revealed Intel as one of the top purchasers of renewable electricity.

Image Credit: Wimox via Flickr

Original Article on Energy Boom