After weeks of bleak technology industry news, Boston-Power announced a welcome headline for clean tech – it is putting its Sonata line of lithium-ion batteries into Hewlett-Packard’s Enviro Series of notebooks. Running laptops more cleanly and efficiently may be just the beginning for this new kind of lithium-ion battery!

This is the first time that a US battery company has successfully sold a laptop computer battery to a top provider of laptops. Beginning in January, HP customers will be able to upgrade to the environmentally-friendly and longer-lasting Sonata battery on certain HP laptops in the HP Enviro Series, including the Pavilion and Presario lines.

The Sonata batteries, claiming to provide “like-new” performance, will come with a three-year warranty - the longest available from any notebook. Moreover, these batteries do not use any heavy metals, and are able to withstand 1,000 charges, compared to normal batteries that last for about 200 under normal conditions. The batteries have received environmental accreditation from the Nordic Ecolabel as well as the Chinese Environmental Protection Agency.

In an October interview, Christina Lampe-Onnerud, founder and CEO of Boston Power, had said that researchers have “only scratched the surface of lithium-ion technology.” She told Xconomy: “Our Company has the opportunity to leverage our experience with the lithium-ion chemistry and apply it to the emerging market of transportation.”

Boston Power already is experimenting with scooters and bikes, and has expanded its R&D space outside Boston this year, setting its sights on powering trucks and cars!