Articles by Grist staff

Britain will push ahead with nuclear power

As expected, Britain has announced that it will push forward with a new generation of nuclear-power plants, to supplement other low-emission energy sources as a means of fighting climate change. Nuclear operators say they can get stations running by 2017. Britain gets about 18 percent of its electricity from nuclear power; radioactive waste is currently […]

Tata Motors unveils world’s cheapest car in India

Photo: TaTa Motors The world’s cheapest car was unveiled in India today by Tata Motors, which hopes that its new $2,500 subcompact will help make car ownership a reality for tens of millions of people. The Tata Nano gets respectable gas mileage, up to 58.8 miles per gallon, and meets India’s emissions standards, but its […]

Use of “smart grid” technology could save U.S. $120 billion, study says

A yearlong study by the Department of Energy has concluded that when consumers are given the means to closely track and adjust their energy usage, power use declines by an average of 10 percent. In addition, the study found that households’ electricity usage during peak times fell by up to 15 percent. The study estimated […]

Coral reefs suffer from proximity to humans, says study

The main factor contributing to declines in coral-reef health is proximity to human populations, says new research in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B. A study of 322 reef sites in the Caribbean found that many suffered significant damage from overfishing and agricultural runoff. Author Camilo Mora estimates that reefs in […]