Climate Technology
All Stories
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This gigantic hybrid ship can run on a battery
Although gigantic ships are relatively efficient — compared to, say, transporting massive amounts of stuff by airplane — they do use an astounding amount of fuel. The shipping industry is working on this problem. In particular, a Norwegian shipping company and a marine energy company are partnering to work on a hybrid ship, the Viking […]
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Here’s a fuel cell that runs on brain juice
Whatever, Google Glasses; I’m holding out for the Google brain implant. And that just got a little more plausible, thanks to new technology for fuel cells that run off of blood sugar. In theory, if you popped one of these babies in your brain, it could get all its power from your own cerebrospinal fluid (the […]
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Electric cars: A shopper’s cheat sheet
There are plenty of EV models to choose from these days, which makes for a complicated decision. Here's a table with basic stats on the major electric and plug-in hybrid cars.
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Swarms of robots could replace tractors on farms
Most farm machinery right now consists of huge machines. But in the future, farm machinery could be “a swarm of planting, tending, and harvesting robots running game theory and swarm behavior algorithms to help optimize every inch of arable space in a given field,” Popular Science reports. That’s one Iowan’s vision, anyway, and he’s created […]
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Check out this 100-year-old electric car
Electric cars are a modern new technology, so modern and unproven that many [Republicans] would say they couldn’t possibly be plausible. Except for how they’ve actually been around since the turn of the 20th century. This photo of an electric car charging (above, click to embiggen) is from 1909, and by that point the technology […]
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Honda Fit, most efficient car EVER, gets 118 MPG equivalent
In England, when you want to say that a guy or a gal is h-o-t-t HOT, you say “He/she is FIT!” And that is what we want to say about the 2013 Honda Fit EV. The Fit is FIT. F-i-t-t FIT! This car — this car! — according to the EPA, gets the fuel efficiency […]
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Coal down, cleantech up in electric utility survey
U.S. utilities are shifting away from coal and toward sustainability initiatives, electric vehicles, and clean technology, an annual survey of the industry found.
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A cell phone charger made out of viruses
Except for the whole “make you sick and can’t be killed” thing, viruses are basically the ultimate renewable resource. They’re natural. They’re numerous. They replicate themselves. And, after some tinkering by the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, they can generate electricity. A project at the lab has incorporated genetically modified viruses into a piezoelectric system — […]
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Lay off the Konarka: Dem energy message risks defeating Dem energy message
The Democrats' "all of the above" energy message is an effective one. Their "Romney backed a solar clunker too" message is not.
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Four innovations that will make the future less wasteful
The New York Times Magazine has a lovely list of “innovations that will change your tomorrow.” Many of these innovations will give people fabulous new ways to consume more: New coffee! More screens! Underwear that monitors how lazy you are! But a few will also change our tomorrows to help people use less. Naturally, those […]