Climate Technology
All Stories
-
LEGO buys $500 million worth of wind turbines
The world's third-largest toy manufacturer is going to be putting "made with wind power" labels on all those boxes of LEGOs, and not just because they bought their power from utilities with wind turbines.
-
The best of the U.S. Army’s ‘Going Green’ Pinterest
Who says Pinterest is just for fashion and cupcakes?
-
One Million Lights trades kerosene for solar in developing countries
For kids in developing countries, it’s crucial to have a reliable light source — otherwise you can’t see to read or do your homework. But many homes and villages don’t have electric light, and the cheapest alternative — kerosene — is an environmental nightmare on both large and small scales. It pollutes the environment at […]
-
Map shows avalanche of cellulosic ethanol projects on the way
In the battle between food and fuel, cellulosic ethanol might not be a great idea or even a viable solution to our energy woes, but enzyme company Novozymes says it's coming, regardless.
-
Suck it, Gingrich, you CAN put a gun rack on a Chevy Volt
At a campaign event in Georgia, Newt Gingrich told supporters that he would maaaaaagically lower gas prices because “you can’t put a gun rack on a Volt.” Shows what the hell he knows.
-
In Germany, solar will be as cheap as conventional electricity by 2013
"Grid parity" has arrived in parts of sunny California and Hawaii, and it's coming to (not-so-sunny) Germany by 2013.
-
Ask Umbra: What’s the greenest business card?
A reader wonders how to network sustainably. Umbra consults the cards.
-
Kazakhstan, Mongolia to rescue us from China’s rare earths monopoly
Germany just signed agreements with Kazakhstan and Mongolia to mine rare earths in those countries, in an effort to break China's monopoly over these 17 elements.
-
This guy invented a manure-powered car … in 1971
According to this 1971 article from Mother Earth News, British chicken farmer Harold Bate invented a car that runs on animal droppings 40 years ago. Why the hell are we still using oil? Bate invented a converter that reportedly recycles animal (or human) waste into methane gas — and he ginned it up from “odds […]
-
Sales of residential solar in Japan explode like reactor #4
Sales of solar panels for Japanese homes are up 30.7 percent in 2011, despite -- or, let's be real, because of -- the economic hit the country took in the wake of the Fukushima disaster.