Climate Technology
All Stories
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Panasonic capitalizes on earthquake by replacing factories with ‘smart towns’
Panasonic, the largest appliance maker in Japan, has announced plans to shutter 20 percent of its 230 factories in order to cut costs. But rather than lose that land, the company is capitalizing on Japan’s post-earthquake need for housing. It’s replacing the factories with “smart towns,” featuring "solar panels, energy-efficient refrigerators and rechargeable batteries," the company tells Bloomberg.
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Passive house mini-boom in NYC heralds furnace-free future
New York City and the rest of the tri-state area are getting their first wave of "passive houses," a type of construction in which a building is so well-insulated that it doesn't require heating in the winter.
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The true cost of gasoline? $13 a gallon
What's the true cost of the emissions from every gallon of gasoline, when you add up all the negative environmental impacts they'll lead to, from poor air quality to catastrophic climate change? Nine dollars a gallon. Add that to what you're typically paying at the pump right now, and it means that the real cost of a gallon of gas to the planet and our future is easily into double digits.
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New solar cells can be printed on paper or fabric
Finally, your dream of solar pants (that don't look douchey) can come true! MIT researchers have devised solar panels that can be printed directly onto fabric, plastic, or paper, as easily as printing from an inkjet. The result is a flexible, malleable solar panel with enough juice to power ... well, okay, barely any juice at all right now. But it's still in the early stages of development! Besides, once you pair your solar pants with a solar shirt, tie, bag, fedora, and shoes, it'll start to add up, and you will also look very snappy.
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Tepco bulldozed hill that could have prevented Fukushima disaster
When engineers first assessed the future home of the Fukushima nuclear power plant that would eventually melt down in response to a tsunami, the site featured a striking, 82-feet-high bluff that overlooked the ocean below.
It was more than high enough to have withstood the tsunami that struck the site in March.
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GOP rep hopes to shatter his own lightbulb legislation
Republican Fred Upton is pushing the repeal of his 2007 lightbulb efficiency measure after the Tea Party attacked it.
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Thomas Edison would have loved energy-efficient bulbs
Thomas Edison's great-grandson, David Edison Sloane, is not mincing words when it comes to the GOP wanting to repeal energy-efficiency standards for light bulbs:
As an inventor, Edison would have no interest in turning back the legislative clock. The wizard of Menlo Park dedicated himself to advancing human comfort, not freeze life as we knew it in 1879.
Oh snap! Edison's great-grandson just called you retrogressive.
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Trash trucks powered by trash gas reduce emissions by 80-90 percent
Waste Management Inc. owns 1,000 trash trucks that run on natural gas, plus a bunch of landfills that are constantly pumping out natural gas as a natural product of the decomposition of organic waste. Closing the loop on this cycle is a no-brainer, but it took Waste Management a decade to perfect the technology required. Now they’ve got trash trucks that run on gas from the trash they carry.
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Critical List: Australia will tax carbon; U.S. cars kill 32.5 trillion insects each year
This is a carbon tax: Australia is going to put a tax of $23 per metric ton on carbon emissions from 500 companies.
Hybrids and electric vehicles may no longer be legally allowed to slink quietly down the street, surprising pedestrians and dogs everywhere. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is proposing a rule requiring that the near-silent cars emit some sort of sound at low speeds.
The EPA is not happy with ExxonMobil and the company's plan to clean up the Yellowstone River. I mean, it’s in favor of cleaning up, it just thinks this particular plan stinks. -
Industrialized countries are now losing the clean energy race
Developing countries now lead investment in clean energy -- representing about $72 billion in spending in 2010, versus $70 billion in rich countries.