Climate Technology

Russia building floating nuclear power plants to unlock Arctic oil

Houses made of bacteria could save 800 million tons of CO2

What would the world be like if we could build houses out of bacteria? For starters, the story of the Three Little Pigs might have ended very differently. But biomanufactured bricks, made of a mixture of sand and non-pathogenic bacteria, could also help house people in developing countries while saving almost 800 million tons of CO2 every year.

Humanity's energy dilemma in three easy charts

According to a new report from BP, our current energy path leads to catastrophe, and it's hard to even envision a scenario in which catastrophe is avoided.

Is natural gas becoming a cover for the same old dirty fossil fuels industry?

One of the great ironies of the transition to renewable energy is that it's going to require a great deal of fossil fuels to build all those wind turbines, solar panels, and smart grids — because we simply don't have enough renewables already in the mix to bootstrap them up to the level we need […]

Government spending on cleantech generates three times as many jobs as oil and gas

Cleantech generates 17 jobs for every $1 million spent on it, compared to just 5 for every $1 million we throw at an oil and gas industry that doesn't need it but will fight to its dying breath to preserve the government largesse shoring up its bottom line. Cleantech even generates more jobs than that […]

Why does American Electric Power hate your children?

.bbpBox80268799235993601 {background:url(http://a0.twimg.com/images/themes/theme1/bg.png) #C0DEED;padding:20px;} p.bbpTweet{background:#fff;padding:10px 12px 10px 12px;margin:0;min-height:48px;color:#000;font-size:18px !important;line-height:22px;-moz-border-radius:5px;-webkit-border-radius:5px} p.bbpTweet span.metadata{display:block;width:100%;clear:both;margin-top:8px;padding-top:12px;height:40px;border-top:1px solid #fff;border-top:1px solid #e6e6e6} p.bbpTweet span.metadata span.author{line-height:19px} p.bbpTweet span.metadata span.author img{float:left;margin:0 7px 0 0px;width:38px;height:38px} p.bbpTweet a:hover{text-decoration:underline}p.bbpTweet span.timestamp{font-size:12px;display:block} AEP really is coordinating their PR today. WV, OK and IN media all have stories about costs of EPA compliance. http://t.co/Zgvsgkrless than a minute ago via web Favorite […]

Buy new sunglasses, save someone’s sight in the developing world

Men and women probably do make passes at people who use their sunglasses purchase to provide someone in the developing world with vision surgery, eye care, or glasses. Okay, the scansion needs a little work, but the point is that buy-one-give-one shoe company TOMS is expanding into eyewear, and the concept's pretty sexy, and so […]

Solar panels to match your couch

Excited about your inevitable solar panels, but concerned they'll clash with your decor? Qsolar has you covered, you fashion victim. Their colored solar panels aren't just for the roof — they can be integrated into the design of a building as cool-looking and functional walls or (semi-transparent) windows.

The race to build the world’s most improbably gigantic — and efficient — wind turbine

Modern wind turbines already have blades as big as the wings of jumbo jets, and the tips of them can move at up to 200 mph. Now Britain's Energy Technologies Institute wants to nearly double the generating capacity of the world's largest wind turbines by making the blades EVEN MORE PHENOMENALLY HUGE. Bigger turbines mean […]

Why you’ll soon have solar panels, in three easy graphs

The cost of silicon solar panels has been falling precipitously, with no end in sight. Naturally, falling costs mean solar installation has been exploding worldwide. By the time new coal-fired power plants come on-line in the U.S., solar will already be cheaper. If you want to understand what kind of revolution this will bring about […]