Climate Technology
All Stories
-
![]()
![]()
Arcimoto is an electric car for the Facebook generation
Marketers are learning that kids don't want cars anymore. They blame it on Facebook — kids don't need cars to socialize — instead of facing up to the reality: cars suck. They are boring and dirty and no longer integral to teenage courtship rituals. This car, however, does not suck: Announced just last week, the Arcimoto […]
-
High gas prices mean Exxon will make more money than any publicly held company in history this year
Exxon's earnings are expected to go up 50 percent this year, reports the Wall Street Journal. What was Washington's response? The House GOP voted overwhelmingly to protect the billions in taxpayer subsidies oil and gas companies receive. So let's see … you're paying Exxon at the pump, and you're also paying them on tax day. It's […]
-
![]()
![]()
Dirty clouds: Greenpeace ranks tech giants on their data centers’ coal dependency
Tech companies have something hanging over their heads.Photo: The SharpteamAs I sit here at the Local 123 café in Berkeley on Earth Day, a dozen hipsters are transfixed by their Macbooks, their heads lost in the cloud. According to a Greenpeace report [PDF] released this week, all those presumably green and well-meaning digital workers-slash-slackers are […]
-
![]()
![]()
Self-healing plastic lets gadgets take a licking and keep on ticking
Here’s a good way to cut down on waste: Stop breaking sh*t. To that end, scientists are working on self-healing materials that can extend the life of your belongings. One new polymer, developed by scientists in Switzerland, can heal deep scratches just by being exposed to ultraviolet light. It's like an immune system for your […]
-
![]()
![]()
We need a whole new kind of capitalism as we aim for sustainability
It’s time to have a broader vision.Photo: MorBCNToday we stand at the crossroads. In one direction lies business as usual, the road we’ve traveled for decades. Down that path, we’d forgo serious measures to rein in our oil consumption, we’d continue buying oil from the dwindling number of oil-rich nations to drive our SUVs a […]
-
![]()
![]()
Google to buy 100.8 megawatts of Oklahoma wind energy
Google’s Oklahoma wind farm will be built this year.Photo: Marcin WicharyIt’s getting a bit hard to keep up with all of Google’s green investments these days — $168 million put into a big solar power plant project one week; $100 million for the world’s largest wind farm the next. But this week’s big money move […]
-
![]()
![]()
The iPad of electric cars will be available in 2012 — for as little as $8,000
The Mitsubishi i-MiEV is so button-cute it makes the BMW mini look like the smash-faced cyclops from Jason and the Argonauts, and if you are one of a handful of lucky Americans, you might be able to pick one up at a price that matches its diminutive size. The list of requirements you have to […]
-
![]()
![]()
150 MPH bus is basically a public transit Batmobile
Hey, life imitates Onion! A physicist in the Netherlands has designed the "Superbus," a sleek 23-seater that can go up to 150 miles per hour. And it's electric! You're not drunk, the video is in Dutch, but we assume he's saying "dude, this thing is fast as BALLS, and look at all the Delorean doors! […]
-
![]()
![]()
BP spends restitution money on lawsuits and lobbying
By now, we all know BP has been painfully tightfisted about helping to rebuild the lives and livelihoods ruined in last year's oil spill. They agreed to pay $20 billion in damages but have only squeezed out $6 billion so far. But what do you expect them to do? They need that money to spend […]
-
![]()
![]()
Mosaic sells solar panels to people who don’t even have roofs
How many times has this happened to you: You're sitting in your crappy apartment, watching Colbert on stolen wifi, drinking boxed wine and trying to get high on whatever charred resin is left in your roommate's bowl. All of a sudden you're just, like: "Damn, why is it only homeowners with well-sited, south-facing roofs get […]
