Climate Technology
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Germans pay extra for clean energy — is it worth it?
Germany has become a world leader in renewable power thanks in part to its Renewable Energy Act (EEG), which came into force in 2000. It established a feed-in tariff program that guarantees producers of carbon-free power an above-market rate of return for 20 years. EEG pays tariffs to solar PV, concentrated solar, wind, geothermal, biomass, hydropower, and […]
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What if the $152 billion to clean up Fukushima were spent on geothermal instead?
Here's a crazy idea: why not use the enormous geothermal resource under Japan — which is after all sitting on a "ring" made of "fire" — as a source of nearly always-on baseload power? I asked Alex Richter, an Icelandic financier of geothermal energy projects, how much geothermal energy $152 billion would buy. (That's the […]
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Physics breakthrough could mean solar panels made of nothing but glass
Exploiting an effect previously thought too small to be worth anyone's time, a bunch of researchers at the University of Michigan have figured out how to exploit the magnetic properties of light in a way that could ultimately lead to solar panels made entirely of glass or transparent ceramics. "We've all been taught that this […]
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The ultimate hippie mobile: An electric VW bus
Volkswagen has unveiled an electric concept vehicle based on the classic VW bus. The Bulli has a driving range of 184 miles, so if it goes into production, it could get you and your friends to Bonnaroo from as far away as Atlanta. It's smaller than the original bus, but it still seats five — […]
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Texas to install world’s largest wind energy storage system
The Notrees wind farm.Photo: Duke EnergyThey like to do things big in Texas, so it’s no surprise that the Lone Star state will launch the world’s largest wind battery storage project. Duke Energy is not a Texas company, but it owns the aptly named Notrees wind farm in the Texas panhandle. The North Carolina power […]
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CFLs are not a significant source of mercury, says EPA
If you've heard that CFLs are lousy with mercury, you've heard wrong. In the past 10 years, "reductions in the most used types of fluorescent lighting have decreased [mercury] content over the last decade by 60 – 80 percent," says Melissa Klein of the EPA. Plus, Americans are recycling more of them than previously reported. […]
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What if the $152 billion to clean up Fukushima were spent on solar instead?
The projected cost for the management of the Fukushima crisis is $152 billion. And that doesn't even include the cost of building and operating the plant in the first place. What if all that scratch had been spent on solar panels instead? It would be amazing, that's what. Read this infographic and weep. (Click here […]
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Australia announces big solar project — at a coal plant
The Kogan Creek Power Station.Photo: Kogan Solar BoostAustralian Prime Minister Julia Gillard on Wednesday appeared at giant coal-fired power plant to announce that the Southern Hemisphere’s largest solar project would be built in Queensland. Why, you may be wondering, would the PM travel to a remote 750-megawatt coal power station to make a big renewable […]
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Lobster golf balls: Possibly the most bourgeois green solution ever
Finally, researchers have come up with a biodegradable golf ball for use on cruise ships! So when you knock your ball off your GIANT ENERGY HOG FLOATING CITY, it will only brain a dolphin, not collect on the bottom of the ocean. Earth: saved! The balls are made out of lobster shells, so that after […]
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Are the Kochs to blame for gas prices?
Remember when we said that, despite an upcoming Republican onslaught of not-intended-to-be-factual statements, Obama is not to blame for high gas prices? Well, guess who is? Maybe Koch Industries, according to ThinkProgress. Koch Industries has openly speculated in "contango" oil market manipulation, buying up crude oil and storing it offshore to artificially drive down supply. […]
