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  • The E.U. wants gas-powered cars gone from its cities by 2050

    Can he look forward to a future with no gas-powered cars?Photo: Alison OddyThe European Union has just announced an ambitious transportation goal: the elimination of gas-powered cars in its cities by 2050. It’s part of a plan that aims to radically reduce greenhouse gas emissions from transportation sources: A new European transport plan [PDF] aims […]

    Sarah Goodyear Technology

  • Budget-strapped police forces going with green vehicles to save on fuel

    Aspiring Blues Brothers may be able to get old Crown Vics cheap pretty soon — but if you’re at all eco-minded, you may not want to drive them. The iconic and soon-to-be-retired police rides only got 14 m.p.g. in the city, but the Ford Interceptor — set to be their primary replacement when they go […]

    Jess Zimmerman Technology

  • How coal could make your car more efficient

    That’s right: You may soon be able to use coal to make your car more fuel-efficient. Not by running it on coal — gross! — but building it out of metal mixed with structures found in coal ash. Fly ash, a byproduct of burning coal, contains microscopic bubbles called cenospheres. They sound like Clive Barker […]

    Jess Zimmerman Technology

  • Artificial solar leaf beats trees at their own game

    What's better than trees? I'll tell you: ROBOT TREES. Scientists at MIT have developed "artificial leaves" — small solar cells, about the size (though not the shape) of an oak leaf, that use a photosynthesis-like process to turn water into electricity. Only they do it ten times more efficiently than natural leaves, and the electricity […]

    Jess Zimmerman Technology

  • Alexis Madrigal chats about the crazy greentech history you’ve never heard

    This is the first in a series from my conversation with Atlantic tech channel editor Alexis Madrigal about themes and stories from his new book, Powering the Dream: The History and Promise of Green Technology. DR: What were the first glimmers of the book? AM: It was about 2007. At the time, Bruce Sterling had […]

    David Roberts Technology

  • Debunking myths about free-market environmentalism

    Money makes the world go … green?Cross-posted at The PERColator, a project of the Property and Environment Research Center (PERC). A recent post on Grist attempted to dismantle the intellectual foundations of free-market environmentalism — the application of markets and property rights to solve environmental problems. But far from toppling a burgeoning movement within modern […]

    Shawn Regan Technology

  • Nissan Leaf, meet Ford Pinto

    There were two interesting cars parked on my street this week. One was a Nissan Leaf (see my test drive video here). The other was a Ford Pinto. The Pinto was one of the forerunners of today’s small hatchbacks. It had bucket seats with a hand brake between them, a back seat that folded down, […]

    Biodiversivist Technology

  • How wiring the developing world can help save the planet

    Envaya helps people in Africa build ultralight websites, on the ultracheap.Like most equatorial countries, Tanzania is feeling the impacts of climate change. Malaria is spreading to areas at ever-higher altitudes. Lake Victoria, which feeds the Nile, is retreating. The rainy season is starting later and getting shorter — last year, the typically four-month season lasted […]

    Amanda Little Technology

  • Crowd-sourced radiation maps put the hivemind to work for public health

    Map: RTDN.org and Google Maps What if Foursquare were good for something? It might look a little like this. Crowd-sourced maps of radiation in Japan allow anyone with a radiation detector to log their reading, resulting in real-time information with potentially as many data points as there are users. RTDN.org, put together by Portland's Uncorked […]

    Jess Zimmerman Technology

  • PG&E to let customers disable their smart meters — for a price

    Over the past year, a revolt against the rollout of utility Pacific Gas & Electric’s smart meters has swept through Northern California as some customers claimed the devices’ wireless transmission of electricity data was harming their health. In response, city councils in a number of cities tried to ban their installation. On Thursday, PG&E, acting […]

    Todd Woody Technology