Climate Technology

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  • Are flesh-eating robots the future of green tech?

    Sure, you can get power from the sun and the wind and other things you could paint on the wall of a child’s bedroom — if you don’t mind being a hippy. But aren’t there any forms of alternative energy that are more, you know, metal? Enter James Auger and Jimmy Loizeau, British designers who […]

    Jess Zimmerman Technology

  • Industry voices support EPA action on Clean Air Act

    EPA standards can help business and drive innovation.Cross-posted from the World Resources Institute. This piece is written by senior associate James Bradbury. In the U.S. Capitol Visitor Center, I moderated a panel featuring representatives from businesses and public interest organizations: Paul Allen, senior vice president for corporate affairs and chief environmental officer at Constellation Energy, […]

    World Resources Institute Technology

  • Southern California Edison signs another big photovoltaic farm deal

    Solar farms could be sprouting in the Nevada desert.Photo: FotowatioSouthern California Edison on Wednesday announced another big photovoltaic power plant deal, this time to buy electricity from a 250-megawatt solar farm to be built by First Solar. Add that contract to 831 megawatts’ worth of photovoltaic power purchase agreements the Los Angeles utility signed with […]

    Todd Woody Technology

  • Report: U.S. in fast lane to put 1 million electric cars on the road by 2015

    More like this are on the way.Photo: Dave Pinter When President Obama in his State of the Union address called for 1 million electric cars to be on the road by 2015, skeptics scoffed. But in a report [PDF] released Tuesday, the Department of Energy basically said no worries. We’ve already arrived at our destination. […]

    Todd Woody Technology

  • Wind power now competitive with coal in some regions

    Photo: Vlasta JuricekMore good news on the renewable energy front Monday: The cost of onshore wind power has dropped to record lows, and in some regions is competitive with electricity generated by coal-fired plants, according to a survey by Bloomberg New Energy Finance, a market research firm. “The latest edition of our Wind Turbine Price […]

    Todd Woody Technology

  • WH Gig for Mubarak

    White House climate policy czar Carol Browner recently left her post “to spend more time with her family” (political-speak for “thanks for playing, but don’t let the door hit you in the backside on your way out”). Given his 2008 campaign pledge to get Congress to deal with US carbon pollution and thereby support a […]

    Terry Tamminen Technology

  • Industry-funded Super Bowl ad rails against the (non-existent) soda tax

    Maybe it’s just Monday-morning grumpiness, but I hate the media fixation with Super Bowl ads. Corporations and industry lobby groups drop millions on 30-second spots, and then bloggers scramble to come up with something fresh to say about them — and in the process, amplify their message. Who benefits? The bloggers generate some on-the-cheap page […]

    Tom Philpott Technology

  • Solar gets big and cheap in California

    A San Francisco solar installation. Photo: Gavin NewsomEarlier this week, I wrote about the green evolution in California regarding electric cars. Well, when it comes to solar energy, it’s starting to look more like a revolution. This week, utility Southern California Edison asked regulators to approve 20-year contracts to buy 250 megawatts of electricity from […]

    Todd Woody Technology

  • USDA ‘partially deregulates’ GM sugar beets, defying court order

         Big Ag — can’t beet ’em.A week ago, the USDA shocked the organic-farming community by “fully deregulating” genetically modified alfalfa, after acknowledging that organic farmers had legitimate concerns about the move and hinting they’d be taken into account. On Friday, the agency didn’t simply skulk away from its own words in an apparent attempt to […]

    Tom Philpott Technology

  • Oprah discovers slaughterhouses are more sanitary when sanitized

    Oprah sent an “investigative” reporter into a Cargill slaughterhouse, and the resulting video is, frankly, amazing. If you’re the least curious about how cows make the journey from feedlot to your plate, it’s worth watching the whole thing. But why would ag giant Cargill, a company with a record nearly as tainted as the nearly […]

    Christopher Mims Technology