Climate Technology

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  • The high cost of cheap gas.

    The New York Times is running an interesting article called "The High Cost of Cheap Gas and Vice Versa." The author calculates the current average cost of driving at 15 cents a mile, up from 6.6 cents in 1998, and down from 20.1 cents in 1980 (in 2006 dollars). He also puts up a cost-per-mile calculator, in case your math skills have deteriorated since you last took the SAT.

    My colleague JP Ross tells me that a Toyota Prius in electric-only mode uses .26 kWh to go a mile. If you are filling up with peak electricity rates, say 12 cents kWh, that's 3 cents a mile. Many utilities have nighttime off-peak rates way lower -- at 5 cents kWh, that's around a penny a mile.

    In places where the wind blows at night, you could be filling up as you sleep.

    And if you have solar covering your parking garage, like the City of Tucson, you could be charging while you work.

    You can tell the smart utilities -- they are the ones putting their lobbying power behind plug-in hybrids. It just makes cents.

    Adam Browning Technology

  • A speculation about why ADM’s HFCS business is booming.

    In the first quarter of 2006, as I reported yesterday, Archer Daniels Midland somehow managed to boost the price of high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) despite mounting concern over the sweetener's health effects.

    The company booked a cool $113 million profit from HFCS over the quarter, more than three times more than it netted in the same period a year before ($33 million). This, despite a slowing domestic market for sweet soft drinks, as consumers increasingly switch to juice and bottled water. The company's official explanation -- "increased sweetener and starch selling prices" -- doesn't explain how it managed to make price hikes stick.

    I think I've figured it out. And the explanation has everything to do with Brazil, sugarcane, and ethanol.

    Tom Philpott Technology

  • Umbra on global warming and you

    Dear Umbra, I love the scientific ins and outs, really I do, but what oh what can we do about global warming? And I mean us ordinary folks with a house and mortgage and some percentage point of kids and a few compact fluorescents and maybe even a hybrid in the driveway. We’re right there […]

    Ask Umbra® Technology

  • Has the corporate-responsibility movement lost sight of the big picture?

    Just as people sailing full-tilt into an iceberg zone can get distracted rearranging deck chairs, those of us advocating corporate responsibility may be guilty of spending too much time fiddling with the nuances of the language that describes our work. We do this even as abrupt climate change, pandemics, and other mega-trends float, quiet but […]

    Mark Lee & John Elkington Technology

  • Cool

    April 21, 2006--Apple® today announced an expansion of its successful recycling program, offering free computer take-back and recycling with the purchase of a new Macintosh® system beginning in June. US customers who buy a new Mac® through the Apple Store® (www.apple.com) or Apple's retail stores will receive free shipping and environmentally friendly disposal of their old computer as part of the Apple Recycling program. Equipment received by the program in the US is recycled domestically and no hazardous material is shipped overseas.

    And now you know.

    Sarah K. Burkhalter Technology

  • The spread of Wal-Mart

    Yeesh. Here's a short video of Wal-Mart's spread in the U.S. It accompanies a paper called "The Diffusion of Wal-Mart and Economies of Density" (PDF) by the University of Minnesota's Thomas Holmes.

    (via Kottke)

    David Roberts Technology

  • Green-Up on Aisle Six

    Supermarket chains now offering store-brand organic foods The hippies-and-yuppies stereotype that’s long stuck to organic food may soon fade, as mainstream supermarket chains in the U.S. introduce hundreds of store-brand organic products. Supermarket organics can cost 10 to 15 percent less than national-brand organics, while still adhering to the same federal standards. Consumer demand is […]

    Grist staff Technology

  • How companies are tapping the benefits of saving water

    Name this critical and declining natural resource: It is pumped through pipelines and delivered by trucks. It is essential to our daily lives and to every business process and function. Its uneven distribution around the globe leads to vast chasms in countries’ development and economies. Wars have been fought over it. Water saved is a […]

    Joel Makower Technology

  • David Ford, biz consultant and forest advocate, answers questions

    David Ford. With what environmental organization are you affiliated? I am the president and CEO of Metafore, an enterprise nonprofit based in Portland, Ore. How does it relate to the environment? We help businesses align their practices so they achieve positive social and environmental outcomes. In Metafore’s view of the world, “Every business is in […]

    Grist staff Technology

  • When the Going Gets Tough, the Tough Get Blaming

    Rising oil prices send lawmakers into frenzy of empty gestures The American public will take lots of things lying down — inaction on climate change, ill-conceived wars, erosion of civil liberties — but expensive gas? Hell no! With oil prices topping $75 a barrel, gas prices sneaking up on $3 a gallon, and some East […]

    Grist staff Technology