Climate Technology

Inspect Your Gadget

Impending regulation in Europe may de-toxify electronics worldwide As the clock ticks down toward a tough new environmental regulation in Europe, electronics manufacturers worldwide are busily reworking their supply chains to create less-toxic gadgets. In July 2006, the Reduction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) rule will go into effect across all 25 member nations of the […]

Bidding a fond farewell to ExxonMobil CEO Lee Raymond

Exxon Valdez: No, your other left! Photo: NOAA. Lee, we barely knew ye. Oh, wait, yes we did. “You either retire or die and I’d just as soon not die,” you said recently, and then yesterday announced your imminent exit as chair and CEO of ExxonMobil after more than 40 years with the oil behemoth. […]

Silicon Dally

Big demand for solar energy runs up against finite panel supply Global demand for photovoltaic panels is causing months-long delays and price hikes for would-be buyers in the U.S. American suppliers blame a weak dollar, shortages of raw materials, and swelling demand both at home and abroad. The worldwide solar-power market has grown about 40 […]

Umbra on oil subsidies

Dear Umbra, Grist keeps mentioning that the U.S. government gives large subsidies to oil companies, but doesn’t go further into what these subsidies are. I can’t make a good argument against the government’s subsidizing Big Oil if I don’t know more about it: Are the subsidies tax breaks, and if so, for what? Are the […]

I’ll Take Menhaden

Tiny fish being wiped out to make health-food supplements Omega Protein Corp. is overharvesting a little Chesapeake Bay fish called menhaden in order to make omega-3 fatty-acid food supplements for its health-crazed customers, leading to a decline in the striped bass that eat them (the menhaden, not the supplements or the health-crazed customers). This according […]

Wal-Mart store goes eco-friendly?

Wal-Mart's new big-box store being constructed in McKinney, Texas, has a twist: It will employ several conservation methods and green technologies, making it the company's first "environmentally friendly" store. Apparently, not only will it have a wind turbine to generate 5% of its power, and a rainwater catchment system for 95% of its irrigation needs, but it will use waterless urinals in its restrooms and recycle its oil from the deli and automotive departments to help heat the building.

The inspiration for all this being "to save money and keep costs down."  I guess if you overlook the proliferation of suburban sprawl, the ruination of local businesses, and the poor treatment of its employees, this could almost be seen as a good thing. But, oh wait, they're building it near an already existing "traditional" Wal-Mart so they can "gauge its progress."

Queer Eye for the Turbine

Hip, new wind-turbine designs shed those fusty rotating blades As anti-wind-power crusaders make ever-louder indictments of unsightly turbines, wind advocates are fighting back with a new tool — aesthetics. A handful of wind-power companies are teaming up with designers to develop new contraptions that can harness wind energy without the traditional spinning blades, as well […]

Between the Devil and the Deep Green Supercenter

Wal-Mart building two experimental green stores Mega-giganto retailer Wal-Mart is conducting an experiment. No, not the world-domination experiment, a different one: It’s constructing two “Supercenters” with green-building features designed to reduce energy and water use. The first, in Texas, will have solar cells embedded in skylights; runoff waste water will be captured and reused; heat […]

The Offal Truth

Promising clean-energy company may have to leave U.S. to succeed Certain folks take it as quasi-religious doctrine that strong green regulation is bad for economic growth. Tell it to Philadelphia’s Changing World Technologies, a burgeoning clean-energy company that may have to leave the U.S. precisely because of lax environmental laws. Every day, CWT turns 270 […]

The Axis of Oil

China gets pushy about finding oil and gas supplies outside Mideast Historians cataloguing the unintended consequences of the Iraq war can add another to their list. Until 2003, China had been wooing Saddam Hussein, hoping to lay claim to some of Iraq’s undeveloped oil reserves. But the U.S.-led war, perceived by China’s leaders as a […]