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To Cut Carbon, China to Switch Off Polluting Factories

2010-08-12T08:22:00.000-07:00

On its way to reduce its carbon emissions per unit of economic output 40 percent by 2020, China’s current plan requires it to use 20 percent less energy per unit of economic output than in 2005. To reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the Chinese government has tried the usual carrot and stick approach of governments in Europe and the US, but to no avail. Now it is literally closing the

May

2010-07-08T23:33:00.000-07:00

First US EV Fast Charger Gets Installed in… Vacaville! Lake Erie Non Profit LEEDCo Wins GE Turbines ExxonMobil Shareholders Demand Natural Gas Fracking Risk AssessmentHouse/Senate Jump for Electric Vehicle Legislation in Climate BillInventor Uses Biomimicry to Create DewFirst US State to Codify Law for Carbon Sequestration is WyomingPeak Day Pricing Begins for Large Commercial PG&E

April

2010-05-26T14:30:00.000-07:00

1 California Utilities Grab Out-of-State Wind in Scramble to Meet 2010 Requirement 2 Xcel Energy Cuts Colorado Coal Use by 30% 3 Morocco to Solar-Power Nearly Half its Kingdom 4 Calfinders Referrals for Independent Solar Contractors Hits 10 Thousand 5 Foreign Wars Turn Red-State Vets Green 6 John Deere Takes Hit for Support for Farming 7 Improbable Senate Alliance Could Create an American

2010-04-15T15:09:00.001-07:00

U.S. denies financial aid to Bolivia over Copenhagen boycott

2010-04-15T09:07:00.001-07:00

Senator Inhofe Gets DOE Funds to Change his Mind

2010-02-19T16:57:00.000-08:00

Recovery Act stimulus funding for a technology that will make geothermal power available in every state is being invested in Senator Inhofe’s Oklahoma by the Department of Energy’s Geothermal Technologies Program, in a $3 million R&D program to increase the volume of hot rock from which heat can be extracted. tweetmeme_url="http://cleantechnica.com/2010/02/18/

How Fort Irwin Just Signed The Largest Solar Farm in Dept of Defense History: 1,000 MW

2009-10-17T14:51:00.000-07:00

Written by Susan Kraemer Published on October 16th, 2009 Posted in business, solar energy In a win-wIn move for

60% of US States Could Supply 100% of Their Own Power From Renewable Energy, New Rules Project Shows

2009-10-17T14:46:00.000-07:00

Written by Susan Kraemer Published on October 17th, 2009 Posted in policy, solar energy, wind energy Using just

Bugs Will Fly You to Europe By 2030 Says Boeing

2009-06-08T11:31:00.000-07:00

September 2008:Bugs won't be piloting the plane, obviously, because bugs can't get pilot licenses. I hope I didn't give you that impression. But they will be fueling it. Microbes will be fueling aircraft, says Boeing and algae will be the dominant aircraft fuel by 2023.Darrin Morgan, who handles Boeing's biofuels strategy says Boeing has now established feasibility, and commercial production

Ancient Tiles to Solar Power Your Home

2009-05-06T07:06:00.000-07:00

These gorgeous Solé Power Tiles are designed to capture and convert sunlight into cost-saving electricity without compromising aesthetics. They incorporate UNI-SOLAR thinfilm flexible solar cells shaped into exaggerated traditional clay tile shapes.The flexible “triple-junction” solar cells absorb a comparatively broader range of the sun’s rays than conventional modules, allowing them to generate

Cube House Displaces Landscape to Roof

2009-05-06T07:02:00.000-07:00

Here's a really interesting idea.Build a huge white box house, and take the lawn it displaces and just move it up a level.Literally “carve out” a piece of the grass-covered site that is used by the building footprint, move it up and treat it as the roofing. Then arrange all the usual required functions 0f the house underneath.What is most extraordinary about this design, though, is that the huge

Existentially Scary Freeway Home for a Meltdown Economy

2009-04-21T11:41:00.000-07:00

Architectural works are often described as "stunning!". Taking that impact one very giant step further, here is a very surreal work by Ensamble Studio (engineered by Inorganic Matter Company) that is frankly designed to not merely stun — but to actually alarm.Almost every angle, material and juxtaposition in this home is designed to make you frighteningly uncomfortable. Unstable. Uneasy. The

Harsh Home to Survive Australian Climate Change

2009-04-03T08:46:00.000-07:00

Here’s another house designed to supply all of its own needs in the harsh Australian outback in an uncertain climate future: Kangaroo Valley House. This home away from home is designed by the prolific Australian architect Alexander Michael to manage and thrive completely on its own.(Michael is a bit of a survival fetishist: he makes his pied a terre in the city in a reconstituted nuclear

Planet-Cooling Technology at Your Fingertips

2009-02-11T18:30:00.000-08:00

Here's a charmingly altruistic idea for those of us who would love to help to green the grid to cool the planet but just can't afford to invest in a full roof of solar panels just to lavish lots of climate-friendly electrons on others.The Inlet-Outlet plug.Lets say you have a little roll-up solar panel or solar-topped table or solar backpack charger that you regularly abandon at home while you

TH!NK EV Saved! Made in America 2010?

2009-02-01T00:16:00.000-08:00

In December, amidst much gleeful hand-wringing schadenfreude, the imminent demise of all the alternative car companies and electric vehicle start-ups was all over the intertubes, as our second Gilded Age crashed this fall into "the worst depression since the Great Depression".Headlines full of screeches like "Oh no! Tesla sedan delayed five minutes! Now surely they will go out of business!" "

Prius Powers Home in Ice Storm

2009-02-01T00:02:00.000-08:00

Ice Storm Victim Improvises Prius-to-Home Energy GeneratorA Massachusetts man - faced with no power in the recent ice storm, powered up the family Prius to create electricity: The hybrid car made enough electricity to run the essentials; the fridge, the lights, the TV, the wood-stove fan. During the power outage, it supplied 17 Kilowatt hours of energy to his home for three days.How did he do it?

Your Clothes Dryer could Make Electricity Too

2009-01-31T23:48:00.000-08:00

Clothes dryers throw off waste heat that could be a useful form of energy --if it could just be harnessed.Even enough energy to run half of all your household appliances. Co-generation; sometimes called combined heat and power (CHP) is already starting to be used by factories and data centers to save energy by creating both heat and power. But until now, low heat has not been harnessed in

Inventor Wants to Geo-Engineer a Planetwide "Refrigerator"

2009-01-07T12:19:00.000-08:00

Bailing out the entire human race might turn out to be cheaper than bailing out Wall Street:Spray gigatons of seawater into the air, mainly in the Northern Hemisphere, and let Mother Nature do the rest, suggests inventor Ron Acer in a patent petition for "a colossal refrigeration system with a 100,000-fold performance multiplier.""The Earth has a giant air-conditioning problem," he said. "I'm

The Synergy of Solar Panels and Greenery

2008-12-18T11:12:00.000-08:00

Solar panels don't have to fight for space on green roofs. Two experts suggest combining solar with green roofs works best.If a solar roof is placed over plants, both the roof and the plants do better. The plants make the solar panels more efficient, because their evaporation cools the back of the exposed panels. Solar panels work better when they are cool.Likewise, the dappled shade that the

Investors Demand Climate Risk Disclosure

2008-12-17T11:59:00.000-08:00

Investors are becoming increasingly concerned about potential regulatory risks and economic dangers in a carbon-constrained world A group of 65 leading US investors with collective assets totaling $7 trillion has teamed up with the European investment management firm, F&C Investment to put a halt to Wall Street financial regulators softening of the rules on tar sands reserves disclosed by oil and

I've Got Mine

2008-12-10T09:50:00.001-08:00

It is well known of course that the rich and their descendants will be completely immune to climate change. Thus, many of them have been driving efficiency-challenged cars that carelessly drain the last of the world's oil, making their carbon footprint heavier than that of lesser beings.So, from a climate-change point of view; who better to target with the security of their own driveway supply to

A $50 Billion CalCars Plan to Save Detroit

2008-12-10T08:10:00.000-08:00

As the age of oil ends we have stopped buying the cars Detroit makes, so now they don't have the money to build the fuel efficient vehicles we do need.Yet many near-term solutions such as the Volt (which had been on track for 2010) could have driven us out of the age of oil. We have come to an impasse.An interesting idea CalCars founder Felix Kramer is proposing would be a way to generate $50

Let's Pay Detroit To Bring Their Gas Sipping Cars Home To The U.S.A.

2008-12-04T10:48:00.000-08:00

Who hasn't been enraged to read about how Ford and G.M. can make perfectly good little gas sippers in Europe, but just can't bring themselves to make a fuel efficient car for us back home?Well, now that they need some funding from us, here's an idea. Let's fund Detroit just to set up their efficient European car factories — back here, where they are really needed. Let's get some better gas

Life-form with Million Year Lifespan

2008-12-02T11:51:00.000-08:00

Microbes Devise Superior Evolutionary Strategy One of the prerequisites for us humans to achieve interstellar travel is faster spaceships. But what if we could do the opposite: what if instead we could evolve as slower people?Imagine us with million year lifespans. Imagine if we lived on a geologic timescale.If we could live a million years, then travel to a star 60,000 light years away would

LEED to Rate Solar-Powering Your City: Worthless

2008-11-27T16:46:00.000-08:00

Or they they will… unless you weigh in:California has a requirement that all new buildings be zero carbon by 2020; every electron a building uses must come from power generated onsite. Obama plans the same requirement nationwide by 2030. So you would think that to meet their new neighborhood certification, on-site renewable energy would be a LEED requirement, not just an option. But it won’t be.

The Real Wall Street Bailout

2008-11-26T07:49:00.000-08:00

A mere few centuries after they founded Nieuw Amsterdam , a distant settlement that came to be known as New York City; the worlds leading experts in sea-level adaptations may see their former colony drowned. But will Dutch dykes be enough to save Nieuw Amsterdam?Beginning with just over three feet of sea level rise, the impact on the US would be calamitous, having the potential to destabilize

Wildfire-Proof Prefab Camp Closes Up When You're Gone

2008-11-20T07:39:00.000-08:00

If you live in dangerous drought conditions, wildfires are a worry.So imagine a campsite dwelling designed so that you can easily just close it up entirely, completely concealed inside a fireproof sheath, whenever you are away. It is perfect for sites like this isolated area of drought-ridden Australia.When closed, this prefab is completely sheathed in copper. This protects the 10 x10 foot

Rensselaer Researchers Nano-Engineer Solar to ‘Near Perfect’ Efficiency

2008-11-17T22:16:00.000-08:00

Nano-engineering students at Rensselaer have created a solar power game-changer: more than 96% absorption of sunlight from all angles, from sunrise to sunset. The two biggest efficiency hurdles for solar efficiency have been: 1. Solar cells absorb only part of the light spectrum.2. The sun always moves in relation to the panel. To solve problem number one, researchers nano-invented an

Homo Sapiens Redesign: Homo Sustainabilius

2008-11-17T19:23:00.000-08:00

I just knew Mother Nature would figure something out! The 6 Billion of us is such a tight squeeze on this planet, with our unsustainable ways!Ecologists say that eventually climate change will shrink all species. They don't say, but, well, won't that include our own species?It turns out the degradation of environments around the world due to climate change is limiting food availability, and as a

A Federal Investment Bank For Renewable Energy

2008-11-16T08:15:00.000-08:00

With the current financial crisis, the US has become like a typical third world nation –it’s now practically impossible to get investment debt financing, even for renewable energy for electricity we need, and with the paybacks of solar, geothermal and wind power. Ever since the 60’s, the US Government has helped developers and lenders finance projects in the developing world where commercial

How to Build a Zero Carbon America Fast

2008-11-15T09:47:00.000-08:00

Here's an idea for legislation to get more solar roofs up fast and cheaply, even during the current financial meltdown:How? Write a law saying that if homeowners want to put in a solar roof, then their utility MUST then forward their electricty bill payments to the solar company till the roof has been paid off by the homeowner, and the utility MUST accept the electrons being added to their grid

Obama Wins The Nano Vote Too

2008-11-11T09:56:00.000-08:00

We know that 76 Nobel Laureates endorsed Obama.So much for Big Science.But what about little science?Very teeny?Elections do have consequences for every aspect of science, from the greatest Nobel Laureates to the humblest specks of nano stuff.Looks like they went heavily Obama, too.And no wonder, with the war on science we just survived.The kind assistant Professor John Hart of the University of

Lightweight Metal Foam Makes Autos Safer

2008-11-09T14:30:00.000-08:00

Almost half a million invested by the National Science Foundation over the last 5 years has just yielded a space age material so light and strong that it makes a 28 mile per hour crash feel like a gentle fender blip at 5 mph. Afsaneh Rabiei has invented a metal foam with such a high strength-to-density ratio that it could revolutionize the auto industry. She says it isn't the first metal foam,

Hand-Build an Earth Sheltered House For $5,000

2008-11-01T09:33:00.000-07:00

Cash, that most basic element of our economy, can be in abysmally short supply for new young families scraping by on marginal jobs. Sustainable housebuilding may not be foremost in their minds.But one young couple in Wales managing on an annual income of just $10,000 went ahead and built their own cheap home anyway, sustainably, mostly out of materials from “a rubbish pile somewhere.”They had

World's First Ocean Powered Continent?

2008-11-01T08:02:00.000-07:00

More than a third of Australia's power could be generated by wave technology, according to a report just filed by the engineers who provide scientific measurements for, of all things, the offshore oil industry.This would make Australia the first entire continent that could actually get a good chunk of its power from wave energy. RPS MetOcean, the oceanographic measurement firm found that the

Heartland State Funds A Post-Ethanol Economy

2008-10-28T20:10:00.001-07:00

A Midwestern state ferments a new brew with a $150 million investment in new bio energytechnologiesWisconsin is a corn ethanol state, and the people of Wisconsin currently pay $19 billion a year out of state to get 70% of their electricity from coal. But they are about to change both of these energy sources and move to a more sustainable economy for their future.Governor Jim Doyle plans to invest

What Little Solar Learned From Big Ethanol

2008-10-14T14:17:00.000-07:00

Long-term stable energy legislation for biofuels propelled us to world leadership -- if only we could apply that lesson to the other renewablesThere are two ways to create bad energy policy: with bad legislation, or with constantly changing legislation.Frequent changes make long-range planning impossible. Stable policy provides clear benefits for industries that receive it.One example in this

That 20 Tons You Are Trying To Lose?

2008-10-13T14:20:00.000-07:00

Ambient carbon capture breakthrough could scrub the typical 20 ton U.S. carbon footprint. In a demonstration based on research conducted at the University of Calgary in Canada, climate scientist David Keith and a team of researchers showed that they can scrub carbon dioxide from the air, using a relatively simple machine. They have filed two provisional patents on their simple, reliable and

Did Europe Just Bid Olde King Coal Adieu?

2008-10-12T14:27:00.000-07:00

Tough vote today by EU Parliament limits new power plants without carbon capture and storage: essentially bringing to an end the long reign of Olde King Coal.Our carbon footprint in California is just 11 tons. That is not because we are more virtuous than the rest of America, with its 22 ton footprint. We are just blessed with legislation that has effectively outlawed coal as a significant

Ivory Tower Bad Boys Rough Up Silicon

2008-10-12T10:04:00.000-07:00

Harvard's startup SiOnyx attacks silicon with laser-pulses for 500 times more solar powerMost of the semiconductor industry’s effort goes toward making silicon as pure as possible. But nearly ten years ago Harvard graduate students in physics professor Eric Mazur's lab accidentally discovered the opposite approach worked better: finding that it can actually be more useful be to create silicon

Industrial Park Is Recyled Into A Zero Carbon Town

2008-10-11T16:08:00.000-07:00

There are only four other such zero carbon towns worldwide: the fifth OnePlanet community takes shape near rural PetalumaWe are all familiar with those signs by freeways that say 'If you lived here, you could be home by now.' Usually you've already been sweltering in the late afternoon commute for half an hour before you see one, and your reaction tends to be -- after all that, so what?Well, if

Unsold Coal Is Piling Up In China's Harbors

2008-10-09T17:42:00.000-07:00

Worldwide slump apparently reducing demand for the fossil fuel.An official with Qinhuangdao harbor in China said Friday that the northern China harbor (the largest in the country) has a coal pileup that is increasing by 100,000 tons a day, according to China Daily. By mid-September, Qinhuangdao's coal stockpile stood at more than 8 million tons: 3 million tons more than regular levels. In the

Like Taking Cars Off The Road

2008-10-08T17:31:00.000-07:00

Don't tell Rush Limbaugh!How many times have you heard some environmental benefit or other described as being the equivalent of taking x number of cars off the road? After you've heard it for the umpteenth time, you start to wonder if that's the real plan: to simply forcibly remove cars off the road. Well, wonderers -- you're right. That is the plan. In Beijing.As George Bush puts it so well,

When A Tree Falls In The Forest... Now We Will Know

2008-10-08T13:36:00.000-07:00

A clever new MIT technology taps into tree power to provide an early warning system to alert us to dangerous tinder conditions in the forestIf forest sensors existed, they could warn of forest fires and especially dry, dangerous conditions. But forests are typically short on electronic gadgetry and sockets for plugging in such electronic warning devices.Needed: a low tech solution.It has been

Cap And Trade Births Carbon -Free Economy

2008-10-04T18:06:00.000-07:00

At a time when the economy is in crisis, a regional cap and trade program generates $39 million for zero emissions projects:Last week ten states, joining together as the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, or RGGI, hosted the first US auction of carbon credits that netted the states $39 million between them to invest in renewable energy, in a cap and trade auction that will now be held

Hot Data Servers Can Warm A Winter Greenhouse

2008-10-01T12:16:00.000-07:00

We recycle everything else: so why don't we reuse heat?Computer servers create a lot of warmth — so much so that keeping them cooled to 70 degrees is a major expense for data centers.Remember Google's clever idea to float data servers on the cold cold sea, and pump all that deep cold water up and around their data farms to keep them cool? Well, here is the reverse idea: Just as data farms need

Lloyds Warns Of Climate Change Risk

2008-09-30T18:26:00.000-07:00

Insurers predict losses as high as $150 Billion for Australian coastal propertiesA new report published by Lloyd's and Risk Management Solutions warns that without adaptation, insurance losses from coastal flooding for high-risk properties could double by 2030.Lloyd's chief executive Richard Ward says: ''With over half the world's population expected to live within 100 kilometres of the coastline

Bailout Failure Brings Last Chance For Renewables

2008-09-30T18:21:00.000-07:00

In Wall Street woes, a ray of hope for renewable energySen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.), chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, offered new hope this morning that House Democrats might now be more open to compromise in the wake of the defeat of a $700 billion Wall Street bailout package, which sent the stock market plummeting more than 700 points. Economic experts warn that millions of Americans

Renewable Energy Endangered As Congress Ends

2008-09-30T11:24:00.000-07:00

House-Senate impasse jeopardizes extension of expiring renewable energy tax credits in final four days.Last week the Senate passed the first ever clean energy bill with a presidential veto-proof majority, a well constructed renewable energy bill that ensured the stable growth of the wind industry and solar power and other renewable energy sources.They were able to bypass the Republican clean

House Fully Funds Renewable Energy Act, Possibly Sinks It

2008-09-26T17:03:00.000-07:00

Clean energy has high peaks to scale to bypass Republican resistance back in the filibuster-prone SenateThis afternoon, the House with its large majority of Democrats easily passed H.R. 7060, the Renewable Energy and Job Creation Tax Act of 2008, that had passed the Senate last week as The Renewable Energy and Extension Act of 2008.Yippee ! right? Sadly, no.No, now it goes back to the Senate

Computers Go Anywhere, So You Don't Have To

2008-09-26T11:56:00.000-07:00

Cisco and Amsterdam start a satellite system of multiple Smart Work Centers near home for computer workersIf you're like me ---and probably half the American work force, a computer is your workspace.So imagine, if instead of driving 20 miles to get to that computer you did the same job but telecommuted from a fully equipped communal office set up a mere 15 minute walk from your home?Currently, we

Investors Demand Climate Risk Disclosure

2008-09-26T07:06:00.000-07:00

McCain's Green Talk Contradicts His Actions

2008-09-26T06:27:00.000-07:00

At a Clinton Global Initiative event, McCain again convinces the media to report a green-friendly position.On Thursday, Senator John McCain participated in an event sponsored by the Clinton Global Initiative in New York. He used the event to present himself as someone who is allied with Democrats like Gore and Clinton and other movers and shakers on clean energy."McCain declared his support for

On Ninth Attempt Democrats Pass Clean Energy Provisions

2008-09-23T23:28:00.000-07:00

Only one third of the 2007 Energy Bill made it through the split Senate last December. Tonight, a good part of the remainder flopped across the finish line.After multiple attempts, last night the Senate succeeded in passing the Baucus-Grassley Energy Improvement and Extension Act of 2008 on the ninth attempt for most of its renewable energy provisions. The difficulty of passing these provisions

Want 48 MPG In Your Ford F-150? You Got It!

2008-09-23T16:36:00.000-07:00

If you own a fleet of F-150's now you can get them souped up to plug-in hybridsThis week Canadian conversion company Envia announced another first: their plug-in hybrid conversion of the Ford F-150. They already convert these into all-electric vehicles, as I noted last month.Now they also offer a plug-in hybrid conversion alternative to their fully electrified Fords, tuning up the world's most

Can A Mining Truck Be Carbon Neutral?

2008-09-23T13:39:00.000-07:00

A dumptruck-load of iron for a wind turbine will provide energy for more than 100 years: now Caterpillar will dig it up with a giant EVWhile it's not the pleasantest prospect for a treehugger like me to dwell on, there is stuff we need to dig out of the earth, even to build the clean power economy.I am not thinking here of tar-sands, oil or coal, because we can substitute clean power for these

Recycled Plastic Dutch EV Wins Econcern Award

2008-09-22T18:38:00.000-07:00

Cradle-to-cradle featherweight Dutch EV van gets 90 miles per charge and goes to 75 MPHHere's another European EV we should be watching, now that GM's chairman has tipped us off on the inside dope (I'm hoping) on government plans to tear down the NHTSA wall that prevents us from having access to all the carbon neutral driving options popping up under ECE rules.The QUICC! DiVa (which started life

The Other Sub-Prime Investment - Tar Sands

2008-09-19T22:39:00.000-07:00

With 3 times the CO2 of gasoline how can tar sands pan out in the carbon constrained world of tomorrow? Products derived from tar sands, which have three times the carbon emissions of traditional gasoline, are a risky investment, because new low carbon fuel standards will increasingly close off sections of the American market.Requirements that alternative fuels must be at least 20% lower in

Why Move Your Green Business To A Brown State

2008-09-19T13:40:00.000-07:00

Miles expands to Montana and ZAP moves to Kentucky: NEV sales surge, and better yet...Like most new startup companies, Miles EV is headquartered in a "Green" state: one that promotes innovation in the new green economy.Miles is one of several EV startups in California. It builds neighborhood electric vehicles: speed-limited to 25 mph, for customers like NASA, UCLA and CalState Polytech.But

Who Will Pay The Costs Of Climate Change?

2008-09-19T09:30:00.000-07:00

Coastal regions worldwide facing rising sea-levels are beginning to practice triageIt's easy to think that sea-level rise is some remote and distant threat only faced by far away people who live in places like the Tuvalu Islands in the South Pacific which is having to evacuate to New Zealand as tidal floods increasingly cover their crops in seawater.But right in the Bay Area, the Sacramento

12 Year-Old Invents Better Solar Cell

2008-09-19T09:21:00.000-07:00

Able to harness 500 times the light of current technology!While inventors three times his age are struggling with the constant effort to improve solar cell efficiency, one 12-year-old boy may have found the holy grail. Others improve current solar cell efficiency by 30 percent or forty percent, but young William Yuan, 12, has blasted that away with an efficiency improvement of an astounding 500

Tesla Mulling SUV At $20,000?

2008-09-18T16:01:00.000-07:00

Elon Musk, Tesla's Guru mulls the next move: lots of tree-huggers will be very happy to hear of his EV plans! AutoblogGreen brings exciting news today about the next step for the California startup that shook up the auto industry with its successful launch this Spring of the all electric Tesla Roadster. But since none of us can actually afford that, we wait with baited breath to hear of the

Uh-Oh: Heat Waves Reduce Carbon Uptake

2008-09-18T15:57:00.000-07:00

Turns out carbon sinks don't work so well in hotter weather, and woops: isn't that just what's in our planetary forecast?In research published in Nature on Wednesday, scientists have found that plants and soil can take up to two years to recover from heat-waves, greatly reducing their carbon uptake.The scientists carved out miniature eco systems in chambers about 8 feet by four feet with their

How Obama Has Voted On Clean Energy

2008-09-17T11:46:00.000-07:00

There is a real choice this year between these two presidential candidates on clean energy. This year, as we are now at 7 years to tipping point on climate change, the color of your president matters for the first time. There is only one candidate who is green.As the companion piece to McCain's 50 votes against clean energy, by comparison, I list below how Obama voted on the same bills. I will

The Safest Investment: Natures Utilities

2008-09-17T08:49:00.000-07:00

We see what happens when financial markets make poor investments. "What investors thought was safe as houses has turned out to be nothing more than the property of the poor disguised in a silver wrapper, enabling bankers to pocket billions."The BBC's Green Room this morning has a better idea: Why don't we invest in "Natures Capital"? Forests are a giant planetary utility, performing a service

Nanotech Boost For Lithium Batteries

2008-09-16T19:22:00.000-07:00

Five-fold increase in battery capacity from six year old firmThe Santa Ana based startup nano-tech firm QuantumSphere Inc said today it has filed for a patent on a technology that can increase the capacity of rechargeable lithium-ion batteries as much as fivefold.Laptops with a single charge could last up to 12 hours, rather than the few hours a charge gets now. Electric vehicles are limited

Google Floats Wave-Powered Data-Center Idea

2008-09-16T12:36:00.000-07:00

Pelamis/Google combination will use the ocean to cool dataGoogle has filed a patent for the rather brilliant idea of a deep-water cooled data center, and describes it, here."A system that includes a floating platform-mounted computer data center comprising a plurality of computing units, a sea-based electrical generator in electrical connection with the plurality of computing units, and one or

Big Oil Not So Big Any More

2008-09-16T08:52:00.000-07:00

International oil companies' share has dropped from over half of all world resources, to just 7 percent.Most people are familiar with the figures on US share of world oil consumption versus world oil production: that we produce a mere 3 percent, but consume 25 percent of world oil supplies.However, there is an even more startling figure, in light of this. Since 2005, the share of world oil

Obama Plans Zero Energy Buildings Nationwide By 2030

2008-09-16T07:22:00.000-07:00

Obama's energy plan includes zero energy building codes nationwide for all new buildings starting by 2030, when buildings must then produce all their own energy.California has already legislated this starting by 2020.Architects already meet energy efficiency standards like title 24 in California: zero energy buildings are an easy next step for them.Laws like Title 24 work to save money in the

Marine "Highways" Will Be More Fuel Efficient

2008-09-14T16:15:00.000-07:00

But some proposed new "navigable waterways " seem questionableThe Department of Transportation plans to establish a national network of short sea transportation routes as a way of easing congestion on some of the nation's busiest roads, according to GreenCarCongress.Using the mighty Mississippi seems like a great idea for relatively low carbon transportation, but some of the proposed routes seem

Desalination Using Just Sunshine, Wind And Seawater

2008-09-12T23:00:00.000-07:00

This amazingly simple and gorgeous utility scale solar-powered desalination plant also functions as a naturally cooled outdoor ampitheatre.Paton's huge renewable desalinator, the Teatro Del Agua is explained by Paton in this youtube video. Paton describes how the project engineering works, and bears witness that solutions to water also solve the problems of the planet.Grimshaw, the architects

Air-Conditioning Cities With Deep Water

2008-09-12T22:56:00.000-07:00

Virtually any city or town next to a lake, ocean or river could pump chilled water from the depths for natural air coolingChina is considering using deep ocean water to aircondition Hong Kong.The high rise office buildings of Hong Kong; man-made "cliffs"-- are right next to the ocean. This makes it easy to cool them, by leveraging the differential between the cold ocean depths and warm surface

Could Fuel Costs Finally Ground Us?

2008-09-12T22:53:00.000-07:00

The friendly skies of yesteryear are just not so friendly anymore. Worldwide, airlines are in serious trouble due to fuel costs.Jet fuel now accounts for 36 percent of the industry's costs, up from 13 percent just six years ago, and could account for 40 percent of the airlines' costs next year. No one is suggesting that the industry is about to go bust - yet - but there is a feeling that things

So much sun, so many people, so much heat...

2008-09-12T22:48:00.000-07:00

So, wouldn't you think that surely someone should have come up with a solar air conditioner by now?Well, someone has.GreenCore Air has come up with the solar-panel powered AC that can cool a 600 square foot room and is powered by a single 170 watt solar panel.It already runs on DC power, so there's no need for users to put an AC inverter between the solar panel and the air conditioner, sparing

McCain's 50 Votes Against Clean Energy

2008-09-12T07:27:00.000-07:00

Senator McCain projects an image at odds with the reality of his votes on clean energy, as the 50 votes listed here show.At the democratic convention last month, Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer said Republican presidential nominee John McCain's congressional actions towards clean energy and environmental protection were inconsistent with his campaign promises of environmental stewardship . "

Microbes Grow Jet Fuel In The Dark

2008-09-11T08:08:00.000-07:00

Solarzyme passes test with flying colors: their algae jet fuel grown in the dark won't freeze solid in flightThe South San Francisco company Solazyme announced this week that it has produced the world's first microbial-derived jet fuel to pass the eleven most challenging specifications needed to meet the Aviation Turbine Fuel standards.Solazyme's algal-derived aviation fuel was analyzed by the

The End Of Newspapers?

2008-09-10T16:34:00.000-07:00

In green measure,newspapers consider publishing subscribed content on electronic news-readers to eliminate newsprint entirelyNewsprint editions of newspapers are suffering decreased circulation. And no wonder. You can't click on a link in a newspaper, or subscribe to rss feeds of only the kinds of news you are interested in following. So they are dull. And whats worse, after all that, and

Magnetic Strips To Steer Automated Buses

2008-09-10T16:32:00.000-07:00

UCBerkeley's PATH innovation will bring us driverless buses for speed and a more efficient use of available space on roadwaysThe innovative UC Berkeley PATH team partly funded by DARPA, has successfully tested their automated magnetic guidance system to speed up bus systems and the traffic around them. Bus drivers would still decide when to go faster or slower, and could take full control at any

Lets bring The Ford Ka Home

2008-09-10T00:28:00.000-07:00

I never used to follow the European green car news about all those choices Europeans have in fuel efficient vehicles, because that just made me mad: they have so many choices and we have so few.But last week, startlingly, Big Auto itself revealed that it shared my fury, despite having created those blocks against imports in the first place, for protection: GM's Lutz last week demanded that we "

Geothermal Heat Pump Business Up 50% In Canada

2008-09-09T08:52:00.000-07:00

Canada's Geothermal heat pump sales have grown an astounding 50% since last year, and it' s helping to boost the growth of US companies too. Indiana based Waterfurnace Renewable Energy reported in August that offsetting the U.S. housing crunch, they have seen a surge in sales north of the border. "Canadian sales were up 119 per cent versus the same quarter last year. Ontario has grown the most.

Hot New Green Collar Job: Auditor!

2008-09-06T13:24:00.000-07:00

Must be able to compute costs and benefits of intangible commodities (and detect fraudulent ones)Foolish eco-guilt-ridden carbon-offset purchasers pay $34,000 to a landfill company to flare methane! That is the smirking message of a Washington Post story citing a perfect case of preventable offset fraud.In this case, not only did the landfill operator admit that the funding was redundant, "But

You Could Drive The Mars Car Off A Cliff

2008-09-06T10:54:00.000-07:00

A pneumatic entrant for the XPrize is made from the polymer that cushioned NASA's rovers in soft Mars landingNot only is this thing safe flying over cliffs, but it will also be able to float through all our flooded cities. And I do see more floods in our future, don't you?Once the XPCar succeeds in winning the X-Prize this year - and it's certainly got my vote - it will be easier for this

Solar Icemaker Leaves Zero Carbon Footprint

2008-09-06T08:34:00.000-07:00

It's hard to imagine using solar power to cool, rather than to heat something, but thats what this improbable sounding solar ice-cube maker sets out to do.A team of engineering students from San Jose State University has solved this apparently contradictory idea in a design for an ice-maker that leaves no carbon footprint at all. A must-have for the many places where electricity has been a luxury

Inhofe Reveals Why McCain Greenwashes His Record

2008-09-05T16:26:00.000-07:00

Asked whether McCain is a perpetrator or mere victim in the "greatest hoax", Inhofe makes a startling admissionIn a televised debate yesterday, Senator Inhofe was asked an interesting question. Referring to his worldfamous comment that global warming is the greatest hoax ever perpetrated on the American People, he was asked whether he viewed John McCain as a “victim” of the hoax or a “

Smart Gets A Charge Out Of Olde Berlin

2008-09-05T13:30:00.000-07:00

In the largest fieldtest to date, the German electric utility RWE is teaming up with Daimler to test EV charging aparatus with 100 Smart electric test vehicles driving around Berlin today. RWE will be installing 500 such charging station around Berlin, at workplaces and in public parking areas, but also, in an unusual development, at customers homes.To pay the utility for electrons there will be

Boeing Says Bugs Will Fly You To Europe By 2023

2008-09-04T17:05:00.000-07:00

Bugs won't be piloting the plane, obviously, because bugs can't get pilot licenses. I hope I didn't give you that impression. But they will be fueling it. Microbes will be fueling aircraft, says Boeing and algae will be the dominant aircraft fuel by 2023.Darrin Morgan, who handles Boeing's biofuels strategy says Boeing has now established feasibility, and commercial production will soon begin.

Building breathes, sweats, through 'skin'

2008-09-04T16:59:00.001-07:00

The French/Brazilian architecture firm Triptyque designs a unique self-misting green building: the Harmonia 57Like a living body, this building breathes, sweats, grows new skin and modifies itself.The walls are thick and will be covered externally by a green layer that works like the skin of the structure. Unlike the brick walls of an ivy-covered building, these porous concrete walls are actually

GM's Lutz Demands - "Tear Down This Wall!"

2008-09-04T16:44:00.000-07:00

Detroit comes up with an easy solution:"We should suspend U.S crash-testing requirements in order to allow Detroit to speed our fuel-efficient European models to the U.S. market"A virtual "iron curtain" of NHTSA regulations prevent GM from being allowed to selling GM's high-mileage European cars in America. GM chairman Bob Lutz says:“In Europe, the crash-test procedures are different than in

Self Powered Jungle Eco City In Costa Rica

2008-09-04T15:42:00.000-07:00

Cool and spacious cave-like condo dwellings are dug out of the hillside overlooking the ocean to create a city in the jungle, reflecting an optimistic vision of the future that combines sustainable design and a healthy quality of life.Each of the 16 Green House residences includes its own individually titled, free-hold lot ranging from 1,500 sq meters to over half acre, in a nation that does not

Desalinated Seawater Greenhouse Cools Desert Agriculture

2008-09-04T08:30:00.000-07:00

Seawater Greenhouse uses the sun, the sea and the atmosphere to produce fresh water and cool air where it is needed most: in the desert.Greenhouses usually provide warm growing conditions in cooler climates. But why not use the idea in reverse to make growing crops possible in inhospitably hot climates. Thats the idea invented by Charlie Paton and engineered by Philip Davies in their Seawater

Japanese Hotsprings Resort Protests Geothermal Power

2008-09-03T08:49:00.000-07:00

Local tourism workers fear that nearby geothermal drilling could dry up tourist supply for Kusatsu's famous hotsprings resortAbout 1,100 residents of tourist town Kusatsumachi held a protest rally against a plan to build a geothermal power generation plant 2 miles from their famous Kusatsu Onsen (hot springs) resort. More than 90 percent of the villagers earn their living from tourism-related

Climate Change Measures To Boost Economy

2008-09-03T06:44:00.000-07:00

A California study accounts the benefits to accrue as we start to invent solutions to the mother of all necessities.A study quoted in the Sacramento Bee this morning showed that the improvements in fuel and energy efficiency and additional clean technology jobs needed to achieve required emissions reductions would result in a net household savings of up to $500 a year and a net $4 billion gain in

Scientist To Tap River Currents

2008-09-03T06:21:00.000-07:00

The US could sustainably produce electricity from 3.5 million miles of rivers, using "smart materials"An expert in electricity-generating "smart materials" and the author of 22 papers in refereed journals is searching for a way to harness the power of rivers without the ecological consequences of hydroelectric dams.Dr Weiland, Materials Science Professor at the University of Pittsburg has come up

Petrosun And The Algae Boom

2008-09-01T19:18:00.000-07:00

Venture capital investment in algae has jumped from $32 billion last year to $180 billion this yearAlgae investments are clearly not suffering from the economic downturn plaguing such formerly hot investments as bad mortgages. Although the algae biofuel industry is still relatively young, a few companies have established themselves as market leaders.One of these, Arizona oil-company turned algae

How Recycled Batteries Can Light Neighborhoods

2008-09-01T16:19:00.000-07:00

A cheap street lighting idea: the Energy Seed uses our discarded batteries to power streetlightsWhen batteries don't work any more, and we are so wasteful as not to have bought the rechargeables, we should throw them away, right? Wrong.They are not so good in the landfill, so you need to hunt around to find the battery recycling in your neighborhood, and its just an itsy bitsy little thing, and

New Peapod Is Huge

2008-09-01T15:51:00.000-07:00

Because Chrysler's GEM division is already making a neighborhood EV, and because they have obviously invested in designing this entirely new model that learns from the wind tunneling done by Mitsubishi for their iMiEV, and because of the gorgeousness of the resulting design, I think that this is one EV that we will actually get, and lots of them.GEM's old GEM had always looked so tiresomely

UK Auto Industry Cuts Carbon In Half Since Kyoto

2008-09-01T10:07:00.000-07:00

Could just 2 EV delivery-trucks be making the difference?Britain's CO2 emissions from vehicles have gone down by 45 percent since 1999 when they signed Kyoto.And this year, British car manufacturers have cut average CO2 emissions by their biggest ever yearly margin: according to the ninth annual report put out by the British Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders they cut new vehicle

Virgin Amazon Partly Manmade

2008-08-30T08:09:00.000-07:00

The Amazon was apparently clear-cut in the 13th century to build densely packed towns, villages, and hamlets far more organized than medieval Europe.An anthropologist has uncovered dozens of organized, densely packed towns, villages and hamlets dating to the 13th -16th centuries hidden in the Brazilian Amazon. After 15 years of mapping it all out, Heckenberger and his international colleagues

Top Prius Dealer Starts Taking Deposits For PHEVs

2008-08-30T01:51:00.000-07:00

Impatient customers in Palo Alto are putting down $500 for the first Toyota Prius Plug-in due out soon.Felix Kramer of CalCars reports that Magnussen Toyota of Palo Alto in California, one of the top Prius dealers in the US, has begun taking $500 deposits for the plug-in Prius that Toyota announced this week it is now working on completing by 2009. The California activist group CalCars says that

Refilling Dead Sea With Red Sea Could Make Gypsum

2008-08-29T22:34:00.000-07:00

By introducing water of a different density and composition to the Dead Sea, engineers may drastically alter the very thing they are trying to save.From Worldchanging we get news of an attempt to refill the shrinking Dead Sea by piping water in from the neighboring Red Sea.The Dead Sea is unique. More salty than the oceans, it is now actually a lake, like none other in the world. But it has