Miscellaneous
Carbon emissions from US power grid the lowest in 20 years
The commitment by the Obama Administration to cut total CO2 emissions by 28% below 2005 levels by 2025 is within reach. Already this year, emissions from the energy sector are expected to be 15.4% below that threshold. Up to 37% of the cut in power-sector emissions since 2007 is attributed to Read More...
The court case that could shift climate public policies worldwide into high gear
Nearly a quarter of the Netherlands lies below sea-level. Despite becoming an early adopter of climate adaptation strategies, the country lags behind much of the European Union in renewable energy sources. In 2012, 900 Dutch citizens filed a class action lawsuit against their government based on Read More...
Lucid Energy installs hydropower in municipal drinking water pipes
Hydropower has a great advantage over solar and wind energy: it is reliable, typically consistent (unless severe drought dries out rivers and lakes) and easily predictable. What if it could be made more ubiquitous? Portland startup Lucid Energy has imagined harnessing the energy generated by Read More...
Ferrock, the cement that captures carbon from the air, comes to market
Cement, the glue that allows concrete to harden, is responsible for 5% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Because it requires limestone to be heated at very high temperatures, cement production emits about 800 kilos of carbon for every 1,000 kilos of cement it yields. Ferrock aims to make cement Read More...
Seattle-based Gravity Payments raises its minimum wage to $70,000 a year
The United States has one of the world’s largest pay gaps, with chief executives earning nearly 300 times what the average worker makes. Despite new regulation embedded in the financial overhaul that Congress passed in 2010, publicly held companies have yet to disclose the ratio of CEO pay to the Read More...
How cheap street lights help create safe communities
According to the United Nations, 1.5 billion people around the world have to make do either with very poor quality light or no light at all. There are 1.3 billion who rely on kerosene lamps which emit toxic fumes, causing respiratory illnesses and killing an estimated 1.5 million people each year. Read More...
Lima’s engineering students show off creativity in water-harvesting billboard
In Peru, farms struggle with polluted soil and water that leaches heavy metals like lead and arsenic into vegetables. Hydroponics with filtered water is one answer. UTEC, Lima's University of Engineering and Technology, went to work. It put up a billboard that collects and purifies water from the Read More...
Electric cars and combustion engine vehicles reach cost parity 6 years early
Electric cars hooked to renewable sources of energy like roofsolar are a major component of the kind of carbon-free infrastructure required to keep temperatures below the critical ceiling as defined by the International Panel on Climate Change. The good news is that the market for electric cars has Read More...
Nepal leads by example on wildlife conservation
WWF Living Planet Report sounded the alarm, last September, when it revealed that Earth has lost half of its wildlife in the past 40 years due to irresponsible human activity. Damaged ecosystems and shrinking biodiversity constitute a devastating trend for all of humanity as we ultimately depend on Read More...
The sharing economy inspires a new water conservation model in California
California is well into its fourth consecutive year of drought. Governor Jerry Brown called for the state's first mandatory water restrictions just last week, while acknowledging that "there's been fairly inadequate conservation so far.” Groundwater management regulation, which came into effect Read More...