Archives
Federal Utility CEO: Coal plants not reopening under Trump
The CEO of the nation’s biggest public utility said Tuesday that the agency isn’t going to reopen coal-fired power plants under President Donald Trump, who has promised a comeback for the downtrodden coal industry. Tennessee Valley Authority CEO Bill Johnson said he thinks very little will actually change for the federal utility under Trump. TVA […]
Sea Level Rise Refugees
Coastal city residents are not the only people who should be directly concerned about climate change driven sea level rise. With a displacement number as high as 13.1 million people, we must logically think about where those sea level rise refugees will go. And according to a recently published study in Nature, Atlanta, Houston and […]
Saving Seeds for an Uncertain Climate
An organization in California is preserving unusual varieties of fruits and vegetables that might flourish in a warmer climate. When Rowen White was 17 she started working on an organic farm. And she discovered that there was more to the world of fruits and vegetables than what’s for sale in most supermarkets. White: “We […]
Google ‘Street View’ Cars Hunt for Methane
Google gathers images for its street view application by sending cars with cameras to drive through cities and towns. Karin Tuxen-Bettman of Google says some of these cars have been given an additional mission. “While the street view car’s driving around capturing 360-degree imagery of all the public roads it drives on, it’s also capturing methane […]
One Silver Lining to Sea Level Rise
This is the one silver lining of our predicament: If we get adaptation right, we’ll not only preserve our cities – we’ll upgrade them. Global-warming denialists, including, at times, the new US president, claim that climate change isn’t happening. This is abject nonsense – ask anyone who lives near an ocean. They’re all dealing with […]
A German Village Generates 500% More Energy Than It Needs
Wildpoldsried, a Bavarian village of about 2,600 residents, is leading the way in Germany’s extraordinary renewable energy transformation. Over the past 18 years, the village has invested in a holistic range of renewable energy projects that include 4,983 kWp of photovoltaics, five biogas facilities, 11 wind turbines and a hydropower system. As a result, the […]
Preparing for the Future: Lessons From Hurricane Sandy
Ground floor is not quite the term for it. At a new gallery, classroom and office building under construction in the West Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan, the main floor is more than four feet above the ground. This is no mere design conceit. Elevated floors are an imperative in flood-prone areas like the site of the […]
The Solar Singularity
The “solar singularity” is the point where solar becomes so cheap in a majority of countries around the world, that it is established as the default new power source. I’ll cover not only solar, but also battery storage, electric vehicles and self-driving cars, which together constitute the parallel and intertwined revolutions that are set to […]
Rising Waters Threaten China’s Rising Cities
Rushing to catch up after decades of stagnation, China built a gargantuan collection of cities the size of nations with barely a pause to consider their toll on the environment, much less the future impact of global warming. Today, the region is a goliath of industry with a population exceeding 42 million. But while […]
Big Oil Replacing Offshore Rigs with Wind Turbines
Big oil is starting to challenge the biggest utilities in the race to erect wind turbines at sea. Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Statoil ASA and Eni SpA are moving into multi-billion-dollar offshore wind farms in the North Sea and beyond. They’re starting to score victories against leading power suppliers including Dong Energy A/S and Vattenfall AB in competitive […]
