Environmental Innovation
The Super-Cool Materials that Send Heat to Space
When businessman Howard Bisla was tasked with saving a local shop from financial ruin, one of his first concerns was energy efficiency. In June 2018, he approached his local electricity provider in Sacramento, California, about upgrading the lights. The provider had another idea. It offered to install an experimental cooling system: panels that could stay […]
The City Within a Garden
Some cities are restoring nature and tapping the power of ecosystems to enhance and protect urban life. Cities such as Melbourne, Portland, Oslo, San Francisco and Singapore are embracing a far-reaching shift in their mental models about the city’s relationship to nature. Read the entire article at NextCity. In modern times, the city has […]
Cities Experiment with “Climate Positive” Design
Advocates say we could design city buildings and neighborhoods that cancel out more carbon than they emit, with the right policies and mindset. Cities are crucial to fighting climate change. They occupy only two percent of global land area but have an enormous climate impact, consuming more than two-thirds of global energy and accounting for 70 […]
Cal Polytech Students Prototype CO2 “Sponge”
The team, called CO2 extrACTION, is working to combat climate change through a device that extracts carbon dioxide from the air. Since Winter 2017, they have been working to create a carbon dioxide extraction panel to reduce greenhouse gases and mitigate climate change. The product is now in the prototyping phase, with the goal of an […]
Tech Startups Focusing on Sea Level Rise Adaptation
For a long time, coastal resilience was about building sea walls, elevating homes and renourishing beaches to protect people and property against storm surge. Then came satellites, the cloud and a new generation of tech entrepreneurs with bold ideas for tackling a new and urgent challenge: rapidly rising sea levels and increasingly destructive storms. By using […]
Shifting Attitudes to Win the Global Climate Battle
We are in a race against time. We are making dramatic progress in decarbonizing our economies, but dangerous climate impacts are also coming at us faster than predicted. We need concerted action now, in all major economies, to accelerate the transformation of a world that currently relies on fossil fuels for more than 80 percent […]
Designers vs. Climate Change
Like a growing number of her peers, architect Stephanie Horowitz believes in the design community’s inherent responsibility to address climate issues. So much so that her firm works only with clients who want to build or retrofit buildings that aim for net-zero energy use. Read the entire article at Architectural Digest. “When we meet […]
Ford Goes ‘All In’ on Electric Cars
Ford Motor Co. will more than double spending on electrified vehicles, amplifying its investment in a segment that the auto industry sees growing from what’s now just a fraction of the market. Read the entire article at Bloomberg. The carmaker will shell out $11 billion bringing 40 electrified vehicles to market by 2022, Jim […]
The Fourth Wave of Environmentalism is Innovation
Powered by people and innovation, the emerging Fourth Wave of environmental progress is transforming the way we take on the toughest environmental challenges. Read the entire article at Environmental Defense Fund. Right now: Utilities and communities are using new techniques to make once-hidden environmental problems – like gas leaks and alarming market patterns – not […]
