sundance

Green tech finds: Earthships and solar get affordable

Think “green tech” automatically means “expensive?” Nope: costs are dropping on everything from Earthships to solar power.

An affordable Earthship: I’ve been in love with the Earthship building concept for years, but no way I’d ever be able to afford one. That may be changing, though: the “Simple Survival” model Earthship is designed to provide the amenities of these self-sufficient structures without the “mortgage bondage.” Check it out above.

Green tech finds: Recycled guitars and impromptu speakers

Cool concept cars and planes, speakers that turn ordinary objects into amplifiers, and the potential environmental cost of washing your jacket: this week’s green tech finds.

Honda’s very cool, very light electric concept vehicle: Unfortunately, “concept” often means we’ll never see one on the road. Still, Honda’s EV-STER (which rolled out last week at the Tokyo Auto Show, and is pictured above) shows the company combining electric power with light weight (through lots of body elements made from carbon) and sweet styling; maybe they’ll keep thinking this way as they work towards new production vehicles. (via Earth Techling)

Green tech finds (1/13/11)

From green tech at the auto show in Detroit to a potential standard for eco cell phones… your green tech finds for the week.

• Green tech in Detroit: Lots of green technology at the North American International Auto Show; The Street gives a run-down of seven developments worth watching…
  
  
• Crowdsourced environmental video: Dialogue Earth, an organization tied to the University of Minnesota’s Institute on the Environment, has completed a pilot involving “crowdsourcing” environmental science video content (specifically on ocean acidification). See the winner above…
  
  

National Building Competition challenges competitors to “work off the waste”

What’s the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in the United States? Vehicles and energy production receive a lot of attention, but the building sector is actually the biggest contributor to climate change… and 17% of total US emissions come from commercial buildings.

To highlight those facts, and promote building efficiency, the Department of Energy and EPA’s ENERGY STAR program launched the National Building Competition yesterday, which pits fourteen commercial buildings against each other in “a coast-to-coast contest … to save energy and fight climate change.”

Anti-Coal Protesters Block Gates to Capitol Power Plant

WASHINGTON, DC, March 2, 2009 (ENS) – Several thousand demonstrators marched through chilly winds and snow to the Capitol’s coal-fired power plant today in a bid to attract the attention of lawmakers to the dangers of climate change. An estimated 2,500 protesters organized by Capitol Climate Action blocked the five main gates to the Capitol [...]

African Mayors Agree to Combat Climate Change

NAIROBI, Kenya, March 2, 2009 (ENS) – Mayors from 33 capital and major cities across Africa pledged Friday to quicken climate change adaptation and mitigation plans for their cities. Concluding a two-day meeting in Nairobi, the mayors issued the Nairobi Declaration, in which they resolved to integrate these plans into city development strategies. Despite their [...]

Climate Could Cross Critical Threshold by 2100, Expert Warns

CHICAGO, Illinois, February 16, 2009 (ENS) – Without decisive action by governments, corporations and individuals, global warming in the 21st century is likely to accelerate at a much faster pace and cause more environmental damage than predicted, warns a leading member of the Nobel Prize-winning Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. In a business-as-usual world, higher [...]

Lawsuit Forces U.S. Financing Agencies to Account for Climate

SAN FRANCISCO, California, February 7, 2009 (ENS) – Environmental groups and cities won a settlement Friday in a precedent-setting lawsuit that sought to force two U.S. government agencies to address the global warming effects of their overseas financing activities. After more than six years of litigation, the first case of its kind established important legal [...]

EPA Revisits Bush-Era Denial of California Tailpipe Emissions Waiver

WASHINGTON, DC, February 6, 2009 (ENS) – In accordance with President Barack Obama’s order in January, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will reconsider its decision denying California permission to set standards controlling greenhouse gases from motor vehicles. The waiver request was made by California on December 21, 2005, to allow the state the right to [...]

Solar Power Turns on Texas Lawmakers of Both Parties

AUSTIN, Texas, February 2, 2009 (ENS) – Less than a week after the biannual Texas state legislature opened, a bipartisan group of lawmakers today showed their support for a slew of bills promoting the development of solar energy in the state. At least 18 bills have already been filed to support the deployment of solar [...]

Japan Launches World’s First Greenhouse Gas Observing Satellite

TOKYO, Japan, January 23, 2009 (ENS) – The first satellite dedicated to monitoring greenhouse gas emissions as part of global efforts to combat climate change was launched into space today from Japan. The IBUKI, which means “breath,” will circle the globe every 100 minutes at an altitude of some 670 kilometers (416 miles) and will [...]

Without Delay: Congress to Fast-Track Climate Legislation

WASHINGTON, DC, January 15, 2009 (ENS) – The heads of some of America’s largest corporations together with the leaders of five of the country’s largest environmental groups today presented a joint plan to Congress for climate protection legislation. Congressional Democrats met their call for immediate action with assurances that they agree – there is no [...]

EPA Nominee Jackson Promises Science Will Trump Politics

WASHINGTON, DC, January 14, 2009 (ENS) – Scientific integrity and the rule of law will be the “two core values” guiding decisions by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency under the incoming Obama administration, the president elect’s nominee to head the agency vowed today at her confirmation hearing. The promises of nominee Lisa Jackson were met [...]

11 Eastern States Commit to Regional Low Carbon Fuel Standard

HARRISBURG, Pennsylvania, January 6, 2009 (ENS) – Pennsylvania has signed a letter of agreement with 10 other eastern states to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from transportation fuels and other sources by developing a regional low carbon fuel standard. Vehicles using low carbon transport fuels include cars powered by hydrogen fuel cells; electric cars such as [...]

New California Cars Display Smog, Global Warming Scores

SACRAMENTO, California, January 2, 2009 (ENS) – As of January 1, every 2009 model year and newer car built for sale in California will be required to carry a label that clearly ranks the vehicle’s environmental impact. A vehicle’s certification level can be found under the hood on the vehicle emissions control information label. The [...]

Environment Ohio Warns State Economy Vulnerable to Climate Change

COLUMBUS, Ohio, December 18, 2008 (ENS) – Global warming could potentially damage Ohio economic sectors now worth $126.9 billion that provide 1.9 million jobs, according to a new report issued today by the environmental advocacy group Environment Ohio. Entitled “What’s at Stake: How Global Warming Threatens the Buckeye State,” the report details the environmental and [...]

New Jersey Seeks Public Input on Plan to Cut Greenhouse Gases

TRENTON, New Jersey, December 18, 2008 (ENS) – New Jersey environmental officials have released a proposal to reduce the state’s greenhouse gas emissions. Department of Environmental Protection Acting Commissioner Mark Mauriello has invited the public to comment on the recommendations outlined in a draft report published on the state’s Global Warming website. “While this plan [...]

California Rules First in U.S. to Cut Diesel Truck Emissions

SACRAMENTO, California, December 12, 2008 (ENS) – The California Air Resources Board today adopted two regulations aimed at cleaning up harmful emissions from the estimated one million heavy-duty diesel trucks that operate in California. The regulations are the first of their kind in the United States. Heavy-duty big rigs are the largest remaining source of [...]

European Leaders Agree on Climate Change Plan

BRUSSELS, Belgium, December 12, 2008 (ENS) – European leaders today agreed to hold fast to their plan to battle climate change through growth in renewable energy sources and 20 percent cuts in greenhouse gas emissions by 2020, and on ways to share the costs. The plan includes concessions to heavy industry and to countries in [...]

Schwarzenegger Promotes Green Rules to Climate Leaders

POZNAN, Poland, December 8, 2008 (ENS) – Green rules and regulations will help both the climate and the economy, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger today told UN delegates gathered in Poland at The Climate Group’s second annual States and Regions Climate Leaders Summit. “States and provinces have long been at the forefront of developing green technologies [...]

Climate Protesters Occupy Britain’s Stansted Airport

LONDON, UK, December 8, 2008 (ENS) – Protesters from the climate action group Plane Stupid this morning shut down Britain’s third largest airport by cutting through the perimeter fence and camping on the runway, surrounding themselves with fortified security fencing. The protest at Stansted Airport just north of London began at 3:15 this morning while [...]

Construction Industry Could Trim Climate Emissions Cheaply

POZNAN, Poland, December 8, 2008 (ENS) – Energy use in buildings accounts for one-third of global greenhouse gas emissions, but the potential of the construction sector to combat climate change has not been tapped, according to a new report issued by the United Nations Environment Programme. The report was released Saturday to governments meeting in [...]

California Leads States Demanding EPA Tackle Global Warming

SACRAMENTO, California, December 4, 2008 (ENS) – California Attorney General Edmund G. Brown Jr. once again is urging the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to use its authority under the Clean Air Act to combat climate change. With U.S. greenhouse gas emissions rising year after year, according to a report issued this week by the U.S. [...]

U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions Rose by 1.4 Percent in 2007

WASHINGTON, DC, December 3, 2008 (ENS) – Total U.S. greenhouse gas emissions were 7,282 million metric tons carbon dioxide equivalent in 2007 – an increase of 1.4 percent from the 2006 level, federal government figures show. The figures are contained in an annual report titled, “Emissions of Greenhouse Gases in the United States 2007,” released [...]

Environmental Defense Offices Occupied By Climate Activists

WASHINGTON, DC, December 2, 2008 (ENS) – Grassroots climate activists took over the Washington, DC office of the nonprofit group Environmental Defense Monday. Led by Dr. Rachel Smolker, daughter of one of the group’s founders, the late Robert Smolker, the 20 activists were protesting Environmental Defense’s support of carbon trading as a solution to global [...]