The Saudi Arabia of cliches

A view of one of the Saudi Arabias of wind — Texas The US’ discussion over our energy future hasn’t just produced many innovative ideas for harnessing cleaner and renewable sources of power; it’s also given rise to its own collection of cliches.  Arguably, the most prevalent among these is “_______ (a location) is the [...]

Green tech finds (6/18/09)

Deutsche Bank’s online carbon counter

Phones, flashlights, and sweet solar-powered rides… all that and more in this week’s green tech finds.

• Funding priorities: Is a national smart grid the best investment right now? Or would local micro-grids fed by renewable power serve us better?
  
  
• More proof that teenagers do know it all: Fourteen-year-old David S. Dixon built “a street-legal quadricycle with a solar-powered electric motor” for a middle school project. (via Gas 2.0)
  
  

Solar hot water, biogas raise living standards in Cairo’s “Garbage City”

“Trash into treasure” may be a mantra for some eco-minded artists, but for people who dwell in slums around the world, it’s a method for survival. Philanthropist and UCLA Ph.D. student T.H. Culhane believes that the mindset of reuse that exists in one such slum, Cairo’s Garbage City, could be the means to raising the standard of living for its 20,000 residents.