The retail giant’s 2,700 supercenters have a combined roof area that exceeds 500 million square feet — a blank slate that would make any solar installer or module maker salivate. Starting with twenty to thirty sites in California and Arizona, SolarCity will install MiaSolé CIGS and First Solar CdTe panels on these flat roofs. SolarCity [...]
Earth is now home to more than one billion vehicles. That number is expected to hit the two-billion mark within 15 years. In January 2009, more cars were sold in China than in the U.S. Dan Sperling spoke a bit about the future of automobiles at a VC summit hosted by Matt Trevithick of Venrock [...]
Getting individuals and businesses to change the way they interact with their thermostat has become one of the primary goals of utilities, regulators and energy startups. To spur adoption of renewables, incentives have to be properly calibrated. But what works? One of the most successful companies so far in bringing behavioral dynamics to energy is [...]
Snippet from Earth911.com: 5. DIY lava lamp Now you don’t have to take a trip to that creepy Spencer’s store in the mall to go back to your teenage years. OK, we’ll admit that this design from Simple Earth Media doesn’t have the zing that your old $40 lamp had, but it’s no doubt a [...]
Another Everyday minor step: According to Origins, everyday packaging accounts for about one-third of all landfill waste. Cosmetic containers are usually made from plastic #5, or polypropylene. Similar in chemical make-up to plastic #3, this plastic resin is commonly found in everyday products like yogurt cups and bottle caps, but it is often left out [...]
From Wired.com: Product Features Portable and plugs into any outlet with power you can use anywhere in your home Unlike existing micro-inverters, the Sunfish has built-in circuit protection and doesn’t require a dedicated electrical panel No contractors, no installers, no additional wiring, and no drywall to tear out – up and running in about an [...]
Global asset manager Schroders said investors should pay attention to businesses benefiting or likely to benefit from global efforts to ease or adapt to climate change – including companies in China. A China Daily report quoted Schroders as saying that climate change’s consequences will provide attractive investment opportunities, and that it sees China as today’s [...]
The United States must act fast to diversify its electricity-generating technology and eliminate its coal emissions by 2030, according to a study by the Environmental Science & Technology. The study notes that several methods, such as ending fossil fuel subsidies and raising carbon tax, are essential to reach the target within the next two decades. [...]
The World Bank will loan $60 million to aid an afforestation project in Shandong Province in eastern China, which aims to reduce water and soil erosion, protect agricultural land and improve the environment in the province. The Shandong Ecological Afforestation Project will develop about 28,000 hectares of protection forest belts and plantations on saline coastal [...]
“It’s now sexy to be green,” said Bonnie Carlson, president of Promotion Marketing Association, a New York-based trade group. “It’s very fashionable for consumers to say they’re doing something to help the environment.” Yet, as the green movement grows, so does the confusion. Few labeling standards exist to tell consumers which products are really helping [...]