Tech | Grist

Hot Data

Clean-tech and urban renewal in one fell swoop 3
Posted 3 weeks, 3 days ago
Could a green-data collaboration between MIT, EMC, Cisco, and UMass be the shot in the arm that Holyoke, Mass., needs? City leaders hope so. Like, really, really hope.
Same Batshit Channel

The digital TV conversion is here—are you e-ready? 2
Posted 1 month ago
All TV broadcasts have now gone digital. Here's how to green your transition.
This Sachs

We’ve got no choice but nukes and carbon-capture tech, says Jeffrey Sachs 35
Posted 1 month ago
Economist Jeffrey Sachs says carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) technology and nuclear energy will be necessary to avoid catastrophic climate change.
Don't hate, innovate

Boost innovation investments to make Waxman-Markey bill a game-changer 0
Posted 1 month ago
What does the Waxman-Markey bill do to promote clean energy innovation and game-changing technology breakthroughs? Not nearly enough.
Talkin' Bout Cogeneration

Two homeowners, one monster, and a cutting-edge power source 6
Posted 1 month, 3 weeks ago
There's a monster in the basement, but Peter and Edith are going to slay it. They're replacing their outdated furnace with a state-of-the-art micro-cogeneration system -- one of the first used in a residential setting.
The Skyline's the limit

In solar biz, simple and cheap are keys to success 3
Posted 1 month, 3 weeks ago
Skyline Solar says its approach will deliver on the promise of concentrated photovoltaic farms -- producing electricity cheaper than standard solar panels from arrays built closer to cities and power lines.
Runaway Joe

Debate: Roberts v. ‘clean coal’ flack Joe Lucas 0
Posted 1 month, 3 weeks ago
Here's an online debate between me and clean coal spokesflack Joe Lucas, originally run by the PBS show NOW.
Social mediators

10 ways to change the world through social media 2
Posted 1 month, 3 weeks ago
For most of us, social media has changed our lives in some meaningful way. Collectively it is changing the world for good. Check out these ten innovative ways social media is accomplishing this.
Gold in them piles

Businesses struggle to profit from sewage sludge 7
Posted 2 months ago
Part 2 of Grist's series on poop: What if we could use sludge -- the dark brown, complex material that's left over after wastewater is treated -- as energy? Some enterprising businesses are figuring out ways to do just that.
Reflections on Earth Day

Washington state can lead the way to a green economy 6
Posted 2 months, 2 weeks ago
Innovators in Washington state are poised to reverse climate change, make our world safer, and create a green 21st century economy -- all by reducing use of fossil fuels.
How to Green Your Friendly Neighborhood Monopoly

What should Microsoft do on climate? 5
Posted 2 months, 2 weeks ago
Rob Bernard, Microsoft's smartie-pants green dude, says the company has serious ambitions on energy and climate change.
Reaching for the stars

California utility bets on space-based solar power 11
Posted 2 months, 3 weeks ago
Solaren, a stealthy Southern California startup founded by veterans of key players in the military-industrial complex, is betting on space-based solar power. The company's first customer: Pacific Gas & Electric.
Something New Under the Sun

PG&E signs first-of-a-kind space solar power deal 0
Posted 2 months, 3 weeks ago
Not many people I know think space solar is a low-cost, scalable solution.

Certainly it is worth pursuing any genuine low-carbon baseload power source if it can be practical and scalable — and affordable, which I would put at $0.15 a kilowatt hour or less for. The problem with space solar is that, like hydrogen fuel-cell cars, there is little chance it could be affordable until it is massively scaled up ...
A delicious new solar cell technology 0
Posted 2 months, 4 weeks ago
Digging deep for green power

Drill, baby, drill 10
Posted 2 months, 4 weeks ago
Meet Bob Potter, 88. He started his hardware company when he was just 83 with technology that grew out of his work on the Manhattan Project back in the 1940s. Potter Drilling is developing a deep-drilling technology to tap geothermal heat miles below the earth's surface -- heat that could be used to generate carbon-free electricity.
A giant leap for geothermal 0
Posted 2 months, 4 weeks ago
Project P.U.M.A. 2
Posted 3 months ago
Like fairies, unicorns, and clean coal ...

The breakthrough technology illusion 0
Posted 3 months ago
This post will explain why some sort of massive government Apollo program or Manhattan project to develop new breakthrough technologies is not a priority component of the effort to stabilize at 350 to 450 ppm.
Myth: Tackling climate change requires fundamental technological breakthroughs 4
Posted 3 months ago
The American people are deeply attached to the notion that any problem can be solved with a new doohickey. It would, after all, relieve them of the terrible responsibility of saving the world.
Photon wrangling

For eSolar, clean energy starts with computing power 3
Posted 3 months, 1 week ago
As solar projects finally start to be built, a shakeout is inevitable. The winners will be those solar technologies that produce the most carbon-free electricity at the cheapest prices.