Alternative Energies
Obama’s Clean Power Plan survives a legal challenge

Yesterday afternoon, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit denied motions to stay the EPA’s Clean Power Plan. Wondering what that means, exactly? Here’s a handy legal cheat sheet. What’s the Clean Power Plan? The Clean Power Plan is a set of restrictions on carbon dioxide emissions from the nation’s power plants. Projected to cut the electric sector’s CO2 output to 32 percent below 2005 levels by 2030, the plan is generally acknowledged as one of the most significant efforts to curb greenhouse gas pollution in U.S. history. Unsurprisingly, it’s also quite controversial. Who’s fighting it? Twenty-seven states, along with a bunch of coal companies and coal-dependent utilities, are suing to block the plan, arguing that it exceeds the EPA’s authority under…

‘Greener’ way to assemble materials for solar applications

The efficiency of solar cells depends on precise engineering of polymers that assemble into films 1,000 times thinner than a human hair. Today, formation of that polymer assembly requires solvents that can harm the environment, but scientists have found a ‘greener’ way to control the assembly of photovoltaic polymers in water using a surfactant — a detergent-like molecule — as a template.

Goodyear Releases Electricity-Generating Tire Concept

Electric Cars | Future Technology | TransportationWe’ve been getting a lot of positive news about electric cars recently. This week at the Geneva International Auto Show, Goodyear unveiled a new concept tire called the BH03. While we don’t know why it is called that, we do know that Goodyear’s new tire looks radical and could potentially generate electricity for electric cars […]

The Bigfoot Electric Monster Truck

Electric Cars | TransportationSome Friday fun… we discovered this intriguing electric beast while covering this week’s Vancouver Auto Show. It’s not really going to do much to help the environment, but we think it’s kind of neat that many manufacturers are jumping on the electric vehicle bandwagon. If anything this could help expose new technologies to a completely […]