The Weekly: News from Around the Matter Network

As Europe announced it would reach its goal of 20 percent of its energy from renewables by 2020, the U.S.’s climate soap opera entered a new chapter. President Obama converted his energy bill into a hybrid in hopes of driving it through Congress. To get the Senate to agree to a cap on emissions, he […]

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February 24th, 2010 | Category: Clean Energy, Climate Change, Environment, Matter Network, The Weekly | Leave a comment

The Weekly: News from Around the Matter Network

Silicon Valley leads solar, hypermilers go electric, and British Airways makes jet fuel from trash. […]

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February 19th, 2010 | Category: Clean Energy, Climate Change, Environment, Matter Network, The Weekly | One comment

The Wind Turbine’s Tiny Cousin

Why is it that many solar panels are the size of a hallway rug, while a typical wind turbine is the size of an office building? I’ve always wondered whether we would ever learn to harvest wind on a smaller, simpler scale. Turns out we can. […]

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January 4th, 2010 | Tags: , , , , , , | Category: Clean Energy, Climate Change, Environment | 2 comments

The Treadle Pump: An Exercise in Productivity

Farmers in Bangladesh have long had an irrigation problem. Water is often plentiful in ponds or in the shallow water table underfoot, but getting that water onto the crops is no easy task. A solution has appeared in the form of the treadle pump, a sort of Stairmaster that pumps water. […]

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December 21st, 2009 | Tags: , , , | Category: Clean Energy, Environment | 4 comments

A Refrigerator Powered by the Sun

The very idea of a solar refrigerator is a contradiction: Use the hot sun to keep things cold. How could such an oxymoron possibly work? […]

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December 14th, 2009 | Tags: , , , , , , , , | Category: Clean Energy, Climate Change, Environment | 7 comments

Toward a Better Cookstove

In parts of India they’re called chulhas, in Malawi chitetezo mbaula, in Central America the Lorena, and in East Africa the jiko. The names and designs vary, but the principle is the same: a low-cost, efficient stove that replaces the open fire. […]

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December 10th, 2009 | Tags: , , , , , | Category: Clean Energy, Climate Change, Environment | Leave a comment

The Thermoacoustic Engine, Explained

The thermoacoustic engine is one of the weirdest forms of renewable energy I’ve heard of, and I had to have it explained to me several times before I started to get it. No description I read on the Internet made any sense. After consulting with John Barrie, an inventor who is designing a low-cost model for use in rural Guatemala, I created a description the rest of us could understand. […]

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December 2nd, 2009 | Tags: , , , , , | Category: Clean Energy | 11 comments
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