I wrote this story for Grist, where it first appeared. By the third day of any conference, one’s eyes begin to glaze over. But Lisa Gansky provided an intellectual jolt on the final morning of the Cleantech Forum in San Francisco this week when she appeared on stage to talk about “the Mesh.” That’s what [...]
Archive for the ‘global warming’ Category
The Mesh: Can peer-to-peer sharing green the planet?
Posted in climate change, global warming, green cars, tagged Lisa Gansky, The Mesh on March 18, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
Google Ventures funds mobile biofuel refineries
Posted in biofuels, global warming, Google, renewable energy, tagged CoolPlanetBiofuels, Google Ventures on March 18, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
photo: CoolPlanetBiofuels In The New York Times on Thursday, I wrote about Google Ventures funding a Southern California startup that is developing mobile biofuel refineries that will travel to the fuel source to process agricultural waste and other biomass: Google Ventures has led a $20 million financing round in CoolPlanetBiofuels, a Southern California start-up that [...]
California billionaire Tom Steyer takes on the Koch brothers
Posted in climate change, energy, global warming, green policy, Proposition 23, renewable energy, tagged Thomas F. Steyer on March 16, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
In The New York Times on Tuesday, I wrote about the strategy of San Francisco billionaire Tom Steyer, the leader of the campaign against Proposition 23 last year, to fight efforts to restrict the EPA’s ability to regulate greenhouse gas emissions: Is Thomas F. Steyer the anti-Koch? For years, Mr. Steyer, a billionaire San Francisco [...]
Startup gets $42m to predict extreme weather for farmers
Posted in Agriculture 2.0, climate change, global warming, Google, tagged WeatherBill on February 28, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
In The New York Times on Monday, I write about WeatherBill, a San Francisco startup that announced a $42 million round of financing from Google Ventures and Khosla Ventures: Google Ventures and Khosla Ventures have led a $42 million financing round in WeatherBill, a San Francisco start-up that insures farmers against extreme weather that can [...]
Megawatt mania: California approves seventh Big Solar farm
Posted in alternative energy, energy, environment, global warming, green policy, green tech, renewable energy, solar energy, solar power plants, Tessera Solar, tagged California Energy Commission on October 29, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
photo: Todd Woody In a follow up to my story in Friday’s New York Times on the beginning of a solar building boom in the desert Southwest, I take a look at California regulators’ approval of the seventh Big Solar farm in two months, the 663.5-megawatt Calico project: In an article in Friday’s paper, I [...]
Desert solar boom begins, may be short-lived
Posted in alternative energy, BrightSource Energy, energy, environment, global warming, green policy, green tech, renewable energy, solar energy, Solar Millennium, solar power plants, Tessera Solar on October 28, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
photo: Todd Woody In Friday’s New York Times, I write about the beginning of the long-awaited solar boom in the Mojave Desert and how it may well be short-lived if crucial federal incentives for renewable energy are allowed to expire in the coming months: NIPTON, Calif. — The long-promised solar building boom in the desert [...]
Ground broken on U.S’ first big solar power plant in 20 years
Posted in alternative energy, BrightSource Energy, climate change, environment, global warming, green tech, renewable energy, solar energy, solar power plants, tagged John Woolard on October 27, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
photo of desert tortoise tagged with a radio transmitter at the Ivanpah solar farm site: Todd Woody In Yale Environment 360 on Wednesday, I interview John Woolard, chief executive of BrightSource Energy, the California solar developer that has begun construction of the first large-scale solar thermal power plant to be built in the United States [...]
Recipe for U.S. solar boom: policy, money + a little sunshine
Posted in alternative energy, climate change, energy, environment, global warming, green financing, green policy, green tech, renewable energy, solar energy, solar power plants, tagged Bloomberg New Energy Finance on October 27, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
photo: Todd Woody I wrote this story for Grist, where it first appeared. The United States is on the verge of a solar boom that could provide 4.3 percent of the nation’s electricity by 2020, according to a new report from Bloomberg New Energy Finance. There’s just a 12-figure catch: Investors need to put $100 [...]
Judge orders California to consider species listing for pika
Posted in climate change, endangered species, global warming, Uncategorized, tagged American pika, Earthjustice, Foursquare on October 22, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
photo: Todd Woody In The New York Times on Thursday, I wrote about the continuing legal battle over placing the American pika, a small mountain-dwelling critter, on state and federal endangered species lists due to climate change threats to the animal’s survival: In an article in Wednesday’s paper, I wrote about an environmental law firm [...]
Foursquare ad campaign helps save climate-imperiled pika
Posted in climate change, endangered species, global warming, green marketing, tagged American pika, Center for Biological Diversity, Earthjustice, Foursquare on October 20, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
In a story in Wednesday’s New York Times, I write about how Earthjustice, a non-profit law firm, ran a successful successful fundraising campaign to help the climate change-endangered American pika by using Foursquare and location-based advertising: SAN FRANCISCO IN a city passionate about the environment and technology, commuters are using their smartphones to check in [...]
