Earth Wise

Morocco has switched on what is going to be the world’s largest concentrating solar power plant.   The plant is located near the city of Ouarzazate, an area previously famous as a filming location for blockbusters like Lawrence of Arabia and Gladiator.  When fully online in 2018, the plant will produce enough energy to power over […]

Over the past decade, single-serve coffee pods have quickly become a favorite method for delivering a hot cup o’ joe as fast and efficiently as possible.  The explosive growth of pod-based coffee machines is such that now nearly one in three American homes has one. Estimates are that if all the coffee pods sold in […]

We hear more and more about drones these days.   There is plenty of controversy about their use in warfare.   Drones are also used to snoop on construction projects.   Drones are spotted at the beach being used as high-tech toys.   And drones are becoming a powerful tool in wildlife protection. In Belize, the Wildlife Conservation Society […]

The term geoengineering has started to appear in discussions about how to combat climate change.  Mostly, it is used to describe using technology to tinker with the global environment, for example, by artificially enhancing the atmosphere’s ability to reflect the sun’s rays back out into space and thereby cooling the planet. But there are also […]

Our nation’s landfills are overflowing and we are constantly seeking ways to reduce the amount of waste that needs to go into them.  Usually, we are thinking about food waste, plastics, glass and paper.  However, one of the largest sources of waste generation is actually construction and demolition waste.   Estimates are that between 25 and […]

Many of the world’s biggest cities have miles of underground pipes built decades ago that provide district energy.   District energy systems use a central plant to produce steam, hot water or chilled water that is then piped underground to individual buildings for space heating, domestic hot water heating and air conditioning. As a result, individual buildings […]

Light bulbs entered people’s lives in the 1880s.  Tungsten filament lightbulbs have been around for about 100 years.  Fluorescent lamps were invented in the 1920s.   These two mainstays dominated most lighting applications for most of the twentieth century. In the 1990s, compact fluorescent bulbs or CFLs entered into everyday use.  They had been invented in […]

For about a decade now, insect pollinator populations have been in decline.  Their decline poses a significant threat to biodiversity, food production, and human health.  In fact, at least 80% of the world’s crop species require pollination, and approximately one out of every three bites of food is a direct result of the work of […]

Many of us crave the scent and taste of grilled meat.  Even staunch vegetarians seek out imitation meat products that simulate the look and flavor of animal protein. But it is also the case that the meat industry is a brutal business both for the livestock involved and for the environment.  Thus it is no […]

Much of the public discourse about pollution is focused on the long-term consequences of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.  There are still some who doubt that such consequences are really in the offing or that our actions are responsible in any case. But as crucial as this issue may be, we can’t lose sight of […]