I don’t think I have ever appreciated a hotel as much as I did during a trip to Houston for a cleantech tradeshow. The humidity was off the charts and it felt like I was slowly melting into the sidewalk going to and from the show each day. But the second I stepped into that hotel, everything was perfect.

The temperature was just right- not frigid, but certainly (more…)

Everyone is seeking the elusive killer app that will revolutionize energy. Most expect it to be a high tech gadget, or new form of generation or a way to finally store mass quantities of electricity.

Not anthropologist Susan Mazur-Stommen. She’s looking in a completely different place: inside our (more…)

Before I moved, I resided in a second floor apartment that hadn’t been updated since MacGyver went off-air. It was the kind of apartment where you couldn’t operate the microwave and toaster at the same time without tripping the breaker.

The kicker, however, was the thermostat. With Angus (more…)

Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it’s Mythbuster Woman, joining you for a second installment of Debunking Energy Myths. I’ve taken a few moments out of my busy schedule of leaping tall buildings (in a single bound, of course) to answer those of you who challenged me with more myths. (more…)

Abu Dhabi is commissioning a new set of nuclear plants for the first time in 2018, that will generate 25% of its power. I find this a bit hard to understand, since it’s happening just as countries like Germany and Italy are decommissioning their nuclear power. Also, Abu (more…)

Two of the most interesting and efficient air conditioners arriving on the market this cooling season have come to us, not from the world of mainstream air conditioner manufacturers, but from renewable energy companies.

The first of them is the SplitCool DC18 solar air (more…)

Where do you begin with the benefits of green roofs? Over time, green roof owners, from residential to corporate, have testified to the numerous benefits they have received since installing green roofs on their homes and office buildings. Along with drastic cuts in electric and energy bills, they’ve also experienced longer-lasting (more…)

Mitsubishi and Nippon Fruehauf, a light metals manufacturer, have developed an “idling-stop” solar-powered air conditioning unit that cools the truck cabin when the engine is not running.

Called the “i-Cool Solar,” the solar- (more…)

You wouldn’t expect that energy from sunlight, which is very hot, could power air-conditioning units to cool things down. But that’s precisely the latest breakthrough from China-based Shandong Vicot Air Conditioning Co.

Debuting its solar-powered people-cooler at the 2010 World Solar-Powered Air (more…)

It sits in the middle of a harsh, barren desert, sweltering in searing heat. It has no clean water, its sea is polluted and there is no topsoil, just a covering of sand. It is also the biggest per capita consumer of fuel, massively reliant on cars, power-hungry desalination and air-conditioning. And with all this, can the United Arab Emirate state of Abu Dhabi really succeed in building a new “green city” in the Middle East?

If you can believe visionary people like architect Gerard Evenden (his words above), from the British architectural firm Foster & Partners, yes it can. Billions of dollars are riding on the assumption

(more…)