Getting climate, energy & environment news right.

An architect has found a way to build flood-proof homes
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An architect has found a way to build flood-proof homes

"A crew without much technical knowledge can manufacture and assemble the structures’ eight panels and the interior bamboo beams that support them on-site. Lari designed them so that homeowners can easily make repairsand even additions...If a flood is coming, homeowners can dismantle the structure’s bamboo skeleton from its permanent foundation and move it to higher ground. Bigger buildings, such as community centers, stand on stilts several feet high."

Why companies are racing to build the world’s biggest bug farm
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Why companies are racing to build the world’s biggest bug farm

"Insect start-ups hope large facilities will help them get their foot in the door with big buyers in the market for fish and livestock feed, pet food and fertilizer. 'If you are just [producing] a few tons or tens of tons you don’t exist,' said Antoine Hubert, co-founder of Ynsect,a French start-up that specializes in mealworms. 'This is why we have to design something pretty massive, because you need thousands of tons if not tens of thousands of tons to exist for a single buyer.'"

‘Forever chemicals’ are eternal no more thanks to a pollution destroying device from Tacoma startup
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‘Forever chemicals’ are eternal no more thanks to a pollution destroying device from Tacoma startup

"The startup’s weapon of PFAS destruction incorporates technology from the University of Washington and the Colorado School of Mines. It annihilates the pollutants in a device that can reach high pressure and temperature — hitting 570 degrees Fahrenheit. To that they add lye — an ingredient in soap — to create a caustic environment. The conditions dismantle the PFAS, breaking off the compound at its head, chopping up its spine of carbon molecules, and lopping off the fluoride molecules that run along the backbone."

Biochar is a proven form of carbon removal. Can it scale up?
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Biochar is a proven form of carbon removal. Can it scale up?

"Part of the challenge is that biochar doesn’t exactly fit into the standard American farming curriculum. It’s neither a fertilizer nor a pesticide, and it doesn’t supercharge crop production. ​'It’s not something that’s likely to double yield,' said Milton McGiffen, a cooperative extension specialist and agricultural researcher at the University of California, Riverside. Still, McGiffen said, biochar’s benefits are clear, particularly when it’s added to soils that have a lot of sand or clay and struggle to hold on to water and nutrients."

In Defense of Green Growth
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In Defense of Green Growth

Before further buying into the degrowth narrative, policymakers and citizens should look to history, economics, and science. Green growth and economic freedom have alleviated poverty, accelerated innovation, and delivered meaningful climate progress.

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