Tag: Power Trip

The Takeaway

The Clean Coal Tell-All

Monday, April 13, 2009

What have you heard about clean coal? That it involves vats of liquid carbon dioxide annexed away underground? That it's dangerous? That it's never been done before? In an exclusive interview, Scientific American's energy and environmental editor David Biello sits down with The Takeaway to chat about the technology formally known as "carbon capture and sequestration" ("CCS"), carbon balloons, and carbon geysers— the newest Old Faithfuls.

Check out more of what Biello has to say on Scientific American, where he did a week's worth of carbon capture and sequestration coverage.

And for more coverage of what a "new energy economy" will look like, check out The Takeaway's Power Trip clean energy series.

Comments [2]

The Takeaway

Can the concrete industry go green?

Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Like the Big Mac or Budweiser beer, concrete is everywhere. But concrete comes with a cost: in creating the ubiquitous building material, tons upon tons of carbon dioxide are emitted annually. In fact, the concrete industry is the third largest producer of greenhouse gases in the world. Is there a way to green the gray giant? For answers, The Takeaway is joined by the New York Times editor and writer Henry Fountain. Fountain is the author of the today's Science Times article, Concrete is remixed with the environment in mind.

This isn't the first time The Takeaway listeners have heard about the CO2 spewing powers of cement. Check out our interview with Vinod Kholsa, as part of our Power Trip green energy series.

Comment

The Takeaway

Energy myths exposed!

Friday, February 06, 2009

We’ve been on a Power Trip all week to talk about the future of energy. Today we’re digging down into some of the water-cooler wisdom surrounding energy use. Are cloth diapers really more energy efficient than disposables? Does shutting off the lights really waste more energy than just leaving them on? We’re here to debunk myths—or maybe to confirm them. To help us do that is Matt McDermott, an alternative energy writer for TreeHugger.com and Planet Green.com.

Comments [2]

The Takeaway

Our listeners' bright ideas on how to save energy

Thursday, February 05, 2009

While we are on our Power Trip exploring new energy sources, we asked our listeners what they do to conserve energy. We've gotten a lot of responses. Add yours below!

Comments [5]

The Takeaway

Energy's Little Black Box

Thursday, February 05, 2009

If you knew where all the energy zooming into your house was being used and wasted, would you change the way you consume power? One company is banking on it. Our Power Trip heads to Redwood City, California to talk to Joe Polastre, CTO and co-founder of Sentilla. The company has invented an unassuming rectangular box that tracks —dollar by dollar, watt by watt—how much energy the appliances in your home are using. Clothes dryers and air conditioners beware: your energy guzzling ways are secrets no more.

Comments [2]

The Takeaway

Reconditioning the air conditioner (sounds hot, right?)

Wednesday, February 04, 2009

Energy experts have a theory: It won't be a fancy new technology straight out of a science fiction novel that will help us reduce our energy consumption. Rather it will be something simple, sleek, a mere re-design if you will. The concept that will slow down how much energy we eat? Energy efficiency. Some energy efficient products are already out there—CFL lightbulbs and Energy Star refrigerators. Others are in the pipeline. As part of The Takeaway's Power Trip energy series, John Hockenberry heads to Novato, California, where some wacky guys are using the human lung to create better air conditioners.

Comment