Environment

Because it's energy-efficient, LED lighting is spreading into new areas, but an academic study cautions that some types of LED lights use hazardous metals.

The University of California at Irvine last week published results of a study into the materials used for LEDs in Christmas tree lights and car brake lights and headlights. After crushing these types of lights, researchers measured the contents and found they contained varying amounts of toxic materials, including lead and arsenic.

"What our study showed clearly was that some LED lights qualify as hazardous waste, depending on color and light intensity, according to … Read more

WASHINGTON--Scientific research, environmental protection and other priorities of the Obama administration would face steep cuts under a congressional Republican spending plan released today.

More than 60 programs would be eliminated entirely, including Obama's effort to build a network of high-speed passenger trains.

Birth control funding, the Americorps volunteer program, public broadcasting, the community-oriented policing program, and a "weatherization" program to insulate homes and office buildings also would be eliminated.

The proposal has virtually no chance of becoming law because President Barack Obama and the Democrats who control the Senate are certain to oppose it.

But it will … Read more

STATE COLLEGE, Pa.--President Barack Obama announced a new clean energy program in Pennsylvania on Thursday, seeking to show he remains focused on jobs in a state that may be essential to his 2012 re-election prospects.

Obama outlined a plan in his State of the Union address last month to encourage clean energy technologies and to double by 2035 the U.S. share of electricity from clean energy sources such as wind, solar, nuclear and "clean" coal.

As part of that program, Obama announced a plan to improve energy efficiency in U.S. commercial buildings by offering businesses … Read more

Researchers at the University of Hertfordshire in the United Kingdom are unveiling a prototype system they say is designed to learn from its inhabitants, text if security is breached (or a door left unlocked), and now even monitor its occupants' health.

The InterHome, developed in a doll's house, uses a touch-screen control panel that enables online and smartphone monitoring and control from afar.

The house not only incorporates energy-efficient and security features that learn from the occupants' living habits (when lights tend to be on or off where, when the house is empty, etc.), but also a device that … Read more

Scientists from Stanford University and the University of California at Davis have crunched the numbers and come up with a plan for how the world might economically and feasibly make the move to renewable energy in the next 20 to 40 years.

In a two-part paper (Part 1 PDF, Part 2 PDF) published in the journal Energy Policy, Mark Z. Jacobson and Mark A. Delucchi show in great detail the who, what, where, and how of implementing a renewable energy-run world. It includes solutions to economic, material, and transport issues.

Jacobson, an atmospheric scientist and professor of civil and environmental … Read more

editor's notebook SAN FRANCISCO--I had the good fortune this past weekend of attending Compostmodern, a two-day conference here devoted to exploring different ways in which designers can help create a sustainable future. And I'd like to mention a few of the tech- and Internet-related highlights--some of which are new, some of which you, like me, may have missed the first time around. There's a variety of supercool stuff here, so read on.

Organized by the San Francisco chapter of AIGA (one of the country's premier professional groups for designers)--and sponsored by Adobe and other companies, … Read more

The U.S. government yesterday gave four biofuel companies loan guarantees of nearly $650 million to help build plants that will make motor fuels from sources like animal fat, orange peels, and trash.

The government is supporting the development of new feedstocks for ethanol to ease dependence on corn. Nearly 40 percent of the U.S. corn crop goes to making ethanol, which has spurred concerns from environmentalists and food groups that production of the fuel can raise food prices.

The Agriculture Department gave Coskata loan aid of $250 million to build and operate a 55 million gallon-per-year (gpy) plant … Read more

The Greek island of Crete is planning for a 38-megawatt solar plant an BrightSource has been tapped to help build it.

Oakland, Calif.-based BrightSource has signed a deal with Nur Energie, the U.K. company developing the solar project, to use its LPT 550 energy system, the solar manufacturer announced today.

When complete and running at full capacity, the plant is expected to generate enough electricity for 13,000 homes.

BrightSource is known for its signature solar "power tower" technology that employs hundreds of sun-worshipping heliostats. The solar-tracking mirrors reflect solar rays on a common tower containing … Read more

Apple has been accused by a coalition of 36 Chinese environmental groups of ignoring hazardous and unhealthy conditions at the factories in China where its components are assembled.

Released yesterday by the Institute of Environmental and Public Affairs (IPE), the report "The Other Side of Apple" ranked the iPhone maker dead last among 29 other tech companies for their responsiveness to health and environmental concerns in China.

Specifically, the report claims that Apple ignored concerns at Wintek, a factory that makes touch screens for the iPhone and iPad as well as components for other companies. Wintek came under … Read more