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  • How an IIT Madras Initiative Is Powering 9,000 Homes at a Fraction of Traditional Electricity Costs

    A team of engineers at IIT Madras, a public university in India, has partnered with local utilities and the national Ministry of Power to bring sustainable, low-cost electricity to off-grid rural villages in the northwestern state of Rajasthan. With solar power supplied by DC microgrids, these poor rural communities are experiencing transformations to increase quality-of-life: affordable fridges that aid in food preservation, fans which mitigate heat and repel mosquitoes, and battery-powered phones connecting them to public emergency services.

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  • The 'moss wall' that helps cities breathe

    Air pollution is a major health risk, and growing in severity as more of the population moves to urban (more polluted) areas. Several university friends from Germany developed a "CityTree," which filters toxic pollutants from the air with moss that can be installed around cities.

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  • Lessons from India in building urban resilience

    TARU, an Indian thinktank, has found that Indians cities have combined decentralized action and "multi-stakeholder engagement" in public policy to respond to problems of scarcity in water and power as well as climate change-related natural disasters. Municipalities are putting responsibility for improving local lives at the grassroots level; integrating disruptive technologies from the private sector; and fostering collaboration between government and citizens.

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  • How New York Is Building the Power Grid of the Future

    New York is determined to become a national leader in the renewable energy sector, and they are leveraging numerous approaches to help integrate better and more environmentally conscious technologies into the grid. The multi-faceted approach includes updating laws and regulations to be more renewables-friendly, hosting competitions to foster entrepreneurship and creative solutions in the field, piloting new technologies, and creating better incentives for utility companies.

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  • Turning CO2 into stone in Iceland

    Iceland, hit by the oil crises of the 1970s, turned to geothermal energy - and they haven't turned back. The island is now powered by 100% renewable energy, and they are taking it one step more, looking to further cut emissions using a unique carbon capture system called CarbFix. It is being pioneered at the Hellsheidi geothermal power plant in western Iceland.

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  • How a Small Town Is Standing Up to Fracking

    While the U.S. economy enjoys the cheap fuel prices afforded by fracking, the consequences on the environment and communities like Grant Township in Pennsylvania reveal the ugly underbelly of the oil and gas industry and the broken regulatory infrastructure of state and federal government. But Grant wasn't willing to roll over and just let their woodlands and water sources be polluted, so they worked together and took a creative defense against the installation of a toxic injection well in their town: by granting the trees, animals, and streams rights to protection and battling it out in court.

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  • Coffee grounds and poultry litter proving a viable biomass option in the UK

    The United Kingdom is finding creative ways to simultaneously address renewable energy needs and waste disposal. Combined Heat and Power (CHP) plants are utilizing chicken manure from farms and coffee grounds to create electricity. The initiatives have the added benefit of improving standards for the treatment of poultry, as well as reducing the distribution of harmful toxins from the waste.

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  • Cracking Washington's Gridlock to Save the Planet

    Climate change is a growing issue, but the Citizens' Climate Lobby (a group of volunteers who work to get Republicans and Democrats to work in unison) is aiming to curb carbon emissions. So far the group has had a large increase in number of volunteers and politicians joining and willing to work together.

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  • The Big Green Bang: How renewable energy became unstoppable

    An economic shift to renewable energy could take decades, but thanks to rapidly evolving disruptive technologies, dropping prices of solar and wind power sources, and increasing market demand for green business, the new age of renewable energy could encompass the world economy much more quickly.

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  • The Detroit Success Story Visible From Space

    In just three years, Detroit carried out an ambitious $185 million project to re-illuminate the city's 88,000 streetlights, half of which were dark, with new energy-efficient LED lights. Through its new Public Lighting Authority, the city used an innovative funding scheme to pay for the lights even in the midst of municipal bankruptcy. After the lights went up, residents felt safer, and businesses felt a noticeable bump.

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