Apple’s iPhone and other smartphones are full of rare earth minerals China is one of the biggest producers (and consumers) of these rare earth minerals, which are becoming such hot commodities that entrepreneurs and investors are thinking about mining the moon for them. Read more »
Last month Apple asked that EPEAT, the standards group responsible for rating the recyclability of electronics products, drop 39 of its computers and monitors from its rankings. The company is being honest about prioritizing design over recyclability. But will mainstream consumers care? Read more »
This is Jonathan Koomey’s fourth essay in a series of four this week that highlights, and excerpts from, his upcoming book, “Cold Cash, Cool Climate,” which discusses how entrepreneurs and investors can profit from tackling climate change, one of this century’s greatest challenges. Read more »
Asia, with its rapidly growing number of car owners and large pollution problems, could very well be the biggest market for biofuels and green chemicals one day. LanzaTech, which announced Monday it has raised $55.8 million, is certainly finding more willing customers and partners Asia. Read more »
This weekend in New York City, dozens of developers gathered for the second Cleanweb Hackathon, where programmers spent the weekend building mobile and web apps around new ways to manage energy. The event is the latest sign the ecosystem around clean technology is changing. Read more »
Nanosolar, which has struggled for years to fulfill its promise as the next major thin-film solar manufacturer, announced Thursday it has a new CEO. Eugenia Corrales, who has been the startup’s head of engineering and operations, is taking over the chief executive post effective immediately. Read more »
Phone company Verizon quietly launched its smart home products nationwide about three months ago, which enable customers to lock and unlock doors and windows, watch home video cameras remotely, and manage thermostats and lighting. Read more »
Apple’s drive to put out greener products will cost suppliers cash in the short term but will result in big long-term environmental advantages. Volex, which makes power and USB cables for the Mac maker’s mobile devices, will switch to halogen-free designs during the coming year. Read more »
The latest iteration of the One Laptop Per Child project was unveiled at CES, and it’s fully focused on integrating with off-grid clean power, both solar and human-generated. Many of the kids that could be using the laptop won’t have access to grid power. Read more »
The Indian government is reportedly looking to back around eight smart grid pilot projects in the country worth close to $100 million. The country will need an updated grid if it’s going to add 20 GW of utility-scale solar by 2020. Read more »
While we take a stable electrical grid for granted in the developed world, that’s often not a certainty in the developing world, which can make running a business quite difficult. Airtel Nigeria has complained that 70 percent of its wireless downtime results from power supply issues. Read more »
eMeter’s Chris King explains that like any disruptive technology, the growing flocks of wind turbines and expanding acres of solar-equipped rooftops around the world are causing temporary growing pains for the energy industry. Good thing there are also solutions. Read more »
Oil giant BP has invested in biofuel startup CoolPlanet BioFuels, according to an announcement on Thursday. CoolPlanet BioFuels is the biofuel startup you have never heard of but that has unusually famous investors like GE, Google, NRG Energy and ConocoPhillips. Read more »
Out of all of Google’s close to $1 billion in clean power projects, turning biomass into energy seems like the least relevant technology to Google’s core business. But Google has made a few small investments into biomass projects, including a hog waste to energy project. Read more »
Which stories dominated the green GigaOM clicks in 2011? This year was filled with smart thermostats, a dream of Apple getting into solar, the bankruptcy of Solyndra, the efficiency of cloud computing, Google’s green data centers and Tesla’s Model S. Read more »
If there is one thing to know about the pace of progress for battery innovation, it’s this: There is no Moore’s law for batteries. The rapid progress that has been made over the past decade in silicon and computing makes the pace of innovation in batteries, ... Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Apple has come under fire in recent months for the environmental impact of its key component suppliers in China. Now, reports say it will look into its supplier operations, in order to see if accusations they are in violation of environmental regulations are accurate. Read more »
A report released Wednesday morning by a group of Chinese watchdog groups criticizes Apple for using suppliers that consistently threaten the environment and the health of their workers. It will be interesting to see if calls for greater transparency are answered, given Apple’s generally secretive tendencies. Read more »
Do-gooder developers are the new superstars of the programming world, and Uncle Sam wants in on the innovation action. I chatted with the EPA team recently to hear about what’s behind their app-contest plan. Read more »
Apple came in at the bottom of a new report from Greenpeace detailing the energy choices made by major IT companies like Amazon, Google Facebook and more. Apple fared so poorly mostly because of its brand new data center in North Carolina. Read more »
Many people use the iPad to replace a physical library of paper books, mostly because it’s very convenient to do so. But is it also better for the environment? A recent report considers the ecological effects of e-books in general, and specifically addresses the iPad’s impact. Read more »
I quit smoking four years ago, but before that, I was a dedicated smoker for a solid decade. Luckily, I never had any Mac trouble that would necessitate a warranty replacement during those 10 years, or I might’ve been out of luck. Apple has denied Applecare […] Read more »
Apple is putting a lot of emphasis on its “green” initiatives lately. But is it the real deal? For example, Apple’s new energy efficiency page says that because 53 percent of Apple’s greenhouse gas emissions are a result of the power its products consume, it’s designing […] Read more »
As Charlie wrote about earlier today, transportation is a big source of greenhouse gas emissions. The fact that you and I don’t have to commute to work every day already helps in terms of limiting carbon emissions, and it’s something we can feel really good about! […] Read more »
It’s no surprise that working remotely can have benefits for your environmental footprint: Working offsite has knocked around 18,000 miles off my public transport usage from last year alone. But no matter how careful or responsible web workers might be, the reality is that first-world or […] Read more »
