Story Search Results

Advanced Search

There are so many ways to search the solutions journalism stories in this database. Explore our searchable fields:

Search Results

You searched for: -

There are 178 results for your search. View and Refine Your Search Terms

Dutch Aquatecture: Engineering a Future on the Water

Russell Beard

May 11, 2015 |

Al Jazeera |

Broadcast TV News |

5-15 Minutes

Response Location: Netherlands

As climate change causes global sea levels to rise, nations around the world are increasingly concerned about threats to infrastructure and livelihoods. But the Dutch have been keeping the sea at bay for centuries using a variety of methods and technologies. Their designs and plans - such as floating buildings - may provide solutions for other countries looking to evolve and adapt to changing ocean levels.

Read More
Go to Original Story
Catching Waves and Turning Them Into Electricity

Amy Yee

April 22, 2015 |

The New York Times |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: Australia, Perth, Western Australia

Researches off the coast of western Australia are harnessing power from the ocean's waves in a new pilot project involving buoys. In their current state, the buoys are able to generate a small percentage of electricity for a nearby military base as well as aid in powering a desalination plant.

Read More
Go to Original Story
Can saltwater quench our growing thirst?

Brian Bienkowski

April 13, 2015 |

Ensia |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, San Diego, California

Population growth, climate change, and droughts are factors that have depleted the world’s freshwater resources. Scientists around the world have experimented with desalination of salt water to increase the supply the drinking water and have achieved positive results. In 2015, more countries and cities in the world look to provide desalination, including California’s $1 billion effort to build a plant for San Diego.

Read More
Go to Original Story
Looks swell

The Economist

March 12, 2015 |

The Economist |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: Australia, Perth

Carnegie Wave Energy created a system to generate electricity from the ocean’s waves to power Australia’s largest naval base. The system, known as CETO 5, has buoys bobbing up and down below the ocean’s surface that drives a pump attached to the seafloor and pushes water through a pipe to the power station. Each buoy can create 240 kilowatts, and all together the system produces about 5 percent of the base’s electricity. The system will need to be upgraded if they plan to put buoys further at sea where the swells are greater.

Read More
Go to Original Story
Running on renewable energy, Burlington, Vermont powers green movement forward

William Brangham

January 31, 2015 |

PBS NewsHour |

Broadcast TV News |

5-15 Minutes

Response Location: United States, Burlington, Vermont

Urban areas contain the highest in concentration of burning fossil fuels, which negatively contributes to climate change. Spearheading the green energy movement, Burlington, VT claims that its city uses 100% renewable energy for electricity. Burlington’s efforts pilot a model for larger U.S. cities to follow.

Read More
Go to Original Story
Drinking More Vodka: A Green Solution to Melting Icy Roads?

Lorraine Chow

December 05, 2014 |

NationSwell |

Text |

Under 800 Words

Response Location: United States, Pullman, Washington

Salt has become a costly and environmental problem in the twenty first century, with consumers overusing it in cooking and melting city roads during the winter. Salt has risen in price and has infiltrated the waterways, affecting the life in the water and contaminating drinking water. As a greener alternative to salt, Washington State University scientists have learned that the biproducts of vodka can help melt ice and snow.

Read More
Go to Original Story
UW, WSU give future engineers a ‘redshirt season'”

Katherine Long

November 29, 2014 |

The Seattle Times |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Seattle, Washington

In an idea borrowed from college athletics called redshirting, STARS enrolls promising engineering students — many of them women and minorities — to give them an additional year of collegiate academic work before they’re ready for the big time. A similar program is in its second year at Washington State University.

Read More
Go to Original Story
Can biomimicry tackle our toughest water problems?

Benjamin Goldfarb

November 24, 2014 |

High Country News |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Shepherd, Montana

Clean water and healthy ecosystems are becoming increasingly difficult to come by. With floating islands and other inventions, eco-entrepreneur Bruce Kania thinks that biomimicry - such as reconstructing wetlands and growing biofilms - can tackle the toughest of water problems.

Read More
Go to Original Story
In Bangladesh, 'Floating Farms' Overcome Monsoon Rains

Amy Yee

November 21, 2014 |

Voice of America (VOA) |

Text |

Under 800 Words

Response Location: Bangladesh

During rain seasons in Bangladesh, rivers flooded villages and their agriculture so that local economies and food supplies were in jeopardy. A Bangladeshi non-profit Shidhulai Swanirvar Sangstha introduced small floating farms designed to be run by women. Consequently, the organization has initiated 40 floating farms that serve 300 rural women and save local agriculture.

Read More
Go to Original Story
America's Tiniest Innovators: Report from Pittsburgh

Deborah Fallows

November 15, 2014 |

The Atlantic |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

In a Pittsburgh elementary school, kids grapple with electricity and circuits, breeding a familiarity with technology that founders of the “Children’s Innovation Project” hope equips them for a better future. This partnership between Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh public schools, and the CREATE Lab (Community, Robotics, Education, Technology, Empowerment) is helping kids incorporate a passion for technology into their lives and their futures.

Read More
Go to Original Story