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Weber Basin study: Secondary water meters drive down consumption

Mark Shenefelt

August 15, 2022 |

Standard-Examiner |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Utah

Water meters at homes that get their supply from the Weber Basin Water Conservancy are used to help reduce water consumption by informing residents how much water they are using.

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This small city ditched its buses. Its public Uber-like service has been a big hit

Nick de la Canal

July 19, 2022 |

NPR |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Wilson, North Carolina

A small North Carolina city replaced its bus system with on-demand minivans to better serve residents. In a collaborative effort with the company Via, which provided software, vehicles, and drivers in exchange for city funding, the service runs about 3,700 trips a week and covers 100% of the city, increasing accessibility for residents.

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Is Burying Power Lines Fire-Prevention Magic, or Magical Thinking?

Angela K. Evans

July 11, 2022 |

Inside Climate News |

Text |

Over 3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Boulder, Colorado

Burying electrical lines underground — a process called undergrounding — can prevent wildfires and mass power outages. Most of the country’s existing electric infrastructure is above ground and outdated, which is something cities at risk for wildfires are beginning to address.

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Climate change: 'Sand battery' could solve green energy's big problem

Matt McGrath

July 05, 2022 |

BBC |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: Finland, Kankaanpää

A team of Finnish engineers havevinstalled the first commercial battery made of sand, which can store green energy in it for months. Solar panels or wind turbines generate electricity, which is then stored as heat in the sand battery. When needed, the battery can discharge hot air to heat up water which is then used to heat homes, offices, and a swimming pool. This solution may be difficult to scale, but it’s a low-cost storage idea that could be useful when it’s cold and energy is more expensive.

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How to recycle the unrecyclable

Kai Steinecke

February 11, 2022 |

Deutsche Welle (DW) |

Video |

5-15 Minutes

Response Location: Germany

A chemical recycling plant in Germany is taking old tires and turning them back into their original components. From there, those materials can be used in the production of insulation, steel, and oil. The gas that is discharged during the process is also used to power the whole plant. Other plants around the world are also exploring how to take plastic waste and chemically recycle it instead of burning it, so there are less carbon emissions.

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These Americans Are Just Going Around in Circles. It Helps the Climate.

Cara Buckley

November 20, 2021 |

The New York Times |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Carmel, Indiana

America's capital of the traffic roundabout is Carmel, Indiana, a city of 102,000 people and 140 roundabouts. The city boasts exceptionally low rates of traffic deaths and injury crashes. Studies of roundabout use elsewhere show benefits as well in pedestrian and bicycle safety, and in cutting environmentally harmful emissions because traditional intersections cause much longer idling times. Not all drivers like them, but Carmel long ago overcame initial qualms when the longtime mayor put into practice the traffic idea he admired when he was a university student in England.

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Can Ontario boost EV battery recycling before it's too late?

Nathaniel Basen

April 22, 2021 |

TVO |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Canada, Kingston, Ontario

After lithium-ion batteries from iPhones, laptops, or electric cars are used up, the Ontario-based company LiCycle recycles parts of them to be reused in new batteries or in other products. While the recycling process isn’t completely environmentally friendly, the company is able to recover 95 percent of the raw materials and says their operations produces no carbon emissions, wastewater, or solid waste.

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Using drones to save lives

Garrett Wymer Sam Dick

March 25, 2021 |

WKYT-TV |

Broadcast TV News |

3-5 Minutes

Response Location: United States, Knott County, Kentucky

A drone company and Kentucky Homeplace, a University of Kentucky initiative to address rural health, have used drones to deliver personal protective equipment packages to isolated, rural homes that can become inaccessible by road flooding or other bad weather. The flights, called the Jericho Project, so far have served as tests that the sponsors hope will lead to deliveries of medicine and other necessities during natural disasters or simply to speed delivery in remote areas.

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How to reuse a demolished building

Charlotte Horn

March 23, 2021 |

BBC |

Podcast |

Over 15 Minutes

Response Location: Switzerland, Winterthur

A warehouse in Switzerland is being transformed into new creative workspaces. The catch: It’s being constructed out of reused building materials. About 70 percent of it is being made from old materials like wood floorboards, steel beams, and windows. A network of treasure hunters are on the lookout for used materials that can be used in constructing these buildings. The workspace is nearly complete and it already has tenants for all of the spaces. They were also able to cut the building’s carbon emissions in half.

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‘Our biggest challenge? Lack of imagination': the scientists turning the desert green

Steve Rose

March 20, 2021 |

The Guardian |

Text |

Over 3000 Words

Response Location: Netherlands, s’-Hertogenbosch

A Dutch group of engineers known as the Weather Makers has an ambitious plan to regreen the Sinai Peninsula — the stretch of desert connecting Egypt to the rest of Asia. Their efforts would restore forests, wetlands, and even adjust the weather for the region. This form of ecosystems regeneration could help with food security and mitigate the effects of climate change. Their process of changing an entire ecosystem can be controversial, but initial tests have shown how this could work on a large scale.

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