Wind, water and solar technologies can provide 100 percent of the world's energy, eliminating all fossil fuels. HERE'S HOW (via) [more inside]
posted by kliuless on Oct 13, 2009 - 82 comments

Peak Oil, 1925. In 2000, 20% of new buildings will be solar equipped. By the late 1990s, 90% of the world's energy will be nuclear-generated. These and other erroneous projections are being collected as part of the Forecast Project on the website Inventing Green: The Lost History of Alternative Energy in America.
posted by Miko on Jul 27, 2009 - 65 comments

Ten new wind turbine designs. Curious, grotesque, sculptural, beautiful, utilitarian.
posted by Slithy_Tove on Jul 12, 2009 - 52 comments

Have you ever wondered what happens when a freight train drives through a tornado? Let me show you (2:01 SLYT)
posted by P.o.B. on Jul 10, 2009 - 122 comments

Wind powered knitting
posted by johnny novak on Jul 2, 2009 - 13 comments

Meta-efficiency is the analysis of efficiency at a more comprehensive level. Metaefficient Review assesses products considering not only their energy efficiency but also the embodied energy, toxicity, affordability, and usability. [more inside]
posted by netbros on Feb 28, 2009 - 4 comments

Chris Goodall, author of Ten Technologies to Save the Planet, talks about the ten big green energy myths.
posted by Artw on Dec 1, 2008 - 42 comments

Trumpet Kings is a blog dedicated to videos of trumpeteers, mostly jazz but there are a few classical ones. On the companion youtube channel there are 184 videos. These are some of my favorite things: Wynton Marsalis - Riot, Dizzy Gillespie - trumpet battle, Maynard Ferguson - Round Midnight, Louis Armstrong - C'est Si Bon, Miles Davis - No Blues, Ray Anthony - Harlem Nocturne, Booker Little - Minor Mode Blues, Ingrid Jensen - Foxy Trot and Sergei Nakariakov - Bach's Air.
posted by Kattullus on Sep 16, 2008 - 11 comments

Derechos are big, nasty storms you've probably never heard of. Join two swearing guys watching a derecho in Illinois(youtube warning). [more inside]
posted by QIbHom on Sep 8, 2008 - 29 comments

Pickens Plan -- oilman T. Boone Pickens has a plan to reduce America's oil dependency problem: exploit the country's massive windpower potential for domestic energy, replacing natural gas, and then use natural gas to power cars instead of foreign oil. Some problems with the plan.
posted by Laugh_track on Jul 10, 2008 - 41 comments

A Philippe Starck designed Wind Turbine?
posted by Artw on Jul 2, 2008 - 35 comments

Tips for getting ahead in the increasingly competitive low cost small laptop market: When you go to Getty Images, grab some stock photography of smiling kids in a classroom and photoshop in your product, you better make sure your competitor hasn't used the exact same image.
posted by Artw on May 18, 2008 - 49 comments

Is offshore wind power the renewable energy of the future? [more inside]
posted by thatwhichfalls on Apr 13, 2008 - 46 comments

Navarre now generates more than 50% of its energy needs by wind power: a profile of the small autonomous region in northern Spain that is leading the way in renewable energy. This is one of many free access articles in this special supplement on energy issues to the journal Nature.
posted by sergeant sandwich on Sep 11, 2007 - 24 comments

A modern day Don Quixote
posted by bustmakeupleave on Jun 28, 2007 - 20 comments

Wind moments: Devils. Power. Freaking out. Trivial. Arty. Blowing. Pulling. Animals. Unstoppable. Uplifting. Speeding. Riding. Foreplay. Musical. Zen. Nationalism. Canvas. Desert. Dumbness. Angst. Gadget. Street games. Emily & Poetry. [many video moments - all SFW]
posted by homodigitalis on Aug 16, 2006 - 12 comments

"The sky turned orange as the storm approached, until total darkness blanketed the ground." Sandstorms in Iraq -- caused by heating of the desert sand and a northwesterly summer wind known as the shamal -- can kill. (A similiar storm over Interstate 5 in California in 1991 caused a deadly 164-car pileup.) They can also be uncannily beautiful and dream-like when seen from a distance (WMP link).
posted by digaman on Jun 4, 2006 - 35 comments

45,000 pounds + four 130 foot rotors + up to 200 mph Jet Stream winds = Energy Problem Solved
Like the monster mother of all kites, a company called Sky Windpower (which sports an excellent website about high altitude wind power) has been founded by an Australian engineer with three others to attempt to harness the near limitless windpower of the jet stream with a machine they call an FEG (Flying Electric Generator).
They're currently seeking $4 million to build a 200 kilowatt prototype but still need to get FAA clearance to fly it. The production models would generate 20 megawatts each and would be flown in farms of up to 600 turbines to generate enough power to light up two cities the size of Chicago. Power and control of the huge machines would be handled by a three inch thick tether connected to a winch on a ground station.
Man, I love Popular Science!
posted by fenriq on Aug 19, 2005 - 35 comments

Ned Kahn does really great things with fire, fog, sand, water and wind. Sadly, some don't last. Heard on WNYC's Studio 360
posted by geekyguy on Mar 6, 2005 - 13 comments

From Gliders to Parachutes, from the well-loved "helicopters"to the hated Cottonwood, here's everything you need to know about the wind-borne seeds of Summer.
posted by interrobang on Jun 18, 2004 - 7 comments

Badgirs (Farsi) or barjeels (Arabic) are windcatchers that work as low-tech air conditioners. The city of Yazd, Iran is probably best known for them. Badgirs are built so that they can be opened to catch the wind from different directions, the air is then cooled as it travels down the tower, and in turn cools the rooms below. When there is no wind, air in the tower is heated and rises, which draws cooler air from the courtyard into the house. (There is no URL to link to for the search result for “badgir” on Encyclopaedia Iranica, but I recommend checking out their definition and diagrams even though you’ll have to go through three different PDF pages.) Badgirs have been around in some form “since the New Kingdom (1500- 300 BC) in Egypt”, but global warming might make them ineffective.(scroll down to #16-#18) Variations, such as malqafs, can be found from Egypt to Pakistan. You can get a modern one for your own house. You can win an award shaped like one for advancements in sustainable development. Or you could just stay in the Fairmont Dubai Hotel which is shaped like a huge badgir. So even after all this, I still don't know what those sticks sticking out of the sides are for.
posted by lobakgo on Jul 10, 2003 - 28 comments

From windmills to whirligigs... Please step lightly. It's an old site and I'd hate to see it overwhelmed. I love it and I thought you might like it too. Gently, please, gently.
posted by realjanetkagan on Mar 23, 2002 - 9 comments

WTC Replacement... This would be sweet, imagine a 2000ft version of this puppy
posted by zeoslap on Sep 17, 2001 - 14 comments