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Why Germans Are Buying Batteries With Their Solar Panels

Paul Hockenos

March 26, 2019 |

Bloomberg CityLab |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Germany, Berlin

Advances in lithium batteries as well as the plunging price of solar energy have spurred an increase in home solar energy batteries across Germany. While it used to be difficult to store solar energy, home solar systems can now save energy for rainy days, reduce the electricity bill, and even earn money for extra energy they feed to the city. Over 120,00 German homes and small businesses have invested in solar batteries in the last 5 years.

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MPHS Entrepreneurship Club tackles energy efficiency with light replacement project at high school

Lance Maggart

March 24, 2019 |

Sky-Hi News |

Text |

Under 800 Words

Response Location: United States, Grand County, Colorado

The Entrepreneurship Club at a high school in Grand County, Colorado took the initiative— and a $2,000 grant from the Grand Foundation— to replace all of the lights in their school with energy-efficient LED lights. Tristan Schwab initiated the project after learning about the divide in energy efficiency between urban and rural areas. The students reinstalled 200 lights in their building and, once the school has improved its efficiency and saved 40% on electric bills, plan on installing solar panels to further their work.

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Virginia schools have seen the light, and it's solar

Debbie Truong

March 24, 2019 |

The Washington Post |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Vienna, Virginia

A move towards solar energy in schools in Fairfax County, Virginia, has been spurred by environmentally-aware students. It’s working because of power purchase agreements, which make solar panels affordable. In these agreements, developers front most of the cost of solar installation, and schools pay it back through energy bills, still leading to cost savings over time. The move to solar is expected to save school districts across the state millions over the next several years.

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Waste to Wealth: How Kenyan farmers are bringing life back to degraded Lake Victoria swamps

Annika McGinnis

March 22, 2019 |

InfoNILE |

Multi-Media |

Over 3000 Words

Response Location: Kenya, Kisumu, Kisumu County

Families living in the wetlands of Lake Victoria in Kisumu, Kenya are working together with a nonprofit called Ecofinder Kenya to protect and conserve the wetlands they live on. The crux of the incentive centers around the Eocfinder toilet, which converts human and animal waste to biogas, but they also work with solar lamps, water pumps, and a "farmer-to-farmer" program in which farmers share environmentally-friendly expertise. The program has been going on for 3 years now, and the wetlands have since seen a return of wildlife and growth, particularly with fish and birds.

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‘Coal just isn't the future': Meet the Kentucky miners picking up a new trade

Elizabeth McGowan

March 21, 2019 |

Grist |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Harlan, Kentucky

As jobs in America's coal mines dwindle, local Appalachian communities put resources and opportunity into the sustainable energy business. A nonprofit in Kentucky called the Mountain Association for Community Economic Development bridges the gap between the two industries by providing sustainable energy training and internships for former employees of the coal mining industry.

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Pittsburgh's ‘living building' focuses on eco-friendly construction

Karen Hao

March 20, 2019 |

Quartz |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Creating sustainable buildings requires rethinking many of the norms in construction and city planning. The Center for Sustainable Landscapes, part of the Phipps Conservatory in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, received the first Living Building Challenge (LBC) certification. To achieve this, CSL advocated for changes to Pittsburgh’s laws on the use of public water utilities. CSL also had to seek out construction materials that avoided the use of harmful chemicals-a task easier said than done.

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As oil trains roll into Portland, city residents keep watch

Carl Segerstrom

March 13, 2019 |

High Country News |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Portland, Oregon

In Portland, Oregon, a group of activists have come together to be the eyes for their community when it comes to oil train shipments. There is a surprising lack of transparency when it comes to moving crude oil by train, and the state has yet to implement monitoring standards. Because of this, activists work in shifts to be informal watchdogs for their city, making sure the public is as informed as possible even with the lack of official information.

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This new recycling innovation could help fix our broken trash system

Adele Peters

March 08, 2019 |

FastCompany |

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Under 800 Words

Response Location: United States, Haverhill, Ohio

A common type of plastic, Polypropylene, is usually “downcycled” - meaning it makes lower quality materials when recycled. A new innovation in recycling will allow it to be recycled into “virgin” material that is cost- and energy-effective and will have a broader range of uses, increasing the likelihood that plastic will end up in new material and not in a landfill. PureCycle Technologies has had such successful pre-sales that the first plant has 20 years worth of pre-orders.

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Adapting to the Anthropocene

Janice Cantieri

March 07, 2019 |

Atmos |

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Over 3000 Words

Response Location: Kiribati

Around the world, communities are creating new technologies, processes, and relationships to the land in an effort to adapt to the changing climate. From the I-Kiribati using new hydroponic systems to grow food amidst rising sea levels, to farmers in Telangana using sustainable greenhouse technology, to the use of solar panels on Indigenous lands like Little Buffalo, those that depend on the land the most are having to adapt first. Underscoring each response is a collaborative, collective resilience.

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Ikea's innovation lab unveils a plan to help people cash in on solar energy

Katharine Schwab

March 07, 2019 |

FastCompany |

Text |

Under 800 Words

Response Location: United States, New York, New York

Ikea's innovation lab, Space10, piloted a block-chain powered solar energy grid as a way to creatively save money on electricity and create a sustainable energy alternative. Other microgrids around the world have seen success in allowing people who are part of the system to sell their excess energy and only use what they need.

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