Solving climate change one imaginary carbon credit at a time. Carbon offsets have become a popular tool for businesses and individuals...

Why cheap, abundant energy is problematic—even if it's renewable. Cheap energy sounds like an obvious win. Who wouldn’t want lower bills...

The many uses of fossil hydrocarbons, and what we do and don't have alternatives for. We tend to call the coal, oil, and natural gas...

How Composite Wood Saves Trees But Harms Our Health—But Doesn't Need To. When we think of wood, we often picture solid planks or logs. ...

The history, irony, and idiocracy of American lawns A lawn is a strange thing. It is a patch of land where nothing happens, a landscape...

The overlooked tankless water heater problem—plus heat pump, solar thermal, and point-of-use. When you take a shower and aren't freezing...

The Case For and Against Nuclear Energy As global electricity demand surges due to electrification, economic growth, and population...

An overview of how different nuclear power plants work; or how to get electricity from rocks. Nuclear energy accounts for about 9% of the...

A foundational concept of nearly everything that we often misunderstand Electromagnetic radiation (EMR) is everywhere, and it may be one...

What nature can teach us about designing resilient energy systems In nature, survival often depends on finding creative ways to store...

How it works, different methods, and do we need it? Carbon Capture and Storage, CCS, is a technology designed to capture carbon dioxide...

The environmental impact of what you eat and how much it matters. In Part 1 , we covered what trophic levels are and how different...

Ecological efficiency and biomass distribution in nature. Trophic levels are the different positions that organisms occupy in a food...

How Community Solar Projects Are Democratizing Energy In the past, solar energy was primarily available to single-family homeowners who...

Comparing and visualizing common forms of energy What's a kilowatt-hour? Although we still don't know what energy is at its most...

Using physics to travel smarter. Nobody likes waste. That is, spending something and getting nothing. Efficiency is a ratio of how much...

The environmental cost of consumerism fueled by manipulation. Advertising is everywhere. From billboards on highways to ads that pop up...

Effects on roof lifespan and cooling load. Solar panels are a highly effective way to produce electricity on your property. Rooftop...

Comparing the amount of energy required to move people and stuff around by different methods. And, road trip or fly? One of the critical...

...to make the oxygen you breathe and store the carbon you produce? Trees make oxygen, and humans need oxygen to breathe. Have you ever...