HowStuffWorks Newsletter
Green technology is technology that produces clean energy, helps repair environmental damages or offers solutions to wasteful practices.
Topics to Explore:
Rooftop solar panels are nearly 80 percent cheaper than they were just 10 years ago. A new paper says that if we installed them on 50 percent of roofs, we could meet all the world's yearly electric needs.
A July study found that every coastal estuary could prevent $38 million of damage from major storms like Hurricane Ida. But that means wetlands need protecting, too.
Purdue University researchers have developed an ultra-white paint that reflects more than 98 percent of sunlight and could reduce the need for energy-consuming air conditioning.
Advertisement
The controversial technology of reflecting sunlight away from the planet could help blunt the worst impacts of climate change. Harvard University climate scientist David Keith weighs in.
By Betsy Mason
Kernza is a wheat-like grain that doesn't have to be replanted each year, making it the ideal crop to aid in the fight against climate change and help to feed the world.
These new devices may be used in the future to absorb more of the sun's energy than today's solar panels are capable of collecting.
In Africa's Ivory Coast, a group of women saw a need and came together to collect plastic for recycling into bricks to build schools.
Advertisement
A new technology can speed the purification of water using sunlight, potentially providing clean water to billions of people.
By Jim Marion
There are seven different numbers you might see on a plastic container. And each number has its own meaning.
The forward momentum on recycling has stalled in the U.S. and other countries, but some experts say there's still potential for growth.
Cockroaches are taking a big bite out of a Chinese city's trash problem.
By Loraine Fick
Advertisement
Coral grows faster when it's cut or broken and scientists are taking advantage of that to replenish depleted reefs.
Urine is so much more valuable than we think. Soon, we might be building houses with pee bricks.
While green roofs make sense in a lot of ways, requiring their installation isn't as simple as it might seem.
Sweden puts less than 1 percent of its household trash into landfills, in part because it burns nearly half to generate heat and electricity.
Advertisement
As sea levels rise with climate change, beaches are losing ground against ever-encroaching waters. Trucking in sand may seem like a good idea, but the evidence, while not yet conclusive, may show otherwise.
By Amanda Onion
People have floated the idea of towing icebergs to drought-stricken parts of the world for years. Sounds like a good idea, but how viable is it?
By Amanda Onion
While plastic such as Styrofoam may be cheap and convenient to use, it contributes to costly health issues and is an inconvenient pollutant that takes up to 500 years to biodegrade.
By Carrie Tatro
Wine pomace — the portion of grapes left over from winemaking — has a variety of uses, from fertilizer to a nutrition-enhancing ingredient in foods.
Advertisement
Fog harvesting has been going on in some form since ancient times, but scientists have been refining the method so people living in some of the most arid climates can have water.
By Mark Mancini
There's no easy fix for climate change so scientists are playing with altering the Earth's natural systems in hopes of slowing it down. What could possibly go wrong?
Human attempts to alter the Earth's natural systems could either successfully avert climate change or fail and cause even greater harm.
In Colorado, a recycling robot uses artificial intelligence to sort through discarded cartons more efficiently.
Advertisement
China, the world's largest emitter of CO2, is making steps to combat those emissions by creating the world's largest floating solar panel farm.
Some scientists are proposing a massive array of wind-powered pumps to bring more Arctic water to the surface, so it can freeze and thicken existing sea ice.