The Ferris Files

BP axes Tony Hayward, McDonald’s cooks up some localwashing, NASA gives us a pop quiz…. and more of the latest sustainability news.

This is David’s summary of the week’s news for the Matter Network. To see the original, or post your comments, go here.
Solar’s Sugar Daddy: During his Saturday address, President Obama lavished an astonishing $2 billion in loan guarantees upon two solar companies. This upended the administration’s seedling strategy with renewables — a few million for [...]

From this week’s summary: Our Gulf of knowledge about the oil spill, Indonesia’s rainforests held for ransom, big news from Nissan and Zipcar, and some welcome news for the food movement.

Big news and the best ideas from the world of cleantech and sustainability.

I am coming to the conclusion that the wind turbines of today — hundreds of feet tall, sporting three blades, clustered in the cornfields like rotary clubs — will soon go the way of the Model T. Good for their day, but we’ve moved on.

I explored alternative designs in wind power for my latest “Innovate” column in Sierra magazine, and can report that 31 flavors of turbines are poised to engulf the plain ol’ vanilla version we know so well. It isn’t that anything’s so wrong with Old Reliable; it’s more that there’s categories of wind that a giant whirligig just can’t use.

News and insights of the week from the world of cleantech and sustainability.

This week: Are oil rigs a threatened species? Also, rain falls on the electric-car parade, and Google makes a curious investment.