Coal mines leave a legacy of ruin
A 19-month data investigation of mine closures indicates that since at least 2011 no large coal mines operating in South Africa have been granted closure….
Articles
Scientists scramble to understand the invisible creatures around us before it’s too late
In southwestern Africa, a dozen scientists dig in the dirt. In a week, they’ve transected 100 miles of shifting sand dunes and flat gravel plains…
Bois du Cazier
The history of the Bois du Cazier coal mining site dates back to a 1822 concession, in which a transcription error caused the name of…
Meet the villagers who protect biodiversity on the top of the world
It was a chilly February day. Dangwen and his wildlife monitoring team patrolled along the upper reaches of the Yangtze River. The river was frozen solid,…
Ships, planes and cars: a licence to pollute?
Shipping There it is on the horizon, clear as day. At half a kilometre long, it’s hard to miss the hulking outline of a container…
A fine biomess
Old power plants switching from coal to wood has been one of the major energy trends of the decade, allowing them to avoid carbon taxes…
Biocasa: the house where beauty meets good
Biocasa is a case study of an Italian house, which is advanced from a green building perspective to be the first private building in Europe…
The Chinese Solar revolution
If we were convinced to have made the most of the sun’s energy, it was because we had not yet thought of turning a dismantled…
Polar bear books and climate change for children
Can you bear it that polar bears may go extinct? Polar bears are beautiful and act cute, which leads both adults and children to care…
Rethink ‘carbon’ to make CO2 work for climate change solutions
An old cliché declares that the challenges we face often present the greatest opportunities. Yet in the case of addressing climate change, we have historically…
Williamsburg
The Domino Sugar Refinery was the first refinery of the American Sugar Refining Company. It processed more than half of the sugar sold in the…
Urbanisation can be good for the environment
Urbanisation has never resonated stronger among countries – developed and developing alike – than now. While the recently documented New Urban Agenda (Habitat III) posits…
What rural Alaska can teach the world about renewable energy
I flew into Unalakleet, Alaska, on a late fall day. With about 700 people, Unalakleet is large by rural Alaska standards and serves as a…