Waste worth watching: why Gree Energy wants your dirty water

It's been proven within the cookstove industry that providing free cleaner-energy stoves to those cooking with traditional stoves or over open flame does not work as planned. Inyenyeri, a Rwandan cookstove company however, is adding a twist to that method by giving away their cookstoves that reduce emissions by 98 to 99 percent compared to wood or charcoal stoves for free, as long as the consumer agrees to buying their wood fuel pellets.

The California-based startup Magrathea Metals is producing magnesium with renewable energy to make the process less expensive and material-intensive. The company aims to make the more environment-friendly metal competitive with steel and aluminum.

A utility company in Framingham, Massachusetts, worked with climate advocates to build a unique geothermal heating and cooling project that spans a whole neighborhood. A group of residential and commercial buildings share the infrastructure necessary to harness stable underground temperatures for heating and cooling, which reduces their greenhouse gas emissions and energy bills.

Thermal storage technologies are lowering businesses’ energy costs and carbon emissions while reducing strain on the grid during peak times. Two hotels in California implemented a system that makes ice when energy demand is low and uses the ice during peak demand times to cool the building.

In Gateshead, England, Lanchester Wines keeps its storage warehouse at a stable temperature year-round using geothermal heat from an abandoned coal mine nearby. The water that naturally floods the mine is geothermally heated below ground, then a heat pump system pulls that water to the surface to transfer that heat to the warehouse.

UPS has converted about one-third of its diesel vehicles to electric power, a move backed by the British government to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and air pollution in London. While making the switch to electric reveled challenges with the city’s power grid, officials said they have been encouraged by the results of the pilot program, which could also be applicable to other modes of transportation like buses and ambulances in other cities around the world.

Iceland, hit by the oil crises of the 1970s, turned to geothermal energy - and they haven't turned back. The island is now powered by 100% renewable energy, and they are taking it one step more, looking to further cut emissions using a unique carbon capture system called CarbFix. It is being pioneered at the Hellsheidi geothermal power plant in western Iceland.

Getting to public transportation can be difficult for commuters. Microtransit is easing that burden and reducing emissions by replacing individual car trips. Partnerships between cities and companies ensure shared, on-demand scooters, bikes, or vehicles are available to help people reach public transportation.

Two Texas-based companies are 3D printing homes in an effort to combat the housing crisis and produce fewer emissions than a typical home construction. The companies lay the foundation and rebar for support. Then, a machine with a robotic arm builds up the walls by printing layers of a cement-like material.

A startup in Germany created an online platform, Cirplus, that connects recycling companies with manufacturers and distributors in the plastic industry. The site encourages the move towards a circular economy by improving transparency for buyers and sellers.