Energy Consumption

In a long read published in Places, Austin Troy delves into the complicated nexus between the need to increase water resources and decrease energy use, which are both exacerbated by, and exacerbate, climate change.

Australia's first term prime minister Julia Gillard announced a carbon tax that will charge $23 per metric ton. Though Australia is one of the world's top carbon polluters, the program will start next year, reports Sarah Laskow, GOOD Magazine.

Edward Glaeser adds "large-scale metropolitan farming" to a list -- which also includes historic preservation -- of barriers to densifying urban development patterns. His argument is that the latter is the greener of the two.

A new study estimates there are at least 500 million off-street parking spaces in the U.S. This represents 0.5% to 12% of estimated lifecycle energy consumption and greenhouse emissions, and 24% to 81% other air pollutants.

In a new working paper called “The Greenness of China: Household Carbon Dioxide Emissions and Urban Development,” Siqi Zheng, Rui Wang, Edward L. Glaeser, and Matthew E. Kahn rank 74 Chinese cities in terms of their household carbon footprints.

The City of Austin is set to take in a record amount of solar power to advance towards a goal of deriving 30% of local energy from renewable sources by 2020.

American businesses and consumers are changing their habits and finding ways to save energy.

Rock Port, Missouri, population 1300, has become the first community in the country with more wind power that it can use.

Small changes in British Victorian homes yield big changes in energy consumption, and help debunk the stereotype that 'green equals ugly' where architecture is concerned.