 | UC Berkeley Students Invent Affordable Solar Water Heater | Jul 22 2008 | A group of UC Berkeley students will be competing in a national inventor's competition this fall with their ultra-affordable solar water heater - even if they lose, they may have already won. Their invention may end up improving the lives of millions of people all over developing countries. |
 | Taking a Solar Spin | Jul 21 2008 | Hosted by the Center for Information Technology Research in the Interest of Society (CITRIS), the zero-emission, globe-trotting Solar Taxi made a pit stop on campus Monday, July 14. |
 | A/C, Climate Change Could Cause Californian Power Shortages | Jul 17 2008 | As the 21st century progresses, major cities in heavily air-conditioned California can expect more frequent extreme-heat events because of climate change. This could mean higher risk of power shortages said Norman Miller, an earth scientist at LBNL and geography professor at UCB. |
 | Genes could solve pollution mysteries | Jul 16 2008 | Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, have for the first time identified environmental pollutants by looking at the genes of a small, freshwater crustacean. |
 | Berkeley Lab, NOAA, NASA to Use Research Aircraft in Summertime Atmospheric Greenhouse Gas Sampling Project | Jul 11 2008 | Scientists from the U.S. Dept. of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, the Nat'l Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration, the Univ. of California, the California Air Resources Board, and NASA will use aircraft outfitted with atmospheric sampling devices in mid-June to measure greenhouse gases over California, in an effort to better understand the relative contribution of the state’s GHG emissions to the global total. |
 | Professor John Quigley Discovers Green Building Pays Greenbacks | Jul 2 2008 | Everyone's talking about "going green," but in the building industry, the cost of investment has been difficult to justify - until now. Haas Professor John Quigley has undertaken the first systematic analysis of environmentally sustainable construction and its economic impact on the real estate market.
In the working paper, "Doing Well by Doing Good? Green Office Buildings," Quigley and co-authors Piet Eichholtz and Nils Kok of Maastricht University, Netherlands, determined investments in proven green building practices lead to sizable increases in a property's market value and effective rent, the average per-square-foot rent paid.
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 | Climate change could severely impact California's endemic plants | Jul 1 2008 | The native plants unique to California are so vulnerable to global climate change that two-thirds of these "endemics" could suffer more than an 80 percent reduction in geographic range by the end of the century, according to a new University of California, Berkeley, study.
Because endemic species - native species not found outside the state - make up nearly half of all California's native plants, a changing climate will have a major impact on the state's unparalleled plant diversity, the researchers warn. |
 | Program Funds Sustainable New Projects | Jun 25 2008 | A campus sustainability program awarded $2 million to projects as diverse as stoves that may help decrease rape in Darfur and ultraviolet light tubes that kill waterborne pathogens last week.
The Sustainable Products and Solutions Program, based in the Center for Responsible Business at the Haas School of Business, funded 23 projects with a $2 million fund last week, part of a five-year, $10 million dollar gift from the Dow Chemical Company Foundation announced in October 2007. |
 | State Calls Off Moth Spraying in Urban Areas | Jun 24 2008 | Officials from the California Department of Food and Agriculture announced last Thursday that due to health concerns and public opposition, the controversial aerial spraying aimed at eradicating the light brown apple moth will no longer be executed in urban areas this summer.
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 | An alliance for green prosperity? Chile and California for the Environment | Jun 23 2008 | On a visit to Berkeley and LBNL this week, Chilean President Michelle Bachelet emphasized the value of collaboration between her nation and the state of California.
Now that democracy has taken firm root in her nation, Chilean President Michelle Bachelet came to Berkeley Thursday in search of solutions to one of the fast-developing nation's most pressing challenges: how to provide its own energy. |
 | Maharashtra at the Crossroads: Berkeley Lab-Led Agreement Tackles India's Energy Shortage, Global Climate Change | Jun 23 2008 | The Indian state of Maharashtra is at a crossroads. Its people endure frequent electricity blackouts due to a booming energy demand that far outpaces energy production. One solution is to build more coal-fired power plants, which are among the chief greenhouse-gas-emitting culprits of climate change. Another solution takes a different approach: reduce electricity demand, and the need for more power plants, by implementing energy-efficiency measures.
The latter choice may have an edge, thanks to a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) facilitated by Berkeley Lab scientists that aims to export California's lessons in adopting energy efficiency strategies to the state of Maharashtra. Maharashtra leads India in energy consumption.
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| CITRIS co-sponsors Copenhagen climate and energy conference as lead-in to 2009 UN meeting | Jun 22 2008 | BERKELEY – Some 250 of the world's leading climate and energy researchers, industry representatives and government leaders will convene on Thursday, June 19, in Copenhagen, Denmark, for an international research summit sponsored by the Center for Information Technology Research in the Interest of Society (CITRIS) at the University of California, Berkeley, in partnership with the Copenhagen Climate Council.
The conference, "Unlocking the Climate Code: Innovation in Climate and Energy," aims to identify the critical research and development achievements necessary for a successful transition to a low carbon economy. Conference participants will present and debate relevant policy and business models that can support technology innovation in carbon emissions reduction.
Nobel Laureate Steve Chu, who is a UC Berkeley physics professor, director of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and an outspoken advocate of research to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, will give the conference's keynote speech. |
 | San Francisco Bay area air regulators to charge businesses fees for greenhouse gas emissions | Jun 19 2008 | |
 | Press Release: Students win $180,000 to tackle world's problems through Bears Breaking Boundaries contest | Jun 19 2008 | BERKELEY – Projects to help new mothers in Nigeria and orphans in Nepal, and to encourage bike sharing and energy efficiency in Berkeley, are among 50 student proposals receiving a total of $179,000 in the third annual "Bears Breaking Boundaries" competition at the University of California, Berkeley.
"Cal students have fantastic ideas for enhancing the curriculum, improving the campus, and addressing major societal challenges such as climate change and global health," said Thomas Kalil, special assistant to the chancellor for science and technology and director of Big Ideas@Berkeley, a campus initiative which co-sponsors the student competition. "The contest is our version of 'American Idol' - it helps shine the spotlight on our most creative, energetic and entrepreneurial students."
Also see Business Week Article: |
 | KQED QUEST to feature the Hydrowatch Project: Water in Motion | Jun 18 2008 | We are extremely pleased that KQED QUEST has put together a piece on the HydroWatch Project funded by the W.M. Keck Foundation. The theme of HydroWatch is water in motion. A center piece is David Culler's microclimate motes, deployed at a mini-watershed of a UC Natural Reserve. The Keck HydroWatch Story focusing on the work being done at the Angelo Coast Range Reserve is scheduled to air on KQED Quest on July 22 at 7:30 pm. The story will be available on the Quest website on July 21. |
