Chris Turner Blog

Physics-defying LEDs light the way to a brighter cleantech future
A light-emitting diode (LED) developed at MIT operates at 230-percent efficiency. That's not a typo. LEDs will provide 70 percent of the world's general lighting by 2020. That's not a typo, either. The cleantech revolution has barely begun.
Have we reached 'peak car'?
People under the age of 30 are waiting longer to get their driver's licenses and buying fewer cars. 88 percent prefer walkable downtowns to traffic-choked freeways. Welcome to the post-automobile age.
My big fat New Urbanism conference rundown, Part 2
At the 20th Congress for the New Urbanism, there were many big ideas on display. The best: How to transform China into a New Urbanist showpiece, plus how to use 'tactical urbanism' and 'sprawl repair' to rebuild American cities.
My big fat New Urbanism conference rundown
The Congress for the New Urbanism is the most significant urban design movement since Levittown gave birth to the postwar suburb. Its 20th anniversary conference in Florida proved it still has plenty to say about the future of cities.
The competitive advantage of green grids
As Greenpeace attacks Apple for the coal clouds firing its data centers, green grids from Iceland to Quebec are attracting some surprising new customers. All kilowatt-hours are no longer created equal.
Who knows less about global warming than Jose Canseco? Mitt Romney, for one
When Jose Canseco started lecturing about global warming on Twitter, everyone knew to laugh. So why do the leading lights of the GOP - and their enablers in the mainstream media - face less ridicule for even stupider pronouncements?
Giant Earth Day Sale! Everything Must Go!
No generations in the history of human civilization have consumed as much of the planet's natural bounty as the ones alive today. So what are we doing this Earth Day? More shopping.
Great cities do the everyday things right
Any old city can build a fancy stadium or host a big event. But the 21st century belongs to the cities that master the art of the everyday. Safe sidewalks, dog parks, even just crossing the street.
What have we learned about cheap energy?
There's not a free and fair market for energy anywhere on earth. The reason Germany's solar industry is failing and America's natural gas 'fracking' business is thriving is because the markets are rigged that way.
The symbolic power of bladeless wind turbines
Critics of renewable energy are obsessed with the costs and practicalities of cleantech right this instant. Visitors to Silicon Valley in the 1970s didn't see the iPhone coming, either. There are countless innovative new ideas blowing in the wind.

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