The AC Electrical Grid: Transitions into the Twenty-First Century
This essay discusses the history and future of the AC electrical grid. The article argues that the DC power generation and distribution pioneered by Edison can make a comeback.
This essay discusses the history and future of the AC electrical grid. The article argues that the DC power generation and distribution pioneered by Edison can make a comeback.
Urban mining—reclaiming valuable metals from discarded electronic devices—has become an important economic activity in the informal sector in places such as Agbogbloshie, a slum in Accra, Ghana. This article examines the material flows linking Ghana with the rest of the world, the politics of waste recycling, and the hazards faced by those processing e-waste.
Piper argues that coal has played an important role in Alberta’s history, although it receives less attention than the oil sands. Coal has been essential to Alberta’s economy and the industry has benefited from government support, although from the 1970s this came into conflict with growing grassroots environmentalism. Whether the coal industry can withstand recent political and economic changes, however, remains to be seen.
Barthold analyzes the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group to illustrate how city networks are powerful actors in the global dissemination of eco-modernization strategies aimed at decoupling economic growth from environmental degradation.
Vanesa Castán Broto critiques sustainable development agendas that approach green cities as merely engines of economic growth.