A Republican senator on climate change: It's real, we need to fight it

Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski on climate change, the Keystone pipeline, and how technology can make us energy independent.

By Brian Dumaine, senior editor-at-large

FORTUNE -- Lisa Murkowski is one Republican senator who wants to do something about climate change. Catching up with her after she gave the keynote at the Bloomberg New Energy conference in New York City on her new Energy 20/20 plan, Fortune's Brian Dumaine discussed with this third-generation MORE

How NASCAR is going green

NASCAR's green innovation guru talks solar cars, ethanol and other ways the sport is trying to clean up its environmental act.

By Kurt Wagner, reporter

FORTUNE -- In many ways, NASCAR shares similarities with the rest of America's top sports leagues: big crowds, big-time athletes, and even bigger money. One way in which NASCAR strays from the pack is in its environmental challenges. Unlike the National Football League or Major League Baseball, NASCAR MORE

The fuel that could be the end of Ethanol

Ethanol could be on its way out this decade thanks to a discovery that makes butanol more cost-effective.

By Jennifer Abbasi

FORTUNE -- In 2007 we reported on biobutanol, a biofuel with the potential to solve many of the problems associated with ethanol. Since then, industry players like BP have been seeking ways to make a cost-efficient transition to the "advanced biofuel," and now a scientific breakthrough might finally make that MORE

Global warming is about to remake worldwide shipping

As sea ice melts, one of climate change's economic impacts will be faster shipping through historically unnavigable routes in the Arctic.

By Jennifer Abbasi

FORTUNE -- Call it a silver lining: Geographers are predicting that by mid-century, melting sea ice will open up new commercial shipping routes in the Arctic. That would shave off costly travel time in the late summer and reduce Russia's control over trans-Arctic shipping. For the first MORE

A new way to invest in green energy

Well-known executives from Wal-Mart, Gap, and others are trying make up for the slack in clean tech investment.

By Brian Dumaine, senior editor-at-large

FORTUNE -- In the world of venture capital they call it the valley of death. Scores of promising start-ups armed with innovative green technology end up stranded in the desert for lack of capital. Energy, it turns out, is not like launching a software company. You need a MORE

More blackouts are coming

Meet the companies trying to do something about the grid.

By Jack D. Hidary, contributor

FORTUNE -- This weekend the lights went out at the Superdome in New Orleans during Superbowl XLVII.   This caused more than a half-hour delay and changed the momentum of the game.

Entergy, the utility providing power to the stadium, stated:

Shortly after the beginning of the second half of the Super Bowl in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome, a piece of MORE

Segway inventor's next endeavor

Famed inventor Dean Kamen is teaming up with ... Coke.

By Brian Dumaine, senior editor-at-large

FORTUNE -- Dean Kamen, the New Hampshire inventor who brought us the portable dialysis machine and the Segway, is ramping up a new technology that may put a dent in one of our most pressing problems: providing clean drinking water to the billion plus people around world who lack it. Called the Slingshot (after David's tool for MORE

Natural gas is just what clean energy needs

Exporting natural gas would be more likely to displace coal both at home and abroad, resulting in a lower net carbon emissions overall.

By Arno Harris, contributor

FORTUNE -- America is awash in natural gas. Prices are low and by some estimates we have a 100-year supply of it. Today we produce more than we use so why not export it? By doing so, natural gas could act as the driver of MORE

A bright spot in China's coal binge

The growing power is at least testing some so-called clean coal technologies.

By Brian Dumaine, senior editor at large

FORTUNE -- In my last article focused on the global energy race, I cited a new World Resources Institute report that found that some 1,199 coal-fired plants are currently on the drawing board worldwide, with the lion's share being built-in India and China. This coal-buying binge, I argued, could seriously dent any progress MORE

A Kickstarter for green energy

Startup Mosaic is going national in its effort to raise money online to fund rooftop solar systems.

By Brian Dumaine, senior editor-at-large

FORTUNE -- By Internet standards, crowdfunding has been around forever. The idea to tap into online communities to raise money first became popular in 1997, when fans of the British rock group Marillion raised $60,000 to fund a U.S. tour for the band. Since then crowdfunding sites such as Kickstarter MORE