Natural gas: An unconventional glut.
Economist 12 Mar
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Politics
Other NewsState regulators approve $9 million in solar research grants, PG&E solar contract.Los Angeles Times 12 Mar Bio-fuel plant opens.Fiji Times 12 Mar EditorialsThe natural gas story.If the questions about impact on water supplies can be answered satisfactorily, and we believe they can, let's use it effectively to create jobs, lessen dependence on foreign energy, cut our defense costs, change our balance-of-payments picture for the better and make our air cleaner. Houston Chronicle 14 Mar Enviros play dirty on coal, natural gas.They don't discuss the subject too openly outside their own circles, but environmentalists make crystal clear on their Web sites that they want to stop all coal-based power production in this country. Washington DC Examiner 14 Mar Chortling at Chu.Our secretary of energy pushes bio-refineries and windmills to oil executives at an energy conference as the administration announces a three-year offshore drilling ban. This is a policy for economic suicide. Investors Business Daily 13 Mar Cap and tax.The chosen solution for reducing greenhouse-gas emissions, a combination of energy taxes and carbon controls, is politically inexpedient. That means that the Senate's Green Three will have to buy the votes they need, sweetening the deal with special favors and parochial giveaways. National Public Radio 12 Mar Unconventional gas: This changes everything.Natural gas is becoming less like oil and more like coal, which is a good thing. Economist 12 Mar Ex-goalie offside on oilsands.Hardly a day goes by without some misinformed demonization of Alberta's oilsands. The latest comes from former New York Rangers goaltender Mike Richter, who blamed the lack of snow at the Vancouver Olympics on global warming caused by "dirty oil" from Alberta. Calgary Herald 12 Mar Obama's energy 'deal'.President Obama used his January State of the Union speech to promise "a new generation of safe, clean nuclear power plants" and "new offshore areas for oil and gas development." Judging by its recent decisions, we'd say his Cabinet hasn't received the memo. Wall Street Journal 11 Mar The electorate will decide climate law.Cap-and-trade legislation has failed to advance, and in what some see as an effort to get it moving, the Environmental Protection Agency has threatened to act against stationary sources of pollution itself. Charleston Daily Mail 10 Mar OpinionTaxpayer-subsidized manure digesters stimulate factory farm pollution.At the U.N. Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen last December, U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack unveiled plans to promote manure digesters as a way to reduce U.S. greenhouse gas emissions by 25 percent. Madison Capital Times 14 Mar Nuclear is safe, efficient way to meet energy needs.Savings from using nuclear energy are likely to increase significantly as the cost of burning fossil fuels, especially coal, rises due to government controls on carbon dioxide emissions. Myrtle Beach Sun News 14 Mar We must take full advantage of Marcellus Shale.It’s impossible to overestimate the importance of natural gas production in the Marcellus Shale that underlies large parts of New York State and Pennsylvania. Buffalo News 14 Mar Wind turbines: 'Eco-friendly' - but not to eagles.The same hills that provide lift for soaring birds offer heavily subsidised profits for wind farm developers. London Daily Telegraph 14 Mar Interview: Energy Secretary Steven Chu.Energy Secretary Steven Chu, a vocal advocate for alternative energy and nuclear power, was in Silicon Valley earlier this week to talk about the role of clean energy in combating global climate change. San Jose Mercury News 13 Mar Debate: Nuclear plants.Policymakers and citizens recognize the need to work toward a more diversified and sustainable mix of energy sources. For most, this mix would include a new generation of nuclear power that has been widely promoted by the industry as safe, clean and affordable. Green Bay Press-Gazette 13 Mar Nuclear safe, efficient way to meet energy demands.For starters, producing nuclear-generated electricity is cheaper than any other major source of power. Granted, the cost of building nuclear plants is high, but comparatively low nuclear fuel costs yield significant savings over a plant's lifetime. McClatchy Newspapers 13 Mar Nuclear is a safe and efficient way to meet rising energy demands.What would help create hundreds of thousands of well-paying jobs, bring millions of dollars to federal and state treasuries, provide clean air, and enable America to be less dependent on foreign oil? Building more nuclear plants. McClatchy Newspapers 12 Mar |
Inspired by nature.
Kevin Krejci/flickr
What if we could solve big environmental problems simply by shifting our approach - from relying on human cleverness to mimicking nature? That is the idea behind biomimicry. High Country News 14 Mar Living spaces that stress less.From switching to energy-efficient light bulbs and appliances, to collecting rainwater and installing photovoltaic panels, how are experts making buildings that use less energy and generate less waste? Talk of the Nation 14 Mar Japan aims its home fuel cells at Europe.Following the success of a half-price subsidy for CO2-busting fuel-cell heat and energy generators for homes, Japan is now poised to shift its attention to supplying the UK and Germany with this hi-tech, next-generation energy source. BBC 14 Mar Runaway transport threatens targets on emissions.Greenhouse gas emissions from road traffic, air travel, ships and railways have risen to account for more than a quarter of Scotland's total. Edinburgh Scotsman 14 Mar U.S. firms working to lower cost of solar energy.One piece of the American effort to find a way to make solar energy cheap enough that everyone will want it is unfolding in a modest redbrick building in Toledo, once known as one of the nation's top makers of glass. McClatchy Newspapers 14 Mar Anger as coal power plant bid goes ahead.Plans for a new £3 billion coal-fired power station in Scotland will be lodged tomorrow, prompting warnings of mass protests by green groups. Edinburgh Scotsman 14 Mar Efforts to store carbon dioxide underground face Randolph County opposition.Rumors that East Central Indiana could become an underground storage site for carbon dioxide have prompted opposition to CO2 sequestration in Randolph County. Muncie Star Press 14 Mar New era for 'Saudi Arabia of renewables.'Scotland's wave and tidal power revolution will get under way this week when ten projects involving hundreds of devices are granted permission to start work off the north coast. Edinburgh Scotsman 14 Mar Biomass plans moving too fast.An environmental group is worried that Traverse City Light & Power is on an unstoppable fast track to building a wood-burning biomass power plant in Traverse City, but the public utility insists a decision hasn't been made. Traverse City Record Eagle 14 Mar Local innovators explore algae as a fuel source.In the short term, members of the Energy Innovation Group have started biodiesel production from vegetable oil and have experimented with a unique solar-powered greenhouse — intended to be a growing environment for algae as a source of fuel. Providence Journal 14 Mar 512-acre solar farm proposed in Upper Pittsgrove Township.Cropland here may see a new use in the near future after plans were submitted to the Upper Pittsgrove Township Planning Board to construct a 72 megawatt solar farm on 512 acres here. Salem Today's Sunbeam 14 Mar Putin in deal to build nuclear reactors for India.
World Economic Forum
India and Russia today signed a nuclear co-operation agreement, which paves the way for the building of about a dozen nuclear reactors in India, with Russian help, over the next few decades. London Guardian 13 Mar Leno engineers a rerun.
General Motors
"Tonight Show" host Jay Leno is reviving the turbine-powered EcoJet: "In 1963, Chrysler Corporation produced a batch of turbine cars and took them on test drives around the world. In countries where people were still riding bicycles and donkeys, Americans were driving jets." New York Times 13 Mar Made in the U.S.A.: Efficiency materials.While solar and wind manufacturers in the United States struggle to fend off Chinese competition, energy efficiency equipment seems to have no such problem. New York Times 13 Mar £3bn coal power plant will test strength of Ed Miliband's environment rules.A new plant in Scotland will have to prove that carbon capture technology works. London Guardian 13 Mar Honda drives toward home solar hydrogen refueling.Coming not so soon and probably not to a house near you is the home solar hydrogen refueling station -- Honda Motor Co's latest idea in its drive to make hydrogen the fuel of choice for zero emission cars. Reuters 13 Mar World Bank to partner with Caribbean on renewable energy options.On Thursday, the President of the World Bank met with the heads of government of CARICOM countries in Rouseau, Dominica. Small island states face unique challenges, and the Bank is exploring opportunities to support renewable solutions. Kingston Jamaica Observer 13 Mar British Columbia OKs 19 projects in clean power push.British Columbia has given the green light to 19 private-sector clean energy projects that together will generate more than 2,400 gigawatt hours of electricity annually, enough power to supply nearly 218,000 homes in Canada's Pacific Coast province. Reuters 13 Mar Kenya approves new mega wind farm.The government has approved Gitson Energy Ltd's plans to build a 300-megawatt wind farm at Bubisa in Marsabit. Turkana Windpower also plans to build a 300 MW wind farm at Turkana. Nairobi Daily Nation 13 Mar Sunshine is free, so can photovoltaics be cheap?Here's how to make a solar cell from silicon: take one solid block of doped silicon, saw it into thin wafers, layer said semiconductors beneath a panel of transparent glass, connect them to a metal electrode that can channel away the electrons knocked loose by incoming photons. Scientific American 13 Mar Scottish Power wins carbon capture technology funding.Scottish Power has won "tens of millions of pounds" in government funding to develop new technology to tackle climate change. BBC 13 Mar Scots energy giant given grant to help plan 'clean' power station.Energy firms ScottishPower and E.ON have been awarded funding to design power plants which can trap and store carbon emissions permanently underground. Edinburgh Scotsman 13 Mar State support key to U.S. nuclear revival.Full support from state regulators is viewed as critical to keep the U.S. nuclear revival moving forward, utility executives said this week at the IHS CERA energy conference in Houston. Reuters 13 Mar Senate approves bill that includes biodiesel credit.The U.S. Senate approved a bill that extends the $1-a-gallon tax credit for biodiesel, which expired Dec. 31. Bloomberg News 13 Mar Climate-change panel under scrutiny.A global coalition of national science academies will review how the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change operates, United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon announced this week. Chemical & Engineering News 13 Mar Longannet owner to share £90m government fund for carbon capture.Prospects for a new industry bringing 10,000 jobs to Scotland are a step closer after a Whitehall decision to finance work on adding carbon capture and storage equipment to Longannet power station in Fife. London Times 13 Mar White House finalizing rules to cut car emissions.The White House is finalizing rules on the first U.S. greenhouse gas emission standard for automobiles, which would raise average fuel economy 42 percent by 2016, in a bid to slash oil imports and fight climate change. Reuters 12 Mar Energy: A foot on the gas.Policymakers have faced a trilemma: how to make energy supplies secure, affordable and clean. Now an abundance of gas appears to provide the answer to all three problems at once. However, there are two problems that could prevent gas from being the “long-term energy solution.” London Financial Times 12 Mar Burning wood as renewable power draws scrutiny in Oregon and nationwide.The modern incarnation of civilization's oldest form of generating energy is seen as one of Oregon's best sources for generating reliable, home-grown electricity that doesn't come from fossil fuels. Portland Oregonian 12 Mar Exxon chief doubts natural gas in cars is viable move.Exxon Mobil Corp. chief executive Rex Tillerson isn't just promoting his own petroleum products – he's investing billions of dollars to boost Exxon's natural gas production. He just thinks we'll need more natural gas for power generation, not for cars and trucks. Dallas Morning News 12 Mar |