Disputed Solar Energy Project in California Desert Is Dropped

A proposed solar energy project in the California desert that caused intense friction between environmentalists and the developers of renewable energy has been shelved. BrightSource Energy Inc. had planned a 5,130-acre solar power farm in a remote part of the Mojave Desert, on land previously intended for conservation. The company, based in Oakland, Calif., said […]

How much in subsidies do fossil fuels get anyway?

At least some members of the Obama Administration plan to call for an end to fossil fuel subsidies as part of next week’s G20 economic leaders summit, citing positive impacts ranging from improved energy security to combating climate change. But how much does the U.S. government pay? Well, according to a new analysis from the […]

Algae Fuels Are Too Darn Expensive

On its green, slimey face, algae would seem like an ideal alt-fuel source. As well as a burgeoning business opportunity, which the Los Angeles Times reports on today. San Diego is setting itself up as algae central, the national hub of algae cultivation and biofuel research and development. Unlike other types of renewable alt-fuel sources, […]

Sarkozy and Stiglitz: A New Way to Grow

…The report recommends shifting economic emphasis from simply the production of goods to a broader measure of overall well-being, which would include the benefits of things like health, education, and security. It calls for greater focus on the effects on income inequality, as well as new ways to measure the economic impact of sustainability (climate […]

New Zealand: Driving us crazy

It has become increasingly fashionable to question the Kiwi love affair with the car. The sandal brigade has long been fond of dissing the petrolheads among us (though they really should shoe themselves in more suitable footwear whenever they crank up their Raleigh Twenties.) Peak oil and the decline of the American gas-guzzler industry have […]

As he sows: An interview Michael Pollan

Michael Pollan, the acclaimed author of five books, including The Omnivore’s Dilemma and In Defense of Food, will be in Madison next week for a series of events as part of the University of Wisconsin-Madison Go Big Read common-reading program and this year …I mean, there was a whole movement to draft me for secretary […]

Not your average peak oil theory, from Macquarie

Mainstream financial analyst types tend to shy away from talking about peak oil – even when they are talking up a looming supply crunch, this is usually attributed to the short- to mid-term under-investment problem. So a presentation by Iain Reid, a senior oil analyst at Macquarie Bank, stirred much excitement when some details were […]

Energy Industry Slowdown Means Idle Rigs, Cuts in Jobs

John Cromling isn’t jumping out any windows, even though the struggles of the oil and gas industry have idled a large number of Tulsa-based Unit Corp.’s drilling rigs. That has forced Unit to lay off about 800 employees in Oklahoma. “That’s really the only thing you can do to cope with the market. The market […]

Canning revival

…In a throwback to the days when our parents and grandparents filled their pantries with enough jam, pickles and preserves to carry their families through the winter, urbanities are flocking to canning demos and preserve parties across the city. Suddenly hip, canning seems to be the logical next step in the local food movement. Brine […]

Author outlined dangers of foreign oil dependency

In his continued effort to expose secrecy, conspiracy and corruption surrounding the history of oil in America, author Edwin Black spoke about his latest book on campus Tuesday. His 2008 book, “The Plan: How to Rescue Society the Day the Oil Stops – or the Day Before” explains how America is unprepared to stop importing […]

Top military minds mull climate change, energy efficiency, and national security

…Even accounting for the recent discovery of deep sea oil reserves in the Gulf of Mexico, America controls only 3 percent of the world’s oil supply while we consume 25 percent of the oil produced every year. Making the assumption that fuel is going to be available and affordable whenever and wherever we need it […]

Drought fuels sales of artificial grass

SOUTH EL MONTE – Southeast Construction Products has long been known as one of Southern California’s largest building materials distributors. Brick, natural stone, cement products, tools … these have been the company’s bread and butter. But as the state endures its third year of drought, the emphasis has shifted. Southeast also sell artificial grass made […]

Treating Oil Addiction

A sustainable-energy evangelist whose church is a van that runs on grease, Mr. Tickell contends that the oil industry poisons our environment, corrupts our government and cooks our planet. Galvanized by a childhood spent among the oil refineries and pollution problems of Louisiana, Mr. Tickell was an early adopter of alternative fuels. But his exhaustively […]

Natural Gas Lobby Steps into Climate Change Negotiations

Producers of natural gas are readying a lobbying effort before a climate change bill goes before the Senate this fall, reports the Associated Press. The America’s Natural Gas Alliance, the industry’s new lobbying group, will launch an $80 million ad campaign in both national and regional publications in opposition to new oil and gas taxes […]

FACTBOX – The science spurring talks on a UN climate pact

(Reuters) – World leaders meet in New York on Sept. 22 to try to revive stalled talks on a new climate treaty that were partly spurred by scientists’ bleak findings in 2007 about likely heatwaves, floods, desertification and rising sea levels. Following are highlights of that report, by the U.N.’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change […]

Amid Africa's oil boom, U.S. binds ties

Potentially major oil strikes announced by an American-led consortium and a British company in West Africa have bolstered the region’s reputation as the world’s hottest energy zone. It has also become the focus of the U.S. military’s global mission to protect America’s energy supplies, a development that critics fear will trigger more trouble than it […]

US tax breaks subsidize foreign oil production

(Washington) The largest U.S subsidies to fossil fuels are attributed to tax breaks that aid foreign oil production, according to research to be released on Friday by the Environmental Law Institute (ELI) in partnership with the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. The study, which reviewed fossil fuel and energy subsidies for Fiscal Years 2002-2008, […]

Diverting Aid for Climate Risks Children, Oxfam Says

(Bloomberg) — Diverting overseas aid from economic development to fight global warming may threaten the lives of at least 4.5 million children in the poorest nations, the anti-poverty group Oxfam said. Pledges made by the 27-nation European Union and various donors to help the developing world adapt to higher sea levels and droughts brought on […]

GOP Senator Considering Rider to Limit EPA Authority on Greenhouse Gases

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) may attempt to handcuff U.S. EPA’s ability to regulate stationary sources of greenhouse gases with an amendment to the agency’s annual spending bill. Murkowski, ranking member of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, may introduce an amendment (pdf) to the fiscal 2010 Interior and environment appropriations bill that would allow EPA […]

Condoms Key to Combating Global Warming?

(AP) Giving contraceptives to people in developing countries could help fight climate change by slowing population growth, experts said Friday. More than 200 million women worldwide want contraceptives, but don’t have access to them, according to an editorial published in the British medical journal, Lancet. That results in 76 million unintended pregnancies every year. If […]

Forget Conventional 401(k)s; Think Goat Cheese and Fennel

The crux of the movement is persuading investors to put some of their assets into businesses they can see, smell and even taste — to measure growth not by the flashing numbers on a stock ticker, but by the slow ripening of a tomato. Mr. Tasch is thinking about farmers like Martin Ping of upstate […]

Renewable Fuel Niches

This is the final installment of a three-part series that examines some of the renewable energy options that are presenting themselves as possible contenders to step up as petroleum steps down the depletion curve. Today I want to talk about Biofuel Niches. Here is how I would define a Biofuel Niche: A technology that is […]

Carolyn Baker Interviews Robin Rucker

REAL PEOPLE, REAL PREPARATION, Part 5 RR: Initially, I thought I had the perfect career. I believed in the pharmaceutical industry and the good I thought it was doing. Then, four years into my career at my first job, the biotech startup I worked at was swallowed by a huge pharmaceutical company. I began interacting […]

Should landowners be forced to give up space for allotments?

Why are we asking this now? Because that’s one of the more controversial suggestions from a think tank which is looking into how Britain can alleviate its rather desperate allotment shortage. According to the New Local Government Network, persuading councils to turn over vacant brownfield sites The think tank’s director, Chris Shipley, who is also […]

Utah geothermal plant runs into cold-water problem

Geothermal plant’s cold water means it buys nearly as much power as it makes. Raser Technologies Inc. long has boasted its new Hatch geothermal power plant near the west-central Utah city of Beaver would launch a new era of energy production — one in which electricity would be produced from low-temperature underground water that wasn’t […]

Is There Something Wrong with the Crude Oil Market?

The dependence of the IEA’s forecast on continued rapid growth in China’s oil consumption is a hidden risk. Friday’s oil demand release by China confirms that possibility. China is known for its opaque economic statistics, creating a cottage industry of “China economy watchers.” So far, China’s aggressive economic stimulus plan in response to the global […]

China's 'Cancer Villages' Bear Witness To Economic Boom

One needs to look no further then the river that runs through Shangba to understand the extent of the heavy metals pollution that experts say has turned the hamlets in this region of southern China into cancer villages. The river’s flow ranges from murky white to a bright shade of orange and the waters are […]

New trade flows threaten Europe's oil refiners

An anticipated bounce in fuel demand next year will not be enough to prevent European refiners from cutting runs or even closing because of fierce competition in traditional export markets. Demand is set to pick up for most fuel next year as economies return to growth, but refiners will no longer be able to count […]

Success of Palm Oil Brings Plantations Under Pressure to Preserve Habitats

Idyllic scenes of palm trees swaying over sandy beaches have long decorated brochures meant to lure tourists to Indonesia and Malaysia. But few visitors see the giant palm plantations away from the shore. Each year, the plantations produce millions of tons of palm oil, which has soared in popularity since the 1970s and is now […]

Ecuador warns oil companies to keep up investments

Ecuador could cancel contracts with petroleum companies if they do not fulfill their investment plans, Oil Minister Germanico Pinto said on Thursday in the government’s latest warning to the private sector. The socialist government has a troubled relationship with foreign investors, punctuated by tax and other legal disputes. But Pinto said that so far, he […]

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