The boom in cellulosic ethanol that was predicted four years ago never happened. Or hasn't happened yet. The idea of making ethanol from all manner of plant material other than corn still promises major net environmental benefits -- unlike corn ethanol, which doesn't do much for the environment. But a lot depends on oil prices, electric car sales, financing, and the economies of scale.
"The Interior Department will study the potential impacts of a 'very large oil spill' in the Arctic Ocean as part of a court-ordered supplemental review of oil and gas leasing off Alaska's northwest coast, the agency said."
"The Lone Star state is several years ahead of Pennsylvania when it comes to deep natural gas drilling." So the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette went to Texas to see what might be in store, especially as densely settled suburban areas are drilled. For some, such as homeowners, it has meant economic loss; but for drillers, it has meant fortunes.
Few energy conferences can match the annual event, organized entirely by students, at MIT for sheer unbridled enthusiasm.
"The Obama administration is considering tapping the Strategic Petroleum Reserve in response to rapidly rising gasoline prices brought on by turmoil in the Middle East, the White House chief of staff, William M. Daley, said on Sunday."
Besides being a keystone of the ocean ecosystem, coral reefs are of huge commercial value. But they are seriously threatened by floods, runoff, rising ocean temperatures and acidity which are all symptoms of our fossil-fuel economy.
"The Department of Energy said on Thursday it has offered a conditional $102 million loan guarantee to support a wind farm in Maine. The financial aid will support the Record Hill wind project, a 50.1 megawatt wind power plant and transmission line in Maine."
Past efforts to regulate toxic and polluting waste from oil and gas drilling operations were thwarted when back-room industry pressure subverted the law and science that justified it. Today, history may be about to repeat itself.
"As prices for agricultural land surge across America’s grain belt, regulators are warning that a new real estate bubble may be forming."
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