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| Headline |
Author |
Published |
Section |
Algae Whiz
Sapphire Energy hopes to soon power your car with algae |
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29 May 2008 |
News |
| Posted at 11:16 AM on 29 May 2008 Sapphire Energy says it has successfully turned algae into biofuel, raising hopes that a viable oil alternative could be produced without need for agricultural land. The indeed-sapphire-colored fuel produced by the year-old company is coaxed from algae, sunlight, non-potable salt water, and carbon dioxide. Sapphire says its fuel is equivalent to conventional crude in both chemical makeup and pric ... |
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| Topics: biofuels, business, energy, greenish companies, news, progress (all these topics) |
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Interview with solar champion Hermann Scheer
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David Roberts |
29 May 2008 |
Gristmill |
| NewScientist has a great interview with German Social Democrat MP Hermann Scheer, who chairs the World Council for Renewable Energy and has done as much as anyone alive to spread the word on solar power. Unfortunately, it's behind a subscription wall, so you can't read it. But have no fear! I'll post a big chunk of it below the fold: What did you do about it? Ten years ago, I called for a programme to install solar panels on 100,000 roofs in Germany, so that ... |
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| Topics: energy, Germany, interview, legislation, politics, renewable energy, solar voltaic power (all these topics) |
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A fool and his money
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David Roberts |
29 May 2008 |
Gristmill |
| I'm guessing these people just want attention, so I'll give them a little: Conservative grassroots group Grassfire.org wants people to waste as much energy as possible on June 12 by 'hosting a barbecue, going for a drive, watching television, leaving a few lights on, or even smoking a few cigars.' But only a little. |
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| Topics: dumbassery, energy, green living, holiday, websites (all these topics) |
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What do we tell the voters?
Behavioral quirks make taxes a tough sell |
Ryan Avent |
29 May 2008 |
Gristmill |
| Tom Friedman is in full-on green mode these days, which is a welcome change from his writing on Iraq. And his proposal yesterday -- that the U.S. should declare a $4 price floor for a gallon of gas -- is all right, although I'm not sure why we shouldn't just raise the gas tax and make it a percentage of the pump price rather than a flat number.But I'm interested in his introduction to the column: Imagine for a minute, just a minute, that someone running for president ... |
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| Topics: energy, gas prices, messaging, politics (all these topics) |
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Removing mountaintop removal
North Carolina bill would ban burning of coal from mountaintop-removal mining |
Kate Sheppard |
29 May 2008 |
Gristmill |
| On Tuesday, North Carolina State Rep. Pricey Harrison introduced legislation in the state House that would ban the burning of coal obtained through mountaintop-removal mining. If it passes, North Carolina would become the first state in the nation with such a law. The mining method isn't practiced in North Carolina, but 61 percent of the state's power comes from coal; North Carolina is second only to Georgia in the amount of MTR-mined coal it burns. According to ... |
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| Topics: coal, energy, legislation, mining, Muckraker, news, North Carolina, politics, state politics (all these topics) |
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The road not traveled
U.S. driving down 11 billion miles in March, the sharpest drop in history |
Joseph Romm |
28 May 2008 |
Gristmill |
| Price does matter. So does public perception of likely future prices. As it becomes increasingly clear that high gasoline prices are not a fluke, Americans are adjusting their driving habits. March 2008 saw 'the sharpest yearly drop for any month in FHWA history' of total vehicle miles traveled (aka VMT) according to the Federal Highway Administration's monthly report on 'Traffic Volume Trends' [PDF]. In March 2008, Americans drove 246 billion milles, compared ... |
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| Topics: energy, gas prices, oil (all these topics) |
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Spam I Am
Junk emails go green |
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28 May 2008 |
News |
| Posted at 4:02 PM on 28 May 2008 You know the spam: the Nigerian oil minister has an outrageous sum of money and desperately needs a foreigner's help to take it off his hands. But the times are changing -- junk email has gone green! A New York Times blogger reports receiving an email asking for investment in a Renewable Energy Technology System. "Everyday, every month, every years, and infinite, every climate change and this RETS is always a stable energy,&qu ... |
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| Topics: energy, funnies, news, renewable energy, tech (all these topics) |
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Oil geopolitics in 30 seconds
Stratfor breaks it down |
David Roberts |
28 May 2008 |
Gristmill |
| Interesting stuff over on Stratfor about the 'Geopolitics of $130 oil.' The short story is: The U.S. is hit, but not too hard, given its transition from manufacturing to services. China gets the worst of it by far -- it lives by manufacturing but it's forced to hold prices down to avoid unrest, so it's 'squeezing profits out of exports.' Russia's stock is way, way up, as it's sitting on big reserves of both oil and gas and foreign currency. Saudi Arabia is sitting p ... |
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| Topics: energy, international politics, oil, politics (all these topics) |
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Drill here, drill now, pay less
Gingrich mounts campaign to support domestic oil drilling |
David Roberts |
28 May 2008 |
Gristmill |
| "Green conservative" and We campaign spokesman Newt Gingrich is mounting a new campaign: "Drill Here, Drill Now, Pay Less." His promise is that (blocking Lieberman-Warner and) opening up drilling off the coasts, in the Gulf of Mexico, in northern Alaska, and in the Rockies (for oil shale) would lower gas prices. Now, for one thing that's just a lie. It's false. According to the EIA, the U.S. has about 21 billion gallons in proven oil reserves ... |
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| Topics: energy, gas prices, lying liars, messaging, Newt Gingrich, oil (all these topics) |
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Coal in Europe
The enemy of the human race is set to wipe out Europe's meager emissions gains |
David Roberts |
28 May 2008 |
Gristmill |
| They're building a huge new coal-fired power plant in Holz, Germany, where there are already three. To fuel it, an open-pit mine that has scarred the fields outside town with a 31-square-mile hole will be moved west, swallowing up this village and nearby Pesch. Already, their neat cottages sit empty and boarded. That's just one of many planned for Europe: Plans are on the books to build 40 major coal-fired power stations across Europe in the next five years. G ... |
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| Topics: coal, dumbassery, energy, European Union, Germany (all these topics) |
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Why a climate bill in 2008? Part IV
Time to kick the oil habit |
Tony Kreindler |
28 May 2008 |
Gristmill |
| This is the latest in a series on why it is important to push hard for climate legislation this year. Over the past few months, I've made the case for passing climate legislation in 2008: We don't want to squander the current momentum, we simply can't afford to wait, and while we do, we only prolong a dangerous catch-22. Now we're finally on the doorstep of Senate action on a comprehensive climate change bill. Floor debate over the Climate Security Act (S. 3036) ... |
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| Topics: climate, energy, gas prices, legislation, oil, politics (all these topics) |
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Time for tar sands
The mag exalts Canada's potential to become the Saudi Arabia of the north |
Joseph Romm |
28 May 2008 |
Gristmill |
| This post is by ClimateProgress guest blogger Bill Becker, executive director of the Presidential Climate Action Project. ----- I consider Time to be one of the more forward-looking periodicals when it comes to the environment. But the editors messed up in this week's edition. The June 2 Time carries a breathless feature about the potential petroleum bonanza in Canada's tar sands. The article's authors are so giddy with the testosterone rush of big-ass earth-moving ... |
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| Topics: Alberta, deforestation, energy, magazines, mining, oil, oil sands (all these topics) |
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Pour Some Sugar on Swede
Swedish company will vend verified sustainable ethanol |
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27 May 2008 |
News |
| Posted at 2:57 PM on 27 May 2008 Swedish biofuel company SEKAB says it will become the first company to vend ethanol verified to be environmentally and socially sustainable. The company is partnering with Brazilian producers to develop criteria for the full lifecycle of fuel-bound sugarcane, verifying that the fuel was not produced through child or slave labor, was processed in fair working conditions for fair wages ... |
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| Topics: biofuels, business, energy, news, Sweden (all these topics) |
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Lobbying for the enemy of the human race
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David Roberts |
27 May 2008 |
Gristmill |
| Million here, million there, pretty soon you're talking about real money: Peabody Investments Corp., a subsidiary of coal producer Peabody Energy Corp., spent nearly $1.3 million in the first quarter to lobby on issues related to the coal industry, according to a disclosure report. The company lobbied Congress on legislation involving renewable energy and energy independence, promotion of coal-to-liquid fuel, global warming, mine communications technology, tax cr ... |
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| Topics: coal, energy, lobbying, politics, shenanigans (all these topics) |
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Feeding the food-for-fuel debate
USDA defends America's fuel supply |
biodiversivist |
27 May 2008 |
Gristmill |
| Vinod Khosla. Photo: brettwayn via Flickr. Much of what Vinod Khosla had to say in his latest post, and my responses to that post here, have been covered in previous posts. So, if some of this sounds eerily familiar, now you know why. Admittedly, I have an advantage in this debate because he can't respond directly to my arguments. Remember the West Wing episode where the Josh Lyman character makes the mistake of responding to a blogger? On the other hand, ... |
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| Topics: ag policy, agriculture, biofuels, Department of Agriculture, energy (all these topics) |
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Nuclear options
John McCain talks nuclear security, promises to promote 'civilian' nukes |
Kate Sheppard |
27 May 2008 |
Gristmill |
| John McCain gave a speech on nuclear security this morning at the University of Denver, and given his abiding love of nuclear power as the solution to climate change, that came up too. Where there's 'civilian' nuclear energy, there's the possibility for nuclear weapons -- and if he's promoting the former, that leads to plenty of questions about how to prevent the latter. And of course, all that spent nuclear fuel has to go somewhere. His remarks: As we improve the ... |
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| Topics: energy, John McCain, Muckraker, news, nuclear power, politics (all these topics) |
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A glimpse of possible futures
One of permaculture's founder envisions possible futures |
JMG |
26 May 2008 |
Gristmill |
| An important new site from David Holmgren, one of the fathers of permaculture: Future Scenarios.He writes, 'The simultaneous onset of climate change and the peaking of global oil supply represent unprecedented challenges for human civilisation. Each limits the effective options for responses to the other.' Holmgren uses a scenario planning framework to bring to life the likely cultural, political, agricultural and economic implications of peak oil and climate change. 'Scenar ... |
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| Topics: climate, climate change impacts, energy, websites (all these topics) |
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Somebody forgot to tell Rockport that coal is cheap
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David Roberts |
26 May 2008 |
Gristmill |
| How much would your town pay to stabilize the electric bills of every home and business in it for the next 25 years? |
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| Topics: energy, energy at home, Missouri, renewable energy, wind power (all these topics) |
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Solar land use: less than coal
Nevada Solar one is a better and smaller neighbor than a coal mine |
Gar Lipow |
26 May 2008 |
Gristmill |
| Every now and then, one hears complaints about solar energy: 'But it takes too much land!' 'An entire Idaho!' 'Three Californias!' Nevada Solar One takes up about 400 acres, mostly for mirrors and heat engines. You would have to mine about 5,300 acres to feed a coal-fired powered plant producing the same amount of electricity. Even acre for acre, I'll take Solar One's pleasant campus over a coal mine. Math below the fold. The 400-acre Nevada Solar One produc ... |
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| Topics: coal, energy, Nevada (all these topics) |
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What is it good for?
Militarization and progressive change are not compatible |
Gar Lipow |
25 May 2008 |
Gristmill |
| The U.S. military push for coal-based synthetic fuels reminds us that in the long run, solving climate chaos is incompatible with an aggressive military policy. Solutions will ultimately have to draw on traditional American virtues of thrift and cleverness, not the domination and power expressed in the new U.S. Air Force motto: Air Force Above All, which probably sounded more impressive in the original German. Militarization has a long history of pushing us down less ... |
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| Topics: energy, national security, politics, renewable energy (all these topics) |
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The farm bill ups the cellulosic ethanol ante
Lost amid the crop-subsidy battle, a new biofuel regime |
Tom Philpott |
24 May 2008 |
Gristmill |
| Amid all the thunder and lightening about subsidies in the new farm bill -- which officially became law Thursday -- Congress made a major policy shift with regard to the goodies lavished on ethanol makers. Under previous policy, biofuel makers -- whether conventional or cellulosic -- benefit from a 51 cent a gallon tax credit conferred on gasoline blenders. No any more. According to a recent Environmental Law & Policy Center memorandum [PDF] summing up th ... |
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| Topics: ag policy, agriculture, biofuels, energy, ethanol, legislation, politics (all these topics) |
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The power of wind
Wind energy ad wins Cannes award |
David Roberts |
24 May 2008 |
Gristmill |
| I think I've posted this before, but a quick search didn't turn it up. Anyway, this video, an ad for Epuron energy company created by the Nordpol+Hamburg agency, won the 'Golden Lion' in Cannes. Check it out: |
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| Topics: advertising, energy, funnies, Germany, wind power (all these topics) |
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Hot rocks rockin'
Geothermal power: a core climate solution |
Joseph Romm |
24 May 2008 |
Gristmill |
| While wind and solar get the media attention of a sexy starlet, good old geothermal power is treated like an aging character actor. But geothermal energy is, in fact, sizzling hot these days. Big-time investors from Warren Buffet to Goldman Sachs to Morgan Stanley to Google have begun investing: In 2007, private equity firms invested more than $400 million in geothermal energy, which is derived from hot water under the Earth's surface and can be used for sp ... |
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| Topics: energy, geothermal power, investing, renewable energy (all these topics) |
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He's Got the Remedy
Jason Mraz sings the praises of a simpler life |
Sarah van Schagen |
23 May 2008 |
Grist Feature |
| Jason Mraz is strumming up support for sustainability. Jason Mraz may still be the geek in the pink, but these days, the pop-rock-rhymer is hoping to distance himself from his cigarette-puffin', girl-chasin' past and move toward a simpler, more sustainable life. Since returning from his Mr. A-Z tour two years ago, Mraz has focused his attention on greener, non-music-related pastures. Last year ... |
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| Topics: climate, energy, green living, interview, music (all these topics) |
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Stop the presses!
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David Roberts |
23 May 2008 |
Gristmill |
| A report put together by the National Coal Council finds that coal is essential and it's not going anywhere and reducing coal use would mean the widespread death of puppies and cute children but the full-scale use of all available coal will lead to a country infused by pony spirits! |
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| Topics: coal, energy, jackassery, lying liars (all these topics) |
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