Energy

Google and General Electric yesterday announced an unusual alliance to promote greater use of renewable energy in the US.
The internet and manufacturing groups said they would combine some of their lobbying muscle in Washington and co-operate on technology projects where GE’s engineering and Google’s software could advance the use of renewables.
The alliance reflects a shared [...]

The Drill of It All
Did you know that oil companies are already sitting on 68 million acres of leases that they aren’t even drilling? Which kind of makes you wonder: Why are Big Oil and its allies suddenly desperate to get their hands on the last few places that are still protected — our natural [...]

Winter Storm Warning
As John McCain and the Republicans trumpet their election year boldfaced lie–drill now so we can lower prices at the pump today–they continue to ignore a looming energy disaster with lives hanging in the balance.
Currently, eight million homes rely on heating oil during the winter months, and last winter’s prices forced too many [...]

Public safety and transporting ethanol | Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists
According to the Renewable Fuels Association, 151 biorefineries in the United States produce nearly 8.7 billion gallons of ethanol annually. Another 51 refineries are under construction and 7 are being expanded, all of which is projected to increase ethanol production by another 5 billion gallons [...]

The real winners are countries that can export and generate cash in excess of what they need domestically. So countries such as Venezuela, Indonesia and Nigeria might benefit from higher prices, but they absorb all the wealth that is transferred to them. Countries such as Saudi Arabia do not need to use so much of [...]

ABERDEEN, Scotland, May 22, 2008 (ENS) - Britain’s Queen Elizabeth is investing in the world’s largest offshore wind turbine and also in the development of offshore windfarms in Scottish waters, her property company The Crown Estate announced on Wednesday.
On April 17, The Crown Estate signed an agreement to purchase a prototype of the world’s largest [...]

By now you have probably heard of hypermiling and the 50-90 mpg exploits of Wayne Gerdes. If you haven’t, hypermiling is a set of techniques and practices that seek to maximize a vehicle’s fuel efficiency through careful and calculated driving.
What this means to the average motorist is that you must alternate between driving like my [...]

“Rock star physicist” Brian Cox talks about his work on the Large Hadron Collider at CERN. Discussing the biggest of big science in an engaging, accessible way, Cox brings us along on a tour of the massive project.
TED | Talks | Brian Cox: What really goes on at the Large Hadron Collider (video)

Ten Ways to Save Money at the Pump
From the Sierra Club
Worried about the high cost of gas? You’ve got good reason. Gas prices look like they’re set to reach record levels.
The best way to avoid spending more on gas than you need to? Keep all of these tips in mind:
1. Drive Smart! When you [...]

Which 2008 Presidential Candidate Agrees With You?

Find Your Candidate for the 2008 Election

Jason Mark, from Earth Island Journal (via Utne Reader), writes:
The debate over nuclear power is, at its heart, part of a larger argument about how to balance ecological sustainability with our lifestyle expectations. …
The very challenges of financing and building new reactors reduce the potential for atomic energy to make a meaningful dent in [...]

Clean and affordable energy is a growing need for our company, and we’re excited about the opportunity to help create competitive green alternatives. Our new initiative isn’t just about Google’s energy needs; we’re seeking to accelerate the pace at which clean energy technologies are developing, so they can rival the economics of coal quickly. We’ve [...]

For all the low-energy-use virtues of compact florescent lightbulbs (CFLs), few of them match the streamlined elegance of the classic Edison lightbulb. And yes, this makes a difference — not only to getting people to make the switch (ha!) to CFLs, but because there’s just no reason they need to be ugly.
Enter design company Hulger [...]

The language of science, like that of the United Nations, is by nature cautious and measured. That makes the dire tone of the just-released final report from the fourth assessment of the U.N.’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), a network of thousands of international scientists, all the more striking. Global warming is “unequivocal.” Climate [...]

Gerard Wynn of Reuters reports:
Solar power could be the world’s number one electricity source by the end of the century, but until now its role has been negligible as producers wait for price parity with fossil fuels, industry leaders say.
Once the choice only of idealists who put the environment before economics, production of solar panels [...]

Ben Arnoldy of the Christian Science Monitor reports:
On Saturday evening, it’s “Lights out San Francisco,” where people will voluntary turn off lights for an hour. The aim is to raise awareness of light pollution and the energy wasted by lights left on….
Citizens plan to shut off nonessential lighting for an hour in the name of [...]

There is a simple fact about energy that most people who are uneducated in science simply don’t grasp: fuel is just a way of getting energy from the point where it is collected to the place where it’s going to be used. That is just as true of the liquid hydrogen and oxygen of [...]