Newswire

Transport - August 20
August 20, 2008

Drive 55 campaign gaining speed
Tall ship Belem delivers wine by sail and saves carbon
The handmade commuter bike

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OPEC, peak oil and the end of cheap gas
August 19, 2008

Amid all the discussion about peak oil, one voice has been conspicuously absent, that of the Organization for Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). OPEC's position on the petroleum-resource question should be the decisive factor in this ongoing and seemingly inconclusive debate. The organization now supplies about 42 percent of the world's petroleum ...

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Oil exploration ? a lot of looking, not much finding
August 19, 2008

Long term oil is headed back up, for all the familiar reasons. Really, it?s not like anyone is finding new large oil deposits out in exploration land. Indeed, a whole lot of looking is leading to not very much finding in the exploration patch.

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Fossil fuels - August 19
August 19, 2008

Oman turns to coal for power
Carbon sequestration frustration
Oil shale stuck between rock and wild place

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Peak Oil - August 19
August 19, 2008

American Conservative on peak oil: Mayberry, not Mad Max
A failure to prepare for the what should have been expected
How to burn the speculators
Unraveling the unraveling

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The Economist debates our world energy crisis
August 18, 2008

Starting tomorrow The Economist Online Debate Series is starting a two-week long online, Oxford-style debate on solving the world?s energy crisis. Readers are invited to participate.

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Peak Oil Review - August 18
August 18, 2008

An executive summary of weekly news from a US peak oil perspective, featuring:
- Production and Prices

- Oil from the Caspian

- Chinese Demand

- Briefs

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Peak Oil - August 18
August 18, 2008

Peak oil is coming, and we're unready
Geoscientist: Peak Oil Now? If so, Oil Prices Not Likely to Decline--Ever
Waking up to the threat of 'peak oil'
Oilwatch Monthly - August 2008

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On American sustainability - summary
August 18, 2008

Message to mainstream America: our American way of life?300+ million people enjoying historically unprecedented living standards?has been enabled by our increasingly dysfunctional ecological and economic behavior over the past 200 years. Our existing way of life is therefore unsustainable; in fact, America is facing imminent societal collapse.

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Our American way of life is unsustainable - evidence
August 18, 2008

Survey of the ecological and economic resources critical to the perpetuation of our American way of life.

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Australian "hot rocks" offer 26000 yrs of power
August 20, 2008
Reuters: Australia scientists estimate that only one percent of the nation's untapped geothermal energy could produce 26,000 years worth of clean electricity. The Australian government announced on Wednesday a A$50 million (US$43 million) project to help develop technology to convert geothermal energy into baseload electricity. "Geothermal energy which is sometimes known as hot rocks has got a huge potential for Australia, both as a solution to climate change and in terms of national ...

Climate talks should focus on removing low-carbon tech tariffs, Australian report says
August 20, 2008
Africa Science News Service: Climate talks should focus on removing low-carbon tech tariffs, Australian report says Written by Henry Neondo Wednesday, 20 August 2008 'UN Climate Change Talks commencing in Accra, Ghana tomorrow should focus on removing tariff and non-tariff barriers on low-carbon technologies, not patents', Tim Wilson, Director of the Intellectual Property (IP) and Free Trade Unit at the Institute of Public Affairs, said today. Wilson's comments coincide with the release of the new paper ...

United Kingdom: Renewable energy: E.ON looks at £300m investment to build Britain's largest biomass plant
August 20, 2008
Guardian: E.ON, the energy company whose plans for Britain's first new coal-fired power station for more than two decades have sparked fierce protests, said yesterday it was considering a £300m investment in building one of the country's biggest biomass power plants. The company said it wanted to construct the 150 megawatt plant at the port of Bristol as part of its multimillion-pound investment programme in a range of generating technologies. Paul Golby, the chief executive of ...

UN climate talks seek quicker pace
August 20, 2008
Reuters: More than 150 nations meet in Ghana from Thursday trying to speed up sluggish talks on a new climate treaty and plug big gaps in a "vision" of leading industrial nations of halving world greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. The August 21-27 meeting of 1,000 delegates will also consider new ways to combat global warming such as slowing tropical deforestation -- U.N. studies say burning of trees accounts for about 20 percent of greenhouse gases from human activities. "While progress ...

Ban Pledges Support for Pacific Islands Over Climate Change
August 20, 2008
Bloomberg: The United Nations will create a climate change center to help Pacific island nations threatened by rising seas because of global warming, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said. ``Climate change is not science fiction,'' Ban said in a message to this week's summit of the Pacific Islands Forum, a group of 16 nations. ``As your countries know all too well, it is real and present.'' Fishing industries around the world are most exposed to climate change, the UN Food and Agricultural ...

China: Beijing Enjoys Best Air in Decade, Vows to Banish Smog
August 20, 2008
Reuters: Olympic host Beijing enjoyed its cleanest air in 10 years this month and will adopt strict new measures to ensure its notorious smog does not return, a top environment official said on Tuesday. Over the past 18 days, air quality in the capital ranged between excellent and fairly good on China's index, Du Shaozhong, deputy director of the Beijing Environmental Protection Bureau, told reporters. And he pledged good conditions would continue. "Beijing will be built into a ...

Birds not following changing climate fast enough
August 20, 2008
Telegraph: Birds are shifting their ranges in response to climate change but not fast enough, concludes a study that warns that some species will find it harder to cope as a result. Range shifts of many species are now a well documented response to global warming. But whether these observed changes are occurring fast enough remains uncertain. Now a pioneering study has been carried out in France on local birds by Dr Vincent Devictor of the Universite' Montpellier II, Romain ...

Bloomberg Offers Windmill Power Plan
August 20, 2008
New York Times: In a plan that would drastically remake New York City's skyline and shores, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg is seeking to put wind turbines on the city's bridges and skyscrapers and in its waters as part of a wide-ranging push to develop renewable energy. The plan, while still in its early stages, appears to be the boldest environmental proposal to date from the mayor, who has made energy efficiency a cornerstone of his administration. Mr. Bloomberg said he would ask private ...

Australia: Crucial for our future
August 20, 2008
Age: AUSTRALIA'S green paper on emissions trading seems to be so bipartisan that the only thing the political parties can argue over is the difference by a year or so in the date on which it all comes into force. One of the reasons for that is the comparative absence of any numbers. No modelled data yet, either from Ross Garnaut or the Government. No figures for the level of emissions cuts, just a framework that will be filled after the closing date for comments on the green paper itself. And no ...

Fewer April Showers for U.S. Southwest as Climate Changes
August 20, 2008
Scientific American: The already parched U.S. Southwest is drying up even more, at least in early spring, because of climate change. A new study in Geophysical Research Letters shows that since 1978, the jet stream that brings rainstorms from the Pacific over the western U.S. has been shifting northward–and so has the rain and snow. "That northward shift in the storm track is tied to reduced early spring precipitation, especially over the southwest U.S.," says atmospheric scientist Stephanie McAfee of the ...

Australia: Govt announces $50m for geothermal drilling
August 20, 2008
Australian Broadcasting Corporation: The Federal Government will provide $50 million to the geothermal industry to help it begin making the technology viable for baseload energy production. Speaking to Alexandra Kirk on ABC Radio's AM program, the Minister for Resources and Energy, Martin Ferguson, said there was huge potential for geothermal energy in Australia. New figures from Geoscience Australia show just 1 per cent of Australia's hot rocks supply could produce 26,000 times the country's current annual energy ...

India needs to look beyond coal-based power, says coal minister
August 20, 2008
Indo-Asian News Service: India needs to look beyond coal and tap non-conventional and renewable sources of energy such as hydropower and nuclear energy, says Minister of State for Coal Santosh Bagrodia. "There are no two opinions about the need to switch over to other modes of power generation like nuclear energy and hydro. Coal-based power production has to be restricted," Bagrodia told IANS. His statement comes after the state-owned thermal power utility NTPC Ltd, formerly National Thermal Power Corp, ...

McCain Takes Case for Drilling to the Gulf
August 20, 2008
New York Times: Senator John McCain finally made it to an oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico on Tuesday morning for a tour and photographs that his campaign hoped would be worth, if not 1,000 words, then at least two – "drill now," Mr. McCain's mantra in recent weeks. Senator Barack Obama spent his morning in Orlando, Fla., striking back at Mr. McCain in a speech to a Veterans of Foreign Wars convention that accused Mr. McCain of being a lot of talk and little else. "If we think that we can secure ...

Scientists Warn Against Sudden Shift to Biofuels; Climate May be Harmed, not Helped
August 20, 2008
Natural News: Scientists have increasingly warned that a hasty switch from fossil fuels to biofuels may actually accelerate global warming rather than helping to avert it, leading U.K. Prime Minister Gordon Brown to declare his opposition to new European Union biofuel standards that will soon be going into effect. Recent studies have suggested that clearing forests to grow biofuel crops would release more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere than the fuels' use would save. "If one started to ...

Solar Entrepreneur To Feds: Step It Up
August 20, 2008
Forbes: At the upcoming U.S. political conventions, it's a safe bet you'll hear more than a little bluster from Democratic and Republican parties about the need for federal "investment"--don't call it a subsidy--in renewable energy technologies such as solar, wind and so on. A lot of hot air? It won't be for Frank van Mierlo, co-founder and president of Lexington, Mass.-based 1366 Technologies. The young company has raised $12.4 million in venture money in support of its mission to make solar ...

The rain's in Spain: but don't forget the drought
August 20, 2008
Guardian: The difficulty with droughts is that they can turn to floods overnight. The difficulty with rain, or acute lack of it, when tied into the prophesies of global warming, is that the short-term can turn from arid to soggy in a trice. Which is part, but not all, of the Spanish story. Remember Britain in the summer of 2006? It was hot and dry, after a dry winter and dry spring – and the water began to run out. The spectre of standpipes stalked the streets of the south again. Thames Water, ...

Australia: AGL Can't Decide on Power-Plant Sale Before CO2 Plan
August 20, 2008
Bloomberg: AGL Energy Ltd., Australia's biggest power and gas retailer, wants more information on a planned national carbon trading system before deciding whether to sell its stake in the coal-fired Loy Yang A power plant. It isn't possible to value any coal-burning plant without clarity on how the owner will be compensated for the start of carbon trading, Michael Fraser, managing director of Sydney- based AGL, said today. AGL has also yet to decide whether to sell a holding in Queensland Gas ...

Google digs deep to exploit geothermal energy
August 20, 2008
CNET: Google is investing $10m (£5.4m) in 'enhanced' geothermal systems – essentially technology for tapping underground heat. The company says geothermal energy is one of most promising forms of renewable energy. Through its philanthropic arm, Google.org, the internet giant will invest in two geothermal-technology start-up companies and give a university grant to study the potential of geothermal resources. The move is part of Google.org's RE<C (Renewable Energy Less than ...

Google Puts US$10 Mln into New Geothermal Technology
August 20, 2008
Reuters: Google Inc Tuesday said it would invest more than US$10 million in an emerging geothermal energy technology as part of its effort to lower the cost of electricity from renewable sources. Google's philanthropic arm, Google.org, said the investment would go toward enhanced geothermal systems (EGS), a technology that circulates water through hot rocks in the ground, producing steam to power a turbine. Conventional geothermal technology relies on finding naturally occurring pockets ...

Renewable-energy plan for Florida on agenda
August 20, 2008
Miami Herald: In a major step to determine Florida's energy supply over the next 42 years, the staff of the Public Service Commission is recommending an extremely slow buildup in the use of renewable energy. By the year 2010, each investor-owned utility in the state would be required to produce 2 percent of its power from renewable energy sources such as solar and wind, the staff suggests, increasing to 3.75 percent by 2017, 6 percent by 2025 and 20 percent by 2050. Gov. Charlie Crist last ...

The world's top 25 greenhouse gas emitters
August 20, 2008
Reuters: About 1,000 delegates will meet in Ghana from Thursday for a round of U.N. talks meant to end with agreement by the end of 2009 on a new U.N. treaty to combat climate change. Following is a table showing the world's top 25 emitters, ranked according to 2000 emissions of greenhouse gases in millions of tonnes (mT) of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e). Also listed below are the emissions in 1990 and 2006 of greenhouse gases by industrialised countries. The U.N.'s Kyoto Protocol ...

Japan: Tokyo sees most lightning in 50 years in July
August 20, 2008
Mainichi Daily News: Lightning was observed in downtown Tokyo on a total of seven days in July, the highest number over a one-month period in the capital in 50 years, Meteorological Agency data has shown. This summer, the area of high pressure over the Pacific Ocean has been weaker than normal, which has produced unstable atmospheric conditions. Global warming and the heat-island effect also appear to have played a part in increasing the frequency of lightning. Meteorological Agency data showed ...

Papua New Guinea: Australian funding to stop deforestation
August 19, 2008
AAP: The Australian government has announced $2.3 million to help deforestation programs in the Asia-Pacific region. Federal Forestry Minister Tony Burke met with Papua New Guinea ministers in Port Moresby on Tuesday to discuss climate change issues linked to deforestation. "None of this policy is easy," Burke told reporters. "But in terms of discussions today there is no doubt there are significant moves where our governments are moving in a similar direction," he ...

France: Birds can't keep up with climate change: study
August 19, 2008
Agence France-Presse: The habitats of wild bird species are shifting in response to global warming, but not fast enough to keep pace with rising temperatures, according to a study released Wednesday. Researchers in France also found that the delicate balance of wildlife in different ecosystems is changing up to eight times more quickly than previously suspected, with potentially severe consequences for some species. "The flora and fauna around us are shifting over time due to climate change," said ...

Climate Change: Environmental conflicts to increase, Kenyan Don says
August 19, 2008
Africa Science News Service: When Ugandan soldiers opened fire on Turkana herdsmen from the neighbouring Kenya who had crossed the borders into their country last Sunday in the eye of diplomats, public servants called it a diplomatic breach but scientists say the aggression is an attribute of the environmental conflicts. Environmental experts say that armed conflicts would rise in the future to unprecedented levels due to competition for meager natural resources which are already under pressure due to climate ...

David Suzuki: new science looks at big picture for global future
August 19, 2008
Georgia Straight: If we want to protect an endangered animal such as the woodland caribou, we have to do more than just study the animal in isolation. We must understand how it interacts with its total environment, including its habitat and other animals, as well as humans. We must then try to determine the best possible conditions for it to live in healthy numbers and study the threats that could undermine its persistence. It's no different with humans, except that the problems we have created for ...

Drier, warmer springs in US Southwest stem from human-caused changes in winds
August 19, 2008
EurekAlert: The late-winter/early-spring storm activity in the western US has shifted north since the late 1970s. This graphic shows how the peak winter storm tracks have shifted poleward since 1978. The... Click here for more information. Human-driven changes in the westerly winds are bringing hotter and drier springs to the American Southwest, according to new research from The University of Arizona in Tucson. Since the 1970s the winter storm track in the western U.S. has been ...

Japan to label goods' carbon footprints: official
August 19, 2008
Agence France-Presse: Japan is planning to label consumer goods to show their carbon footprints in a bid to raise public awareness about global warming, an official said Tuesday. Under the plan, a select range of products from beverages to detergent will carry markings on the carbon footprint -- or how much gas responsible for global warming has been emitted through production and delivery. Similar labels have been introduced in other developed countries such as Britain and France. "We hope ...

Looking For Energy, Google Goes To Hell
August 19, 2008
Forbes: Deep underneath your feet is a hellish stone soup, kept hot by a torrent of radiation from poisonous isotopes of uranium, thorium and potassium in the earth's superheated mantle. This is the heat that helps cause volcanoes, geysers and hot springs. And it is the heat that powers a modest number of electricity generators around the world, from Iceland to Indonesia. This energy source remains largely untapped, though, simmering either too far below the surface to reach, or isolated from ...

New Climate Record Shows Century-long Droughts In Eastern North America
August 19, 2008
Science Daily: A stalagmite in a West Virginia cave has yielded the most detailed geological record to date on climate cycles in eastern North America over the past 7,000 years. The new study confirms that during periods when Earth received less solar radiation, the Atlantic Ocean cooled, icebergs increased and precipitation fell, creating a series of century-long droughts. A research team led by Ohio University geologist Gregory Springer examined the trace metal strontium and carbon and oxygen ...

Renewable energy could electrify California economy and job market, report says
August 19, 2008
LA Times: If California requires its utilities to get one-third of their energy from solar, wind, geothermal and other renewable sources rather than coal or gas, will that help or hurt the state economically? A struggle is underway to influence public opinion, with business interests saying it would cost consumers in higher electric bills, and environmental groups touting the jobs that clean-tech industry would bring to the state. A report, "Harvesting California's Renewable Energy ...

Rich Urged to Set Deep Climate Cuts, Without US
August 19, 2008
Reuters: Rich nations should not wait for the election of a new US president before making progress on agreeing ambitious 2020 greenhouse gas cuts, the chair of a UN committee said on Monday ahead of climate talks in Ghana. Developed nations can work on details of a new climate pact to succeed the Kyoto Protocol at Aug. 21-27 talks in Accra despite uncertainty about US policies, said Harald Dovland, a Norwegian official who chairs meetings among Kyoto backers. "Many of the developed ...

Scientists study slow march of plants, trees into Canadian Arctic
August 19, 2008
CBC: Federal researchers are using satellite photos of a national park in the western Arctic to show how climate change is prompting vegetation from southern Canada to creep into the tundra, possibly threatening the northern ecosystem. As part of International Polar Year research, Ian Olthof and his team at the National Research Council in Ottawa are poring over thousands of satellite photos of Ivvavik National Park, which straddles the tree line west of Aklavik, N.W.T. The ...

Sea level changes 'underestimated'
August 19, 2008
Australian: THE speed at which the climate is changing has been significantly underestimated, with thousands of Australian homes potentially at risk from rising sea levels, a conference has heard. More than 80 per cent of Australians live in the coastal zone, with about 700,000 homes located within 3km of the coast and less than six metres above sea level. Ports, harbours and airports situated near the ocean are also vulnerable to the immediate effects of climate change, said keynote ...

UN to Help Pacific Island States Fight Climate Change
August 19, 2008
Environment News Service: The United Nations and Samoa plan to establish an Inter-Agency Climate Change Centre to help coordinate support to Pacific Island countries to combat the impact of global warming in their region. Given the direct impact of climate change on vulnerable countries in the region, the new agency will focus its support on the mitigation, adaptation and reduction of the risk of disaster facing the Islands, Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said today in a message to the Pacific Islands Forum ...

US Droughts Can Last Centuries
August 19, 2008
LiveScience: Dips in the sun's activity have triggered centuries-long droughts in eastern North America, according to a new study that examined the geologic record stored within a stalagmite from a West Virginia cave. The link between periodic droughts and changes in solar activity initially was proposed by geologist Gerald Bond. He suggested that every 1,500 years, weak solar activity caused by fluctuations in the sun's magnetic fields cooled the North Atlantic Ocean and created more icebergs and ...

Warming climate threatens Alaska's vast forests
August 19, 2008
Reuters: Here in a 13,700-year-old peat bog, ecologist Ed Berg reaches into the moss and pulls out more evidence of the drastic changes afoot due to the Earth's warming climate. Rooting through a handful of mossy duff, Berg, an ecologist for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, shows remains of shrubs and other plants taking hold over the last 30 years in a patch of ground that has long been too soggy for woody plants to grow. In other words, the ground is drying out, and the peat bog is ...

WWF in 'water wars' warning
August 19, 2008
InTheNews.co.uk: Countries need to act quickly to resolve a "growing water crisis", it has been warned. But the British government has sought to dampen down concerns that "water wars" are a growing threat to global security. It was responding to the WWF's call on states to vote in favour of a UN convention on international waterways to prevent future conflicts based around competition for water resources. Rivers, aquifers and lakes which cross or run alongside ...

A maverick on the Colo. River
August 19, 2008
Denver Post: John McCain proved to be a uniter not a divider with his suggestion that the 1922 Colorado River com- pact be renegotiated to allocate more water to his home state of Arizona as well as Nevada and California. McCain's comments in an interview with Charles Ashby of the Pueblo Chieftain united practically every political figure in Colorado, regardless of party, to denounce the GOP presidential candidate's proposal. "Over my dead body," snapped Colorado Democratic Sen. Ken ...

Australian PM urges more US climate change action
August 19, 2008
Associated Press: Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd urged the United States on Tuesday to take more action on climate change and become more involved in the global debate on the issue. As the only developed nation not to sign the greenhouse gas-controlling Kyoto Protocol, America's stance on climate change has made it easier for major developing countries to avoid acting, Rudd told the Australia-New Zealand Climate Change and Business Conference in the northern city of Auckland. "I think our ...

United States: Brown campaign sets eyes on $100B energy plan
August 19, 2008
Tahoe Daily Tribune: Fourth Congressional District candidate Charlie Brown has released a six-point energy plan that calls for spending $100 billion over seven years to develop alternate sources of power. The plan also would close tax loopholes for oil companies, which the Democrat said would generate $18 billion a year for incentives for companies to develop renewable sources of energy. It would give consumers a $5,000 tax credit for purchasing hybrid cars or solar panels. "This proposal is not a ...

Business leaders: Make renewable energy cheaper
August 19, 2008
Associated Press: Representatives from Google Inc. and General Electric Co. said Tuesday that widespread use of renewable energy in United States would be possible – if it were cheaper. Renewable energy options will remain "boutique" industries unless their costs are cut to make them competitive with coal and other widely used power sources, said Dan Reicher, director for climate change and energy initiatives at Google.org, the company's philanthropic arm. Reicher spoke to a group of ...

Can biofuels be sustainable?
August 19, 2008
EurekAlert: With oil prices skyrocketing, the search is on for efficient and sustainable biofuels. Research published this month in Agronomy Journal examines one biofuel crop contender: corn stover. Corn stover is made up of the leaves and stalks of corn plants that are left in the field after harvesting the edible corn grain. Corn stover could supply as much as 25% of the biofuel crop needed by 2030. Scientists with the USDA-ARS Agroecosystem Unit located at the University of Nebraska ...

E.ON plans 150-MW biomass power plant in UK
August 19, 2008
Reuters: E.ON UK EONG.DE plans to build a 150 megawatt wood-burning power station in southwest England at a cost of about 300 million pounds ($558.3 million), the German-owned utility said on Tuesday. The proposed Portbury Dock Renewable Energy Plant in Bristol should generate enough power for over 200,000 homes from 2014. "Schemes such as this, together with cleaner coal, gas and new nuclear, will help us to keep the UK's lights on, while also reducing carbon emissions and ensuring ...

Flooding Hits Ireland After Record August Rainfall
August 19, 2008
Reuters: Ireland faced further flooding on Monday after a second successive weekend of torrential summer rain drove people from their homes, blocked road and rail links and threatened to destroy farmers' crops. The weather station at Dublin Airport has recorded 177.7 millimetres of rain in the first 17 days of this month, already more than double the August average and quarter of what might be expected in the course of an entire year. With water tables already high, Ireland's national ...

Herbivores could eat away potential carbon sponges
August 19, 2008
Asian News International: Though current climate models predict an increase in shrub-like vegetation in northern regions, which should absorb some of the carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere, grazing animals are likely to eat them in large quantities. According to a report in New Scientist, climate models assume that in a warmer climate, shrubs, which capture and store carbon in their woody stems, will replace grasses as the most common type of vegetation. Wood stores carbon far longer than grasses, ...

NASA Study Improves Ability To Predict Aerosols' Effect On Cloud Cover
August 19, 2008
ScienceDaily: Using a novel theoretical approach, researchers from NASA and other institutions have identified the common thread that determines how aerosols from human activity, like the particles from burning of vegetation and forests, influence cloud cover and ultimately affect climate. The study improves researchers' ability to predict whether aerosols will increase or decrease cloud cover. "We connected the dotss to draw a critical conclusion, and found evidence over the Amazon that traces the ...

Q&A: 'If You Feed the Land, It Will Feed You Back'
August 19, 2008
Inter Press Service: Luc Gnacadja, who took over as Executive Secretary of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) last October, is a man with a mission -- a mission that goes beyond explaining that his job is not to battle deserts. It is a much more ambitious one: to convince the international community and global key players that UNCCD is not just the only Convention that has been ratified by the largest number of parties. It is in fact "the sole multilateral environmental ...

Study: People Rank Global Warming Lower Than Local Environmental Issues
August 19, 2008
Journal of Environmental Health: The U.S. public, while aware of the deteriorating global environment, is concerned predominantly with local and national environmental issues, according to results from a recent survey. "The survey's core result is that people care about their communities and express the desire to see government action taken toward local and national issues," said David Konisky, a policy research scholar with the Institute of Public Policy and assistant professor in the Truman School of Public Affairs at the ...

U.S. droughts can last for centuries
August 19, 2008
LiveScience: Dips in the sun's activity have triggered centuries-long droughts in eastern North America, according to a new study that examined the geologic record stored within a stalagmite from a West Virginia cave. The link between periodic droughts and changes in solar activity initially was proposed by geologist Gerald Bond. He suggested that every 1,500 years, weak solar activity caused by fluctuations in the sun's magnetic fields cooled the North Atlantic Ocean and created more icebergs and ...

LDK Awards US $220M Wafer Contract to Applied Materials
LDK Solar Co. Ltd has awarded a US $220 million contract to Applied Materials Inc. to provide precision wafering systems to support its next phase of production expansion.

Broadwind Energy To Supply Towers to Nordex
Broadwind Energy Inc. announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary, Tower Tech Systems Inc., has signed a contract with Nordex USA Inc. to manufacture wind tower sections. Another Broadwind subsidiary, Badger Transport Inc., has received a contract to deliver the sections to various Texas locations for Nordex. It is the first deal between the two companies.

Canadian First Nation Partners with SkyPower in Wind Energy Project
Beardy's and Okemasis, a First Nation community, and SkyPower have entered into an agreement to develop the Willow Cree Wind Project. The partners' proposed plan includes developing a 100-megawatt (MW) wind park in Big Quill, a rural municipality near Wynyard, Saskatchewan.

First Solar To Expand Ohio Facilities
First Solar Inc. announced that it plans to expand manufacturing operations and development facilities at its Perrysburg, Ohio facility. The investment will add approximately 500,000 square feet of manufacturing, research and development and office space. It will also add 134 new jobs to the facility's current workforce of 700. First Solar is collaborating with state and local leaders on a comprehensive incentive package for these two projects. These incentives are central to First Solar's expansion plans in Ohio and are subject to approval by state and local authorities.

CPV Renewable Energy & Siemens Sign Wind Turbines Deal
CPV Renewable Energy Company LLC announced that it has purchased forty-four 2.3-megawatt (MW) wind turbines from Siemens Power Generation for delivery in 2009. The turbines will be allocated to the Keenan wind project in Woodward County, Oklahoma.

2-MW Solar Array Dedicated at Denver International Airport
A 2-megawatt (MW) solar energy system has been dedicated at the Denver International Airport (DIA). The solar photovoltaic system, spanning seven and a half acres at the airport's entrance, will generate more than three million kilowatt hours (kWh) of electricity annually.

Creating Realistic Expectations for Renewable Energy
It's a delicate time for the renewable energy industry. Now that the public eye is focused more intensely on clean energy technologies, there are a lot of high expectations about their potential. Properly educating consumers, investors and journalists about what each technology can realistically offer will be one of the most important factors in moving renewables forward, say industry professionals.

Specialized Workshops at West Coast Green Conference
The Solar Living Institute announced today that it will be presenting a wide range of full day and half day trainings at the upcoming West Coast Green conference in San Jose California. The Solar Living Institute is excited to be partnering with West Coast Green to present these high quality pre-conference and specialized workshops at the nations largest venue for green innovation, building, business and design.

Nation's Most Visible Solar Array Dedicated at Denver International Airport
Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper Joins with Project Partners -MMA Renewable Ventures, WorldWater & Solar Technologies and Sharp- to Celebrate Solar Electric System Generating Clean Power at Fifth Busiest U.S. Airport

SCE Signs Contract for 909 MW of Wind Energy
Southern California Edison (SCE) has signed a 20-year contract with DCE, an affiliate of Caithness Energy, which will provide up to 909 megawatts (MW) of wind power. The developers say that once completed, the Caithness project will be one of the world's largest fully permitted wind farms.

Suntech Completes Investment in Nitol Solar
Suntech Power Holdings Co. Ltd. announced that it has completed the final round of its US $100 million in aggregate purchase of a minority interest in Nitol Solar. In conjunction with the completion of the transaction, Suntech also announced that it is pleased with the test results from the initial batches of polysilicon that it has received from Nitol.

Camco Sells Landfill Gas Recovery Facility in Texas
Camco International Limited has announced the sale of Dallas Clean Energy LLC, its landfill gas recovery facility in Dallas, Texas. Camco has agreed to sell Dallas Clean Energy to Clean Energy Fuels Corp., for a total consideration of US $19.1 million in cash.

REP Starts Biodiesel Production
Renewable Energy Products (REP) has started up the largest biodiesel production facility in Los Angeles County and has received EPA approval to sell its biodiesel. The multi-feedstock biodiesel plant has a nameplate capacity of 10 million gallons per year.

Mass Megawatts Raises US $257,000 in Private Placement
Mass Megawatts Wind Power Inc. announced that it has recently raised US $257,000 in a private placement of restricted shares of common stock. Part of the proceeds have been used to eliminate company debt. The highest priority of these funds, according to the company, is initiating substantial third party verification of Mass Megawatts' Multi-Axis Turbosystem (MAT).

Video: Cline Cellars Uses Solar To Complement Its Sustainable Business
Just across the Golden Gate Bridge from San Francisco is the beginning of California's wine country. The Sonoma and Napa regions are famous worldwide for their wines, but the industry is now also starting to gain notoriety for its use of renewable energy, specifically solar energy, to power its vinyards and wine making processes.

The Difference Between ETFs and Mutual Funds
You have mentioned Exchanged Traded Funds (ETF's) in a number of your articles. Could you explain the difference between an ETF and a Mutual Fund?

AEP Signs Wind Energy PPA with Beech Ridge
American Electric Power subsidiary Appalachian Power Co. has signed a long-term power purchase agreement (PPA) for wind energy with Beech Ridge Energy LLC, a subsidiary of Invenergy Wind LLC. The agreement is subject to approval from the Public Service Commission of West Virginia and the extension of the federal production tax credit for wind energy past the end of the year. Pricing terms remain confidential.

Poll Says 74% of Americans Think T. Boone Pickens' Energy Plan Can Work
In a new national Sacred Heart University Poll, 74.0% of Americans said it was very or somewhat possible that the 10-year energy independence plan proposed by Texas oilman, T. Boone Pickens, could be accomplished.

GE Energy Acquires Kelman Limited
GE Energy has acquired Kelman Limited of Lisburn, Northern Ireland, a provider of advanced monitoring and diagnostics technologies for transformers, enhancing GE's smart grid product portfolio.

Wineries Buy RECs Through Facebook Application
Iron Horse Vineyards, Girard Winery, Windsor Vineyards and Windsor Sonoma Vineyards in Sonoma County and Napa Valley have launched an innovative campaign on Facebook to generate awareness about renewable energy and provide a way for Facebook's 90 million users to actively participate in motivating wineries to go green. San Francisco-based Village Green Energy created the Facebook application, named "Green My Vino," which launched on August 6.