All Environment
Want a solar home? Consider batteries.Most solar homes are still dependent on the grid, so when the grid fails, they lose power. But that's beginning to change as the solar industry begins to focus on battery storage as the next 'green' frontier.
Oil by train runs out of trackShipping oil by rail used to be the answer to tight pipeline capacity and cheap Canadian crude, Schaeffer writes, but the question now is: Has that train left the station?
Fuel barge explosions underscore risks of fuel transportationAlabama's fuel barge explosions were nothing more than an unfortunate accident, reports suggest. But the fuel barge explosions serve as a reminder that the distribution of often volatile energy resources comes with certain risks.
Would a carbon tax boost clean energy?The carbon tax can be a useful tool for nudging near-competitive low-carbon technologies into the market and spurring modest carbon cuts, Stepp writes, but it鈥檚 at best a complementary climate policy. That changes if we use a carbon tax as a revenue-raiser to support additional policies aimed at making clean energy cost and performance competitive with fossil fuels.
Hope for US-China collaboration on climate change, clean energyChina and the United States are the largest emitters of greenhouse gases in the world, Holland writes. A recent agreement between the two countries bodes well for promoting clean energy and addressing climate change globally.聽
Pressure mounting on US to export natural gasAs US gas supplies grow, companies are eager to export natural gas. Should US let the market operate or continue preserving natural gas for domestic use only?
Green flights? NASA explores biofuel use in planes.Commercial jets could fly safely with a blend of jet fuel that includes a plant oil, NASA researchers said Thursday.聽NASA is one of several government agencies examining the use of renewable biofuels to reduce dependency on foreign oil while reducing carbon emissions.- Green flights? NASA explores biofuel use in planes.Commercial jets could fly safely with a blend of jet fuel that includes a plant oil, NASA researchers said Thursday.聽NASA is one of several government agencies examining the use of renewable biofuels to reduce dependency on foreign oil while reducing carbon emissions.
Energy efficiency means lower utility bills, less mortgage riskThe risk of mortgage default is one-third lower for people with energy efficient homes, according to a recent study.聽Energy efficient homes can save up to $250 per month, Alic writes, an amount that for many households could be the difference between foreclosure and mortgage repayment.
Exxon Mobil earnings up despite drop in oil, gas productionExxon Mobil announced a rise in earnings in the first quarter despite a decline in production of oil and gas. Profits from chemicals production and lower taxes helped Exxon Mobil offset the drop in oil and gas production.
What does Fisker Automotive tell us about clean energy?Fisker Automotive's failure to repay a Department of Energy loan Monday is a blemish on the department's push to promote clean energy through public-private partnerships. Is it a sign of a broader policy failure, or do individual shortcomings distract from broader success?
Trump ad slamming wind farms is bannedTrump ad banned by British regulator, who calls it unsubstantiated and 'misleading.' Trump ad warned that wind farms would hurt Scotland tourism.
Statoil eyes major new North Sea oil discoveryStatoil could be sitting on between 40 million and 150 million recoverable barrels of oil equivalent in the North Sea, the company announced last week.聽The 40-150 million recoverable barrels estimate is still under a 鈥渉igh degree of uncertainty鈥�, Statoil said, with additional appraisals ongoing to confirm the findings.
BP delays $10 billion Gulf of Mexico project due to rising costsBP's largest new oil project in the Gulf, called Mad Dog Phase 2, sits atop a 4 billion barrel oil field. BP blames 'market conditions and industry inflation' for delay.聽
Earth's cooling came to sudden halt in 1900, study showsAn international study used tree rings and pollen to build the first聽record of global climate change, continent by continent, over 2,000 years.
ABB's 'blue jeans' strategy in solarABB $1 billion purchase of inverter maker Power-One signals its desire to cash in on the boom in solar-panel installations 鈥� without investing in solar panels themselves.
House aims to expand oil drilling in Gulf of MexicoMembers of the US House of Representatives last week proposed legislation that would open up more areas for oil drillers offshore, Graeber writes. Lawmakers say getting more work done in the Gulf of Mexico would ensure energy independence.
FocusOn Earth Day 2013, a planetary report card on global warmingPlanetary carbon dioxide concentrations are the highest they've been in the past 800,000 years, an ignominious milestone for Earth Day 2013. Still, the world is making some progress toward addressing global warming.
Earth Day 2013: 10 quotes about planet Earth Earth Day is April 22. There is no shortage of famous musings on what Carl Sagan once called our 'pale blue dot.' Here are 10 of our favorite things said about planet Earth.
FocusA way to curb global warming: Suck carbon emissions right out of the air?Most efforts to address carbon emissions focus on preventing them from entering the atmosphere in the first place. But how to get rid of CO2 already there? Start-ups are developing prototype air-capture systems.
