Energy and Climate Change


Researchers Develop World's First Energy-Storage Membrane

Electrical energy storage and its management is becoming an urgent issue due to climate change and energy shortage.

Researchers Produce Cheap Sugars for Sustainable Biofuel Production

Iowa State University's Robert C. Brown keeps a small vial of brown, sweet-smelling liquid on his office table.

Nuclear Power Has Prevented 40M Metric Tons of CO2 Emissions

More than 10 years after electricity deregulation, the nuclear power industry has decreased greenhouse gas emissions by nearly 40 million metric tons of carbon dioxide and saved $2.5 billion a year as a result of operating more efficiently over the past decade, according to a new study.

New Advanced Biofuel as an Alternative to Diesel Fuel

Researchers with the DOE's Joint BioEnergy Institute (JBEI) have identified a potential new advanced biofuel that could replace today's standard fuel for diesel engines but would be clean, green, renewable and produced in the United States. Using the tools of synthetic biology, a JBEI research team engineered strains of two microbes, a bacteria and a yeast, to produce a precursor to bisabolane, a member of the terpene class of chemical compounds that are found in plants and used in fragrances and flavorings. Preliminary tests by the team showed that bisabolane's properties make it a promising biosynthetic alternative to Number 2 (D2) diesel fuel.

Gene Controlling Flowering Boosts Energy Production from Sorghum

A sorghum hybrid that does not flower and accumulates as much as three times the amount of stem and leaf matter may help the bioenergy industry, according to a study appearing in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Tips Tuesday: How to Cut Your Energy Bill

Here are a few things you can do to keep your home cool and cut that energy bill while we wait for fall and cool weather to arrive.

Achieving a Sustainable Planet Through Intelligent Energy Modernization

This multipart article analyzes and shares viewpoints on the progress of smart grid initiatives specific to achieving the goals of sustainability in the next decade.

The Hidden Power of Moss

Scientists at Cambridge University are exhibiting a prototype table that demonstrates how biological fuel cells can harness energy from plants.



Controlled Burns from Gulf Oil Spill Released at Least 1.4M Pounds of Soot

The black smoke that rose from the water’s surface during the controlled burns pumped more than 1 million pounds of black carbon (soot) pollution into the atmosphere, according to a new study published last week by researchers at NOAA and its Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES) in Boulder, Colo.

EPA Fines Ship Owners, Operators $44M for 53,000 Gallon San Francisco Bay Oil Spill

The federal and state natural resource trustees estimate that the spill killed 6,849 birds, affected 14 to 29 percent of the herring spawn that winter, oiled 3,367 acres of shoreline habitat and resulted in the loss of more than one million recreational user-days. A result of a multi-governmental effort by federal and state agencies, and municipal governments, the settlement is expected to fully compensate (in addition to previously reimbursed costs) for the natural resources and other damages and costs resulting from the spill.

EIA Projects World Energy Use Will Rise 53 Percent by 2035, Driven by China, India

Worldwide energy consumption is projected to grow by 53 percent between 2008 and 2035, with much of the increase driven by strong economic growth in the developing nations especially China and India, according the Energy Information Administration’s International Energy Outlook 2011.

Industry Organization Supports Bill to Make Algal Biofuels Eligible for Tax Credit

The bill would give algae-based biofuels tax parity while leveling the playing field for all advanced biofuels by expanding the Clean Air Act’s definition of an advanced biofuel.

EPA Issues Key Air Quality Permits to Shell for Arctic Oil and Gas Exploration

EPA Region 10 issued final air quality permits to Shell on Sept. 19 for oil and gas exploration drilling in the Alaska Arctic. The permits will allow Shell to operate the Discoverer drillship and a support fleet of icebreakers, oil spill response vessels, and supply ships for up to 120 days each year in the Chukchi Sea and Beaufort Sea Outer Continental Shelf starting in 2012.

Researchers Testing Promising New Nanomaterial for Hydrogen Storage

The new material can store and release hydrogen extremely fast and at low temperatures compared with similar materials, and it's rechargeable. These attributes could make it ideal for use in onboard hydrogen storage for next-generation hydrogen or fuel cell vehicles.

'Underwater Windmills' Would Disrupt Sand's Flow Pattern

Farms of “underwater windmills” could affect how sand moves around our coastal seas, affecting beaches, sand banks and ultimately the risk of flooding, according to Bangor University oceanographer Dr. Simon Neill.

Oil- and Gas-Related Helicopter Crashes in Gulf of Mexico Killed 139 Over 26 Years

A new study by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Center for Injury Research and Policy finds that helicopters that service the drilling platforms and vessels in the Gulf of Mexico crash on average more than six times per year resulting in an average of five deaths per year.

MEMS Device Generates Energy From Small Vibrations

Today’s wireless-sensor networks can do everything from supervising factory machinery to tracking environmental pollution to measuring the movement of buildings and bridges.

GE Launches Energy Technology for Use of Natural Gas with No Need for Water

GE's latest energy innovation, the FlexAero LM6000-PH, enables growth and development everywhere with fast, flexible, natural gas-driven power generation.

The First U.S. Gas-to-Liquids Facility to Open in Louisiana

The project is slated to be the first plant in the United States to produce GTL transportation fuels and other products.

Research Shows Solar Rays Could Replace Petroleum Fuels

Alternative fuel sources for cars may have a glowing future as a Kansas State University (K-State) graduate student is working to replace petroleum fuels with ones made from sunlight.