Australian Natural Gas: University of Queensland researchers may have found a way to tap into the large reserves natural gas resources located in deep-ocean fields off Western Australia. Researches are designing  subsea pipelines, hundreds of kilometers long and almost a kilometer deep. see

The Sugar Economy: The intersection of energy, environment, and the economy is also called "sugar economy," or the "carbohydrate economy." The trend involves industrial production based on biological feedstocks (agricultural crops, grasses, forest residues, plant oils, algae, etc.) whose sugars are extracted, fermented, and converted into high-value chemicals.  see

Which Energy Source is Best? A Stanford University physicist evaluates most efficient energies. Most promising sources are, in order, wind, concentrated solar (the use of mirrors to heat a fluid), geothermal, tidal, solar photovoltaics (rooftop solar panels), wave and hydroelectric. Says not to nuclear, coal with carbon capture and sequestration, corn ethanol and cellulosic ethanol. Ethanol-based biofuels will actually cause more harm to human health, wildlife, water supply and land use than current fossil fuels." see

Review Of James Lovelock: Revenge of Gaia: Earth’s Climate Crisis and the Fate of Humanity.  London:  Allen Lane, 2006, 172 pages. see

Greenland’s Melting May Warm Economy: In November, 2008 Greenland voted overwhelmingly to step closer to independence. Melting ice is bringing bounty — and bounty hunters. There is improving agriculture and hopes for better fisheries catches, more mineral mining opportunities and better access to potentially vast offshore oil and gas reserves: all because of climate change. Greenland is heating up at twice the rate of the rest of the world. In the south, farmers now grow crops such as potatoes, which would have been laughable a decade ago. see

Clean Coal? Not So Much: The term “Clean Coal” is basic shorthand for a technology that does not exist.  The idea of carbon dioxide being separated from the exhaust of US coal plants is as likely to succeed as drilling for oil in ANWR will reduce gas prices significantly in 2009. All clean coal technologies are experimental. The politically infused notion of clean coal is nothing more than hot air. see , see , see , see

Energy Independence? Many argue that energy independence should be at the core of national energy policy. Energy independence typically is defined as zero reliance on energy imports. The underlying assumption is that relying on “unfriendly” Middle East nations for energy is bad for our economic and national security. This argument for energy independence is flawed for economic, strategic, and environmental reasons.

chemicals.  see

Solar Refrigerators: The electricity to power just refrigerators in the U.S. contributes 102 million tons of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere every year. Solar refrigeration can also be inexpensive and it would give the electric grid much-needed relief. Electricity demand peaks on hot summer days—150 gigawatts more in summer than winter in the U.S. (a gigawatt equals on billion watts.) That's almost 1.5 times the generating capacity of all the coal-fired power plants west of the Mississippi River. see

Wave Energy, Now On-line: Portugal has completed Agucadoura, the world's first wave farm off its coast, consisting of three Wave Energy Converters generating a total of 2.25MW. The wave farm is now tapping into enough constant, renewable energy to power 1500 homes.  see

U.S Geothermal: The U.S. Department of the Interior has plans to open 190 million acres of federal lands to companies seeking to develop geothermal energy production plants.  The lands that will be opened are in Alaska and 11 western states.  The United States, while having a much smaller percentage of geothermal power in its energy mix, is nonetheless the largest producer of geothermal energy in the world. see , see

Arizona’s Senate voted 19-10 to ban its Department of Environmental Quality from enacting or enforcing measures about climate change.  The bill specifically blocks rules adopted by DEQ last year to set emission standards for new vehicles for carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. It also ends any "cap and trade” carbon laws. see , see , pdf of bill

Switchgrass: Producing biofuels from a fast-growing grass delivers vast savings of carbon dioxide emissions compared with petrol, a large-scale study has suggested. One acre (0.4 hectares) of the grassland could, on average, deliver 320 gallons of bioethanol, they added. The team also calculated that the production and consumption of switchgrass-derived ethanol cut CO2 emissions by about 94% when compared with an equivalent volume of petrol. see

Alberta Tar Sands: Demand for the dirty-to-extract crude of Alberta’s tar sands (bitumen) has soared despite the serious climate and financial risks involved. The cumulative effect of this pollution delivery system may bring to the centre of North America an additional 2.3 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions per year. Killing the project entirely is not a realistic option. But regulation is. see, see

Russian Oil Peaks?  “There isn’t going to be a precipitous decline. It’s very mature oil fields and there will probably be a gentle decline as we move on,” said Robert Dudley, outgoing chief of TNK-BP, “But I believe we are . . . at the top of a broad curve or cycle right now until other things. see

Water or Energy? Water is needed to generate energy. Energy is needed to deliver water. Both resources are limiting the other—and both may be running short.  We are approaching something like peak water: the tension between water and energy: water restrictions are hampering solutions for generating more energy, and energy problems, particularly rising prices, are curtailing efforts to supply more clean water. see

Whatever Happened to Hydrogen? One problem is that hydrogen fuel cells, seen as a way to provide electricity in homes as well as vehicles, rely on precious-metal catalysts like platinum. A conventional automotive fuel-cell stack contains up to 100 grams of platinum, which could cost more than $3000 at today's prices. For the hydrogen economy to happen, the amount of platinum used in fuel cells has to come down, and soon. see

U.S. Is Burning More Coal for home heating. Burning coal at home was once commonplace, of course, but the practice had been declining for decades. Coal consumption for residential use hit a low of 258,000 tons in 2006 — then started to rise. It jumped 9 percent in 2007, according to the Energy Information Administration, and 10 percent more in the first eight months of 2008. see

German Electric Cars — Good News, Bad News: German Chancellor Angela Merkel approved an ambitious infrastructure project, launching the world's largest urban effort for promoting climate-friendly electric cars. Electricity provider RWE will install 500 power-points, where electric cars can charge up. Daimler AG and Smart are partnering in the project, aiming for 100 electric cars on the streets of Berlin by the end of 2009. see, see

Peak Oil? Oil production on the Norwegian continental shelf may fall 9.7 percent this year, declining for a ninth year, the country’s Petroleum Directorate said. Crude output will fall to about 1.9 million barrels a day in 2009 from 2.11 million barrels a day in 2008. “Between 2009 and 2013 we expect significantly reduced oil production.” see , see

Biodiesel Fails Minnesota School Buses: Minnesota requires all diesel fuel to have 2 percent biodiesel. It’s hurt some districts. Schools in the Bloomington were forced to close when the state-required biodiesel fuel started clogging school buses, leaving dozens of students stranded in frigid weather. see    

Home Wind Turbines: Not all of them are living up to their promises. Some home wind turbines are generating a fraction of the energy promised by manufacturers and, in some cases, use more electricity than they make. An average semi-detached house, like the areas where most people live, where there are obstructions like trees and buildings, are poor locations for small wind turbines." see

Ancient Amazonian Technique May Help with Warming: Inhabitants of the Amazon, 500 years ago, learned to use charred organic materials – biochar. They transformed infertile soils to very most productive. Any kind of organic material -- peanut shells, pine chips and even poultry litter -- can be used. see