New Scientist reports a controversial study that melting ice caps could actually weaken the greenhouse effect. Stanford University scientists studied satellite data from 1998 to 2007 to evaluate changes in sea surface temperatures and quantities of sea ice and phytoplankton (increased phytoplankton activity removes atmospheric carbon). What they found is … [continued]
British scientists are preparing to launch a revolutionary satellite that will provide precise measurements of the earth’s gravitational field, which will in turn provide exact measurements of ocean currents. So why is that important? Well, ocean currents transport heat around the planet— and that means that the currents have a … [continued]
North Carolina State University has just been awarded a National Science Foundation (NSF) grant to create the National Research Center for Future Renewable Energy Delivery Management Systems— in other words, the Internet for energy.
In an attempt to continue using the large coal deposits bespeckling our planet, while still keeping greenhouse gas emission down, one of Europe’s biggest power companies has turned to Carbon Capture and Storage, or CCS for short. Vattenfall, a Swedish owned firm, will be using CCS at the site of … [continued]
Wouldn’t it be nice to have car with an engine that would happily accept any fuel regardless of its origins? The US Department of Energy’s Argonne Laboratory is developing an engine that may make that dream a reality.
One of the main problems with the future of ethanol production is its relationship to corn. For some time now corn has been a prime source of ethanol. But as a result, corn that was once used for food is disappearing for fuel, and the increase in corn production has … [continued]
Say what you will about the United States government; at least the Department of Energy practices what it preaches. Energy Secretary Samuel W. Bodman led the inauguration of a large solar power system at the top of the DOE’s Forrestal Building today— a gesture that both symbolically and practically shows … [continued]
You may remember Solazyme from my post a few weeks ago about its plan to mass-produce algae biodiesel in a three-year time frame. Now the innovative company is taking algae fuel a step further. Solazyme announced today that it has produced the world’s first algae-based jet fuel. The product passed … [continued]
Maybe one of the best things we can do it offset our CO2 is also one of the simplest: stop cutting down trees. In a recent issue of Bioscience, Ohio State University Professor Peter Curtis wrote that carbon storage in Midwestern forests could offset greenhouse gas emissions from two-thirds of … [continued]
Sharp’s new solar-powered streetlight can do it all. Not only does the light operate for ten years without needing maintenance, but it also automatically turns on when it detects an earthquake. The light use a high-intensity LED spotlight that has a service life of about 40,000 hours. It charges using … [continued]
