Tag: energy: Page 3

Researchers: Biofuels could replace 1/3 of our gasoline use

General Motors and Sandia National Laboratories produced this study that says we could replace one-third of our gasoline use with biofuels made from forest waste and energy crops by the year 2030.

January 11, 2010

CARB proposes low-carbon fuel standard

To help reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the California Air Resources Board wants to set a low carbon standard for fuels that would force users away from hydro-carbons and towards electricity, ethanol, hydrogen, natural gas and biofuels.

January 11, 2010

City or suburb: which has the biggest carbon footprint?

Surprisingly, this study shows urban apartments use more energy–up to 70 percent more–than comparable residences in the suburbs. This swats down the arguement favored by environmentalistfashionistas who want to round us all up and squeeze us into trendy, loft apartments. And this study doesn’t take into account all that carbon dioxide being sequestered by suburban lawns, shrubs and […]

January 11, 2010

CFLs burn twice the electricity as previously thought

Compact fluorescent light bulbs were supposed to significantly cut our energy use. Now it turns out, they’re consuming twice as much electricity as claimed due to their poor “power factor.”

January 11, 2010

Minnesota House says no to nuke power

In Minnesota politicians reconfirmed a moratorium on nuclear power plant construction. This after the state senate voted almost two to one to lift the ban.

January 10, 2010

Killing coal, tilting at windmills

Despite ever increasing electricity demands, there’s a huge slowdown in the construction of coal fired power plants–nine just this year, enough to provide electricity to 5-million homes. With Bush out of office and Obama in, environmentalists are winning this battle, but who is losing? Even though the science on global warming is far from certain, […]

January 10, 2010

Clean coal opportunities squandered by politics

The New York Times today has a good summation of how badly national politics mangles the public’s desire for a cleaner environment.The subject is clean coal, or coal gasification plants. The technology is proven, the designs ready to build, but squabbles over which state, Republican or Democrat, and environmental delusions have stalled implementation. Coal gasification […]

January 10, 2010

Energy development slowing

Another victim of the recession: It appears that energy companies are canceling, delaying or cutting back on plans to develop a variety of petroleum and energy development projects. In the last two years, this had been one of the fastest growing sectors of the heavy construction market.

January 10, 2010

$1 a gallon gas next year?

That’s what the CEO of Gulf OIl is predicting.

January 10, 2010

Kansas gets real on coal-fired power plants

Now that its governor Kathleen Sebelius has been booted upstairs to become the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services, Kansas is finally getting down to business and building one of two proposed coal fired plants in the western part of the state. The Associated Press article at the link details the compromises made, but […]

January 10, 2010

Nuclear industry thinks small

We get 20 percent of our electricity from nuclear power, but it’s going on three decades since a nuclear power plant has been built in the United States. Cost over-runs and concerns about what to do with the radioactive waste are the main stumbling blocks. Now the industry has come up with a design for a […]

January 10, 2010

Nuclear energy problems aired at conference

Steven Chu, the nation’s new secretary of energy, told the Western Governor’s Association yesterday that solar, wind and geothermal energy sources were all high on President Obama’s wish list…but so was nuclear energy. Agricultural Secretary and former Iowa governor Tom Vilsack told the crowd that specialized training would be needed to equip construction workers for the […]

January 10, 2010

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