CQ Politics | Innovations - Energy and Environment: July 2008 Archives

"Super Blimp" Aims For Canadian Resources

July 30, 2008 7:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The JHL-40 "superaircraft" was designed by SkyHook and will be manufactured by Boeing. JHL stands for "Jess Heavy Lifter." (SkyHook International)

Natural resources in the far north of Canada - such as oil, natural gas, timber and rare metals - are difficult to reach. But one company has developed a neutrally buoyant aircraft, heavier than a blimp but lighter than an airplane, designed to operate in temperatures down to -40 degrees Fahrenheit. The Discovery Channel reports that Boeing has contracted to build the craft, which will be able to lift 80,000 pounds and should be available in 2012.

Web pick posted by Neil Savage, Xconomy.com

Scientists Worry that Back-and-Forth Confuses Public About Climate Change

July 29, 2008 1:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Some climatologists are concerned that the natural progress of science, in which studies report new results, then are challenged by even newer studies, could be confusing the public about global warming. Part of the problem, according to The New York Times, is that it's difficult to clearly communicate scientific uncertainty through the media. Some experts say scientists have to be more careful about what they say to the public.

Web pick posted by Neil Savage, Xconomy.com

Continue reading Scientists Worry that Back-and-Forth Confuses Public About Climate Change.

New Homes Getting Greener

July 28, 2008 4:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The market for "green" housing that's more environmentally friendly than traditional homes is growing, even during the housing slump, CNN reports. According to McGraw-Hill Construction Research and Analytics, about 6 percent of new homes will be built to green standards in 2008. That's up from 2 percent in 2005.

Web picks posted by Neil Savage, Xconomy.com

New 'Fuel Battery' - Better Than Gasoline?

July 27, 2008 9:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A new electrical storage device that is part battery and part chemical fuel cell could pack more energy than the same volume of gasoline, says New Scientist. The device was designed by researchers at the University of Massachusetts, Boston. They say it could overcome the main limitation of batteries planned for electric vehicles - that they can't pack enough power to give the car the same traveling range as gasoline does.

Web pick posted by Neil Savage, Xconomy.com

New Material Could Turn Waste Heat into Power

July 26, 2008 1:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Researchers at Ohio State University have created a new alloy with double the ability of previous materials to turn waste heat from power plants or car engines into electricity. Technology Review reports that the researchers added trace amounts of thallium to lead telluride, changing the material's electrical properties. The material could potentially convert 10 percent of the energy in heat into electricity.

Web pick posted by Neil Savage, Xconomy.com

Google Enters the Green Car Business

July 25, 2008 7:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Aptera's three-wheeled electric vehicle, Typ-1, which reportedly gets 231 miles per gallon. It is actually classified as a motorcycle.

Google has begun investing in green-car startups, announcing $2.75 million in funding split between green-car maker Aptera Motors and ActaCell, which develops rechargeable batteries for the cars. Earth2Tech calls the move "significant" as it starts to position Google as an incubator for the next generation of electric vehicles.

Web pick posted by Neil Savage, Xconomy. com

There's Gold in That Thar Cow Plop

July 25, 2008 7:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Converting cow manure into methane and burning that instead of coal could cut greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S. by about 4 percent, according to scientists at the University of Texas at Austin. The researchers tell Discovery News that the plan is a two-for-one win. Switching from coal to cow patties not only cuts the use of fossil fuel, it also keeps methane and nitrous oxide -- two very powerful greenhouse gases produced by the decay of manure -- from entering the atmosphere. Get out the shovels.

Web pick posted by Neil Savage, Xconomy.com

Could Expiring Subsidies Push Solar Investment?

July 24, 2008 7:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The renewable energy industry wants the U.S. government to make tax credits for clean energy more permanent, saying it's hard to build an industry on two-year subsidies. But a writer at the Wall Street Journal argues that short-term subsidies may actually boost the industry, as consumers rush to install solar panels before the tax credit expires.

Web pick posted by Neil Savage, Xconomy.com

Garbage-to-Fuel Making Gains

July 24, 2008 3:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Scientists have long considered converting garbage and crop waste into biofuels, but until gasoline hit record high prices it didn't make economic sense. Now, the New York Times reports, several companies are building plants to convert waste into fuel, and their products could be on the market within months. Big-name companies such as Honeywell, DuPont, and General Motors are starting to invest.

Web pick posted by Neil Savage, Xconomy.com

You Put De Lime in De Ocean and It Eats Up All De Carbon

July 24, 2008 7:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Shell is exploring an idea from the 1990s that would dump quicklime into the ocean, where it would absorb carbon dioxide and store it on the ocean floor. Wired says that Shell is providing seed funding to a British start-up, Cquestrate, to explore the idea. Proponents say the plan would also combat acidification of the ocean, which could destroy coral reefs. But it could take 300 billion cubic feet of limestone to capture one year's worth of carbon emissions.

Web pick posted by Neil Savage, Xconomy.com

Poll: Support for California Renewable Energy Proposal

July 23, 2008 3:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A new poll finds that a majority of California voters support a proposal on the state's November ballot to require the state to move toward renewable energy, when they hear about it. Reuters reports on a Field poll that found 63 percent support for Proposition 7, although 82 percent of people interviewed said they were not aware of the measure. If passed, the proposition would require that half of California's electricity come from renewable sources by 2025.

Web pick posted by Neil Savage, Xconomy.com

UN Soil Map Tracks Food and Carbon

July 23, 2008 12:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A new database of soils around the world, created by the United Nations, can help track both agricultural output and carbon storage, the UN claims. The UN Food and Agricultural Organization is also producing a Global Carbon Gap Map, according to Reuters. The map will show degraded soils where billions of tons of carbon dioxide could be stored.

Web pick posted by Neil Savage, Xconomy.com

Wind Power May be Too Much for Northwest

July 22, 2008 3:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Utilities are getting ready to more than quadruple the amount of power they produce from wind in the Northwest part of the country, according to the Oregonian. The paper warns that the power transmission network in the area isn't ready for that much input. Right now, it says, the grid can handle only about a third of the 4,716 megawatts expected to be produced by wind turbines.

Web pick posted by Neil Savage, Xconomy.com

Aging Icebreaker Fleet May Mean U.S. Loses Arctic Opportunities

July 22, 2008 6:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

by Caitlin Webber, CQ Staff

ice breaker.jpg

As sea ice continues its retreat from the North Pole this summer, many see America's stake in contested and resource-rich region growing. But the head of the U.S. Coast Guard says access to new polar opportunities is threatened by an aging and inadequate Arctic fleet.

Coast Guard photo of the Cutter Healy
in the Arctic Circle, July, 2000

"While U.S. strategic interests in the Arctic region expand, both domestically and internationally, our polar icebreaking capability is at risk." Thad W. Allen, commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard, told lawmakers on July 16. "I am concerned that we are watching our nation's domestic and international ice breaking capability decline as reliance on foreign icebreakers grows."

Continue reading Aging Icebreaker Fleet May Mean U.S. Loses Arctic Opportunities .

Texas Harnessing Wind Power

July 21, 2008 2:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The wind-power industry in Texas received a big boost when state regulators approved a $4.93 billion wind-power transmission project. The head of the West Texas Wind Energy Consortium told the New York Times that the project will put Texas close to Germany in the amount of installed wind power. The project entails installing transmission lines to carry electricity from turbines in West Texas to large cities such as Dallas and Houston.

Web pick posted by Neil Savage, Xconomy.com

Study Predicts Few Hydrogen Cars Before 2023

July 18, 2008 5:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

It will be at least 15 years until hydrogen becomes a competitive fuel, and then only with substantial government and private investment, says a study from the National Research Council. According to Science News, the study found that cars driven by hydrogen fuel cells could be commercially available in a decade, but will be very expensive. At that point, the government would have to step in with subsidies to help build an infrastructure for distributing hydrogen.

Web pick posted by Neil Savage, Xconomy.com

California Requiring Greener Buildings

July 18, 2008 2:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

California issued new building standards this week that would reduce the energy used in buildings by 15 percent and cut the water used for landscaping by half. The Los Angeles Times reports that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger praised the new standards. But environmentalists complained that the standards were heavily influenced by the construction industry and not as stringent as they could be.

Web pick posted by Neil Savage, Xconomy, com

EPA Considering Rules for Storing Carbon

July 16, 2008 5:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

One proposal for limiting greenhouse gas emissions is to capture carbon as it is produced at power plants and store it underground, perhaps in exhausted oil wells. The Environmental Protection Agency is taking a step toward making that possible by publishing a draft of a rule governing such underground storage. The New York Times quotes a carbon storage expert as saying the rule is an important step, but not the only one needed to make carbon storage a reality.

Web pick posted by Neil Savage, Xconomy.com

Scientists Propose Burial at Sea for Carbon

July 15, 2008 7:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

One way to counter global warming may be to inject carbon dioxide into porous volcanic rock on the ocean floor, thus keeping it out of the atmosphere permanently. Science Now reports that scientists at Columbia University have surveyed deep-sea basalt formations for their potential to store carbon. The researchers say there's an area off the Oregon coast that could hold more than 120 years' worth of U.S. carbon emissions.

Web pick posted by Neil Savage, Xconomy.com

Saltwater Crops For Food, Fuel?

July 15, 2008 2:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

One concern with the increased use of biofuels (such as corn-based ethanol) is that they use up arable land and drive up the price of food crops. The Los Angeles Times brings us the story of a researcher who's looking for ways to grow crops for both food and fuel in areas with poor soil and a lack of fresh water. The scientist, Carl Hodges, grows a crop called salicornia, which he nourishes with seawater from a manmade canal. The paper says Salicornia seeds can be squeezed into cooking oil, ground into high-protein meal or even converted into biofuel.

Web pick posted by Neil Savage, Xconomy.com

NASA Maps Offshore Wind Energy

July 11, 2008 7:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Red and white colors indicate high wind energy is available while blue color reflects lower energy (credit: NASA Jet Propulsion Lab).
CNET News reports that 10 years of satellite data led to a map showing the sites where wind is steady and strong for most of the year.

Web pick posted by Neil Savage, Xconomy.com

LEDs - The Next Big Thing in Lighting

July 11, 2008 6:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Venture capitalists are flocking toward LEDs, seeing a "growing potential for these semiconductor-based light sources" in public places, according to a San Francisco research company. The San Jose Mercury News reports that the Cleantech Group noted $100 million of investment into LED lighting technologies in the first quarter of 2008. That puts LEDs third in cleantech investments, behind biofuel and solar energy.

Web pick posted by Neil Savage, Xconomy.com

Recycling Carbon From Mining Operations

July 10, 2008 2:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Carbon Sciences, a startup in Santa Barbara, CA, says it has developed a relatively simple method to take the carbon dioxide emitted during mining operations and turn it into precipitated calcium carbonate, or PCC. The Environmental News Network reports that the company hopes to keep the carbon out of the atmosphere by turning it into useful products, at the same time earning money from what used to be waste. PCC is a component of many everyday products, including paper, wallboard, and fertilizer.

Web pick posted by Neil Savage, Xconomy.com

New York City to Spend Billions Fighting Greenhouse Effect

July 9, 2008 5:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has announced his intention to spend $2.3 billion to cut greenhouse gas emissions in the city by 30 percent over the next 30 years. Reuters reports that the city wants to make its buildings and operations more efficient. Bloomberg predicts that by using less energy, the city should break even on its spending by 2013.

Web pick posted by Neil Savage, Xconomy.com

A Wind Corridor?

July 9, 2008 4:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Oil mogul T. Boone Pickens is proposing a plan to produce 20 percent of the country's electricity by building wind turbines in a corridor from the Canadian border to West Texas. The Business Journal reports that Pickens' plan calls for taking the natural gas now used to fuel electrical plants and using it instead for transportation fuel, reducing dependence on the Middle East for oil. Pickens believes his goals could be accomplished within a decade.

Web pick posted by Neil Savage, Xconomy.com

Measuring Air Quality, Block by Block

July 8, 2008 12:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Intel's Berkeley Labs team is working with the City of San Francisco to attach mobile phone prototype sensors to a fleet of street sweepers zooming around the city in the early morning hours. (Intel photo)

by Zack Beauchamp, CQ staff

For the roughly 75 million Americans afflicted with asthma or allergies , air quality can be a deadly serious issue. Air pollution can set off sometimes-fatal asthma attacks, and can cause otherwise healthy people to get the disease. To help the most vulnerable people limit exposure, the federal government issues a daily air quality report, which includes cities with "action alert" days. http://www.airnow.gov/. But there's not much detail there.

Enter San Francisco and the Intel Corporation. They're piloting a new technique of measuring hyper-local air quality with sensors on the city's street sweepers.

Continue reading Measuring Air Quality, Block by Block.

Japan vs Detroit on Green Cars

July 4, 2008 12:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

General Motors is working hard at putting its electric car, the Volt, on the streets by 2010. But Business Week wonders if Detroit will be able to catch up to Japan's lead on green cars. Toyota, for instance, is planning to more than double its sale of hybrids by the early part of the next decade.

Business Week says that, to meet its targets, "Next year, Toyota is expected to add two new cars that it will sell only as hybrids, one badged as a Toyota, the other a Lexus."

Web pick posted by Neil Savage, Xconomy.com

Will Hydrogen Push Aside Gasoline?

July 4, 2008 6:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Hydrogen is being touted as the transportation fuel of the future, powering cars without polluting the atmosphere or relying on foreign sources of energy.

But Scientific American, reviewing the issues surrounding hydrogen, says the jury is still out on whether hydrogen can actually replace gasoline. The big questions: Can hydrogen be generated and stored on a practical scale? How can the high cost of manufacturing hydrogen vehicles be reined in? How can a hydrogen refueling network be built?

Web pick by Neil Savage, Xconomy.com

Solar Moratorium Reversed

July 3, 2008 2:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

After an outcry from the solar power industry, the federal Bureau of Land Management has lifted its recently announced ban on new solar energy projects on public lands. The BLM had placed a two-year moratorium on such projects so it could study their impact. CNET News says the bureau reversed course on Wednesday.

Web pick posted by Neil Savage, Xconomy.com

Comparing McCain to Obama on Climate Change

July 3, 2008 6:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

In a change from previous elections, both the Republican and Democratic presidential candidates agree that global warming is a real problem. This time, the Environmental News Network points out, the debate is over what to do about it. The site offers a comparison between John McCain's and Barack Obama's stances on issues including cap and trade, nuclear power, and renewable energy.

Web pick posted by Neil Savage, Xconomy.com

The Four Day Work Week

July 3, 2008 6:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

With gas prices soaring, air pollution growing and traffic congestion worsening, a lot of state and local governments are considering four-day work weeks.

Starting in August, Utah will become one of the first states to implement a 10-hour, four-day week for most of its state agencies -- Birmingham, Ala., is implementing a four-day week for some 4,000 municipal employees, and Houston tested a similar initiative last summer.

Continue reading The Four Day Work Week.

MIT Students Build Solar Concentrator

July 2, 2008 7:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This parabolic mirror designed by students at MIT focuses the sun's light to a single point, potentially generating temperatures upwards of 1,300 degrees Celsius. (MIT photo)

One relatively cheap method for harnessing solar power is to focus a wide swath of sunlight down to a small area, thus concentrating its heat. Students at MIT have made a 12 x 12 foot mirror that can focus sunlight onto a small point, boiling water to create steam energy. The Discovery Channel says that the students, who aimed to make the mirror as inexpensively as possible, are forming a company to market their technology.

Web pick posted by Neil Savage, Xconomy.com.

More Productive Cows Means Less Gas?

July 1, 2008 2:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The worldwide dairy industry is responsible for more greenhouse gas emissions than vehicle traffic, thanks to the land, water, and feed that go into milk production, as well as the methane produced by cows' digestive systems. Agence France Presse reports that a researcher at Cornell University found that giving one million cows a controversial growth hormone would allow dairies to produce the same amount of milk with far fewer cows. Researcher Judith Capper says the result would be the same as removing 400,000 cars from the roads.

Web pick posted by Neil Savage, Xconomy.com

Hawaii Requires Solar Water Heaters

July 1, 2008 7:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

All new single family homes in Hawaii will soon have to have solar water heaters to get a building permit. The law, signed by Republican Governor Linda Lingle, goes into effect in 2010. The website Metaefficient.com says the law is meant to address the fact that the island relies on foreign countries for 90 percent of its energy. The new law stems from a proposal made five years ago, when oil was $40/barrel. It has since more than tripled.

Web pick posted by Neil Savage, Xcomony.com

Southwestern Cities Leaping into Light Rail

July 1, 2008 6:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

By Zach Patton, Governing.com

Hey! What do you know? It's cold!"

Rick Simonetta isn't talking about the temperature in downtown Phoenix, which today is 92 degrees in the shade. What's cold is the water he's sipping from a fountain on the platform of an outdoor train station. Right now, the platform is eerily devoid of passengers, its modern, sage-colored ironwork glinting in the Southwestern sun. But come December, when Phoenix opens its first light-rail line, this station will anchor a huge regional transit system that will stretch north to Glendale and east to Mesa and Tempe.

It's a $1.4 billion, 20-mile catapult into transit -- no other light-rail system in the country has been so large right from its inception.

Continue reading Southwestern Cities Leaping into Light Rail.