Net Energy A Useless Misleading And Dangerous Metric Says One Expert
London UK (SPX) Aug 13, 2007
As oil becomes scarce, the world needs new transportation fuels. As new fuel options develop we need means of assessing which are most effective at replacing petroleum. So far many scientists have used a measure called 'net energy'. However, Professor Bruce Dale from Michigan State University claims, "Net energy analysis is simple and has great intuitive appeal, but it is also dead wrong and dan ... read more
Germany And Russia Joined At The Pipe
Berlin (UPI) Aug 10, 2007
Germany's special energy relationship with Russia threatens energy security in Europe, critics say. Others argue Europe's largest economy needs to build up strong ties with Europe's biggest energy importer. Energy security has become an increasingly important topic in European politics of the past years; domestic resources of oil and gas were scarce to begin with, and they are dwindling as consu ... more
Biofuels Shift Seen To Put Major Squeeze On Food Prices
Manila (AFP) Aug 09, 2007
A global shift toward renewable energy could jack up food prices by up to 80 percent as crops and farmland are diverted to producing biofuels, an international agricultural think-tank warned Thursday. Joachim von Braun, director-general of the International Food Policy Research Institute, said further crop yield improvements and increased efficiency of these alternative fuels were required if a ... more
World's largest nuke plant closed for months
Tokyo, Aug 10, 2007
UN inspectors said Friday that the world's largest nuclear plant in Japan will be closed for months, weeks after being hit by an earthquake.
A mission from the UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), spent four days inspecting the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant.
The giant facility northwest of Tokyo caught fire and leaked a small amount of radiation following a powe ... more
Conventional Plowing Is Skinning Our Farmlands
Seattle WA (SPX) Aug 10, 2007
Traditional plow-based agricultural methods and the need to feed a rapidly growing world population are combining to deplete the Earth's soil supply, a new study confirms. In fact, long-established practices appear to increase soil erosion to the point that it is not offset by soil creation, said David Montgomery, a University of Washington professor of Earth and space sciences.
No-till ag ... more
Medics fight disease after SAsia floods
Dhaka, Aug 10, 2007
Medics in Bangladesh battled outbreaks of diarrhoea and cholera Friday as international aid began to flow in South Asia to help millions lacking water and food after the worst floods in decades.
The death toll was well above 2,000 on Friday with 16 more deaths reported in Bangladesh, 19 in India's Bihar state and three more in Nepal.
Monsoon rains have halted across much of the massive H ... more
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CLIMATE SCIENCE
Man-Made Soot Contributed To Warming In Greenland In The Early 20th Century
CLIMATE SCIENCE
Climate Change And Permafrost Thaw Alter Greenhouse Gas Emissions In Northern Wetlands
ENERGY TECH
New World Record For A Superconducting Magnet Set At National High Magnetic Field Laboratory
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Japan Looks To Turn Straw Into Biofuel Amid Price Crunch
Tokyo (AFP) Aug 09, 2007
Japan will study turning inedible crops such as straw into biofuel to run cars amid concern that the growing popularity of ethanol is inflating food prices, an official said Friday. Biofuels are seen as alternative clean energy resource which can reduce the dependence on Middle Eastern oil and lessen the impact on global warming.
One biofuel, ethanol, is derived from sugar beets, wheat, co ... more
Toyota To Delay Launch Of New Hybrids
Tokyo (AFP) Aug 09, 2007
Japan's Toyota Motor will delay by one or two years the rollout of new high-mileage hybrids with lithium-ion batteries because of safety concerns, a newspaper reported Thursday. Toyota's decision was prompted by worries that the batteries could overheat, catch fire or even explode, the Wall Street Journal reported in its online edition, quoting unnamed Toyota executives.
It said such fears ... more
Quantum Analog Of Ulam's Conjecture Can Guide Molecules And Reactions
Champaign IL (SPX) Aug 10, 2007
Like navigating spacecraft through the solar system by means of gravity and small propulsive bursts, researchers can guide atoms, molecules and chemical reactions by utilizing the forces that bind nuclei and electrons into molecules (analogous to gravity) and by using light for propulsion. But, knowing the minimal amount of light required, and how that amount changes with the complexity of the m ... more
Division Of The Caspian
Washington (UPI) Aug 09, 2007
Russia's recent effort to claim unilaterally its northern seabed to the North Pole has highlighted the race to divide the globe's remaining waters for nation's benefits. Besides the Arctic, these include Antarctica and the Caspian. Of the three, the Caspian is the most hotly contested, as extraction efforts are already under way, and the battle involves not only the riverain powers Russia, Iran, ... more
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ENERGY TECH
Nanoparticle Technique Could Lead To Improved Semiconductors
CAR TECH
Driving Changes For The Car Of The Future
CIVIL NUCLEAR
Indian PM's Communist Allies Reject Landmark US Nuke Deal
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Russia To Commission Second Unit Of China Tianwan NPP In Sept
Moscow (RIA Novosti) Aug 10, 2007
Russia's nuclear equipment export monopoly Atomstroyexport confirmed Tuesday it will commission the second unit of China's Tianwan nuclear power plant in September. The company is building the Tianwan NPP in eastern China's port city of Lianyungang under a 1992 agreement. The plant features improved VVER-1000 reactors and K-100-6/3000 turbo generators.
"Atomstroyexport will start commissio ... more
Russia's Strategic Aviation Holds Tactical Exercises In Arctic
Moscow, Russia (RIA Novosti) Aug 09, 2007
Russia's strategic aviation started Wednesday an active phase of military exercises to fly over the North Pole and conduct test launches of cruise missiles, an Air Force spokesman said. During the active phase, four Tu-160 Blackjack, 12 Tu-95 Bear-H strategic bombers, and 14 Tu-22 Backfire-C theater bombers will conduct simulated bombing raids, and more than ten cruise missile launches at the Pe ... more
Chinese Prosperity Will Set Off Global Food Inflation
Paris (UPI) Aug 08, 2007
China has suddenly become markedly less popular in Europe, and particularly in Germany, where China's rapidly growing demand for milk has boosted prices for dairy products; the price of a liter of milk is predicted to rise by 50 percent by the time schools reopen in September. It is all blamed on a now-famous remark by Chinese leader Wen Jiabao: "I have a dream -- a dream to be able to provide a ... more
Europe Gives Ukraine 460 Million Euros To Build Chernobyl Sarcophagus
Kiev (RIA Novosti) Aug 09, 2007
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development will grant Ukraine 330 million euros (about $460 mln) to secure the Chernobyl nuclear power plant to prevent radioactive leaks, the emergencies ministry said. Under an agreement the bank signed with the ministry and the state company overseeing the plant on Tuesday, the funds will be allocated to build a giant protective shield over the fourth ... more
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ENERGY TECH
Iraq Oil Deals Signed Under Saddam Up For Review
ENERGY TECH
Russia Oil Firm Russneft Securities Seized
ENERGY TECH
Russian Hostages Freed In Nigeria
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