Future grid, smart grid
We need more electricity. More alternative energy. Less greenhouse warming, and better ways to manage our power supply. Can the electric grid meet multiple challenges and help us survive prosperity?...
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Biofuel advance
From French bread to non-fossil fuel? Yeast can ferment corn starch into ethanol to be added to gasoline, but that diverts millions of tons of food from hungry people. Researchers are trying to...
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Methane on the menu in the Gulf of Mexico?
Incredible disappearing methane When Deepwater Horizon blew up and melted down in April, the wound it tore in the Earth’s crust released a gusher of crude oil, estimated at 4.2 million barrels, into...
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Nuclear nightmare in Japan
Japan’s nuclear troubles: What is the fallout? ENLARGE Photo: Digital Globe Imagery Satellite image shows the Fukushima Daiichi power plant, three minutes after an explosion on March 14, 2011. On March...
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Fracking
Synopsis: Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, is a high-pressure technique for cracking rocks and allowing natural gas to reach wells. Amid a boom in U.S. natural gas production, industry promises that...
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Wave power
Any swimmer that gets drawn too far away from the coastline knows the power of the ocean. The strength of each wave and the continual undulation of ocean water can make it a formidable place. The raw...
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Greenhouse gas maps
Counting warming at the local scale What’s making greenhouse gas pollution in your city? Until now, that’s been a gnarly problem: measurement aircraft — even scientific drones — are expensive, and a...
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Energy report: Plentiful supplies, warning signs
International report: U.S. slated to be #1 oil producer! In a historic turn-around, the International Energy Agency predicts that the United States will regain its title as the world’s largest oil...
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Hurricanes
Synopsis: Hurricanes, the most powerful and dangerous storms of all, get their energy from the difference in temperature between a warm ocean and a cooler atmosphere. A century ago, hurricanes blew in...
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A new iron age?
Iron and steel: The billion-ton business We may call this the age of information, but we could also call it the age of steel. More than 1.5 billion tons of steel are made each year for bridges,...
View ArticleTar sands = Clean oil?
Canada's oil-drenched sands are the second-largest oil reserves, but they pollute air and water, destroy forests and boost warming. A More »
View ArticleGulf oil spill: It’s a gusher – one mile deep!
What kind of ecological damage can we expect from a sustained blowout in the Gulf of Mexico? More »
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