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Australia, already the world's driest inhabited continent, is gripped by its worst drought in 100 years which has decimated crops and created a crisis among its farming community.

California may need to move beyond a renewable energy portfolio standard and develop a more comprehensive approach to procuring renewable resources to meet its own climate goals, a California Environmental Protection Agency official said on Monday.

After years of explosive expansion, China is no longer limiting its exports to manufacturing and has taken the next step, plunging into the foreign banking sector with a major stake in a South African Bank.

* Uncertainty surrounds estimates of costs associated with climate change
* Mitigating climate change can have immediate economic consequences
* IMF building capacity to assess macroeconomic implications

Most scientists agree that the global temperature is rising as a result of man-made emissions of greenhouse gases, and that the earth's climate is changing.

The EU and its Member States are shifting policies towards long-term sustainability. There is increasing convergence between the EU's longer-term Sustainable Development Strategy and the Lisbon Strategy for Growth and Jobs. But to obtain the necessary results on the ground, action to turn around persistent unsustainable trends must be significantly stepped up.

Violent lunatics bent on the destruction of western civilization are one thing. Silent computer hackers who can whittle away at the nation's infrastructure are another.

Rising oil prices are a bigger threat to the world economy than climate change in the next 10 years - that was the surprising verdict of company executives from carbon trading, fuel cell, oil exploration and renewables firms who attended the Reuters Smaller Companies Forum. But climate change is likely to have a greater effect on the global economy over a 50-year timespan, according to those executives from old and new energy companies.

A coalition of the European Commission, European countries, US states, Canadian provinces, New Zealand and Norway have formed an International Carbon Action Partnership to fight global warming, the partners said Monday in Lisbon.

Global crude futures retreated from Monday's highs in early European trading Tuesday, primarily on profit-taking but also amid concern that the market is currently overbought, market sources said.

The rally in gold has gained momentum in recent trading days and the yellow metal is currently trading at its highest price level since it reached an all-time high of $850/oz in 1980. Analysts are setting their sights on $800/oz, which is the next target.

Environmental rules cutting sulfur content in gasoline and diesel have made the US refining sector "much less reliable" and slashed domestic fuel production as prices soar, the chief economist of Tesoro Corp. said Thursday.

Honduras authorities have found strong traces of radioactive material in a Hong Kong-bound shipping container carrying steel debris from an Atlantic coast port, officials said on Monday.

Tales From the Dark Side: As a journalist covering the environmental wars, I'm learning to avoid parroting the enviro party line that preaches that going green is always the obvious choice for a company to make because it will invariably pay for itself faster than you can say "the polar ice cap is melting."

As Duke Energy Corp. pushes for final approval of its coal-fired plant project in the Blue Ridge foothills, opponents look westward for hope.

Kansas' top regulator this month unexpectedly blocked construction of a $3.6 billion coal-fired power plant in the western part of the state.

ABUJA - Any penalty imposed on oil producers in Nigeria for gas flaring beyond a 2008 deadline should target only the operators and not their partners, the head of Nigeria's oil regulator said on Monday.

As Tata Motors, one of Asia’s leading automakers, prepares to tap into India’s middle-class market by releasing the “world’s cheapest car” in 2008, other countries with a long history of car dependence are grappling with ways to limit the social, health, and environmental costs of motorized transport.

(UK) Fears are rising over the spiralling cost of the nuclear clean- up after the agency in charge of decommissioning the defunct fleet of Magnox power stations admitted to funding problems.

New York City is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from city-owned buildings by 30 percent, or more than a million metric tons a year, by 2017, local media reported Monday.

NYMEX's December crude futures on the CME's Globex system were 99 cents higher at $92.86/barrel Monday after hitting a new all-time high of $93.20/barrel in overnight trading while the US Dollar again hit a record-setting low.

OPEC is prepared to increase crude oil supply but only if it sees physical demand for crude, which is not the case at the moment, Qatari oil minister Abdullah al-Attiyah said Monday, blaming geopolitics and tight refining capacity for record high oil prices.

The studies, completed last month for the state's electric cooperatives, bolster arguments that South Carolina and its cooperatives could produce enough electricity -- through renewable energy sources and efficiency programs -- to offset the need for the plant, representatives of major environmental groups said Thursday.

Qatari oil minister Abdullah al-Attiyah said Tuesday that the oil market was not facing any shortage of crude oil but that OPEC would act if it saw real demand for physical oil.

"Increasingly, oil markets are being driven by forces beyond OPEC's control...it is more geopolitical events and the growing influence of financial investors. However, we will do what we can...to ensure the market is adequately supplied with crude oil. OPEC is keenly aware of its responsibility to contribute to stability in world oil markets."
OPEC president Mohammed Bin Dhaen al-Hamli said Tuesday

Russian security services seized two containers filled with highly radioactive material at a scrap yard in central Russia, Interfax news agency said on Tuesday.

The geomagnetic field was quiet to unsettled. The greater than 2 MeV electrons at geosynchronous orbit remained at high levels. The coronal hole high speed stream appears to be waning.

Safety breaches have caused a radiation leak at a major nuclear reprocessing plant in the Ural mountains, Russia announced on Monday, but officials said there was no danger to humans.

President Nicolas Sarkozy promised a green revolution on Thursday, unveiling a mix of tax measures and investment pledges that he said would put France in the vanguard of the war against global warming.

It came to me the other day. I was reading a book which has nothing to do with technology and I had an epiphany. Stan's device and Bob Boyce's device are the same in operation. They both use harmonics.

The Middle East and Central Asia region is undergoing a remarkable transformation, driven by rapid GDP growth, which is set to outpace global growth for the eighth year in a row. Helped by continuing high oil and non-oil commodity prices, and despite increased uncertainties in global financial markets, growth in the region is projected to stay in the 6–7 percent range in 2008.

If you could sit down to chat with the nation’s top environmental officials, what would you ask? Here is your chance.

Turkey and Iran will sign the preliminary agreement on establishment of electric transmission lines on November 7th in Ankara.

Details of a strengthened, more effective and more transparent Bill to help tackle climate change have today been set out by Environment Secretary Hilary Benn.

The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the right to food called on Friday for a five-year moratorium on biofuels, saying it was a "crime against humanity" to convert food crops to fuel.

ExxonMobil said in a statement Monday that the dispute over punitive damages arising from the 260,000 barrel Exxon Valdez spill in 1989 "has never been about compensating people for actual damages."

Six in 10 Americans believe the use of corn to make ethanol has raised food prices and caused more people to go hungry, the latest evidence of a growing global backlash against alternative "green" fuels.

•The ever weakening US dollar also contributed once again to the upward price momentum. The dollar weakened to a record low of $1.4443 against the euro earlier in Monday's session, the weakest since the introduction of the 13-nation common currency in 1999.

•"This move is just profit taking--there are no new headlines," said a London-based broker. "People are unwinding positions as they think the market is overbought."

There was considerable alarm in mid-September when New York crude futures prices climbed above $80/barrel. OPEC secretary general Abdalla el-Badri, speaking three days after OPEC's September 11 meeting, which resulted in a decision to increase actual crude output by 500,000 b/d from November, said OPEC didn't believe the then-record prices would last because they were not justified by market fundamentals or any shortage of crude.

The wind association's Swisher said that governors and other state officials recognize the job potential for wind energy, and they are actively courting manufacturers and others in the supply chain to capture those activities.

"Quite frankly, until three years ago when we started seeing major increases in (the prices of) oil and gas, wind has not been as competitive," Tassainer said. "The technology itself has been a hard technology for utilities to accept."

He added it has taken some time for power producers to catch up with the "out of the box" thinking wind power requires.

Some workers at the largest nuclear waste dump in the United States were evacuated Wednesday after a container filled with radioactive material was breached as it was being removed from storage, the U.S. Department of Energy said.

BP, having agreed to pay $373 million in fines and penalties to settle simultaneous probes by the US government into three segments of its vast operation, acknowledged Thursday it "failed to meet our own standards and the requirements of the law."

Arizona’s three largest electric utilities have joined a coalition to test the viability of storing carbon dioxide (CO2) underground as a way to manage greenhouse gas emissions.

At least 16 coal-fired power plant proposals nationwide have been scrapped in recent months and more than three dozen have been delayed as utilities face increasing pressure due to concerns over global warming and rising construction costs.

At nearly 30 percent, Pennsylvania's total "green" energy purchase moves Pennsylvania ahead of every other state in terms of how much clean energy it consumes. It also easily surpasses the 20 percent goal the Governor established last year.

An Atlanta company has implemented a program to match its 150 employees´ green energy purchases.

San Diego County came within minutes yesterday afternoon of adding electricity blackouts to the list of woes caused by the wildfires.

"Utility forecasts continue to indicate higher demand than what the mines are
producing,...Demand for PRB coal is strong, he said, noting that the PRB burn is up 5% year-to-date over the 2006 period.

"It goes beyond good public relations," Samuel Bodman said of efforts by businesses to use less energy and shift from burning fossil fuels to cleaner sources. "It's becoming increasingly clear that it will help the bottom line."

Today, BP Products North America, Inc. agreed to pay a total criminal fine of more than $60 million for violations of federal environmental regulations in Texas and Alaska. In addition to the penalty, the company will spend approximately $400 million on safety upgrades and improvements to prevent future chemical releases and spills.

Firefighters gained the upper hand on nearly all of the California wildfires Thursday as winds died down after five days battling 20 fires from the mountains north of Los Angeles down to the Mexican border.

A Duxbury citizens group largely run by one woman has succeeded in forcing the company that runs the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station to go before a panel of judges to defend a portion of its application for a 20-year operating license extension.

Germany has no chance of achieving its reduced CO2 emissions' targets if it keeps building coal-burning power plants, an environmental group said on Thursday.

The recent credit markets crisis has slowed world growth and exposed weaknesses in the global financial infrastructure that need to be addressed, IMF Managing Director Rodrigo de Rato told the IMF-World Bank Annual Meetings.

The US Department of Energy plans to select representatives of venture capital firms to help national laboratories commercialize energy technologies with the potential to reduce emissions and reliance on foreign oil...

The Catawba River's biggest water user faces no withdrawal limits, answers to no local authority and allows 73 million gallons a day to vanish into thin air.

Duke Energy (NYSE: DUK) today filed a request with the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission to increase by more than 10 times the energy savings it gets from its efficiency programs for Indiana customers.

One bill passed by the full House on a voice vote Monday focuses on energy-storage technologies and the other enhances industrial energy efficiency research and development. Both had passed the Science and Technology Committee and the Energy and Environment Subcommittee earlier in October. The Senate has not yet acted on either bill.

Investors are eyeing Canadian oil sands. It may well turn out to be black gold. But it may also spell environmental troubles.

Energy poses one of the greatest threats facing humanity this century, the world's leading academies of science warned Monday, highlighting the peril of oil wars and climate change driven by addiction to fossil fuels.

What should a school do with outdated chemicals that may have been sitting in the lab cabinet or storage closet for 20 years or more? EPA's Schools Chemical Cleanout Campaign can help schools find partners to give advice in safe chemical removal and management.

EPA yesterday presented awards to some members of the oil and gas industry for their voluntary efforts to reduce methane under EPA's Natural Gas STAR Program.

...according to the Wall Street Journal, the ugly monster that has become the domestic credit crunch is showing its teeth once again, with loans that were classified as prime at their origin spiraling downward in record numbers.

Researchers rank 226 countries according to their potential to make large volumes of biodiesel at low cost.

The debate on climate change at the U.S. federal level is on, but the real action is now at the state level regarding greenhouse gas market design. This is not such a bad deal, as the same thing happened in SO2 (acid rain) and NOX (ozone) trading markets.

"Until I saw the price tag," he said. The retired San Joaquin Delta College instructor figured he would be dead by the time he saved enough on his utility bill to offset the $30,000 cost. But there may be another way.

"Some have said one person can't change the world. Well, how about a million people? By teaching nearly a million Americans that protecting the environment and saving money is as easy as changing a light, we are brightening our country's future, one light – and one person – at a time," said EPA Administrator Stephen L. Johnson.

"We are specifically interested in determining whether the penalties levied are sufficient deterrents to improper behavior.

The middle of October brought record-breaking prices in oil markets around the world, but consumers, government or traders hoping to see a break could well be in for more disappointment, analysts and think tanks agreed.

The La Nina weather phenomenon will usher in a mild US winter, expand the Southeast drought and may bring dryness to the Midwest next summer that could cause corn and soy crops to struggle a little, meteorologists said.

The leaked draft government energy strategy revealed in today’s Guardian reveals flawed thinking which would risk not only the UK’s commitment to reducing carbon emissions but also the security of its domestic electricity supply.

For the first time, a U.S. government agency has cited carbon dioxide emissions as the reason for rejecting an air-quality permit to build coal-fired power plants.

The Navajo Nation will not agree to any further uranium mining on or near tribal lands until the federal government cleans up radioactive contamination left after decades of uranium mining and milling during the Cold War...

With winter just around the corner, consumers now have access to a tool that can help them reduce their energy bills up to 25 percent by making some simple improvements around their home.

Residents are in the first-ever council houses in the city to be heated using energy from the ground.

Each has a ground source, heat-pump heating system which replaces the traditional gas-fired boiler or electric storage heaters.

December crude futures on the CME's Globex system were 88 cents higher at $91.34/barrel Friday as tightening supply in the US and mounting geopolitical tensions left the market with a selling vacuum.

Front-month crude on NYMEX settled at an all-time high of $90.46/barrel for a gain of $3.36/b Thursday as the energy sector continued to soar in the wake of Wednesday's Energy Information weekly US oil data report.

Environmental officials in Ohio say they won't follow their counterparts in Kansas and deny a coal-fired power-plant permit based on carbon-dioxide pollution.

Oil rallied to a fresh record high above $92 a barrel on Friday as the dollar tumbled to a record low, Washington imposed new sanctions on Iran and gunmen shut more oil production in Nigeria.

The renewable wind power business is on a major growth trajectory, with a looming carbon regime and pending FERC action on transmission access adding impetus to the upward curve. Capitalizing on these market trends will be the focus of “Wind Power Development Tutorial” a major industry building event to be held November 28-30, 2007.

The state government purchases enough green energy to power 28 percent of its operations, the most of any state government in the United States, Rendell said.

Nitrogen oxides, the noxious byproduct of burning fossil fuels that can return to Earth in rain and snow as harmful nitrate, could taint urban water supplies and roadside waterways more than scientists and regulators realize...

Santee Cooper will quadruple to 40 percent by 2020 the amount of electricity it makes from non-greenhouse gas sources and created a new department to oversee the effort.

Climate change legislation introduced recently by Senators Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) and John Warner (R-Va.) sends a strong signal that the U.S. is moving toward reducing its greenhouse gas emissions.

Current record oil prices are being supported by speculation and geopolitical tension rather than any fundamental factors, Shell's Chief Financial Officer Peter Voser said Thursday.

The spot price of uranium has risen by $2 to $80/pound U3O8, price reporting firms TradeTech and Ux Consulting said, adding that both buyers and sellers are cautiously testing the market.

You can make solar panels with impure silicon, claims Roy Johnson. You just have to know how to isolate the undesirables.

If CaliSolar can mass manufacture solar cells with a 14 percent efficiency rating--which means that they will convert 14 percent of the sunlight that strikes them into electricity--these solar cells will cost far less than the 16 percent efficiency cells that are common on the market today.

Coles Hill is the name of a historic farm here in Pittsylvania County, a quiet place off a dirt road with a stately brick home overlooking tangled hedge rows and rolling fields.

It also is the site of one of the largest uranium deposits in the United States, and the biggest ever discovered on the East Coast.

According to some estimates, China has just surpassed the US as the world's largest annual emitter of carbon dioxide. Neither the US nor China is covered by the Kyoto Protocol: the US because the Bush administration rejected the protocol; and China because the protocol does not cover developing countries, even rapidly industrializing countries such as China.

US Senator John Cornyn, a Texas Republican, Tuesday said he is blocking the Senate from moving into a formal conference with the House on a broad energy bill, saying he is worried the measure could hurt oil and gas producers.

In what appears to be a never-ending debate on whether or not the US mortgage market has yet to suffer its greatest blows, Merrill Lynch has announced that it is planning to write off $8.4 billion in collateralized debt obligations, subprime mortgages and leveraged loans, suffering a $2.84-per-share third-quarter drop

Majority Leader Reid and Speaker Pelosi have their hearts in getting this legislation passed, and have no intention of bringing an incomplete bill to the floor, where Republicans can wound it with amendments or kill it with filibustering.

Electricity is the invisible commodity. But it's now in the limelight. Energy infrastructure has been labeled inadequate and ill-prepared to enable American businesses to compete in a global economy. While it may be an eye-opening idea, the difficulties in pushing ahead remain formidable.

Two decades after a landmark report sounded alarm bells about the state of the planet and called for urgent action to change direction, the world is still in dire straits, a U.N. agency said on Thursday.

Freddie Mac (NYSE:FRE) yesterday released the results of its Primary Mortgage Market Survey (PMMS) in which the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 6.33 percent with an average 0.5 point for the week ending October 25 down from last week when it averaged 6.40 percent. Last year at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 6.40 percent.

A farm bill that, among other things, seeks to provide new incentives to boost biofuel production and distribution was unanimously approved by the US Senate Agriculture Committee Thursday, and could be taken up soon by the full Senate.

Several key Republican US senators vowed Wednesday to block ratification of the so-called Law of the Sea treaty, which the Bush administration and major energy companies say would help the US lay claim to huge amounts of oil and natural gas in the Arctic Ocean, the Gulf of Mexico and elsewhere.

Three main (tangible & psychological) topics at play as we close out October and enter November:

1.) "Hot" Weather for Mid-West/Northeast finally comes to and end, but Mild/Above Normal remain ongoing themes.

2.) First nippy temperatures of year (East of Rockies) will dribble down at times from Canada into (low-populated) High/Northern Plains.

3.) Expect "Noon Models" and the subsequent "Mid-Day Updates" from popular services to remain the most erratic, day-to-day.

A proposed wildlife protection plan to limit the impact on wildlife by a Highland County, Va., wind farm could hinder the energy project, the company behind the proposal says.

•Brent crude and gasoil futures on ICE set new all-time high trades Thursday in a continuation of Wednesday's strong buying, particularly by funds, after unexpectedly bullish US stock data.

•Finally, another long-awaited indicator for oil demand--Chinese economic growth--saw record levels.

•NYMEX WTI and ICE Brent crude futures both traded at fresh record highs during European mid-morning trading Friday, buoyed by the US' tightening of sanctions against Iran, with brokers saying there now seems to be little to stop prices breaching $100/b.

•Technically, there are no resistance levels to breach after NYMEX WTI settled above $90/b on Thursday, making the next obvious marker $100/b. "We thought $90 would be the lid but it has now exceeded that and where does it stop? It is above all resistance levels now. $100? It's anyone's game," said one broker.

In recent weeks, the media has flooded us with reports of MRSA (methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus) outbreaks and cases all over the country, including deaths.

As often occurs, there is much misinformation being disseminated, causing unnecessary alarm.

The watchdog that oversees North America's power grid says the full promise of renewable fuels cannot be harnessed without first building more power lines that can carry this cleaner energy to consumers.

Despite growing investments in renewable energy, however, "the world isn't doing enough in time to turn around the catastrophic effects of climate change," Assadourian said in the October 15 issue of Renewable Energy Report.

Growth in Asia has trended higher this year and the strong performance is forecast to continue into 2008

We need more renewable energy, and everybody knows it, said Tindell, FPL Group Inc.'s executive director of development.

"It screams at us everyday from Mr. [Al] Gore, our politicians, scientists, environmentalists. Everybody says we've got to do this,"

European Power Year--The summer has been notable for a welcome lack of volatility - no cooling water panics, no air conditioning crises. The extinction of Phase I carbon has removed a contentious inflationary element in price formation.

Humans are pumping carbon dioxide into the atmosphere at an increasingly quicker pace while natural reservoirs such as oceans and trees are soaking up less and less of the greenhouse gas, researchers said on Monday.

The formerly industrial Richmond is shedding its smokestack image and making a name for itself in the green sector.

A $1.6 billion coal-fired power plant proposed for Wise County is touted by the utility company that wants to build it as an eco-friendly "clean coal" model of environmental design.

But if built to the company's specifications, it would be one of the biggest air polluters in Virginia, according to documents filed with the state.

Although the corporate bond market has been hurt by the subprime mortgage defaults, and $1.5 trillion worth of mortgage backed securities "could go bad," total global debt amounts to about $70 trillion. When including total bank credit outstanding worldwide, the balance rises to more than $100 trillion.

A nuclear-power plant planned for Utah could be as expensive as $3 billion to build, and the radioactive waste generated by the plant would have to be stored on site, nuclear-power experts told legislators this week.

Global crude futures were a touch weaker Tuesday, after two consecutive
days of falls amid concern over the US economy and a recovering US dollar.

Two months after the passage of a landmark state law to promote alternative energy, environmental and consumer advocates are still at odds with the state's large power companies over how much consumers will end up paying for greener energy.

Global oil output peaked in 2006 and will decline by seven percent per year, a Berlin-based energy think tank said on Monday, drawing a bleaker picture of energy supplies than other forecasts.

A new report says ownership of green homes is expected to increase significantly during the next five years.

McGraw-Hill Construction, in conjunction with the National Association of Home Builders, said the market for what they call "true green homes" will increase from $2 billion to $20 billion during that time.

By the year 2016 all new homes in Britain will have to be carbon neutral. But that doesn't mean compromising on style, says energy expert David Thorogood.

A test tube full of salt water is blasted with radio waves and ignites with an orange flame that powers a small sterling engine. Power from salt water, the most abundant substance on earth -- Eureka! The story is a compelling one.

Garbage hauling is a seller´s market these days in northern Virginia, so much so that haulers there evidently aren´t losing much sleep fretting about workaday hassles like safety, environmental and licensing regulations.

"We have to prepare for sustainable zoom-zoom," Mazda executive Nobuhiro Hayama said on Monday. "We have to make a link with the hydrogen society of the future."

This year through mid-September, the PUC says, applications for solar incentives for projects that will represent 160 megawatts of power have been received. That compares with 198 megawatts of solar power installed statewide over the previous 25 years.

By some measures John Rowe is among the greenest executives around.

His company, energy giant Exelon Corp., is the largest marketer of wind-generated electricity east of the Mississippi and runs a fleet of vehicles mostly powered by hybrid engines or fueled partly by biodiesel.

A 10-year study by researchers from the University of East Anglia has shown that the uptake of CO2 by the North Atlantic ocean halved between the mid-1990s and 2002-2005. "Such large changes are a tremendous surprise,"

Levels of toxic and greenhouse gases in the atmosphere shot up dramatically last year as the Spanish-owned energy giant turned to cheap foreign coal to fire Longannet and Cockenzie power plants in the face of rising gas prices.

"The falling US dollar has reduced the purchasing power (of oil producing countries) and is a matter of some concern to us."
Head of OPEC's research department, Hasan Qabazard, said Monday

"Politics, dialog, diplomacy, culture and economy are the measures to deal with this crisis. We do not want to sacrifice our cultural and economic relations with Iraq for the sake of a terror organization,"
Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan, referring to the rebel Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) which has bases in northern Iraq. (He was speaking at a joint news conference in Baghdad with his Iraqi counterpart Hoshyar Zebari, reassuring Iraq on Tuesday that Turkey wants a diplomatic solution to the problem of Kurdish rebel bases but rejecting a conditional ceasefire offer made by the guerrillas.

"The market's taking a bit of a breather after a lot of volatility in recent days. Yesterday, crude prices were just shadowing the US dollar.

Geophysical Activity Forecast: The geomagnetic field is expected to be at mostly quiet levels on 23 October. Activity is anticipated to increase to unsettled to active levels late on 24 October and continue through the forecast period.

Rumors that the Chinese government may begin stockpiling indium as a part of its resource strategy are circulating in Asia. ... indium I believe, is positioned as a resource for solar
batteries, rather than indium tin oxide for flat panels," one trader said.

Scientists have made a breakthrough in man's desire to control the forces of nature – unveiling plans to weaken hurricanes and steer them off course, to prevent tragedies such as Hurricane Katrina.

Solar power could be the world's number one electricity source by the end of the century, but until now its role has been negligible as producers wait for price parity with fossil fuels, industry leaders say.

Britain will not use money the government gets from auctioning carbon emissions permits to help it in the fight against climate change, it said on Monday

Much talked-about US efforts to build a coal-fired power plant with near zero emissions are now concentrated in a single project, as the costs and difficulties of the endeavor have mounted and the stakes have risen.

US retail electricity prices rose by more than 9% in 2006, the largest annual increase since 1981, the Energy Information Administration said Monday in its Electric Power Annual 2006.

Utilities "have a healthy level of skepticism" about multipurpose canisters the Energy Department is proposing to ship nuclear waste to a planned Yucca Mountain repository, in part because they are unsure about the project's future, an industry official said Thursday.

•Global crude futures were a touch weaker Tuesday, after two consecutive days of falls amid concern over the US economy and a recovering US dollar. A stronger US dollar makes imports of commodities more expensive.

This evening, EPA is recognizing 17 leading organizations that are taking voluntary steps to address climate change by purchasing green power and helping advance the development of the nation’s green power market.

A dozen wildfires stoked by gusting winds burned out of control in southern California on Sunday, killing one person in San Diego and forcing thousands to evacuate homes from the celebrity enclave of Malibu down to the Mexican border.

Global sales from clean energy sources like wind, solar and geothermal power and biofuels could grow to as much as $1 trillion a year by 2030, U.S. bank Morgan Stanley has estimated.

This article misses the salient point. To reduce energy consumption, lower electric cost, and reduce global warming we need to replace these old inefficient coal plants one for one with modern efficient low emission ones. This does not include the fantasy that carbon sequesting will work.

In yet another indication of rising coal prices, Australian producers with term contracts in Japan commencing deliveries in October recently asked their Japanese customers for a Newcastle coal contract price of $77 to $78/mt FOB, a source in Tokyo said.

Federal regulators said Monday they will reinspect TVA's oldest nuclear reactor in November after the unit shut down last week for the fifth time in as many months.

China is already implementing life management programs at its nuclear plants, although its oldest unit, Qinshan-1, is only 16 years old and the average age of its 11 nuclear units is only seven years,

A senior International Atomic Energy Agency official predicted that nuclear power growth in China and India will outpace the rest of the world.

"In the mortgage backed securities market, one can argue that tranching securities by the maturity of the cash flow does create economic value for the investors even if ratings are correct.

The figures suggested tighter credit conditions have so far had little impact on high street spending.

Almost 90% of consumers worldwide said they would switch energy providers to favor companies that offer products and services that help reduce greenhouse gas emissions, according to a study released Wednesday by consulting firm Accenture.

DOE would have unbridled control of federal loan guarantees under energy bills pending in both the House and Senate, representatives of special interest groups said October 18.

Oil prices hit a fresh record of $89 a barrel early yesterday before finishing down on the day as dealers wrestled with US inventories data and the threat of military action by Turkey in northern Iraq.

The US local food movement -- which used to be elite, expensive and mostly coastal -- has gone mainstream, with a boost from environmentalists who reckon that eating what grows nearby cuts down on global warming.

Coal-fueled plants are leading sources of carbon dioxide, an unregulated gas that climate scientists say is warming the planet. Despite increasing power output by 80 percent, the expanded Cliffside plant in Rutherford County would reduce most air emissions -- but those of carbon dioxide would grow.

The APS project will use hydrogen to react with coal in a high temperature and pressure reaction that ultimately produces methane that can be injected into existing natural gas pipelines.

All eyes are on the energy sector. A host of issues are in the spotlight ranging from climate change to advanced energy technologies. Utilities may not control the airwaves and printing presses, but they can influence how their customers respond.

Explorer Will Steger of Ely, Minn., the fourth person ever to reach both poles, said he's witnessed the effects of global warming in the Arctic and Antarctica.

The committee is being formed under the guidelines of the National Strategy for Agriculture, and it will advise the administrator on environmental policy issues impacting farms, ranches and rural communities and operate under the rules of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA).

The spokeswoman said there were no particular elements of the package that had caused a delay in its publication, and would not confirm reports that there were disagreements over the "burden-sharing" element of the climate change program.

Part of the focus on the renmimbi comes because the G7 is split on the dangers of the euro’s recent rise against the dollar while all the members of the powerful bloc of economies can agree that that China must allow its exchange rate to rise faster, particularly against the euro.

With the fight about the reality of global warming settled for all but a few diehards, a fight among the winners -- scientists, environmentalists and policy experts -- has broken out. But, it's all good for the renewable energy industries.

Thailand--The Energy Ministry has revised up the proportion of renewable energy in total energy consumption in 2011 to 14 percent from 11 percent, says minister Piyasvasti Amranand.

The California Independent System Operator Corporation (California ISO) Board of Governors today approved making changes to its federal tariff that spell out how a new financing tool will work to remove barriers for renewable power trying to access the power grid.

So far only one candidate, Dr. Ron Paul, has adopted a Health Freedom Plank that meets most of our concerns. Here it is:

"The gulf between what Londoners say they are recycling and what is required is still huge," Livingstone said. "In London we are recycling just over 20% of our rubbish, yet when we asked Londoners if they are recycling, 93% of people said they are recycling paper and 90% say they are recycling glass all the time."

In terms of water quantity, the committee found that agricultural shifts to growing corn and expanding biofuel crops into regions with little agriculture, especially dry areas, could change current irrigation practices and greatly increase pressure on water resources in many parts of the United States.

The Mediterranean is often called the world's most polluted sea and the waters around Tel Aviv offer a reason why.

Latino leaders are calling for a moratorium on new coal-fired power plants after their October annual meeting in Los Angeles.

Why are so many renewable energy projects not able to get off the ground, despite strong popular support for them? ... it's clear that economics can’t be the whole story.

Nearly 75 percent of consumers say banks and mortgage lenders and brokers are either "extremely responsible" or "very responsible" for the subprime mortgage crisis, the American Banker reports, while 60 percent assign that level of blame to the real estate industry and 58 percent do so for borrowers who took out loans they could not afford, according to a survey released by TNS North America.

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger approved a number of energy bills last week, including the Solar Water Heating and Efficiency Act of 2007. The act requires the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) to create financial incentives that will encourage the installation of solar hot water systems that displace the use of natural gas for water heating.

A modified plastic material greatly improves the ability to separate global warming-linked carbon dioxide from natural gas as the gas is prepared for use, according to engineers at The University of Texas at Austin who have analyzed the new plastic’s performance.

A new strain of bacteria is emerging as a major cause of childhood infections but even drug-resistant versions of the bug can be killed off with the right antibiotics, doctors said on Thursday.

The nuclear energy industry supports federal action or legislation to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, while pointing out that nuclear power is an indispensable part of addressing climate change.

A week after Catawba Nuclear Station reported more than twice the allowed amount of radioactive material in one of its wells, officials remain confident the incident presents no threat to public safety.

Crude oil prices on Friday rose to a fresh all-time high above $90 a barrel as the US dollar sunk to a new low against the euro.

Oil prices soared to another record high above 90 dollars per barrel amid global supply jitters and tensions between Turkey and crude producer Iraq, dealers said Friday.

Canadians are awash in toxic chemicals -- and it is costing our health care system up to $9.1 billion and 1.5 million hospital days annually, according to a new study led by University of British Columbia Trudeau Scholar David Boyd.

"Regarding oil, gas, power and nuclear power, we are certainly very important partners," Putin said, commenting on his recent trip to Iran.

-"I think OPEC has to increase production. What they did a month ago...is too little, too late."
Former Saudi Arabian oil minister Ahmed Zaki Yamani said Thursday

Russia's crude export duty is likely to hit all-time record highs once again, reaching some $265-$270/mt (around $36.3-37/barrel) from December 1, up from $250.30/mt effective in October and November, following an ongoing upward trend in international oil prices, a senior finance ministry official said Wednesday.

What do your old refrigerator and freezer have to do with the stratospheric ozone layer and climate change? Plenty. That's why Sears Home Services is taking the lead among retailers to join the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's voluntary Responsible Appliance Disposal (RAD) Program.

As U.S. policy officials look for ways to reduce the nation’s dependency on foreign oil and Europe strives to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, Southern forests are emerging as a renewable and clean energy alternative, according to experts in the forest products industry.

If the market thinks $88 for a barrel of oil is high, it should wait a little longer. By year-end 2008, some economists say that it will hit $100 a barrel as global demand surges ahead of available supplies. When boiled down, the basic choices involve conservation, drilling for more oil or identifying and deploying more alternative fuels.

Very talented people have shared their ideas for solving the energy problems, and they have championed a variety of possible solutions. I believe the real answer will be a combination of many of these ideas. Emerging technologies such as wind, solar and fuel cells will play an important role. As will as established technologies such as thermal energy storage. TES is a proven method to manage on-peak energy growth while the other developing technologies are being perfected.

The United States' dollar retains its position as the key international currency, solidifying the 'AAA' rating on its government, Standard & Poor's Ratings Services argues in a report entitled "Despite Pressures, The U.S. Dollar Remains The Key International Currency," published on RatingsDirect.

US House Democrats are bracing for a battle with the White House over energy legislation, saying Tuesday they intend to advance an energy bill that includes provisions which President George W. Bush has threatened to veto, including those that would take billions of dollars of tax incentives away from major oil companies.

Freddie Mac (NYSE:FRE) yesterday released the results of its Primary Mortgage Market Survey (PMMS) in which the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 6.40 percent with an average 0.5 point for the week ending October 18, unchanged from last week when it averaged 6.40 percent. Last year at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 6.36 percent.

Extremely-Warm October continues for most of Nation, and remember Winter is a long way away.........

The meeting of finance ministers and central bankers from the seven leading industrialised nations in Washington this weekend comes amid signs of severe strains in global currency markets. The question is whether they will do anything about it.

•The market appears to be taking a breather after significant volatility late in Wednesday's trading session after the US inventory data announced by the Energy Information Administration. Despite an overall build in crude stocks, up by 1.8 million barrels from the previous week, there was an actual draw of 200,000 barrels at Cushing, Oklahoma, the delivery point of the NYMEX light, sweet crude contract.

We are all quite familiar with the colorful distinction of the different employment sectors. White collar employment includes salaried professionals and clerical workers. Blue collar employment involves manual labor. Now a third sector is emerging and is growing in both popularity and support: the green collar workers.

The traditional flat solar panel looks like becoming a thing of the past now that a Japanese company has developed a spherical equivalent that is both more efficient and far cheaper to make.

Biofuel supporters are fighting criticism that the "green", alternative transport fuel has raised food prices and harms the environment, amid mounting evidence that the debate is harming the industry.

A series of shipments containing highly radioactive waste will leave Britain for Japan next year, with possibly more consignments afterward if Japanese electricity companies agree to a deal offered by the British government, a Japanese power industry source told Kyodo News recently.

Optoelectronic materials supplier Braggone announced today a new product line that greatly increases the efficiency of solar cells and allows manufacturing facilities to cost-effectively increase their capacity.

It's a pitch that's been made before, although never in Maine, and environmentalists are skeptical. Coal gasification plants may someday be part of the solution to global warming, critics say, but not yet and not here.

China is considering an environmental tax on polluters to cut emissions, a senior government official said on Monday.

Opponents of a new coal-fired power plant proposed in Waterloo, including the Sierra Club and the Iowa Farmers Union, celebrated a victory Thursday when a state panel rejected the City of Waterloo's request to annex land for the plant.

DOE is seeking public comment on three draft Yucca Mountain environmental impact statements, the department said in an October 12 Federal Register notice.

The mayor of this eastern Idaho city says he is against allowing any coal-fired power plants to be built in the state because possible pollution could degrade the quality of life.

The Environmental Protection Agency has announced plans that could encourage the storage of carbon dioxide emissions deep underground, an emerging "clean" energy technique that energy experts say will help reduce the greenhouse gases that cause global warming.

Ethanol is playing an increasing role in the US gasoline market, extending its reach beyond reformulated and into conventional blends. The amount of ethanol-blended conventional gasoline hit a record high last week, according to the latest Energy Information Administration weekly oil data.

Everyone bears responsibility for nuclear waste, Switzerland's energy minister told an international conference in Bern October 15.

Moritz Leuenberger has not been favorable to nuclear power, but told the meeting on geological repositories that "collective responsibility" -- including both those who have favored and those who have opposed the technology -- "should take precedence over individual attitude."

Kansas may be decades behind other states when it comes to making the most of its energy use, but the state is on track toward moving closer to the forefront, a national efficiency proponent said Thursday.

Gov. Chet Culver announced Wednesday that Hendricks Industries plans to open a $32 million advanced manufacturing plant in Keokuk that will produce wind turbine towers, creating 350 jobs with an average wage of $23.50 an hour.

A proposed coalfired power plant that would provide electricity for at least 60,000 people in central and south-central Montana doesn't need financing help from the city of Great Falls to succeed, its developer said this week.

While the Sacramento region has many basic ingredients to become a hub for the "green" energy movement, success will depend upon expanding access to investment capital, streamlining government regulations and mustering broad government support, industry veterans told attendees at a Davis conference Thursday.

Athens residents Beth and Gary Hedrick, along with more than 670 other Jackson Electric Membership Cooperative customers, pay a little extra on their monthly power bill to boost renewable energy use, research and education.

Gary C. Evans, CEO of Dallas-based GreenHunter Energy, is taking a week's hiatus from his Houston biodiesel refinery project to cement a deal with a private Chinese company for state-of-the-art wind turbines for U.S. power generation. GreenHunter presently holds leases on more than 50,000 acres of wind farms in the western U.S. and is expanding its footprint in other states.

The investigation into Thursday's discovery of one small hole and five small indentations in piping at the Fermi 2 Power Plant has determined that the damage was unintentional. The damage to the pipes does not cause a safety concern because the plant has been shut down for almost two weeks for a planned outage.

U.S. home foreclosures doubled in September from a year earlier as subprime borrowers struggled to make payments on adjustable-rate mortgages, according to RealtyTrac Inc.

Coastal breezes and a new state law are attracting the first plans for tall wind turbines in northeastern North Carolina, but success depends on their effect on coastal views.

November crude futures on the New York Mercantile Exchange hit an all-time high of $85.30/barrel for a gain of $1.61/barrel on the session early Monday, but temporarily lost upward momentum as prices retested levels just shy of $85/barrel.

OPEC has raised its estimates of world oil demand for 2007 and 2008 as well the predicted 'call' on its own crude supplies in the fourth quarter of this year, the group said Monday in its latest monthly oil market report.

The hole in the ozone layer over Antarctica is "relatively small" at about 25 million sq km this year, but it will still take decades for it to heal over, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said on Tuesday.

A new poll conducted by Harris Interactive® shows overwhelming American support for expanding renewable fuel options with nine in 10 U.S. adults (88 percent) agreeing the U.S. should pursue renewable energy sources.

Data showing that the world's oil markets could remain tightly supplied well into the end of 2008 brought hot money pouring back into crude futures, more record high prices, and left $100/barrel oil closer to the lips of Middle Eastern crude exports than ever before.

Global crude futures reached news highs Tuesday for the third consecutive day as attention focused on political developments in Turkey and market participants adjusted positions in response, sources said.
This move [in crude] is on news from Turkey, as well as short covering," said a London-based broker.

Geophysical Activity Forecast: The geomagnetic field is expected to be predominately quiet for 15-16 October. Quiet to unsettled conditions, with a chance for isolated active periods, are expected for 17 October due to a recurrent coronal hole.

US biodiesel producer Safe Renewables has begun supplying fuel for the nation's first, 100% biodiesel-powered electricity generating turbine plant, which is located in Conroe, Texas.

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger on Sunday signed a bill designed to encourage the development of combined heat and power systems in California and make a dent in greenhouse gas emissions.

Texas has been a leader in energy for 100 years, but the state isn't moving forward quickly enough to develop solar energy, two experts said Thursday.

The one thing that international bankers don't want to hear is that the second Great Depression may be round the corner. But last week, a group of ultra-conservative Swiss financiers asked a retired English petroleum geologist living in Ireland to tell them about the beginning of the end of the oil age.

A number of clean coal plant developers and backers, including Centrica and Climate Change Capital, are lobbying UK industry and government to build support for their plans, which are based on the other, pre-combustion, version of clean coal technology.

The US Department of Energy's decision on Wednesday to solicit additional royalty-in-kind supplies to inject into the nation's Strategic Petroleum Reserve next year will not "materially raise" oil prices, US Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman told reporters Friday.

Acting U.S. Agriculture Secretary Chuck Conner announced that more than $11 million in grants will be awarded to universities nationwide to address water supply and water quality issues in rural, agricultural, and urbanizing watersheds. Highlighted among these grants are two projects that address bioenergy production and water resource issues.

It's back to the planning room for the state's largest electric utilities.

Oklahoma Gas and Electric Co., Public Service Co. of Oklahoma and the Oklahoma Municipal Power Authority officially scrapped plans for their proposed $1.87 billion coal-fired power plant near Red Rock after the Oklahoma Corporation Commission on Thursday refused to allow OG&E and PSO to recover construction costs before the facility becomes operational.

Absolute dollar figures can be hard to come by, but there's no doubt that renewables and clean tech are growing exponentially as a percentage of venture capitalists' portfolios.

A few weeks ago, a different kind of venture investment conference took place in Davis, California. Rather than focusing upon the full range of renewable energy technologies, GoingGreen addressed the whole system: just about every facet of the new world brought about by climate change and resource limitations.

In August, unemployment in Meigs County was 8.9 percent. Environmentalists say the plant's pollution will further stain a region tainted by the toxic emissions of other coal-burning plants. Like many other residents, Morris said he's ready and willing to trade pollution for jobs.

•November NYMEX WTI futures moved above $85/b for the first time Monday, in European morning trading, as a flurry of buying pushed many oil futures prices into uncharted territory.

•OPEC has raised its estimates of world oil demand for 2007 and 2008 as well the predicted 'call' on its own crude supplies in the fourth quarter of this year,..

•Global crude futures reached new highs Tuesday for the third consecutive day as attention focused on political developments in Turkey and market participants adjusted positions in response. Both NYMEX WTI and ICE Brent touched new all-time highs at $87.97/b and $84.31/b respectively

New Zealand--Te Rere Hau wind farm will soon be operating at full capacity as new underground cables are installed to connect it to the national grid.

Halting deforestation in the Amazon rainforest is the objective of nine Brazilian non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that have drafted an ambitious plan to stop clearcutting in the region within seven years.

Interest groups are seeking a share of $850 million, much of which will go to subsidies for "clean-energy" projects

American Electric Power's long legal battle has ended. It has agreed to pay billions to cut pollutants regulated under the Clean Air Act by two-thirds over the next decade.

The agreement American Electric Power reached with the Environmental
Protection Agency, eight states and 13 environmental groups over emissions
from 16 coal-fired power plants in Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, Virginia and West
Virginia..."Those scrubbers will not be installed until 2017 and 2019, more than 10 years
from now...

A renewable energy company in Bangladesh has been named a winner of the 2007 ‘Right Livelihood Award,’ sometimes called the ‘alternative Nobel.’

Australia is trying to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by capturing carbon dioxide and storing it in underground reservoirs.

The International Energy Agency says the technology could provide 15 percent to 20 percent of the total greenhouse gas cuts needed to stabilize the earth's climate, the Chicago Tribune reported Wednesday.

Long lines at water pumps and dry taps, which are already common sights across the Indian subcontinent, could become even more frequent if the economic juggernaut opts for biofuels to drive its growth. And the same thing is true of its neighbor, China.

While the renewable energy industries have been focused on extending or expanding the investment and production tax credits, adopting a renewable energy portfolio standard (which passed the House of Representatives), and addressing access issues from interconnection rules to accelerating clean energy projects on federal lands and facilities -- Congressional leaders are stepping out to define their own vision.

The solar park, one of the largest photovoltaic plants in Spain, is expected to supply enough energy for 1500 families.

CSI is the sole supplier of the solar modules in this project, which consists of almost 18 000 CS5A solar panels, mounted on a fixed structure and connected to 100 kW inverters.

Energy officials from China and the United States signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to cooperate in increasing energy efficiency in China's industrial sector, which accounts for 70 % of the country's energy demand.

The plan proposes three steps. The first is to develop energy-saving technology and master techniques in the collection, storage and utilization of carbon dioxide by 2020. From 2021 to 2030, the focus will be on promoting nuclear energy and other renewable energies so they become main resources and maximizing the efficiency of solar energy.

Coal, the black rock used to generate half of the nation's electricity, is getting the heave-ho in Florida for its hefty output of carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas that scientists have linked to global warming.

Curtis Packaging of Sandy Hook, Conn., says it is the first 100-percent carbon neutral printing and packaging company in North America.

Clipper Windpower Plc. has its sites set on developing the world´s largest wind turbine, a 7.5-megawatt unit dubbed the "Britannia Project."

California Public Utilities Commission President Michael Peevey is uncertain whether Western states will develop a regional cap-and-trade program for greenhouse gas emissions, he said late Wednesday.

Global crude futures drifted lower Friday, taking a breather after their near $2/barrel surge seen in late-Thursday trading following the release of the latest US weekly inventory data, which showed an unexpected draw in crude stocks.

This environmentally conscious city is already home to the headquarters of the Whole Foods organic grocery store chain, a new city hall built mostly with recycled materials and a municipal electric utility that features solar cells on the roof of its parking lot.

In a major step forward for demonstrating the promise of clean energy technology, U.S Deputy Secretary of Energy Clay Sell today announced that the Department of Energy (DOE) awarded the first three large-scale carbon sequestration projects in the United States and the largest single set in the world to date.

Beneath the rolling green hills of Australia's Latrobe Valley lies a deposit of brown coal so enormous it seems almost endless. After nearly a century of mining, more than 95 percent of the 35-mile-long, 600-foot-deep coal seam is still in place, ready to fuel Australia's energy needs for generations. But ...

Currently, we find ourselves on parallel roads regarding our energy policy. We are dependent on fossil fuels such as oil, coal and natural gas, all of which are produced in the 19th Congressional District in Texas and around the nation. However, the other road we are pursuing is alternative and renewable sources of energy.

A centre aimed at finding ways to generate energy more cleanly and efficiently was officially opened yesterday. ...will test a variety of alternative fuels used for generating power for electricity and aircraft. It will research more efficient fuel use, alternative fuels and the reduction of pollutants.

Today EPA announced plans to develop regulations to establish a clear path for geologic sequestration, a process of injecting captured carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, in deep rock formations for long-term storage.

European energy generators should give up their power grids and gas pipelines, the European Commission has proposed as part of a sweeping plan to boost competition and investments -- and shield markets from outsiders such as Russia's Gazprom.

The vote on the ‘Roadmap for Renewable Energy in Europe’ (Thomsen report) was adopted by an overwhelming majority and confirms the European Parliament’s strong commitment to renewable energy, according to numerous groups.

Despite relatively strong evidence of a slowdown in the U.S. economy, U.S. monetary policy is unlikely to loosen for the rest of the year

“If you want to know why the Federal Reserve refuses to budge from their hawkish inflation bias, all you have to do is look at the price of oil.

The US’s ageing energy infrastructure will require massive investment in order to make much-needed efficiency improvements, former ExxonMobil chief executive Lee Raymond said.

Find a site. Buy’em. Plant’em. Plug’em in. Aside from the growing worldwide demand for clean power, it’s relatively easy to build wind energy capacity. Why would anyone consider building a nuclear power plant of say 1000 megawatts - which can take years to build - when power developers can buy off-the-shelf products (those megawatt-class wind turbines) and plant them in the soil for the same amount of power as the nuke in a very short period of time?

GE Water & Process Technologies, a unit of General Electric Company, launched the next generation of Electrodialysis Reversal (EDR) solutions today – enhancing its portfolio of advanced water and wastewater treatment solutions designed to address the world’s growing water demands.

Two widely divergent viewpoints on global warming presented Tuesday at the Coal Market Strategies Conference might prompt industry executives to flip coins to decide which direction to follow.

Gold was indicated higher in London morning trade on Thursday, up on the back of a weak dollar and oil-related buying, a UK-based analyst said. Spot bullion was bid at $746.55-747.05/oz at 0816 GMT on Thursday morning, gaining from its late New York spot price at $741.00/oz and from its Wednesday afternoon fix in London at $741.25/oz.

Former Vice President Al Gore and the U.N. climate panel won the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday for their part in galvanizing international action against global warming before it "moves beyond man's control".

Greenpeace, the environmental campaign group, have hijacked a power station in Kent. Their takeover was spurred by the prime minister’s decision to approve the UK’s first coal plant in over three decades.

The man who many believe was the ultimate puppet master for the US economy during his reign as Federal Reserve chairman has weighed in on the year-long subprime disaster that was gripped international finance.

A House science panel has advanced one bill focused on energy-storage technologies and another to enhance industrial energy efficiency research and development.

The world energy council has quoted that the future value of wave energy worldwide is a staggering $1 trillion.

Judge the 2007 Atlantic hurricane season by the 13 storms so far, and it looks like a relatively busy year. But look at the number of days a hurricane has swirled in the Atlantic, or use other measures of a storm season's ferocity, and 2007 has been surprisingly benign.

On an unadjusted basis, the index rose 2.4 percent compared with the previous week and was up 8.6 percent compared with the same week one year earlier.

Most of the US can expect above-average temperatures this winter, while
drier-than-average conditions will likely continue across already
drought-stricken parts of the US Southeast and Southwest, National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration forecasters said Tuesday at the 2007-2008 Winter
Fuels Outlook conference in Washington.

An unholy alliance of California Child Protective Services (CPS) with a hostile doctor and judge is attempting to railroad Laurie Jessop, framed as a threat to her son and the establishment for finding a way to cure him of malignant melanoma. She is now on trial, under a gag order, since she had gone to the press.

A group of investors, led by Kohlberg, Kravis, Roberts & Co., have completed the acquisition of TXU Corp., and will focus on renewable energy and reduce the number of coal-fired units the Texas utility had previously planned.

The United States Senate, in a move obviously targeted at OPEC, frightened about the effects of spiralling world crude prices and the consequences for the greatest gas guzzling nation on earth, is currently pushing through a Bill to outlaw oil cartels.

The minister made this remark recently in her office when the managing consultant of the African-Asian investor's management gave a presentation on the benefit of solar energy. She equally said that the solar energy has a pivotal role to play in sourcing for alternative energy supply for Nigeria.

"Multiple security guards were inattentive on multiple occasions" in the security "ready room" at Peach Bottom earlier this year, an NRC inspection concluded in findings released October 9.

International oil prices set a new record, exceeding $ 81 per barrel. Just like in the 1970s when oil grew in price for the first time, Russia increases oil export and exchanges petrodollars for import.

“Russia’s dependence on oil prices is strongly exaggerated, and will be decreasing with each year. Just a quarter of Russia’s economy growth was secured by means of favourable oil prices last year.

Pakistan will receive a loan of US$510 million to develop renewable energies, as one of the first programs under a new initiative of the Asian Development Bank.

Scotland --The electricity regulator has called for action to speed up the connection of green energy schemes to the National Grid, including many which are stuck in planning.

It was awarded "for their efforts to build up and disseminate greater knowledge about man-made climate change, and to lay the foundations for the measures that are needed to counteract such change."
The Norwegian Nobel committee said after awarding the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize Friday to former US vice president Al Gore and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

Reef Relief, an organization dedicated to protecting coral, hopes to power its Key West office through a solar-power array to be installed on the roof. Reef Relief and Keys Energy are applying for grants to fund the project that the utility hopes will b come a model for others to follow.

By the end of 2006, China's renewable energy utilization amounted to 200 mm tons of standard coal (excluding the traditional use of bioenergy), accounting for 8 % of total energy consumption in China -- 0.5 percentage points higher than that of 2005. This was revealed at the 2007 World Solar-energy Conference held in Beijing.

Police in Russia's second city of St Petersburg detained around 10 people on Thursday protesting against the arrival of a ship carrying nuclear waste from Europe.

The good news is that panic scenarios about the world running out of oil any time soon are wrong. The bad news is that the price of oil is going to continue to rise. "Peak Oil" is not our problem. Politics is. Big Oil wants to sustain high oil prices.

Vilified by some world leaders, Iran's president came to Bolivia to strengthen ties with South American leftists who are embracing him as an energy and trade partner and counterweight to US influence.

A wave of organized and well-attended protests against new coal-fired power generation projects could become a major hindrance to the diversification of fuel usage in Thailand's gas-dominated electricity generation sector.

Sometimes, an important technological advance begins with a small step – back! Such is the case with remediation of hydrocarbons from groundwater utilizing existing recovery and monitoring wells.

It is no revelation to say that India, as it begins to bloom as a global power, is adopting a China-like posture in its search for new oil suppliers.

The leading presidential candidates are for the most part using standard political rhetoric when they talk about energy, calling for energy security, energy independence, or self-sufficiency. They are all jumping on the alternative energy bandwagon, bandying about any number of figures for what percentage of the nation's energy needs should be supplied by alternative sources and when.

Six Colorado farmers install solar panels on the unused corners of pivot irrigation systems; offset part of the energy need for pumps and motors.

Electricity is "too cheap" and prices will have to rise if Britain is to meet tough targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, Scottish and Southern Energy has warned.

State and federal authorities are investigating the discovery of radioactive tritium in groundwater at a Duke Energy nuclear power plant in York County.

Although U.S. Personal Spending and Personal income figures did not receive much coverage in the currency market, they were perhaps the most telling Q2 U.S. economic releases. In both April and May, the spread between personal income and personal spending turned negative—an ominous sign that the U.S. consumer may be tapped out.

According to the EPA, South Mountain Water Company and the Signal Peak Water Company each failed to submit a plan detailing how it will monitor and sample for disinfection byproducts that could be produced when chlorine, ozone, or chlorine dioxide is used to disinfect the water.

The United States continues to be the most attractive country in the world for renewable energy markets, followed by a three-way tie for second place among India, Spain and the United Kingdom.

One of the largest generators of green power in the U.S. will invest US $2.4 billion to increase solar thermal energy output in the country, while reducing carbon emissions that contribute to global warming.

A decision by the UK government to back only the post-combustion version of clean coal technology is set to be challenged, Platts has learnt.

Yesterday the UK government announced that is to give an additional £170m ($348m) to the cross-Government Environmental Transformation Fund (ETF), which means that its investment in the commercialization of low-carbon technologies in the UK will exceed £370m over the next three years.

The Government's continuing support for renewable energy will be underlined today by Malcolm Wicks in his keynote address to the wind industry annual conference in Glasgow.

He will tell the British Wind Energy Association that he is giving Devon Wind Power the go-ahead for their 66MW Fullabrook Down wind project in north Devon.

UK crude oil production increased 2.8 % during the second quarter compared with the same quarter a year ago due to the start-up of six oil fields, including the very large Buzzard field in the UK North Sea, the government's latest energy statistics report showed.

The UN is ready to broaden its activity in support of Iraq, Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has said. Mr Ban said at a key meeting in New York the time for determined action on Iraq had come, but that a greater UN presence would need better security.

There have been a number of financing structures developed in recent years to help fund the rapid expansion of the wind power industry in the United States. A new report from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory released last month examines these financing options to provide a better understanding of how these complex structures work.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the world needs a revolution on energy that transcends oil, gas and coal to prevent problems from climate change.

The House and the Senate have already passed their own energy bills. But "it appears that the Senate will not be able to move to a formal conference process [to reconcile differences in the two bills] as the Speaker prefers,"

Long term and industrial-scale carbon capture and storage from coal-fired power plants received its latest major backing on Tuesday as the US Department of Energy and private sector partners pledged $318 million for three projects to sequester a total of 2.5 million tons of carbon dioxide per year.

Freddie Mac (NYSE:FRE) yesterday released the results of its Primary Mortgage Market Survey (PMMS) in which the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 6.40 percent with an average 0.4 point for the week ending October 11, up from last week when it averaged 6.37 percent. Last year at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 6.37 percent.

When the Senate passed a wide-ranging energy bill in June, many mainstream environmental groups applauded a provision in the legislation that would require 36 billion gal of ethanol and other renewable fuels to be blended into US gasoline supplies by 2022.

The US Department of Agriculture will award more than $11 million in grants to universities nationwide to address water supply and water quality issues, especially related to bioenergy production, acting USDA Secretary Chuck Conner said Thursday.

Venezuelan Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez as well as other country officials have taken issue with the latest oil production quota figures published by OPEC.

Nuclear power is not the solution to global warming, any more than any other currently available technology, says Jim Ferland, Public Service Company of New Mexico's vice president for energy resources.

Report author analyst Ian Christie says the days of $ 2 gas are gone and a short-term supply gap will spike prices at between $ 7 and $ 10 per gigajoule in the next two to three years until new supply comes on line early next decade.

•Crude futures drifted lower Friday, taking a breather after their near $2/barrel surge seen in late-Thursday trading following the release of the latest US weekly inventory data, which showed an unexpected draw in crude stocks.

•Although the EIA's data lacked a clear bullish signal, the whole complex took direction from it to rally on Thursday, particularly from the drop in crude stocks.

A massive wind farm planned for southeastern Australia would provide as much electricity as a large coal-powered plant. If the plant is constructed, it could reduce Australian greenhouse gas emissions by more than 3 million tons of carbon dioxide per year, the newspaper said.

The 7.8 million US households burning heating oil to stay warm in the winter should see the biggest expenditure increases this winter, and are projected to spend $1,785, or 21.8% more than the $1,466 they spent to heat their homes from October 1 to March 31 last year, EIA said in its Winter Fuels Outlook report.

An expected near-term softening of crude prices prompted one analyst Monday to downgrade the oil-heavy shares of Hess and Occidental Petroleum.

SUEZ has been recognized among the top companies worldwide for its approach to climate change disclosure by the Carbon Disclosure Project.

China has failed to contain the risk of an over-heating economy, the country's top economic planner said in remarks published on Thursday.

China shut down 253 small coal-fired generating units in the first nine months this year amid nationwide efforts to save energy and reduce emissions, the country's top planning body announced on Monday.

Coal-powered utilities, under intense pressure to cut carbon emissions, say the country needs the electricity that coal generates and they need time to enact controls on discharges.

Groups like the Sierra Club, however, want an immediate end to coal's use -- in the United States and around the world -- to slow global warming.

Never before has the utility industry been inundated with so many problems. And, many of the other executives sitting in those boardrooms increasingly are looking to the tech experts for solutions that they needed "last week." Modern tech didn't create most of the problems, but it is certainly expected to come up with answers, and quickly.

Global crude futures drifted lower Monday in European morning trading, with the market treading water after a strong end to the session late Friday. Oil prices continued to track the US dollar index, which is the main price indicator of late with few fundamentals to overshadow technicals, analysts wrote

In an agreement and partial settlement filed with the North Carolina Utilities Commission late Friday, Duke said the rate cut is possible because it would delay the recovery of $901 million in environmental compliance costs until it next files for a rate increase, probably in 2010.

Three conservation organizations are appealing a federal permit that would allow a Utah coal-fired power plant to expand, an act the organizations say would dump nearly 2 million tons of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere annually.

Even though Kentucky isn't expected to influence who becomes the Democratic presidential nominee in 2008, John Edwards took plenty of time on Thursday to explain his ideas to about 1,000 people during a stop at Columbus-Belmont State Park.

It looks like a mirage but the lush fields of cauliflower, apricot trees and melon growing among a vast stretch of sand north of Cairo's pyramids is all too real -- proof of Egypt's determination to turn its deserts green.

About 1.2 billion people are at risk from desertification as deserts expand and degraded dry lands cover close to a third of the world's land surface area, the United Nations estimates. Here are five facts about the phenomenon of encroaching desert lands.

A new federal hydropower licensing process will either anchor the wave energy industry or be the weight that sinks the ship, Northwest energy developers and agencies told federal energy regulators Tuesday.

France's EDF Energy is warning that a generation deficit of between 15 GW
and 33 GW will arise by 2015 because of the closure of nuclear, oil and coal
plants in the UK.

Former US Vice President Al Gore slammed the United States and some other big polluters for forming what he called a sham global warming pact separate from the rest of the world.

Strong worldwide economic growth has accelerated the level of greenhouse gas emissions in the atmosphere to a dangerous threshold scientists had not expected for another decade, according to a leading Australian climate change expert.

The steppes of Inner Mongolia are arid even at the best of times, but low rainfall as world temperatures rise is turning these grasslands into sand.

On Sept. 19, 2007, Republican candidate Mitt Romney delivered the standard Republican stump speech decrying big government and advocating lower taxes. He criticized members of his own party for spending too much and said the United States is too dependent on foreign oil.

The start of operations for the NSTS, a national tracking system for monitoring the location and movement of radioactive sources, was set to have begun in November.

US Senator Barack Obama Monday said he would "make dirty energy expensive" if he is elected president in 2008, and that he would consider a banning "new traditional coal facilities."

Going green is hot, and so is solar energy. The legislation is awaiting approval by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. California's goal is to generate 3,000 megawatts of electricity from solar energy by 2017, according to the Public Utilities Commission and state Energy Commission.

Stephen Pacala and Robert Socolow maintained that proven technology can halt the increase in carbon dioxide if applied on a large scale over the next 50 years.

Spain's emissions in 2006 were 48 percent above their level in 1990, the base year for the Kyoto agreement under which most developed countries are committed to cutting their contribution to global warming.

Spectrolab, a subsidiary of Boeing, recently demonstrated the ability of a photovoltaic cell to convert 40.7% of the sun's energy into electricity.

A little-known office in the Oregon Department of Transportation, assigned to pursue innovative new ideas, is planning pilot installations of photovoltaic solar panels on state property such as road shoulders, noise barriers along highways, and bridges.

American Electric Power has agreed to cut 813,000 tons of air pollutants annually at an estimated cost of more than $4.6 billion, pay a $15 million penalty, and spend $60 million on projects to mitigate the adverse effects of its past excess emissions.

Tidal energy, is more predictable than wind or solar and can produce 20% of the UK’s current energy needs. Capturing four times more energy than anything air based, tidal energy has real potential.

US wind energy investment blows into North East.

Californian energy giant Clipper Windpower is to develop a new generation of offshore wind turbines in the North East of England.

The spot price of uranium is holding at $75 a pound U3O8, TradeTech and Ux Consulting reported, adding that they have seen evidence of increased buying interest at that price.

•Global crude futures lost further ground in European morning trading on Tuesday, continuing to edge down and extend losses seen on Monday. Market sources pointed to a strengthening US dollar--combined with selling-sprees by funds--as the main bearish factor for the petroleum futures complex.

• According to brokers and traders, the sentiment behind yesterday's selloff continued into Tuesday, with little new buying incentives seen. "After yesterday's selloff the sentiment remains the same.

Sheila Watt-Cloutier, who is among those tipped to win the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize on Oct. 12, said global warming was happening twice as fast in the Arctic as elsewhere on the planet with mainly negative consequences for indigenous peoples.

Tampa Electric Co. is touting its proposed $2 billion coal gasification power plant in Polk County as "clean coal technology."

For some pollutants, TECO's claim is true. When it comes to greenhouse gases, however, the plant will be a major polluter, emitting 5.4 million tons of carbon dioxide a year.

No country in history has emerged as a major industrial power without creating a legacy of environmental damage that can take decades and big dollops of public wealth to undo.

The biofuels bandwagon may be running out of gas with soaring costs for feedstocks like wheat and palm oil prompting producers to shelve planned plants and cut output at existing facilities.

"Protecting the environment, while saving money, is as easy as changing a light. And through the Change a Light bus tour, we're taking that message on the road," said EPA Administrator Stephen L. Johnson.

Canada is changing course when it comes to dealing with climate change. Under Prime Minister Stephen Harper, it will quit participating in the Kyoto Protocol when it expires in 2012 and will join the Asia-Pacific partnership.

Colorado Springs-based Westmoreland Coal Co. said Monday it has ended a yearlong dispute with the only customer of its second-largest mine, averting a possible closure.

The system, which will be up and running next year, is expected to generate 3.5 million kilowatt-hours of electricity annually. The companies said that will reduce carbon emissions by more than 5 million pounds a year.

Duke Energy Corp. chief executive Jim Rogers said Monday he wants to expand his save-a-watt program -- a novel approach to energy efficiency that would allow the utility to make money by persuading customers to use less electricity.

Not overtly spending now on the fight against climate change would still cost something, effectively borrowing from the future at the cost of future damage of widely expected extreme weather including floods, drought and sea level rise.

Family members who testified before the House Committee on Education and Labor
questioned why MSHA approved a mining plan for Crandall Canyon that allowed
the company to perform retreat mining and why the agency wasn't in charge of
giving the families information as opposed to Murray Energy executives.

Plug-in hybrid cars are part of the answer in breaking oil's monopoly on the country's transportation system, former Central Intelligence Agency Director James Woolsey said Wednesday.

"We have 18 of them (turbines) on our ranch. It might help things just a little," Gene Hahn said with a wry smile on his face. Ranchers and farmers like the Hahns are a major reason the facility was built east of Grover...

Authors Mary Amiti and Kevin Stiroh argue that strong labor productivity growth in China, India, and other emerging markets is likely to have mixed effects on the U.S. economy. U.S. firms and workers in direct competition with these economies may be subject to “potentially painful disruptions and reallocations.” At the same time, however, U.S. consumers will benefit from lower import prices and more import varieties, and U.S. exporters may see demand for their goods rise as foreign productivity growth boosts incomes abroad.

A key Democrat in the US House of Representatives is poised to introduce an economy-wide cap-and-trade system on all greenhouse gas emissions.

London (UK)--Owners of power-generating windmills or solar power systems could make money by selling excess electricity back to the national grid, under plans announced by the Tories today.

Nearly three-quarters of Americans are willing to pay more in taxes and other expenses to support local government-led initiatives to reduce global warming, according to a survey released Thursday.

Clean-energy pledges made last week at the Clinton Global Initiative in New York include one from a company that's looking at Nevada as a possible site for a big solar-thermal power plant.

New legislation urges U.S. to invest in new transmission lines to bring renewable energy to the grid.

The utility workforce is graying. That's no secret. But, the matter is particularly acute in the nuclear sector where half of the schools that train everyone from engineers to plant operators have dropped by the wayside over the last 25 years.

November crude futures on the New York Mercantile Exchange opened 44 cents lower at $81.00/barrel Friday, dropping prior to the start of open outcry as the US dollar firmed in the wake of the US jobs report.

Most Americans believe their computers are protected against viruses and spyware, but scans found that a large number had outdated or disabled security software, according to a poll released on Monday.

Pure H2O, Inc., a provider of novel, advanced water and wastewater treatment systems, announced that they have begun finalizing the distribution agreement for the H2Pur and Nano-Air in India.

"No country, no matter how powerful, can decide unilaterally where an oil company can invest. If a company like ours had to listen to other countries on deciding what is good and what is bad where would it be?"
The CEO of France's Total, Christophe de Margerie, said Friday in an interview with Le Monde. The company had not received any pressure from the French government to halt activities in Iran, but said it had had "strong pressure" to do so from the US.

Acid rain was one of the world’s worst pollution problems of the 1970s and 1980s, affecting large areas of upland Britain, as well as Europe and North America.

Federal designation of swaths of Arizona and Southern California as a critical electric transmission corridor could open the door for a California utility to build a major cross-desert power line that Arizona has rejected, a state regulator said Tuesday.

Solar activity was very low. The visible disk remained spotless. The geomagnetic field ranged from quiet to active levels due to a recurrent coronal hole high speed steam.

With Russians, Ukrainians and Romanians nosing around US producers for metallurgical coal supplies, and the Australians continuing to struggle to meet commitments to Asian coking coal customers, the market couldn't be better for US met coal, the Alpha Natural Resources top executive told Wall Street analysts.

Demand for renewable energy is outstripping supply, pushing up prices and raising the specter that some states may not meet clean-energy mandates.

Behind the shortage are the growing number of states requiring utilities to include clean energy in their power mix, as well as surging demand from big businesses.

The recent decline in the US dollar compared with other currencies could make it more difficult for the country to attract spot liquefied natural gas cargoes, analysts said.

Hong Kong gold prices rebounded from earlier losses Friday and opened
sharply higher at $735.60-736.10/oz, compared with Thursday's close of
$725.60-726.10/oz.

The US Dollar Index dropped 23.9 points on Thursday following the release
of August factory orders by the Department of Commerce, which fell 3.3%, the
lowest level since January 2007.

Sweltering temperatures and rolling brownouts have pushed a novel idea to the front burner: demand response, which advances technology so that consumers are able to curtail their energy usage during peak periods.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will spend $2 million in nine countries to fund climate-change projects that enhance the capture and use of the powerful greenhouse gas methane.

The spot price of uranium dropped $10 over the last week to $75/pound U3O8, according to both TradeTech and Ux Consulting.

Some analysts believe the market may have now reached a bottom and that the spot price will now head back up as more buyers begin looking for material.

The US Department of Energy has rejected an Energy Solutions and USEC proposal for a $9.5 billion sole-source contract to decontaminate and decommission DOE's Portsmouth, Ohio, and Paducah, Kentucky, uranium enrichment plants, two lawmakers said Tuesday.

The US Department of Energy issued final regulations Thursday for a program that will provide billions of dollars in federal loan guarantees for clean-energy projects.

Freddie Mac (NYSE:FRE) yesterday released the results of its Primary Mortgage Market Survey (PMMS) in which the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 6.37 percent with an average 0.5 point for the week ending October 3, down from last week when it averaged 6.42 percent. Last year at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 6.30 percent.

* Very Hot National Summer 2007 officially registered, with the anticipated cool zones across coastal California, Pacific Northwest, Texas/South-Central, and Maine.

In the biggest fine the state has levied on a polluter in at least seven years, Maryland slapped a $1 million penalty yesterday on Constellation Energy and the operator of its fly ash dump site in Anne Arundel County for contaminating drinking water.

Located near slums in the east of the Kenyan capital Nairobi, the open dump receives some 2,000 tons of garbage daily. A U.N. study published on Friday says it is seriously harming the health of children and polluting the city.

•Global crude futures were slightly stronger Friday, taking a breather from the strong technically led rally late Thursday.

•On Thursday, a weakening US dollar prompted a rally across the energy complex. The US Dollar Index dropped 23.9 points following the release of August factory orders by the Department of Commerce, which fell 3.3%, the lowest level since January 2007.

A growing sense of urgency is pushing world leaders to agree a new treaty to fight climate change but the US presidential election might still foil hopes of a deal by the end of 2009, experts told a Reuters summit.

Many countries, including the United States and its main industrial allies in the Group of Eight, want a climate pact agreed by the end of 2009 to help slow warming that may bring more floods, droughts, heatwaves and rising seas.

After years of delays and hundreds of millions of dollars in cost increases, Peabody Energy Corp. and its partners officially began construction of the Prairie State Energy Campus -- a huge coal-fired power plant that will produce electricity for 1.7 million people across the Midwest.

Alberta will lift a cap on the amount of wind-generated electricity on the provincial grid, a move aimed at kick-starting about C$6.6 billion of planned projects, industry officials the western Canadian province said Wednesday.

A growing number of Americans consider global warming an important threat that calls for drastic action, and 40 percent say that a presidential candidate's position on the issue will strongly influence how they vote, according to a national survey conducted by Yale University, Gallup and the ClearVision Institute.

A team of American and Canadian scientists has devised a new way to study Earth's past climate by analyzing the chemical composition of ancient marine fossils. The first published tests with the method further support the view that atmospheric CO2 has contributed to dramatic climate variations in the past, and strengthen projections that human CO2 emissions could cause global warming.

Arizona Public Service Co. and a partner alternative-fuels company will try to create biofuels from algae grown using carbon dioxide emissions from a coal-burning power plant, following a successful experiment at a natural gas-fired plant.

A record melt of Arctic summer sea ice this month may be a sign that global warming is reaching a critical trigger point that could accelerate the northern thaw, some scientists say.

Fifteen people (or so) want to be the next President of the United States. Where do they stand on the Health Freedom questions that will protect - or destroy - your access to natural health options?

Record high grain prices have thrown Australia's A$4 billion (US$3.5 billion) beef cattle industry into disarray, emptying feedlots, cutting cattle saleyard prices and triggering price rises for domestic and exported beef.

Consumers will soon be able to identify high-performance, water-efficient sink faucets for their bathrooms now that EPA has released a product specification for ones that use about 30 percent less water than conventional models.

The results are eye opening. According to the Miniature Earth web site, 74 people would come from Asia and Africa, while just 8 would come from North America. 30 people would live without electricity, 16 would have inadequate access to potable water, and 13 would be hungry or suffer from malnutrition. Equally staggering, more than half of the population would live on less than US $2 per day.

The US wants to lead the creation of an international clean energy technology fund that can be used to finance greenhouse gas reduction projects, President Bush said Friday in a speech at a US-led climate change summit.

When Democratic and Republican presidential candidates push renewable energy from wind farms, solar cells and biofuels, one might think they're all talking about the same thing.

Clean-energy pledges made Thursday at the Clinton Global Initiative in New York include one from a company that's looking at Nevada as a possible site for a big solar-thermal power plant.

A coalition of eight utilities, including Kansas City-based Great Plains Energy, unveiled plans Thursday to emphasize energy conservation over building more power plants.

Conservationists with low expectations for President Bush´s global warming gathering at the White House Thursday and Friday organized their own parallel summit to keep momentum churning toward a United Nations solution to climate change.

Global crude futures continued to head south in European morning trading on Tuesday, continuing the losses in Monday's broad selling spree across the petroleum complex.

Global crude futures lost further ground in early European trading, following the falls ahead of settlement for both NYMEX WTI and ICE Brent at the end of last week. But prices remained underpinned by ongoing weakness in the US dollar, with the euro climbing to a fresh all-time high against the dollar of $1.4286 Monday.

Pennsylvania's approach to ensuring a steady power supply at reasonable costs in coming years can't focus just on developing wind and other so-called environmentally friendly technologies, Morgan K. O'Brien, CEO of Duquesne Light Co., said Thursday.

President Bush Addresses Climate Change at First Major Economies Meeting on Energy Security as Part of His New Initiative in May 2007 and Welcomed by G8 Leaders in June and APEC Leaders in September

Hadn't the nuclear industry learned its lesson from the panic that ensued in March, 1979, when half of the Three Mile Island Unit 2 reactor core melted near Harrisburg, Pa.? And where was the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the government agency that's supposed to protect the public?

Kamakura Corporation reported last week that eight percent of global public companies were classified as troubled by the end of September, the fourth consecutive monthly decline in credit quality. The Kamakura troubled company index was 7.7 percent in August and 6.3 percent as recently as June.

Gov. Rod Blagojevich is mulling plans to rid the state of traditional, energy-wasting lights as part of a sweeping package of policy changes intended to cut greenhouse gases by 25 percent by 2020, the same target set by California and bipartisan measure pending in Congress.

Environmentalists are stepping up their assault on the coal industry by targeting two major banks that finance the mine companies blamed for greenhouse gas emissions.

When the Federal Reserve cut a key interest rate by a half of a percentage point, it triggered a vigorous debate. The central bank, which works to balance economic growth with inflationary pressures, is now tested as to where its allegiance lay.

Canadian independent Heritage Oil has become the second North American company in two months to enter into a production sharing contract with the Kurdistan Regional Government in Iraq following approval in August of Kurdistan's own Oil and Gas Law.

The House Committee on Ways and Means last week unanimously approved H.R. 3648, the Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act of 2007, in response to some of the tax issues that have arisen as a result of problems in the subprime mortgage market.

The U.S. EPA has ordered five Illinois feedlots to stop unauthorized discharges of manure and wastewater and comply with the Clean Water Act.

Looking Down on Creation: Over the weekend I read "Fight for the Top of the World," the lengthy Time Magazine cover story mentioned here last week that analyzes the impacts of climate change in the Arctic. So I can now affirm that the article is very much worth the time it takes to read it.

Malaysia will delay plans to switch to cleaner gasoline and diesel for motor vehicles in the fourth quarter to an unknown future date, industry sources said Monday.

Merrill Lynch Monday said it has created two biofuels indexes for investors, the MLCX Biofuels Index and the MLCX Biofuels Plus Index.

"A new meter, whether it be an electric meter, water meter, gas meter, any meter that registers utilities, will become slower over time," Yeager said. "They get dust in them, they get moisture in them, oxidation, they gum up. It's just a natural progression of things. You put a new meter in, it's going to be installed to manufacturer specifications. "So, in the sense that is a new meter faster than an old meter, probably the answer will always be yes.

The coal industry could expect a $50/short ton levy on carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels and the oil companies a 50cts/gallon increase in gasoline taxes if a legislative proposal from Democratic Representative John Dingle of Michigan was to succeed.

Montgomery County commissioners signed a deal Thursday that will make their county one of the largest wind power users in the country.

In the last two days, two of the nation's largest utilities and a California solar company have announced $5-billion investment in clean energy, and plans for enough solar thermal electricity to power more than 1-million homes.

The utilities are interested in buying renewable projects or entering into power purchase agreements with developers, according to the request for proposals.

Federal officials are again offering pills that could provide some protection during a nuclear emergency to neighborhoods surrounding two Charlotte, N.C., area nuclear power plants. The latest round of potassium iodide pills replaces pills offered five years ago that are nearing the end of their shelf life. The pills would help reduce the risk of thyroid cancer, which can be ...

Instead of using retirement to drop down a few gears, Willie Gallacher has devoted the last seven years of his life to creating an electro-magnetic drive motor which he believes could replace the combustion engine.

Many East Coast residents should be breathing easier as smog-forming emissions of nitrogen oxides from power plants and industry continue to decline.

The major UK power companies are still failing to meet the challenge of climate change, wildlife charity WWF has claimed.

President Bush's climate meeting opened Thursday with its main problem on full display: The biggest polluters — industrialized and developing nations alike — say their economies are more important than global warming.

Sea ice declined by so much this year that the typically ice-clogged Northwest Passage, allowing vessels to sail from the Atlantic to the Pacific, completely opened for the first time anyone can recall, the researchers said.

Macy’s Inc. will install solar power systems at 28 of its California stores, which will have the capacity to generate 8.9 megawatts of electricity.

The president of Iceland, where geothermal satisfies more than half of the nation's power consumption, on Wednesday encouraged senators who have ambitions for the energy source in the United States.

"The U.S. Department of Agriculture will not offer penalty-free early releases from Conservation Reserve Program contracts at this time. While this year's global wheat market remains very tight, corn production is expected to be record-high, and today's grain stocks report indicated higher than expected stocks for corn and soybeans at the start of the 2007/08 crop year.

In the first deal of its kind involving a U.S. oil company, ConocoPhillips has agreed to pay $10 million to offset greenhouse gas emissions from a planned expansion of its refinery in Contra Costa County, California Attorney General Jerry Brown announced Tuesday.

"The dollar is continuing to strengthen and this is putting gold under pressure, but at the moment this is quite a healthy correction, even if it was a little unexpected by the market," said the trader.

Although the sun delivers its energy for no cost to the Earth's surface, conversion of the solar radiation into electrical energy is still expensive, particularly when used on a large scale. High cost of the silicon used in photovoltaic cells means that substantial investment is needed if PV systems are to replace even just a fraction of fossil-fuel electricity generation. This article from Chemical & Engineering News presents some of the projects aimed at making more affordable solar cells.

Whilst tidal technology is barely out of the R&D phase huge strides are being made to transform this industry into a commercial entity.

The four cooling towers at Calder Hall in Cumbria, northern England, the world's first full-scale nuclear power station, were demolished Saturday, the Sky News reported.

The Holy Grail in the renewable energy sector has been to create a clean, green process which uses only light, water and air to create fuel. Vertigro Energy, Valcent's algae-to-biofuel technology mass produces algae, vegetable oil which is suitable for refining into a cost-effective, non-polluting biodiesel. The algae derived fuel will be an energy efficient replacement for fossil fuels and can be used in any diesel powered vehicle or machinery.

•Crude futures lost further ground Monday, following the falls ahead of settlement at the end of last week. But prices remained underpinned by ongoing weakness in the US dollar, with the euro climbing to a fresh all-time high against the dollar of $1.4286 Monday.

•Crude futures continued to head south on Tuesday, continuing the losses in Monday's broad selling spree across the petroleum complex. The drop in flat prices for both ICE Brent and NYMEX WTI futures was triggered by several factors, including a substantial weakening in the front of the curves, a lack of fresh bullish news and strong downward pressure from product futures, sources said.

A new study of wind farms in two states shows that wind energy facilities do not harm property values, and some new-home buyers are embracing the benefits of such 'green energy' developments in their areas.

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