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Ag practices are mucking with the Mississippi River, says research

The Mississippi River has been dramatically changed by agricultural practices, says new research in the journal Nature. In the past 50 years or so, carbon levels in the river have jumped 40 percent, while the actual amount of water flowing through the riverbed has increased 9 percent — the equivalent of five Connecticut Rivers. “Agricultural […]

Tom Konrad on cellulosic electricity

The following is a guest essay by Tom Konrad, a financial analyst specializing in renewable energy and energy efficiency companies, a freelance writer, and a contributor to AltEnergyStocks.com.

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Romm v. Khosla

In a persuasive series of articles entitled "Pragmatists vs. Environmentalists" (Parts I, II, and III), Vinod Khosla has provided the reasoning behind his "dissing" of plug-in hybrids, which drew the ire of Joseph Romm. Neither seems to think the argument is settled, and Romm returned fire here.

To summarize, Khosla argues that cellulosic ethanol shows more promise for reducing carbon emissions than plug-in hybrids, because the barriers to plug-ins (the need to improve batteries and clean up the grid) are harder to surmount than the barriers to cellulosic ethanol (the improvement of conversion technology). In his words,

I consider replacing coal-based electricity plants (50-year typical life) a much longer, tougher slog than replacing oil with biofuels (15-year car life).

Romm blasts back, reiterating the multiple problems of corn ethanol in response to the first of Khosla's series, but has not yet responded to his point about cellulosic. I thought I'd tackle the point myself.

There isn't enough biomass

According to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory's From Biomass to Biofuels (PDF) study, given all the available biomass in the United States, we will only be able to displace a little less than 2 billion barrels of oil equivalent a year. But we currently use about 7 billion barrels of oil a year, so to displace all our oil usage, we would need nearly a 4x increase in fuel efficiency (not the 1.5x increase in internal combustion engines Khosla talks about).

Homuncular Americans lose their greatest advocate

Dennis Kucinich is dropping out of the presidential race, or as he puts it, “transiting out of the presidential campaign.” Good to see him leave on a note of support for public transportation. It is a widely held belief in liberal quarters, and in some pockets of the Grist office, that Kucinich was the greenest […]

Carbon is forever — so ban new traditional coal plants now

Another clear statement (PDF) from the nation's top climate scientist on the scientific need for a dramatic change in global coal policy -- this time addressed to the German chancellor, a fellow physicist. He points out that:

Wal-Mart CEO outlines lofty green goals

Wal-Mart CEO Lee Scott made a big ol’ speech yesterday spelling out ambitious social, health, and environmental goals for the retail behemoth. Wal-Mart will work with other retailers to boost industry-wide green standards, said Scott, and, within five years, Wal-Mart suppliers will be required to meet stringent environmental standards — and may even be paid […]

Air Force and liquid coal industry interbreed

A friend just sent me this remarkable story, "Former Air Force official joins leading coal-liquids developer," which appears in the little-known Aim Points, "A daily summary of news, messages and communication tactics to help AF people tell the AF story."

It looks like the "tactic" AF people are being told about is the good-ol' revolving door:

What does the 2005 energy bill vote say about Obama?

It’s conventional wisdom that Clinton and Obama are fairly close on policy, so the choice between them will come down to "character" and theories of change. While I think that’s broadly accurate, there are some differences in their voting records, and recently Elana Schorr took a close look at them to find where the candidates […]

New superfood is higher in press-release fluff and poor journalism than your average carrot

The best way to read this post is to begin with a recent press release from Texas A&M on their new Supercarrot.

Second, read Wired magazine journalist Alexis Madrigal's coverage of the story. Alexis praises the next generation of biotech crops. He writes that, "A carrot that increases what's known as the bioavailability of calcium could have a major impact in the marketplace." Really?

You are correct, Alexis: it could have a major impact on a totally uninformed marketplace -- but not much of an impact on nutrition. However, it is likely to have an impact on genetic contamination, wasted public research dollars, and increased corporate profits. If you had read the press release and considered the math around just how much more calcium we are getting from this new carrot, and at what costs, you might have seen that this "news flash" is no news at all. This is a great example of industry fluff. This is promoting a new breakthrough that on the surface has lots of flash and pizazz, but with scrutiny becomes a big "So what?".

The biotech industry is going to keep pushing a media blitz to get us to swallow their breakthroughs and keep their stock prices up. Unfortunately, many researchers at our public universities are willing partners in spreading their misinformation. Don't believe me? Let's look at the math:

Wal-Mart CEO lays out ambitious social and environmental goals for his company

Yesterday, Wal-Mart CEO gave a fairly amazing speech, assessing the company’s progress on its social and environmental goals and laying out some extremely ambitious plans for the future. A taste: He then laid out sweeping plans for the company on several health and environmental issues, and he hinted that even more ambitious goals might be […]

Rule change eases restrictions on wolf kills in northern Rockies

Photo: iStockphoto The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service today announced it is altering a rule that will make it easier to kill gray wolves in Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming. Gray wolves in the area are still protected under the federal Endangered Species Act, though the FWS intends to delist them this spring and hand management […]