Energy

A three-step plan to solve the fossil fuel crisis

(from Fake Science) Brilliant in its simplicity. Even better: Since we may be approaching the carbon levels that killed the dinosaurs in the first place, we could just let the fossil fuels we burn kill the cloned dinos all by themselves.

Jess Zimmerman Energy

Germany can phase out nuclear by 2017

The conservative German government has issued a 14-page document [PDF] outlining how Germany can close all of its nuclear reactors by 2017 — sooner than the government’s official proposal of 2022 — and still keep the lights on. The report, and the timing of its release, indicates the intense political debate within and without the […]

Paul Gipe Energy

Fukushima radiation was double previous estimates

Japanese officials have admitted that the meltdown at Fukushima released almost twice as much radiation as they had initially allowed. ("Did we say 370,000 terabecquerels? Oops, that should have been 770,000.") They also said that the meltdown at the plant began five hours after the quake/tsunami double-punch. The plant's operator had said earlier the meltdown […]

Sarah Laskow Energy

Natural gas ‘golden age’ requires government regulation

Natural gas will provide 25 percent of global energy by 2035, up from 21 percent now, according to a report from the International Energy Agency (IEA), a Paris-based organization that studies and advises on energy issues. The IEA's report asks if the world is entering a "golden age" of natural gas and answers, more or […]

Sarah Laskow Energy

Why power plant operators should be forced to eat the fish they kill

Recently the Sierra Club put out an animated short explaining that every year 2.1 billion pounds of fish, crab, and shrimp are killed shredded by power plants that suck up billions of gallons of water from rivers and lakes and don't even re-use it. The following clip nicely summarizes the situation: Here's the thing: it's […]

Christopher Mims Energy

Nuclear power is expensive and uninsurable

The world’s beleaguered nuclear industry continues to take a battering. The “nuclear renaissance” juggernaut that once seemed unstoppable now appears dead in its tracks. The cabinet of Germany’s conservative government on Monday voted to take the country out of nuclear permanently by 2022. Not to be outdone on the right, the country’s opposition parties say […]

Paul Gipe Energy

Want more cash in your pocket? Live in a neighborhood with good transportation options

A report released Thursday by the House Democratic Livable Communities Task Force recognized that families living in auto-dependent neighborhoods spend significantly more money on transportation, with fewer dollars available for health care, food, and other family expenses. In response, the two dozen representatives proposed a “Freedom from Oil” [PDF] agenda that would reduce oil use […]

Stewart Boss Energy

Watch Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., talk mountaintop-removal mining on Colbert

Activist and all-around handsome dude Robert F. Kennedy talked mountaintop-removal mining and The Last Mountain with Stephen Colbert Wednesday night, and taught Stephen about why mountains are not actually renewable resources.

Jess Zimmerman Energy

Is pro-nuke enthusiasm in the U.S. waning?

This is the fourth and final post in a series on the United States and nuclear power. Read parts one, two, and three. Fukushima gave many Americans a sense of déjà vu: In 1979, a threatened explosion at Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station in Pennsylvania caused by venting an explosive gas mixture was just […]

Arne Jungjohann Energy

States fight back against nuclear power, even as the feds remain in its thrall

This is part three in a series on the United States and nuclear power. Read parts one, two, and four. Although Democrats and Republicans in Congress feed at the nuclear industry’s trough in equal measure, Republicans in particular have been trying hard for years to bring about a renaissance of nuclear power in the United States. […]