Archive for the 'Energy' Category
Venezuela Ramps up China Oil Exports
August 27th, 2012Via: OilPrice.com: The biggest geostrategic change of the past decade overlooked by Washington policy wonks in their fixation on their self-proclaimed “war on terror” is that Latin America has been throwing off the shackles of the Monroe Doctrine. These ignored developments may well soon refocus Washington’s attention on the Southern Hemisphere, as Venezuela’s President Hugo […]
The Solar Charging Kit for Africa You Want for Your Own Home
August 23rd, 2012Via: Good: Mike Lin and Brian Warshawsky find themselves in the unusual but enviable position of having stumbled on an unexpected business hit. The pair set out with a social goal and built a product for poor Ugandans. But this week, the gadget the pair built to help poor Africans without electricity start micro businesses […]
Private Crypto Key in Mission-Critical Hardware
August 23rd, 2012Via: Ars Technica: A private encryption key embedded into widely used mission-critical routers could be exploited by hackers to attack electric substations, railroad switches, and other critical infrastructure, security researchers have warned. The flaw, uncovered in devices made by Siemens subsidiary RuggedCom of Ontario, Canada, is the second this year to affect its Rugged Operating […]
Water Shortages Hit U.S. Power Supply
August 19th, 2012Via: New Scientist: As the United States’ extended heat wave and drought threaten to raise global food prices, energy production is also feeling the pressure. Across the nation, power plants are becoming overheated and shutting down or running at lower capacity; drilling operations struggle to get the water they need, and crops that would become […]
Saudi Arabia’s National Oil Company Kills Network After Cyber Attack
August 16th, 2012Via: Security Week: Saudi Aramco, Saudi Arabia’s national oil company and the largest in the world, has confirmed that is has been hit by a cyber attack that resulted in malware infecting user workstations, but did not affect other parts of its network. “On Wednesday, Aug. 15, 2012, an official at Saudi Aramco confirmed that […]
‘Study Predicts Imminent Irreversible Planetary Collapse’
August 14th, 2012Via: Simon Fraser University: The authors recommend governments undertake five actions immediately if we are to have any hope of delaying or minimizing a planetary-state-shift. Arne Mooers, an SFU biodiversity professor and a co-author of this study, summarizes them as follows. “Society globally has to collectively decide that we need to drastically lower our population […]
Fukushima Fallout ‘Caused Physiological and Genetic Damage’ to Butterflies
August 13th, 2012Via: Nature: The collapse of the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant caused a massive release of radioactive materials to the environment. A prompt and reliable system for evaluating the biological impacts of this accident on animals has not been available. Here we show that the accident caused physiological and genetic damage to the pale grass […]
$9 Corn Could Be a Big Problem for Economy
August 9th, 2012Via: CNBC: Corn prices – which have already surged about 50 percent in the past two months – could go significantly higher if current trends hold up, and the effects might be felt throughout the economy. Price momentum indicates corn could rise at least 21 percent over the next six months, putting $9.50 a bushel […]
Carole Waugh
August 5th, 2012Was the body locked in a gym bag? Via: NBC: A body found in a lock-up garage in New Malden, southwest London, was identified as that of missing oil executive Carole Waugh, the Scotland Yard said Friday. Waugh, 50, who had previously worked in the oil industry in London and Libya, had not been seen […]
NREL: 200,000 GW of Solar Could be Installed; 4,000 TWh/a
August 2nd, 2012What if that lab had the funding equivalent of what the U.S. is spending on the war over a period of two or three days? —Chart: The Cost of the War in Iraq vs. Spending on Solar Energy Research Here’s another one for our herniating Woulda-Coulda-Shoulda file folders. The consolation prizes were a decade plus […]
