Archive for the 'Energy' Category
Montana: Ruptured Pipeline Spills ‘Unknown’ Amount of Oil Into Yellowstone River
July 3rd, 2011Via: New York Times: An ExxonMobil pipeline running under the Yellowstone River in south central Montana ruptured late Friday, spilling crude oil into the river and forcing evacuations. The pipeline burst about 10 miles east of Billings, coating parts of the Yellowstone River that run past Laurel — a town of about 6,500 people downstream […]
Toshiso Kosako: Come the Harvest Season in the Fall, There Will Be Chaos
July 2nd, 2011You probably know that rice has semi religious significance throughout Asia, but you may not know that Japanese are particularly weird about their rice. To Japanese, it’s not really rice unless it’s rice from Japan. In order to avoid international trade sanctions, Japan imports rice, but the rice is generally not consumed in Japan. Most […]
Methane Contamination of Drinking Water Accompanying Gas-Well Drilling and Hydraulic Fracturing
June 29th, 2011Via: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences: Directional drilling and hydraulic-fracturing technologies are dramatically increasing natural-gas extraction. In aquifers overlying the Marcellus and Utica shale formations of northeastern Pennsylvania and upstate New York, we document systematic evidence for methane contamination of drinking water associated with shale-gas extraction. In active gas-extraction areas (one or more […]
Researchers Discover New Alloy That Converts Heat Directly Into Electricity
June 28th, 2011Still waiting… (Not holding breath.) MIT: Turning Heat to Electricity University of Utah: A Sound Way to Turn Heat Into Electricity Via: PhysOrg: University of Minnesota engineering researchers in the College of Science and Engineering have recently discovered a new alloy material that converts heat directly into electricity. This revolutionary energy conversion method is in […]
Flood Berm Collapses at Nebraska Nuclear Plant
June 27th, 2011Via: AP: A berm holding the flooded Missouri River back from a Nebraska nuclear power station collapsed early Sunday, but federal regulators said they were monitoring the situation and there was no danger. The Fort Calhoun Nuclear Station shut down in early April for refueling, and there is no water inside the plant, the U.S. […]
Fukushima Residents’ Urine Now Radioactive
June 27th, 2011Via: Japan Times: More than 3 millisieverts of radiation has been measured in the urine of 15 Fukushima residents of the village of Iitate and the town of Kawamata, confirming internal radiation exposure, it was learned Sunday. Both are about 30 to 40 km from the Fukushima No. 1 power plant, which has been releasing […]
Power-Grid Experiment
June 26th, 2011Via: AP: A yearlong experiment with America’s electric grid could mess up traffic lights, security systems and some computers — and make plug-in clocks and appliances like programmable coffeemakers run up to 20 minutes fast. “A lot of people are going to have things break and they’re not going to know why,” said Demetrios Matsakis, […]
U.S. to Release Oil from Strategic Petroleum Reserve
June 23rd, 2011Spit balls. Noise level. Clown antics. Via: CNBC: But enough on oil, because that’s not what this is really about anyway. It’s about the White House finally recognizing what millions of American families already know: the economy is still too weak, the recovery too slow, and they need to try something new. That’s bad news, […]
Radioactive Tritium Has Leaked from Three-Quarters of U.S. Commercial Nuclear Power Sites, Often Into Groundwater
June 21st, 2011Via: AP: Radioactive tritium has leaked from three-quarters of U.S. commercial nuclear power sites, often into groundwater from corroded, buried piping, an Associated Press investigation shows. The number and severity of the leaks has been escalating, even as federal regulators extend the licenses of more and more reactors across the nation. Tritium, which is a […]
Federal Judge Dismisses Third Party Environmental Claims Against Transocean and BP
June 19th, 2011Via: Courthouse News Service: Ruling in favor of Transocean and BP, a federal judge on Thursday dismissed third-party environmental claims in a giant pleading bundle in the Deepwater Horizon oil spill litigation, saying the fact that the oil flow has stopped makes those lawsuits irrelevant. “The injunction at this stage would be useless, as not […]
