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Energy and Climate Change

Blight to Bright

July 1, 2006By Jeffrey Hanneman

Insurance companies are helping turn contaminated sites turn into solar energy producers

Insurance companies are helping turn contaminated sites turn into solar energy producers

Hitting the Gas

July 1, 2006By Brad Buecker

The development of energy from crops and other vegetation is gaining momentum

It is well understood that the world's fossil fuel supplies have a finite lifetime --particularly oil. Forward-thinking scientists, political leaders, and other individuals have given thought for years to the transition in energy production that will inevitably be forced upon us as fossil fuel supplies dwindle.

Trailblazers

June 1, 2006By Steve Barnett

In the absence of adequate federal programs, a new state initiative is tackling greenhouse gases and fossil fuel use

There is a rising flood of coverage in America of global climate change and greenhouse gases (GHGs), including a motion picture (The Day After Tomorrow), an HBO feature (Too Hot Not to Handle), a New York Times piece (Yelling 'Fire' on a Hot Planet), a TIME magazine cover story (Be Worried. Be Very Worried), a film starring Al Gore (An Inconvenient Truth), photos of receding glaciers, and reports of drowning polar bears.

(H+)eir Apparent

November 1, 2005By Jason Goodman

As the search for gasoline's replacement intensifies, hydrogen fuel cells may soon become the alternative fuel of choice for the automotive industry

It took years and years of designing, planning, and problem-solving before a vehicle that wasn't powered by a gasoline engine actually made it onto the market in quantities sufficient to satisfy more than the most adventurous or environmentally conscious of consumers.

Leaving It (Oil) Behind

September 1, 2005By Edward J. Wall

The U.S. Department of Energy's alternative fuel initiatives and partnerships are starting to produce results in the search for a cleaner way to move around

As competition for the world's oil resources increases with the advance of developing economies, the United States must seek out ways to reduce its petroleum usage or put its economic security at risk. The era of "cheap oil" may well be over, and as our imports increase we become more and more dependent on resources from such politically unstable regions of the world as the Middle East, Central Africa, and South America.

Will the Lights Go Out?

July 1, 2004By Mark Baxter, PE

An overview of the challenges facing the existing energy industry and the implications for alternative energy sources

One of the most necessary, yet taken for granted, resources we require is energy. The United States consumes more than its fair share of the global energy supply when compared to other countries -- nearly four times the amount of the second largest consumer, China.