• Predicting wave power helps double marine energy

    The energy generated from the oceans could be doubled using new methods for predicting wave power; researchers have devised a means of accurately predicting the power of the next wave in order to make the technology far more efficient, extracting twice as much energy as is currently possible

  • Growing interest in prairie cordgrassas a biofuel source

    Until recently, prairie cordgrass (Spartina pectinata) has received comparatively little attention because, unlike the other types of switchgrass, it is not a good forage crop; as interest in energy crops and in feedstock production for cellulosic biofuels increases, however, prairie cordgrass is receiving more attention because it grows well on marginal land

  • Loo turns poo into power

    Researchers have invented a new toilet system that will turn human waste into electricity and fertilizers and also reduce the amount of water needed for flushing by up to 90 percent compared to current toilet systems

  • Recycling nuclear fuel offers plentiful, clean energy

    Currently, only about 5 percent of the uranium in a fuel rod gets fissioned for energy in a nuclear reactor; after that, the spent rods, still containing about 95 percent uranium fuel, are taken out of the reactor and put into permanent storage; researchers say that recycling used nuclear fuel could produce hundreds of years of energy from just the uranium that has already been mined, all of it carbon-free

  • Greater L.A. to heat up an average 4 to 5 degrees by mid-century

    A groundbreaking new study shows that temperatures in the Los Angeles region to rise by an average of 4 to 5 degrees Fahrenheit by the middle of this century, tripling the number of extremely hot days in the downtown area and quadrupling the number in the valleys and at high elevations

  • Significant sea-level rise in a 2-degree warming world

    Sea levels around the world can be expected to rise by several meters in coming centuries, if global warming carries on; even if global warming is limited to 2 degrees Celsius, global-mean sea level could continue to rise, reaching between 1.5 and 4 meters above present-day levels by the year 2300

  • Mystery surrounds explosives found on Swedish nuclear plant site

    Mystery still surrounds the explosives found on the grounds of Sweden’s largest nuclear power plant last Wednesday. With police providing little information, a terrorist expert speculated the incident might have been an attempt, perhaps by terrorists, to test the security system of the Ringhals power plant with a later attack in mind

  • California coastal infrastructure at risk from rising sea levels

    An exhaustive study by the National research Council finds projects that the sea level off most of California is likely to rise about one meter over the next century, an amount slightly higher than projected for global sea levels; this will place much of the state coastal infrastructure at risk, because significant development along the coast — such as airports, naval air stations, freeways, sports stadiums, and housing developments — has been built only a few feet above the highest tides; for example, the San Francisco International Airport could flood with as little as 40 centimeters of sea-level rise

  • Seeping Arctic methane to pose serious problems for Florida coastline

    Large quantities of methane gas are buried under the Arctic permafrost; the melting of ice caps in the Arctic causes this gas to escape into the atmosphere through vents; until recently, cryosphere (frozen soil and ice) has served to plug or block these vents, but thawing conditions have allowed the conduits to open, and deep geologic methane now escapes; methane is a very strong greenhouse gas, and its presence in the atmosphere has grown three times faster than carbon dioxide since the industrial era

  • nCircle’s new solution offers coverage for six SCADA suppliers

    Critical infrastructure is designated by DHS and the North American Reliability Corporation (NERC) as the assets, systems, and networks so vital to the United States that their incapacitation or destruction would have a debilitating effect on security, national economic security, and public health or safety; nCircle offers a security solution which covers vulnerabilities from six SCADA equipment suppliers

  • Larger role for renewable energy in U.S. future than previously thought

    Renewable electricity generation from technologies that are commercially available today, in combination with a more flexible electric system, is more than adequate to supply 80 percent of total U.S. electricity generation in 2050 while meeting electricity demand on an hourly basis in every region of the country; new study finds that renewable generation could play a more significant role in the U.S. electricity system than previously thought

  • Water for central Everglades essential for reversing ecosystem's decline

    Twelve years into a $13.5billion state and federal effort to save the Florida Everglades, little progress has been made in restoring the core of the ecosystem, says a new congressionally mandated report from the National Research Council; expedited restoration projects that improve the quality and amount of water in this area are necessary to reverse ongoing declines

  • Carbon capture and storage likely to cause earthquakes

    Carbon capture and storage, or CCS, is a major component of the world’s greenhouse gas reduction strategy; to make a significant contribution to emission reduction, however, CCS would need to operate on a massive scale, potentially sequestering upward of 3.5 billion metric tons of CO2 each year; researchers say that the injection of massive quantities of CO2 would be likely to induce small temblors which would break the reservoirs’ seals and release the stored CO2 into the atmosphere

  • 3-in-1 water monitoring system

    All water treatment plants using membrane technology are required to be able to perform three processes to comply with international standards: identify whether there are any bacteria or contaminants; detect any broken membrane filters in the treatment plant; and pinpoint which filter is broken — accurate to 1 in 100,000 filters; a new, innovative device performs all three processes

  • For safer offshore drilling, government should modify monitoring practices

    Since the April 2010 Deepwater Horizon blowout and explosion, the federal government as well as the offshore oil and gas industry have been undergoing major changes, including the issuance of regulations requiring operators of offshore facilities to adopt and implement comprehensive Safety and Environmental Management System (SEMS) programs by 15 November 2011