Going with the Flow: Hydrokinetic Power Developers Face Technical and Regulatory Hurtles in Bid to Tap Tides

The quest to turn the motion of the world’s waterways into a significant source of energy may still be in its nascent stage, but several tidal power projects are making headway. Whether they operate in lakes, rivers or the oceans, projects attempting to harness the tides share the same mission: to improve the technology and offer an economical alternative to fossil fuels. [More]

Breaking the Climate Debate Logjam

There is a growing possibility that the U.S. will pass no climate change legislation in this session of Congress: the uphill climb is at least as steep, and probably steeper, as it is for health care legislation. President Barack Obama cannot presume to hold his own party in line on climate change. Several Democratic senators have already asked him to stop pushing for a bill in 2010, given the proximity to the midterm elections.

The fracture lines are countless, but probably the most important one runs through public opinion. A recent poll showed only 36 percent of Americans believing that the evidence of human-induced climate change is firm, down from 47 percent in early 2008. The rise of unemployment has perhaps made people more reluctant to accept adverse news on living standards. There is also considerable public confusion about climate science and possible remedies.

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Smokestash Industry: ARPA-E Seeks Breakthroughs in Carbon Capture Technology

WASHINGTON–Every second, our bodies capture carbon dioxide in our tissues, transport it via the blood, and dump it in the lungs from where it is exhaled. This unconscious process is yet another way humans contribute to the accumulation of the greenhouse gas in the atmosphere–albeit in a minuscule volume compared with burning fossil fuels . The key to this metabolic process is an enzyme called carbonic anhydrase and it’s efficiency at capturing and releasing CO2 is what human engineers want to mimic at the power plant scale. [More]

Can greener gadgets save us from e-waste?

One laptop per child seems a simple slogan, chock full of benefit. What could go wrong when you put the power of the Internet and solar cells into the hands of children in the developing world? After all, not only does it train the global underclass in the tools of modern production, it also unleashes a creativity that may allow them to leapfrog the old, dirty, industrial development that has fouled the planet. [More]

Where Will the U.S. Get Its Electricity in 2034?

Cleaner coal , nuclear , solar , wind : these are some of the options for power generation to feed the U.S.’s electric power requirements. That need is expected to grow by 30 percent during the next 25 years, according to the Energy Information Administration , even with a slew of energy-efficiency measures and improvements to the grid infrastructure that delivers the electricity. But the primary source of electricity in 2034, according to a new projection from consulting firm Black & Veatch, will be natural gas. It is the fossil fuel with the least greenhouse gas impact on the atmosphere–burning it releases 43 percent less CO2 than burning coal–and looks set to increase its share of the electricity market, even with looming regulations to restrain climate-changing emissions. And there’s this boost, too: new, vast reserves of natural gas found in places like the Marcellus Shale Formation, which stretches from West Virginia to New York State. [More]

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