Free Republic

SACRAMENTO -- Gov. Jerry Brown took a strong stand against coal on Friday, approving an East Bay lawmaker's bill to ban state funding for coal-related projects. In signing state Sen. Loni Hancock's bill, the governor also praised the Oakland City Council for voting to ban transportation of the ore through its city and encouraged other cities to do the same. "Other localities should follow suit -- and the state should, too -- to reduce and, ultimately, eliminate the shipment of coal through all California ports, Brown wrote in a signing message.

For at least two decades, nuclear engineers have been talking about new reactor designs, but few have progressed to become important components of the industry. Naturally, as with any new technology, there are always boosters and their enthusiasm should be treated with caution, but there is definitely potential for advances that could mean a surge in nuclear power. One aspect that needs greater attention is the benefit of smaller reactors, which greatly reduce risk on the part of investors. Some new designs are more incrementally advanced, such as the European Pressurized Reactor (EPR) developed by Areva and EDF in France,...

Communities in nine U.S. states that have been hard-hit by coal layoffs are being promised more than 3,000 jobs in several industries through a multimillion-dollar federal grant. Officials for the Appalachian Regional Commission and other agencies announced the 29 projects totaling nearly $39 million Wednesday at a news conference in Huntington, West Virginia. The investments are expected to create or retain more than 3,400 jobs in agriculture, health care, manufacturing, technology and other industries. The projects are intended to help communities in Texas and in eight Appalachian states: Alabama, Kentucky, Mississippi, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia. …

The “keep it in the ground” fossil-fuel strategy described by Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton as a “done deal” would kill more than 380,000 jobs and deliver a $70 billion annual hit to the economy, according to a report released Wednesday. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce Institute for 21st Century Energy found that banning fossil fuel production on public lands and offshore waters would result in a loss of $70 billion in annual GDP as well as $11.3 billion in royalties, along with massive direct and indirect job losses.

When a drum containing radioactive waste blew up in an underground nuclear dump in New Mexico two years ago, the Energy Department rushed to quell concerns in the Carlsbad desert community and quickly reported progress on resuming operations. The early federal statements gave no hint that the blast had caused massive long-term damage to the dump, a facility crucial to the nuclear weapons cleanup program that spans the nation, or that it would jeopardize the Energy Department’s credibility in dealing with the tricky problem of radioactive waste. But the explosion ranks among the costliest nuclear accidents in U.S. history, according...

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has surged to a 5-point lead over democratic rival Hillary Clinton in the key battleground state of Pennsylvania as per a latest poll.

Hydrogen fuel-cell cars face an uphill battle toward mass adoption. Both cars and fueling infrastructure need to be made widely available before large numbers of consumers can seriously consider switching from gasoline to hydrogen. But under certain circumstances, hydrogen could prove very attractive to consumers for one simple reason. When produced using renewable energy, hydrogen could cost nearly the equivalent of 50-cent-per-gallon gasoline, according to a study by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). That will only happen if "the stars align" and several factors work in hydrogen's favor, notes industry trade journal WardsAuto noted in a June report on...

On the horizon are U.S.-designed small modular nuclear reactors (SMRs) that range from 50 megawatts to 300 megawatts electrical power output. Like renewables (wind and solar), SMRs produce no air pollution or global warming gases, but SMRs are also capable of generating base load electrical power on demand. Almost 50 companies are creating designs for SMRs using 21st-century technology and enhanced features. These designs include modularity, efficient factory construction, rapid siting and exceptional safe operation. Very important is that SMRs are less expensive and easier and faster to site and build than conventional 1,200-megawatt nuclear plants. Reliance on renewables as...

(Phys.org)—A team of researchers from Belgium and the U.S. has identified the active site of an iron-containing catalyst that has raised hopes for designing a practically useful catalyst that might make converting methane to methanol a possibility. In their paper published in the journal Nature, the researchers describe their efforts, what they discovered and why they believe their findings may lead to a practical way to convert methane to a more efficient energy resource. Jay Labinger, with the California Institute of Technology offers a News & Views piece outlining the work done by the team in the same journal issue....

Less than a year after the coal industry was declared to be in terminal decline, the fossil fuel has staged its steepest price rally in over half a decade, making it one of the hottest major commodities. Cargo prices for Australian thermal coal from its Newcastle terminal, seen as the Asian benchmark, have soared over 35 percent since mid-June to more than one-year highs of almost $70 a tonne, pushed by surprise increases in Chinese imports. "Coal markets, after five years of declining prices, appear to have found a bottom in the first quarter," Australia's Whitehaven Coal said on Thursday,...

Exxon Mobil Corp. began shutting units at the fourth-largest refinery in the U.S. as record flooding in Louisiana sent tens of thousands fleeing from their homes. The Baton Rouge refinery in Louisiana has begun shutting units as the flooding threatened an off-site liquefied petroleum gas storage facility, a person familiar with operations said Wednesday. The plant, located along the Mississippi River, can process 502,500 barrels of crude a day into gasoline, diesel and other fuels.

The fate of the European Union’s global warming commitments negotiated as part of the Paris Protocol may be in jeopardy as result of Brexit. The U.S. on the other hand, should take a page out of the U.K.’s playbook and not only withdraw from the Paris agreement, but also withdraw participation from the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change altogether. ... countries made individual commitments to reduce carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions, largely centered on shifting away from affordable natural resources such as coal, oil, and natural gas, and toward more expensive, intermittent, subsidy-dependent renewables. ... The...

Not long ago, many experts were projecting gas prices above $5 per gallon for the U.S. President Barack Obama said “with more research and incentives” there would soon be 1 million electric plug-in cars on the road. The top executive at General Motors claimed the company could sell 120,000 Chevy Volts in a year. That was in 2011, when GM’s electric plug-in car was still in its infancy. Former Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm very publicly bought her own Chevy Volt after telling the media that electric car batteries represented the “beginning of new Michigan.” That didn't happen, despite massive spending...

Why would Qatar want to become involved in Syria where they have very few investments? This is the question the analyst Felix Imonti poses in an article recently published by specialized website 'Oilprice.com' and by Joshua Landis' Syria Comment. The kingdom, Imonti explains, ''is a geographic prisoner in a small enclave on the Persian Gulf coast. It relies upon the export of LNG, because it is restricted by Saudi Arabia from building pipelines to distant markets. In 2009, the proposal of a pipeline to Europe through Saudi Arabia and Turkey to the Nabucco pipeline was considered, but Saudi Arabia is...

ot long after it became clear that the robust winds that blow down from the Rocky Mountains and across the sea of sagebrush here could produce plenty of profit in a world that wants more renewable energy, some of the more expansive minds in the Wyoming Legislature began entertaining a lofty question: Who owns all of that wind? They concluded, quickly and conveniently, that Wyoming did. Then, with great efficiency for a conservative state not traditionally tilted toward burdening the energy industry, they did something no other state has done, before or since: They taxed it.

ATSUGI, JAPAN -- Japanese automaker Nissan Motor Co has come up with a new type of gasoline engine it says may make some of today's advanced diesel engines obsolete. The new engine uses variable compression technology, which Nissan engineers say allows it at any given moment to choose an optimal compression ratio for combustion - a key factor in the trade-off between power and efficiency in all gasoline-fuelled engines. The technology gives the new engine the performance of turbo-charged gasoline engines while matching the power and fuel economy of today's diesel and hybrid powertrains - a level of performance and...

With the extension of California’s landmark climate change law stalled, a legislative plan is emerging to significantly up the ante on California’s commitment to electric vehicles by requiring that 15 percent of all new automobiles be emission-free within a decade. Assemblywoman Autumn Burke, D-Los Angeles, told The Associated Press on Friday that she’ll introduce legislation next week to ramp up the pressure on carmakers. Automakers that fail to sell enough electric vehicles would be required to make payments to rivals that do or pay a fine to the state.“If we create more competition in the market, that automatically will trigger...

The Kingdom is struggling with weak GDP growth, higher fees and taxes, and an economy that is unable to pay the dues to its workers, leaving thousands of workers from South Asia with an uncertain future. When a nation is unable to provide food to its migrant workers, it says a lot about their financial condition. The oil price crash has forced the oil-rich Kingdom to introduce austerity measures, and delay payments to already cash-strapped contractors.

Colorado’s anti-fracking campaign is a bust – again. But make no mistake: The campaign goes on. According to CBS Denver, environmental activists have nowhere near the number of valid signatures needed to put two anti-fracking measures on the November ballot. This is a huge embarrassment for the national environmental groups behind the anti-fracking push – including 350.org, Food & Water Watch, Sierra Club and Greenpeace. ... One way or another, the environmental left is making a big move in Colorado this year. The anti-fracking campaign isn’t going anywhere – it’s just going to be reassigned to support a much bigger...

The BLM released its draft environmental impact statement Thursday. It is proposing amending up to 11 resource management plans in the two states. In 2014, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service determined the Gunnison sage-grouse requires listing as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act. ... about 5,000 breeding Gunnison sage-grouse live in the two states. Some 4,000 live in the Gunnison Basin, and the others in six satellite populations in Colorado and a seventh in Utah. ... Fish and Wildlife pointed to the low numbers of birds in the other populations and their range of habitat threats as...