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MIT Researchers Develop Autonomous Oil-Absorbing Robot to Clean Up Oil Spills
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August 26, 2010 - gizmag
| | Over skimmers were deployed in the Gulf of Mexico during the summer of 2010 to help clean up the Deepwater Horizon leak; however, it is estimated that these skimmers collected only three percent of the surface oil. Researchers at MIT have devised a system, called Seaswarm, consisting of a fleet of vehicles that may make cleaning up future oil spills both less expensive and more efficient than current skimming methods. A robotic prototype created by the researchers could autonomously navigate the ocean surface using cutting edge nanotechnology to collect surface oil and process it on site. The Seaswarm robot uses a conveyor belt covered with a thin nanowire mesh to absorb oil. The fabric, developed by MIT Visiting Associate Professor Francesco Stellacci, can absorb up to twenty times its own weight in oil while repelling water. By heating up the material, the oil can be removed and burnt locally and the nanofabric can be reused.
| | | By Darren Quick © 2003 - 2010 gizmag
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New Microbe Discovered Eating Gulf Oil Spill
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August 24, 2010 - MSNBC
| | A newly discovered type of oil-eating microbe suddenly is flourishing in the Gulf of Mexico and gobbling up the BP spill at a much faster rate than expected. Scientists discovered the new microbe while studying the underwater dispersion of millions of gallons of oil spilled since the explosion of BP's Deepwater Horizon drilling rig. Also, the microbe works without significantly depleting oxygen in the water, researchers reported in the online journal Sciencexpress.
| | | © 2010 MSNBC.com
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Senate Dems Delay Vote On Oil Spill, Energy Bill
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August 3, 2010 - CBS News
| | Washington -- Democrats on Tuesday gave up trying to pass even a scaled-back energy bill this summer that would have removed liability ceilings on oil companies, a reaction to the BP oil spill. The bill also would have offered rebates to consumers for home energy efficiency improvements and encouraged federal agencies to buy more electric vehicles and retrofit heavy duty vehicles for natural gas.
| | | © 2010 The Associated Press © 2010 CBS Interactive Inc.
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China Plans Huge Buses That Can Drive Over Cars
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August 3, 2010 - The Huffington Post
| | China has overtaken the United States as the world's biggest producer of greenhouse gases and biggest energy consumer. But the country is also thinking in big and bold ways when it comes to how it will reduce pollution and a new plan to build a "straddling bus" is among the most space-age schemes yet. In an effort to go green and relieve congestion without widening roads, the Shenzhen Huashi Future Parking Equipment company is developing a "3D Express Coach" (also known as a "three-dimensional fast bus").
| | | © 2010 HuffingtonPost.com, Inc.
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Congressman: Too Much Dispersant Used In Oil Spill
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August 1, 2010 - CBS News
| | New Orleans -- As BP inched closer to permanently sealing the blown-out oil well in the Gulf of Mexico, congressional investigators railed against the company and Coast Guard for part of the cleanup effort, saying too much toxic chemical dispersant was used.
| | | © 2010 The Associated Press © 2010 CBS Interactive Inc.
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Spain to Cut Subsidies for New Solar Power Plants
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August 1, 2010 - Bloomberg Businessweek
| | Spain is proceeding with plans to cut prices for solar power from new generators, the Industry Ministry said, after talks on broader changes to renewable energy subsidies broke down last week. Prices for power from ground-based panels may be cut by 45 percent while photovoltaic generators mounted on large roofs face a 25 percent reduction and plants on small roofs will see a 5 percent cut, the ministry said in a statement.
| | | By Ben Sills © 2010 Bloomberg L.P.
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Engineers Race to Design World's Biggest Offshore Wind Tturbines
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July 26, 2010 - The Guardian
| | British, American and Norwegian engineers are in a race to design and build the holy grail of wind turbines – giant, 10MW offshore machines twice the size and power of anything seen before – that could transform the global energy market because of their economies of scale. Today, a revolutionary British design that mimics a spinning sycamore leaf and which was inspired by floating oil platform technology, entered the race. Leading engineering firm Arup is to work with an academic consortium backed by blue-chip companies including Rolls Royce, Shell and BP to create detailed designs for the "Aerogenerator", a machine that rotates on its axis and would stretch nearly 275m from blade tip to tip. It is thought that the first machines will be built in 2013-14 following two years of testing.
| | | By John Vidal © 2010 Guardian News and Media Limited
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US State Quarantine Cattle Over Gas Drilling Fluid
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July 1, 2010 - Reuters
| | Officials have quarantined 28 cows that may have drunk toxic waste water from natural gas drilling in Pennsylvania, adding to concerns about health risks arising from exploiting the state's vast shale deposits.
| | | © 2010 Thomson Reuters
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Methane's Hidden Impact in Gulf Oil Spill
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June 30, 2010 - The Christian Science Monitor
| | The BP oil blowout, now into its 11th week, is releasing large quantities of methane into the ocean, most of which is remaining dissolved in the waters deep beneath the surface.
| | | By Pete Spotts © 2010 The Christian Science Monitor
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Conservation Rebates Offered to Delaware Homeowners
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June 11, 2010 - Delaware Online
| | New home buyers may be eligible for rebates of $3,000 to $6,000 for properties upgraded to high energy efficiency and conservation standards, under a new "Green for Green" program announced Thursday in Delaware.
| | | © 2010 Delaware Online
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Lights Out! 120 Nations Marking Earth Hour
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March 27, 2010 - CBS News
| | The white-shelled roof of the Sydney Opera House fell dark Saturday night, one of the first landmarks to turn out the lights in an hour-long gesture to be repeated by millions of people around the world who are calling for a binding pact to cut greenhouse gas emissions. Asian cities followed Australia and New Zealand as the fourth annual Earth Hour cranked up. Buildings in some 4,000 cities in more than 120 countries were expected to unplug to reduce energy consumption and draw attention to the dangers of climate change, according to organizers.
| | | © 2010 The Associated Press © 2010 CBS Interactive Inc.
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Green Myths Debunked
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March 26, 2010 - Fortune
| | These days most forward-thinking corporations are trying to go green. Trouble is, when it comes to what's really environmentally sound, confusion reigns. Read about bottled water, hamburger meat, microwavable plastics, CFLs, paper grocery bags, and more
| | | © 2010 Cable News Network
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Senate Weighs Final Push to Move Climate Bill
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February 21, 2010 - Reuters
| | Washington -- A last-ditch attempt at passing a climate change bill begins in the Senate this week with senators mindful that time is running short and that approaches to the legislation still vary widely, according to sources.
| | | © 2010 Thomson Reuters
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Defections Shake Up Climate Coalition
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February 17, 2010 - The Wall Street Journal
| | Three big companies quit an influential lobbying group that had focused on shaping climate-change legislation, in the latest sign that support for an ambitious bill is melting away. Oil giants BP PLC and ConocoPhillips and heavy-equipment maker Caterpillar Inc. said Tuesday they won't renew their membership in the three-year-old U.S. Climate Action Partnership, a broad business-environmental coalition that had been instrumental in building support in Washington for capping emissions of greenhouse gases.
| | | By Stephen Power and Casse Lman © 2010 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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In Utah, Company Aims to Store Energy in Air
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February 7, 2010 - ABC News
| | A Utah company plans to dig a series of underground caverns that it hopes to one day fill with compressed air, releasing it to generate electricity by turning a turbine and solving one of the most vexing problems facing the clean-energy industry — how to store power.
| | | By Paul Foy © 2010 The Associated Press © 2010 ABC News Internet Ventures
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High Hopes for Clean-Energy Jobs
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February 4, 2010 - The Wall Street Journal
| | The U.S. could add hundreds of thousands of jobs if Congress requires that part of the nation's electricity be derived from renewable sources, according to a study released Thursday. The study, by Navigant Consulting, said a renewable-energy standard requiring utilities to produce between 20% and 25% of their energy from wind, solar and other renewable sources would create between 191,000 and 274,000 jobs.
| | | By Rebecca Smith © 2010 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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