Moscow (AFP) Sep 26, 2006 - Russia on Tuesday threatened to halt the Sakhalin-2 oil and gas development project off Russia's Pacific coast unless the Anglo-Dutch group Shell corrected environmental damage done to the site. We will do everything possible not to stop the project, Russian Natural Resources Minister Yury Trutnev told a press conference.
Washington (UPI) Sep 26, 2006 - American military and diplomatic leaders have swung back and forth between various strategies to confront the hostile forces arrayed against them in Iraq. But despite recent U.S. initiatives, the fighting there only continues to intensify, particularly in Baghdad.
Fayetteville AK (SPX) Sep 25, 2006 - As the United States looks to crops as possible future sources of energy, a University of Arkansas researcher and his colleagues call for caution, citing the possibility of some biofuel crops becoming invasive species. Robert N. Wiedenmann, professor of entomology, and his colleagues S. Raghu, Roger C. Anderson, Curt C. Daehler, Adam S. Davis, Dan Simberloff and Richard N. Mack put forth their argument for ecological studies of biofuel crops in the policy forum in the Sept. 22 issue of Science.
Geneva (AFP) Sep 25, 2006 - US media mogul and billionaire philanthropist Ted Turner urged negotiators on Monday to use green energy as a means to revive stalled World Trade Organisation (WTO) talks on a deal to reform global commerce.
Moscow (AFP) Sep 25, 2006 - Russia's natural resources ministry said Monday it had ordered a new round of environmental inspections at a giant Shell-led energy project that has already had its environmental permit revoked. The inspections will take place at worksites for Sakhalin-2, a 20-billion-dollar (15.8-billion-euro) oil and gas project off Russia's Pacific coast that has come under pressure from Russian authorities for alleged environmental violations and cost overruns.
London (AFP) Sep 24, 2006 - British businessman Richard Branson made a multi-billion-dollar pledge to fight global warming under pressure from US media mogul Ted Turner and former vice-president Al Gore, he said in a newspaper interview Sunday. He told the Independent on Sunday that global warming was approaching a tipping point and Turner and Gore had convinced him it was time to act.
New York (AFP) Sep 21, 2006 - British mogul Richard Branson pledged Thursday to spend three billion dollars in the next 10 years on a variety of projects to combat global warming and reduce dependence on fossil fuels. The founder of the Virgin Group of companies made the announcement in New York at the Clinton Global Initiative headed by former US president Bill Clinton and aimed at tackling key global problems.
Beijing (AFP) Sep 21, 2006 - China National Offshore Oil Corp (CNOOC) has finalized a deal worth 8.5 billion dollars to supply the nation's southeast with 2.6 million tonnes of liquefied natural gas (LNG) annually over 25 years, state press said Thursday. CNOOC inked the deal on Wednesday to source the LNG from Indonesia's Tangguh gas fields that are being developed by British Petroleum, the China Daily reported.
Paris (AFP) Sep 21, 2006 - To the loud cheers of environmentalists, the biggest case in the new but fast-growing area of climate-change litigation is now under way, although a fog of uncertainty surrounds the outcome. On Thursday, the state of California slapped a lawsuit against the Big Six automakers -- General Motors, Toyota, Ford, Honda, Chrysler and Nissan -- to demand compensation for damage inflicted by their vehicles' greenhouse-gas emissions.
Riyadh (AFP) Sep 21, 2006 - OPEC called Thursday for the use of advanced technology that reduces carbon dioxide emissions to ensure a cleaner environment and the safe use of oil and natural gas to foster global development. There is a need to focus on technological options that allow the continued use of oil in a carbon-constrained world, OPEC director of research Hasan Qabazard told an EU-OPEC roundtable meeting in Riyadh.
Moscow (AFP) Sep 21, 2006 - A Shell-led consortium developing the vast Sakhalin-2 energy project in Russia warned Thursday that the Russian government's move to retract an environment permit would cause irreparable damage. The move would lead to a significant delay in the project, extra costs and irreparable damage to the reputation of this venture, the Sakhalin region and the Russian Federation as a whole for failure to deliver gas to buyers, Sakhalin Energy said in a statement.
Champaign IL (SPX) Sep 20, 2006 - Scientists at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have designed and built ceramic microreactors for the on-site reforming of hydrocarbon fuels, such as propane, into hydrogen for use in fuel cells and other portable power sources. Applications include power supplies for small appliances and laptop computers, and on-site rechargers for battery packs used by the military.
Beijing (AFP) Sep 20, 2006 - China will host a gathering in October of five major energy-consuming nations on ways to deal with high oil prices, Chinese and South Korean officials said Wednesday. The meeting, which will bring together senior officials from China, the United States, Japan, India and South Korea, may result in a call for stable energy prices, they said.
Ann Arbor MI (SPX) Sep 20, 2006 - Scientists looked to ferns to create a novel energy scavenging device that uses the power of evaporation to move itself -- materials that could provide a method for powering micro and nano devices with just water or heat. We've shown that this idea works, said Michel Maharbiz, assistant professor of electrical engineering and computer science and principal investigator in the group that built the device. If you build these things they will move. The key is to show that you can generate electricity from this.
San Francisco CA (SPX) Sep 20, 2006 - Finding more efficient ways of storing and using energy requires scientists to first look at the particles that set these fundamental processes in motion - the electrons. Controlling the movement of electrons through individual molecules could allow for the development of new technologies such as small-scale circuits to be used for a variety of applications including improved solar cells.
Riyadh (AFP) Sep 20, 2006 - OPEC kingpin Saudi Arabia has expressed concern that oil could become a victim of selective environment policies and called for striking a balance between a cleaner environment and development. The kingdom, whose economy heavily relies on oil income, said the use of advanced technology to carry out environment-friendly projects is the best solution to achieve economic development without harming the climate.
