Over the second half of the 20th century, the advent of digital technologies and telecommunications dramatically increased interdependencies among U.S. critical infrastructures. Disruptions in a single infrastructure can generate disturbances within other infrastructures and over long distances, and the pattern of interconnections can extend or amplify the effects of a disruption. The energy infrastructure...
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America’s New Energy R&D Strategy
Statement by Dr. Robert Marlay
U.S. Department of Energy
With the recent administration change and economic downturn, the US priorities in energy, environment, science, and the economy have been altered or strengthened. The current baseline goal is to reduce GHG emissions by 80 percent by 2050. Within ten years, the US plans...
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Measuring the greenhouse gas emissions from a city, state, or country requires comprehensive tabulations of energy use, land-use changes, industrial emissions and many other factors.
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has recently explored new methods for managing carbon emissions inventories. Using NASA’s Terra satellite, the agency surveyed the “greenness” of California’s vegetation and...
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Canada’s tar sands mining operations appear to have increased the levels of toxins in local rivers, according to a new study released earlier this week by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The report finds that levels of polycyclic aromatic compounds (PACs) are higher downstream of mining activity, and can be detected in concentrations...
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The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said it plans to issue a final decision on the proposed increase to the allowable ethanol content in fuel by mid 2010, according to a letter sent today to Growth Energy, a biofuels trade group.
In March 2009, Growth Energy requested a waiver to allow for the use of up...
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While the recent rise in crop prices have relented, the long-term decline in inflation-adjusted crop prices has probably leveled off in the past 10 to 20 years. Crop yields are only one measure of productivity, but they are a key factor fueling changes in inflation-adjusted crop prices.
Many factors were behind the 2007-08 increases in...
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In 2006, the United States emitted roughly 7 billion metric tons of greenhouse gases, measured in CO2 equivalents (the amount of CO2 that would cause an equivalent amount of warming). Eighty percent of domestic emissions consisted of CO2 from the burning of fossil fuels in activities such as manufacturing, electricity generation, transportation, agriculture, and...
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Eighteen major energy companies reported a 71-percent decrease in net income relative to the third quarter of 2008, which amounts to a 54-percent decrease relative to the third-quarter average for the four year period ending in 2008. The effects of lower oil and natural gas prices, worldwide refinery throughput, and domestic and European refining margins...
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