Good Food is First Food. It is not junk food. It is the food that connects nature and nutrition with livelihoods. This food is good for our health; it comes from the rich biodiversity of our regions; it provides employment to people. Most importantly, cooking and eating give us pleasure. …
The U.S. Department of Energy released a report – 2011 U.S. Billion-Ton Update: Biomass Supply for a Bioenergy and Bioproducts Industry – detailing U.S. biomass feedstock potential nationwide. The report examines the nation’s capacity to produce a billion dry tons of biomass resources annually for energy uses without impacting other …
SOME are petrified while others squeal at the mere sight of these scaly reptiles. Lizards that scurry past walls to hide and sometimes free-fall into the kitchen sink with a splat face a serious threat across the world. Scientists say climate change is one of the biggest reasons. There are …
MONITORING air pollution just got simpler. A handy and low-cost instrument has been developed for researchers to measure and analyse soot level in the air. Soot, or black carbon, is the second biggest contributor to global warming after carbon dioxide. It is released in the air by incomplete combustion of …
Greenpeace USA has uncovered documents that reveal one of the world’s most prominent climate sceptics being funded by US oil and coal firms. Willie Soon, astrophysicist at the Solar, Stellar and Planetary Sciences Division of the Harvard-Smithsonian Centre for Astrophysics, is kno-wn for his view that global warming is caused …
On June 28, the humble pi came under threat from a group of detractors who observed a day to honour what they claim is a more appropriate mathematical constant: tau. Tau proponets say the constant twice as large as pi—or about 6.28, hence the 28 June celebration—makes calculations easier. Not …
Despite continuing half-hearted attempts to “conclude” the decade-long Doha Round of trade talks under the World Trade Organisation, the round is effectively dead though no country wants to say so. There have been many guilty of refusing to work out a fair package for all countries, but none are more …
The US is in talks with India over the issue of payment of billions of dollars in oil bills to Iran by New Delhi without being affected by American sanctions, a top State Department official has said. “We are working with the Indians to resolve the situation. There are, we …
Beginning late this summer, one of the most promising and pure acts of environmental restoration the region and the nation have ever seen will get under way here, experts say, in the form of the largest dam removal project in American history. It will demolish two massive hydroelectric dams, one …
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is approaching completion of an ambitious study that concludes that a meltdown at a typical American reactor would lead to far fewer deaths than previously assumed. The conclusion, to be published in April after six years of work, is based largely on a radical revision of …
More than a week after a sewage discharge contaminated New York’s waterways, city officials have finally told residents the magic words: Your rivers’ fecal coliform readings have returned to acceptable levels. Closure notices and pollution advisories were lifted by Thursday night for four beaches: South Beach, Midland Beach and Cedar …
In a closely watched case, a federal appeals court ruled on Friday that genes can be patented, overturning a lower court decision that had shocked the biotechnology industry. The Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, which specializes in patent cases, said that Myriad Genetics was entitled to patents on …
President Obama announced new automobile fuel-efficiency standards on Friday that require an average 54.5 miles per gallon by 2025. But even if the auto industry manages to meet the new standards, it is unlikely car buyers will see many fuel-economy stickers with such high mileage. Instead, the average new vehicle …
A General Motors Co unit has invested $7.5 million and taken an undisclosed stake in Sunlogics Inc, helping the solar energy systems manufacturer to establish plants in Michigan and Canada and create 310 jobs at the small company. GM Ventures said it also signed commercial agreements with Sunlogics for the …
Carbon market participants on Tuesday said revisions to key rules may not be enough to ensure that trading in secondary offset markets in California is liquid and stable. At issue is the question of who should be held responsible for replacing offset credits in the event that a project is …
A new contract to process 1,000 tons of nuclear waste from Germany has environmental activists concerned that the town of Oak Ridge, Tennessee could become a prime destination for the world's nuclear trash. The city in east Tennessee was founded by scientists who were developing the atomic bomb during World …
The Obama administration has reached a compromise with automakers on a new fuel economy target for cars and trucks, ending months of negotiations on this pivotal mandate for the auto industry. Automaker fleets will now have to average 54.5 miles per gallon by 2025, according to people familiar with the …
A global deal on a pact to succeed the U.N.'s main climate agreement is still within reach but will not be struck this year, with the pace of talks still far too slow, New Zealand's top climate negotiator said on Wednesday. Inevitably, there would be a gap after the Kyoto …
Tropical Storm Don, the first major Gulf of Mexico storm this year, formed over the southern part of the oil-rich basin on Wednesday on a track toward the Texas coast. The storm forced several offshore energy operators to evacuate support workers, but was not yet strong enough to cause companies …
A Union Pacific freight train carrying more than 60 cars, some loaded with hazardous substances, derailed on Friday in a desert town north of Los Angeles, prompting evacuations of nearby homes, fire officials said. However, there was no sign of fire, and no injury or damage to surrounding buildings was …
A new contract to process 1,000 tons of nuclear waste from Germany has environmental activists concerned that the town of Oak Ridge, Tennessee could become a prime destination for the world's nuclear trash. The city in east Tennessee was founded by scientists who were developing the atomic bomb during World …
