PROGRESSIVE |
REFERENCE |
CONSERVATIVE* |
- Bankwatch
Baku-Ceyhan-Tbilisi Oil
Pipeline watch, environmental and social impact
assessment. .
- CorpWatch
'search
- EarthJustice
Bushwatch
- Ecotopia
design strategy for new
millenium
- e-library
1000+ environmental links
- Energy
Crisis Petroleum supply
studies
- EnergyProbe
fight against
nuclear power, for conservation of energy
- Energy
Foundation MacArthur,
Pew, Rockefeller
- FAS
- Friends
of the Earth
- Global
Research Campaign against Weapons and Nuclear
Power in Space
- Guardian,
Dr. Craig Ventor, biofuels, genome replacement
- IEER
Institute for Energy and Environmental Research
- NRDC
- Oil
Depletion Analysis Centre, UK,
educational charity to raise international public awareness of
oil depletion problem.
- Planet
Ark, news, daily guide to helping
the planet, campaigns
- SEEN
Sustainable Energy and Economy Network climate,
energy, gender equality, economy
- Self
Determination Crisis Watch
- Transnationale.org
headlines, Dossiers, Brands, Associations
- Union of
Concerned Scientists Scientist for
Environmental Solutions, news.
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- Alexander's Gas &
Oil Connections
- Alternative Fuels
Data Center, National Renewable
Energy Lab, hydrogen, fuel cell, ethanol.
- GasPriceWatch
find
best prices for gas
- Fossil Energy.gov. US
Dept
of Energy
- EIA,
Dept of Energy Energy Information Administration
- FERC Federal
Energy Regulation Commission
- International Energy
Association
- Minerals Management Service,
US outer continental shelf, native American
mineral revenue distribution
- National Renewable
Energy Lab, Alternative Fuels Data Center, hydrogen,
fuel cell, ethanol.
- Nuclear Planet
natural
nuclear fission reactors
- Oil Price
Information Service news and prices of petroleum products
- Pollution Equipment News Fed
- Sustainable
Energy & Economy Network
- Scientific and Technical
Information, DOE Dept of Energy
- UN Environment Programme
- US Dept of Energy
- World Oil Markets
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-
American
Chemistry Council reps
largest industrial energy users
- American Petroleum
Institute Energy inventory reports
- Cambridge Energy Research
Assoc. consulting, News
- Energy Online
news
- Exxon Mobil exploration,
production, manufacture, transportation of crude oil, natural gas,
- FERC
Watch industry news and updates
- GE, EcoImagination
- Gritzie
crude oil and natural gas prices charts
- Electric
Reliability Coodinating Council coalition of utilities, labor, consumers
- Energy Economics
Newsletter
- Forest Oil
Company Alaska Oil exploration
- Institute on Energy
energy think tank
- International
Petroleum Exchange London
- International Petroleum Research Foundation
- NERC
North American Electric Reliability Council, areas map
- NPRA
Voice of the petrochemical and refining industry
- Oil and Gas
Reporter Industry news
- Oil
Spill Intelligence Report
- OPEC
- Renewable
Fuels Association pro ethanol
- SABIC, Saudi oil major.
- World
Energy Council
- World Uranium
Institute 'Energy for Sustainable Development'
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-
Guardian
"Scientists have converted an organism into an
entirely different species by performing the world's first genome
transplant, a breakthrough that paves the way for the creation of synthetic
forms of life. The team, led by Craig Venter, the man who raced to sequence
the human genome, wants to build new microbes to produce environmentally
friendly fuels. The group's study, details of which were revealed in
the US journal Science yesterday, proves
it is possible to transplant a complete set of genetic instructions into an
organism, in effect turning it into the same species the DNA was taken from.
The proof of principle experiment solves the first of two big difficulties
which have hindered the creation of artificial life. The team, based at Dr
Venter's not-for-profit institute in Rockville, Maryland, now hopes to
overcome the second hurdle, by designing new genetic codes on computers and
transplanting them into organisms to produce new life forms. The team
is focusing on creating micro-organisms which produce
green fuels as natural waste products. "One of the goals we
have is trying to see if we could design cells to manufacture new types of
fuel to break our dependency on oil and coal and try to do something about
carbon dioxide," Dr Venter said. "We look forward to trying to
have the first fuels from genetically modified and even synthetic organisms,
certainly within the decade."
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WMR
Former congressman run out of town after taking on Obama-connected
energy firms January 3-4, 2011 |
Former Representative Eric Massa (D-NY) was subjected
to gay sexual harassment charges, all subsequently dismissed by
House-appointed attorneys and which were partly-engineered by senior
staffers for outgoing openly-gay Representative Barney Frank (D-MA),
after Massa took on two energy firms closely connected to the Obama
White House. ... Before he resigned from
office amid unsubstantiated harassment charges made by his chief of
staff Joseph Racalto, the former "driver" for Frank, in March 2010,
Massa took on Oklahoma City-based Chesapeake Energy Corporation and its
CEO Aubrey McClendon, the natural gas "fracking king" and a proponent of
non-coal carbon energy sources, including the Canadian Keystone oil
sands pipeline project. McClendon has been a political donor to Democrat
and Republican presidential candidates, including Barack Obama, Hillary
Clinton, and John McCain. ... Chesapeake
Energy is the major exploiter of fractured natural gas from the
Marcellus Shale of Pennsylvania and eastern Ohio and shale oil from the
Utica Shale of New York and its operations have contaminated fresh water
supplies and caused earthquakes. ... WMR
has obtained correspondence documenting Massa's opposition to
Chesapeake's environmentally-damaging operations in western New York. In
a January 10, 2010 letter to McClendon, Massa asks for a meeting to
discuss a proposed Chesapeake disposal facility in the town of Pulteney
in the pristine Finger Lakes region. Massa pointed out to McClendon that
Keuka Lake was surrounded by several communities that relied on tourism
and agriculture, both of which rely on clean water.
... Massa demanded that the politically-connected McClendon
withdraw plans for the facility, which would store resurfaced fluids
from hydraulic fracturing and endanger the fresh water resources of the
region. The letter was followed by communications between members of
Massa's staff and Frank's staff to bring down Massa in a contrived
scandal. ... Earlier, on September 11,
2009, Massa took on President Obama on one of his pet energy projects,
wind energy. Under Obama's "stimulus" package, designed to create
hundreds of thousands of jobs across the country, including in wind
energy projects, $74.6 million in taxpayers' money was awarded by the
Departments of Energy and the Treasury to Canandaigua Power Partners,
LLC and Canandaigua Power Partners II for wind projects in Cohocton, New
York. ... The two firms are shell
companies that operate on behalf of First Wind, a firm under
investigation by then-New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo for
bribery, intimidation, and other misconduct involving wind energy
projects across the northeastern United States. First Wind was
financially backed by Dearborn Partners, a major source of campaign
funds for then-White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel. White House
economic adviser Larry Summers was also linked to First Wind.
... Alarm bells went off among the Emanuel-Summers cabal
after Massa's September 11 letter was received. The letter stated: ". .
. the award of $74.6 million dollars to corrupt companies that have
changed names time and again forming new LLCs and new Inc.s but
maintaining their business model of lie, cheat, and corrupt at the
expense of taxpayers has stirred great unrest in New York's 29th
Congressional District." Massa pointed out that Canandaigua collected
electricity production rewards for non-existent energy.
... Eventually, Massa was forced to resign. Republican Tom
Reed replaced Massa in the 29th district and WMR's sources in the
district report that Racalto and Reed continue to maintain a
relationship. Reed is wholly-owned and operated by the natural gas
fracking and the wind power industries. Frank has announced he is not
running for re-election, citing re-districting. It is highly unlikely
that the addition of a few hundred more Republican voters in Frank's
heavily-Democratic district is the real reason behind his decision not
to run again. |
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Alternate Fuels top
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REFERENCE |
CONSERVATIVE* |
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ANWR top
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PROGRESSIVE |
REFERENCE |
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- Alternative
Fuel Vehicle Group links
- Alternative
Fuels Data Center, National
Renewable Energy Lab, hydrogen, fuel cell,
ethanol.
- Alternative Energy
Institute news
- Alaska Oil Vote, search terms, Kaktovik,
Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, trans-Alaska Pipeline, Sen. Donald
Olson (supports drilling), Gov. Frank Murkowski, U.S. Geological Survey
says there's 10 billion barrels plus of oil
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CONSERVATIVE* |
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Energy News top
& MORE ENERGY NEWS
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Hydrogen top
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Passive Solar
Heating, Cooling
Buildings designed for passive solar and daylighting incorporate design
features such as large south-facing windows and building materials that
absorb and slowly release the sun's heat. No mechanical means are employed
in passive solar heating. Incorporating passive solar designs can reduce
heating bills as much as 50 percent. Passive solar designs can also
include natural ventilation for cooling. Windows are an important aspect
of passive solar design—for information on window technologies, see the
Building Envelope section of the EREN Buildings page.
Design Principles
Proper building orientation, so the longest walls run from east to
west, allows solar heat to enter the home in winter, while allowing in as
little sun as possible during summer. Shading and overhangs also reduce
excessive summer heat, while still permitting winter sun. In passive solar
designs, the optimal window-to-wall area ratio is 25-35 percent.
Passive Solar Heating
In cold climates, south-facing windows designed to let the sun's heat
in while insulating against the cold are ideal. In hot and moderate
climates, the strategy is to admit light while rejecting heat. Interior
spaces requiring the most light, heat, and cooling are located along the
south face of the building, with less used space to the north. Open floor
plans allow more sun inside.
The simplest passive design is the direct gain system in which the sun
shines directly into a building, heating it up. The sun's heat is stored
by the building's inherent thermal mass in materials such as concrete,
stone floor slabs, or masonry partitions that hold and slowly release
heat. With indirect gain systems, thermal mass is located between the sun
and the living space. An isolated gain system is one where the system is
isolated from the primary living area, such as a sunroom or solar
greenhouse with convective loops into the living space.
Passive Solar Cooling
Many passive solar designs include natural ventilation for cooling. By
installing casement or other operable windows for passive solar gain and
adding vertical panels, called wing walls, perpendicular to the wall on
the windward side of the house, you can accelerate the natural breeze in
the interior. Another passive solar cooling device is the thermal chimney,
which can be designed like a smoke chimney to vent hot air from the house
out through the roof.
Trombe Walls
A Trombe wall consists an 8- to 16-inch thick masonry wall coated with
a dark, heat-absorbing material and covered by a single or double layer of
glass, placed from about 3/4" to 6" away from the masonry wall.
Heat from the sun is stored in the air space between the glass and dark
material, and conducted slowly to the interior of the building through the
masonry. Adding a Trombe wall and south-facing windows is an easy way for
a home to take advantage of solar heat. |
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