Energy News Articles

Excerpts of Key Energy News Articles in Media

Below are highly revealing excerpts of important energy news articles from the major
media suggesting a cover-up. Links are provided to the full news articles for verification. If any
link fails to function, read this webpage. These energy news articles are listed by order of
importance. You can also explore the articles listed by order of the date of the news article or by
the date posted. By choosing to educate ourselves and to spread the word, we can and will build
a brighter future.

Note: Explore our full index to revealing excerpts of key major media news articles on dozens of
engaging topics. And read excerpts from 20 of the most revealing news articles ever
published.

BlackLight's physics-defying promise: Cheap power from water

2008-07-02, CNN Money
http://money.cnn.com/2008/07/01/smallbusiness/blacklight.fsb/index.htm
Imagine being able to convert water into a boundless source of cheap energy. That's what
BlackLight Power, a 25-employee firm in Cranbury, N.J., says it can do. The only problem: Most
scientists say that company's technology violates the basic laws of physics. Such skepticism
doesn't daunt Dr. Randell Mills, a Harvard-trained physician and founder of BlackLight, who
recently claimed that he has created a working fuel cell using the world's most pervasive element:
the hydrogen found in water. Mills says he has a market-ready product: a fuel cell that produces a
chemical reaction to alter hydrogen atoms. The fuel cell releases heat that turns water into steam,
which drives electric turbines. The working models in his lab generate 50 kilowatts of electricity enough to power six or seven houses. But these, Mills says, can be scaled [up] to drive a large,
electric power plant. The inventor claims this electricity will cost less than 2 cents per
kilowatt-hour, which compares to a national average of 8.9 cents. Mills developed the
patented cocktail that enables the reaction - a solid fuel made of hydrogen and a sodium hydride
catalyst - only a year ago. (He recently posted instructions on the company's Web site,
blacklightpower.com). Now that the device is ready for commercialization, he says, BlackLight is
negotiating with several utilities and architecture and engineering firms. The business, Mills says,
has attracted $60 million in funding from wealthy individuals, investment firms ... and it is
no longer seeking money. BlackLight's board of directors reads like a Who's Who of finance and
energy leaders.

Note: For two New York Times articles showing the viability of this amazing technology, click here
and here. And for the latest on this exciting technology, click here. For many other exciting major
media news articles on new energy inventions, click here.

The coming era of unlimited and free clean energy

2014-09-19, Washington Post blog
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/innovations/wp/2014/09/19/the-coming-era-...
In the 1980s, leading consultants were skeptical about cellular phones. The handsets were heavy,
batteries didnt last long, coverage was patchy, and the cost per minute was exorbitant. The
experts are saying the same about solar energy now. They say that solar is inefficient, too
expensive to install, and unreliable, and will fail without government subsidies. They too are wrong.
Solar will be as ubiquitous as cellular phones are. Futurist Ray Kurzweil notes that solar power
has been doubling every two years for the past 30 years as costs have been dropping.
He says solar energy is only six doublings or less than 14 years away from meeting
100 percent of todays energy needs. By Kurzweils estimates, inexpensive renewable
sources will provide more energy than the world needs in less than 20 years. In places such
as Germany, Spain, Portugal, Australia, and the Southwest United States, residential-scale solar
production has already reached grid parity with average residential electricity prices. In other
words, it costs no more in the long term to install solar panels than to buy electricity from utility
companies. The prices of solar panels have fallen 75 percent in the past five years alone and will
fall much further as the technologies to create them improve and scale of production increases. By
2020, solar energy will be price-competitive with energy generated from fossil fuels on an
unsubsidized basis in most parts of the world. Within the next decade, it will cost a fraction of what
fossil fuel-based alternatives do. Despite the skepticism of experts and criticism by naysayers,
there is little doubt that we are heading into an era of unlimited and almost free clean energy.
Note: This article also points out how some big energy companies and the Koch brothers are
lobbying to stop alternative technologies from flowering. Read through a rich collection of energy
news articles with inspiring and revealing news on energy developments. And explore a treasure
trove of concise summaries of incredibly inspiring news articles which will inspire you to make a
difference.

Italian cold fusion machine passes another test

2011-11-03, MSNBC
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45153076/ns/technology_and_science-science/
Italian physicist and inventor Andrea Rossi has conducted a public demonstration of his
"cold fusion" machine, the E-Cat, at the University of Bologna, showing that a small amount
of input energy drives an unexplained reaction between atoms of hydrogen and nickel that
leads to a large outpouring of energy, more than 10 times what was put in. The first
seemingly successful cold fusion experiment was reported two decades ago. Two types of atoms,

typically a light element and a heavier metal, seem to fuse together, releasing pure heat that can
be converted into electricity. The process is an attractive energy solution for two reasons: Unlike in
nuclear fission, the reaction doesn't give off dangerous radiation. Unlike the fusion processes that
take place in the sun, cold fusion doesn't require extremely high temperatures. In April ... Rossi
and fellow physicist Sergio Focardi successfully demonstrated the device for a group of Swedish
physicists. At the demo in October, after an initial energy input of 400 watts into each module, each
one then produced a sustained, continuous output of 10 kilowatts (470 kW altogether) for three to
four hours. Peter Hagelstein, an MIT professor of electrical engineering and computer science and
one of the most mainstream proponents of cold fusion research, thinks the process may involve
vibrational energy in the metal's lattice driving nuclear transitions that lead to fusion.
Note: For lots more on this exciting development, click here. And for a CBS video segment and
another excellent documentary showing top researchers who continue to be very excited about
results of ongoing cold fusion experiments, click here. For media reports on other suppressed new
energy inventions, click here.

Cold Fusion Is Hot Again

2009-04-19, CBS News
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/04/17/60minutes/main4952167.shtml
Twenty years ago it appeared, for a moment, that all our energy problems could be solved. It was
the announcement of cold fusion - nuclear energy like that which powers the sun - but at room
temperature on a table top. It promised to be cheap, limitless and clean. Cold fusion would end our
dependence on the Middle East and stop those greenhouse gases blamed for global warming. It
would change everything. But then, just as quickly as it was announced, it was discredited. So
thoroughly, that cold fusion became a catch phrase for junk science. Well, a funny thing happened
on the way to oblivion - for many scientists today, cold fusion is hot again. "We can yield the power
of nuclear physics on a tabletop. The potential is unlimited. That is the most powerful energy
source known to man," researcher Michael McKubre told 60 Minutes correspondent Scott Pelley.
McKubre says he has seen that energy more than 50 times in cold fusion experiments he's doing
at SRI International, a respected California lab that does extensive work for the government.
McKubre is an electro-chemist who imagines, in 20 years, the creation of a clean nuclear battery.
"For example, a laptop would come pre-charged with all of the energy that you would ever
intend to use. You're now decoupled from your charger and the wall socket," he explained.
The same would go for cars. "The potential is for an energy source that would run your car
for three, four years, for example. And you'd take it in for service every four years and
they'd give you a new power supply," McKubre told Pelley.
Note: To watch the full, revealing 12-minute video clip of this segment, click here.

2,757.1 MPG Achieved at 2009 Shell Eco-marathon Americas

2009-04-19, CNBC News

http://classic.cnbc.com/id/30287740
Distance, not speed, was the goal this weekend on the track at the 2009 Shell Eco-marathon
Americas(R), a challenge for students to design, build and test fuel-efficient vehicles that travel the
farthest distance using the least amount of fuel. This year, more than 500 students from North
and South America were on hand to stretch the boundaries of fuel efficiency. So who came
out on top? The student team from Laval University, with an astonishing 2,757.1 miles per
gallon, equivalent to 1,172.2 kilometres per liter, won the grand prize in the "Prototype"
category. And in the "UrbanConcept" category - new to the Americas event this year - the team
from Mater Dei High School took the grand prize by achieving 433.3 mpg, equivalent to 184.2 km/l.
With 44 participating teams at track competition was steep. This year's challenge brought together
a number of returning teams determined to beat the 2,843 mpg (1,208 km/l) record set by Mater
Dei High School (Evansville, Ind.) in 2008, combined with a number of new teams adding fresh
innovation and vehicle designs to the competition. "The Shell Eco-marathon is a platform for
students to let their imaginations run wild," said Mark Singer, global project manager for the Shell
Eco-marathon. "By encouraging these students to build vehicles with greater energy efficiency, we
hope this will help inspire others; and together we can find solutions that will help meet the global
energy challenge."
Note: CNBC removed this article for some reason. It was still available on the Shell website at this
link for a while, but then strangely removed. Using the Internet Archive, you can still view the
article at this link. Why so little media attention to this most exciting race for top gas mileage? And
if high school students can build a car that gets over 2,500 mpg, what's up with Detroit? Could big
business be suppressing, or at the very least ignoring these inspiring inventions?

Taming the Gas-Hogging SUV

2008-06-09, ABC News
http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/GlobalWarming/story?id=5028894
Johnathan Goodwin walks to the back of his auto conversion shop in Wichita, Kan., and lifts up a
gas nozzle connected to a huge cube-shaped container. The orange stuff he's pumping is the key
to his company's mission: converting the worst gas-gulping SUVs into cleaner, meaner machines.
"This is 100 percent canola oil, refined to biodiesel," Goodwin said. His well-maintained shop is a
bit like a showroom for that much-maligned symbol of environmental ruin: the Hummer. The silver
H-1 which Goodwin says gets 60 miles per gallon has already been modified to run on
biodiesel, diesel, vegetable oil, gasoline, ethanol, hydrogen, natural gas and propane. On a
standard gasoline-to-biodiesel conversion, Goodwin starts by taking a new nine-mile-per-gallon
Hummer and removing the original gas engine. In goes an off-the-shelf GM Duramax engine that
runs on diesel fuel. A few extra modifications and a tank full of biodiesel later, the Hummer now
boasting 500 horsepower and getting about 20 miles per gallon is ready for the road. He offers
a couple of lower-cost options, including a fuel vaporizer for $1,000 that he says boosts fuel
economy by 30 percent, and a $500 software download that reprograms diesel engines to get up
to an additional seven miles per gallon. His work has many wondering why the big automakers

can't simply reconfigure their assembly lines to make their own cars run as efficiently as
Goodwin does. "I don't know why GM hasn't done it," says Goodwin. "But I can tell you that
all the parts that I use for the conversion 95 percent are all GM parts. I'm not
reinventing anything."
Note: For lots more powerful and inspiring information on this breakthrough technology and kits
you can order, click here. For many other revealing major media articles showing new energy
inventions and breakthroughs which should be making headlines, click here.

Researcher sets saltwater on fire

2007-11-14, CNN
http://edition.cnn.com/2007/TECH/science/11/14/saltwater.fire/
Last winter, inventor John Kanzius was already attempting one seemingly impossible feat -building a machine to cure cancer with radio waves -- when his device inadvertently succeeded in
another: He made saltwater catch fire. TV footage of his bizarre discovery has been burning up the
blogosphere ever since, drawing crackpots and Ph.D.s alike into a raging debate. Can water burn?
And if so, what good can come of it? Some people gush over the invention's potential for
desalinization or cheap energy. Briny seawater, after all, sloshes over most of the planet's surface,
and harnessing its heat energy could power all sorts of things. Skeptics say Kanzius's radio
generator is sucking up far more energy than it's creating, making it a carnival trick at best. For
now, Kanzius is tuning out the hubbub. Diagnosed with leukemia in 2002, he began building his
radio-wave blaster the next year, soon after a relapse. If he could seed a person's cancerous cells
with nanoscopic metal particles and blast them with radio waves, perhaps he could kill off the
cancer while sparing healthy tissue. The saltwater phenomenon happened by accident when
an assistant was bombarding a saline-filled test tube with radio waves and bumped the
tube, causing a small flash. Curious, Kanzius struck a match. "The water lit like a propane
flame," he recalls. "People said, 'It's a crock. Look for hidden electrodes in the water,' " says Penn
State University materials scientist Rustum Roy, who visited [Kanzius] in his lab in August after
seeing the feat on Google Video. A demo made Roy a believer. "This is discovery science in the
best tradition," he says. Meanwhile, researchers at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston and
the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center have made progress using Kanzius's technology to
fight cancer in animals. They published their findings last month in the journal Cancer.
Note: For other compelling articles on this fascinating invention, see recent articles in the Los
Angeles Times, ABC News, and especially Medical News Today. And for dozens of astounding
major media articles showing clear suppression of potential cancer cures, click here.

The Prophet of Garbage

2007-03-00, Popular Science - March 2007 Issue
http://www.popsci.com/scitech/article/2007-03/prophet-garbage

The Plasma Converter ... can consume nearly any type of wastefrom dirty diapers to chemical
weaponsby annihilating toxic materials in a process ... called plasma gasification. A 650-volt
current passing between two electrodes rips electrons from the air, converting the gas into plasma.
The plasma arc is so powerful, it disintegrates trash into its constituent elements by tearing apart
molecular bonds. The system is capable of breaking down pretty much anything except nuclear
waste. The only by-products are an obsidian-like glass [and] a mixture of primarily hydrogen and
carbon monoxide that can be converted into a variety of marketable fuels, including ethanol,
natural gas and hydrogen. Perhaps the most amazing part of the process is that its selfsustaining. Once the cycle is under way, the 2,200F syngas is fed into a cooling system,
generating steam that drives turbines to produce electricity. About two thirds of the power
is siphoned off to run the converter; the rest can be used on-site for heating or electricity,
or sold back to the utility grid. Even a blackout would not stop the operation of the facility. New
York City is already paying an astronomical $90 a ton to get rid of its trash. According to Startech,
a few 2,000-ton-per-day plasma-gasification plants could do it for $36. Sell the syngas and surplus
electricity, and youd actually net $15 a ton. But the decision-making bureaucracy can be slow, and
it is hamstrung by the politically well-connected waste-disposal industry. Startech isnt the only
company using plasma to turn waste into a source of clean energy. A handful of start-ups
Geoplasma, Recovered Energy, PyroGenesis, EnviroArc and Plasco Energy, among othershave
entered the market in the past decade.
Note: Why isn't this amazing, proven machine and technology making front page headlines? Read
this exciting article to find how it is already being used. For why you don't know about it, click here.
And for another amazing new energy source not yet reported in the major media, click here.

A Faith-Based Fuel Initiative

2007-01-30, New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/30/opinion/30tue1.html?ex=1327813200&en=8ce942...
In 1975, after the oil embargo, Congress approved the most successful energy-saving measure
this country has ever seen: the Corporate Average Fuel Economy system, known as CAFE, which
set minimum mileage standards for cars. Within 10 years, automobile efficiency had virtually
doubled, to 27.5 miles per gallon in 1985 from just over 14 miles per gallon in 1976. The
mileage standards are still 27.5 m.p.g. Except for minor tweaks, Congress has refused to raise
fuel efficiency requirements or close a gaping loophole that lets S.U.V.s and pickups be measured
by a more lenient standard.
Note: Thank you New York Times for pointing out what so few have bothered to mention. In the
U.S., it is not the automotive industry that determines fuel mileage standards, but rather Congress.
Whenever Congress has raised the mileage standard, industry complies and average mileage
increases. When the standards are not raised, average car mileage for new cars stays the same.
Yet Congress refused to significantly raise the standards from 1985 to 2012, despite the increasing
talk of an energy crisis. Why? If you really want to know, click here and here.

Brazil's alcohol cars hit 2m mark

2006-08-18, BBC News
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/5263384.stm
Brazil's new generation of cars and trucks adapted to run on alcohol has just hit the twomillion mark. "Flex-fuel" vehicles, which run on any combination of ethanol and petrol, now
make up 77% of the Brazilian market. Brazil has pioneered the use of ethanol derived from
sugar-cane as motor fuel. Ethanol-driven cars have been on sale there for 25 years, but they have
been enjoying a revival since flex-fuel models first appeared in March 2003. Just 48,200 flex-fuel
cars were sold in Brazil in 2003, but the total had reached 1.2 million by the end of last year and
had since topped two million, the Brazilian motor manufacturers' association Anfavea said.
Note: With sky-high gasoline prices and the fear of depletion of global oil supplies, why don't such
cars exist in the U.S.? Why are the trains of almost every other developed nation far advanced
from trains in the U.S.? And why isn't the U.S. media reporting on this important development? For
possible answers, click here. The excellent movie Who Killed the Electric Car is also incredibly
revealing.

Enron Schemes Caught On Tape

2005-02-03, CBS News
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/02/03/eveningnews/main671618.shtml
During the West Coast Power crisis homes went dark and streetlights were out ... causing injuries
and accidents. But the danger didn't stop Enron's energy traders from having a good laugh. CBS
... reports on the Enron scheme, as caught on new audio tape. The traders and plant operator
laugh and plot in a display that seems to prove the theory that years before the energy crisis,
Enron manipulated markets. "They had to do a rolling blackout through the town and there was a
red light there he didn't see," one Enron trader says on tape. "That's beautiful," a second voice
responds. Enron secretly shut power plants down so they could cause, and then cash in on,
the crisis. Enron also pulled power out of states like California, causing emergency
conditions to worsen. "Sorry California," an Enron trader says. "I'm bringing all our power
out of state today." Plant operators were coached on how to lie to officials. "We want you guys to
get a little creative..." one voice says on the tape, "and come up with a reason to go down. Just call
'em, Hey guyswe're coming down." The plant operator replies, "OK, so we're just comin' down
for some maintenance?" "Right," the trader says. "And that's cool?" the plant operator asks.
"Hopefully," the trader responds, to which the men are heard laughing. Enron also pulled power
out of states like California, causing emergency conditions to worsen. The "shut downs" and "pull
outs" triggered sky high power prices. "We're just making money hand over fist!" one voice is
heard saying on the tape. And when states complained, the guys at Enron seemed to have a
response. "Get a f****** clue," one says. "Yeah," another chimes in. "Leave us alone. Let us make
a little bit of money."

Note: For an eye-opening two-minute video clip on CBS, watch "Enron Schemers on Tape" at this
link. MSNBC also published a revealing article on this. And a New York Times article states
"Company officials had long denied that they illegally shut down plants to create artificial
shortages. Two months after the recording showed how the Nevada plant was shut down, [Enron
CEO Kenneth] Lay called any claims of market manipulation 'conspiracy theories.'" For lots more
reliable information on the energy cover-up, click here.

Car achieves almost 10,000 miles per gallon

1999-07-16, BBC News
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/395366.stm
A car driven by a 10-year-old and built at a French school has set a new world record for fuel
efficiency. The Microjoule team managed the equivalent of 9,845 miles per gallon while
driving for 10 miles around Silverstone race track in the UK. More than 100 teams competed
in the Shell Eco-Marathon. Their one goal was to see how far they can get these amazing
machines to travel on a minuscule amount of fuel. While we might be delirious if we managed 40
miles (64 kilometres) to the gallon (4.5 litres) pottering about town in our super minis, these people
are not happy until they have seen the mileometer click through the thousands. The teams have a
choice of petrol or diesel, with solar assistance permitted for the first time this year. A car is
allowed three 40-minute runs. It must average at least 15 mph (24 kph) after which the stewards at
the meeting calculate the machine's fuel efficiency. "The top fuel teams do about 10 miles, which is
six laps on the club circuit at Silverstone," says the event's fuel manager Geoff Houlbrook. "They
do that on less than 10 millilitres which is just two teaspoons of fuel." The entries come from all
over Europe. Some teams use advanced materials like titanium and carbon fibre. Some of the
machines built by schoolchildren are made from parts of old sewing and washing machines. "It's
fun but it's also science," says BBC Top Gear presenter and racing driver Tiff Needell. "It's like an
experiment with people learning how to save energy."
Note: Some of these amazing vehicles built in 1999 were "built by schoolchildren," yet the auto
industry still can't come up with a car that get's 100 mpg? Granted these cars are slow and small,
but if they can get almost 10,000 mpg, don't you think similar technology could be used to get at
least several hundred mpg in regular cars? For why car mileage hasn't increased much since the
1908 Model T got 25 mpg, click here and here.

Was Edison Adversary Father Of 'Star Wars'?

1986-08-10, Chicago Tribune
http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1986-08-10/news/8602270598_1_nikola-tesla-...
Weren't we taught that radio was invented by an Italian named Guglielmo Marconi? And that the
legendary Thomas Alva Edison devised today's electrical power system? "We were taught wrong,"
said Toby Grotz, president of the International Tesla Society. Two years before Marconi
demonstrated his wireless radio transmission, [Nikola Tesla] performed an identical feat at the

1893 World's Fair in Chicago. On June 21, 1943, in the case of Marconi Wireless Telegraph
Co. vs. the United States, the Supreme Court ruled that that Tesla's radio patents had
predated those of the Italian genius. To be sure, Edison invented the incandesent light bulb. But
he powered it and all of his other projects with inefficient direct current (DC) electricity. It was Tesla
who discovered how to use the far more powerful phased form of alternating current (AC)
electricity that is virtually the universal type of electricity employed by modern civilization. There
are indications that Tesla also discovered many of the devices ... for the Pentagon's controversial
Star Wars antimissile defense system. "Tesla dreamed of supplying limitless amounts of power
freely and equally available to all persons on Earth," said Grotz. And he was convinced he could
do so by broadcasting electrical power across large distances just as radio transmits far smaller
amounts of energy. [Tesla's] tests ... caused lights to burn as much as 26 miles away,
according to news reports of the time.
Note: Tesla was written out of history texts likely because he advocated providing methods for
extremely cheap electricity available to everyone. He successfully transmitted electricity through
the air to lights 26 miles away. Yet the rich energy power brokers of his time could not stand for
this. Only the little known Supreme Court ruling mentioned above restored his claim as original
inventor of the radio. For lots more on this most fascinating genius, click on the article link above
and click here and here. For revealing major media articles showing the suppression of other
energy inventions which could transform our world, click here.

Grid parity: Why electric utilities should struggle to sleep at night

2014-03-25, Washington Post blog
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/innovations/wp/2014/03/25/grid-parity-why...
Whats good news for those concerned with climate change, and bad news for electric utilities?
Thats grid parity. It exists when an alternative energy source generates electricity at a cost
matching the price of power from the electric grid. As grid parity becomes increasingly common,
renewable energy could transform our world and slow the effects of climate change. Advances in
solar panels and battery storage will make it more realistic for consumers to dump their electric
utility, and power their homes through solar energy. A 2013 Deutsche Bank report said that 10
states are currently at grid parity: Arizona, California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Nevada, New
Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York and Vermont. Germany, Spain, Portugal and
Australia have reached grid parity. This shift has benefited from a dramatic drop in the price
of solar panels, which dropped 97.2 percent from 1975 to 2012. As solar energy gets cheaper,
traditional electric utilities are doing the opposite. The cost of maintaining the electric grid has
gotten more expensive, but reliability hasnt improved. If customers leave electric utilities, it starts a
downward spiral. Fewer customers will mean higher rates, which encourages remaining customers
to jump ship for a solar-battery system. Energy upstarts are led by forward thinkers with disruptive
track records and eyes on societys big problems. NRG Energy chief executive David Crane ...
highlighted the climate change concerns in a recent letter to shareholders: The day is coming

when our children sit us down ... look us straight in the eye, with an acute sense of betrayal and
disappointment in theirs, and whisper to us, You knew and you didnt do anything about it.
Why?
Note: Read through a rich collection of energy news articles with inspiring and revealing news on
energy developments. Then explore a treasure trove of concise summaries of incredibly inspiring
news articles which will inspire you to make a difference.

Miracle material graphene can distil booze, says study

2012-01-27, BBC News
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-16747208
Membranes based on the "miracle material" graphene can be used to distil alcohol, according to a
new study in Science [magazine]. An international team created the membrane from graphene
oxide - a chemical derivative of graphene. They have shown that the membrane blocks the
passage of several gases and liquids, but lets water through. This joins a long list of fascinating
and unusual properties associated with graphene and its derivatives. Graphene ... is a flat layer of
carbon atoms tightly packed into a two-dimensional honeycomb arrangement. Because it is so
thin, it is also practically transparent. As a conductor of electricity, it performs as well as
copper; and as a conductor of heat, it outperforms all other known materials. The unusual
electronic, mechanical and chemical properties of graphene at the molecular scale promise
numerous applications. Andrei Geim and Konstantin Novoselov from the University of
Manchester were awarded 2010's Nobel Prize in physics for their discovery [of graphene].
Geim and others have now developed a laminate made from thin sheets of graphene oxide. These
films were hundreds of times thinner than a human hair but remained strong, flexible and easy to
handle. In another study in Science journal, a different team reports the development of a
membrane based on diamond-like carbon. This membrane has unique pore sizes that allow for the
ultra-fast passage of oil through it. One expert said it could potentially be used for filtering toxic
contaminants out of water or for purifying industrial chemicals.
Note: To read about the exciting potential of this miracle material to create fresh water from salt
water, click here. For revealing media articles on amazing energy inventions, most of which are not
getting nearly the attention they deserve, click here.

Abiotic Oil: A Theory Worth Exploring

2011-09-14, US News & World Report magazine
http://www.usnews.com/opinion/blogs/energy-intelligence/2011/09/14/abiotic-oi...
[Abiotic oil theorists] hold that oil can be derived from hydrocarbons that existed eons ago in
massive pools deep within the earth's core. That source of hydrocarbons seeps up through the
earth's layers and slowly replenishes oil sources. In other words, it turns the fossil-fuel paradigm
upside down. Thomas Gold, a respected astronomer and professor emeritus at Cornell University

in Ithaca, NY, has held for years that oil is actually a renewable, primordial syrup continually
manufactured by the Earth under ultrahot conditions and tremendous pressures. As this
substance migrates toward the surface, it is attacked by bacteria, making it appear to have
an organic origin dating back to the dinosaurs, he says. That ... raises the tantalizing possibility
that oil may not be the limited resource it is assumed to be. In 2008 ... a group of Russian and
Ukrainian scientists [said] that oil and gas don't come from fossils; they're synthesized deep within
the earth's mantle by heat, pressure, and other purely chemical means, before gradually rising to
the surface. The idea that oil comes from fossils "is a myth" that needs changing according to
petroleum engineer Vladimir Kutcherov, speaking at the Royal Institute of Technology in Sweden.
"All kinds of rocks could have oil and gas deposits." Alexander Kitchka of the Ukrainian National
Academy of Sciences estimates that 60 percent of the content of all oil is abiotic in origin and not
from fossil fuels.
Note: For more on the intriguing abiotic oil theory, click here. For key reports from major media
sources on promising energy sources, click here.

Solar Panel Drops to $1 per Watt

2009-02-26, Popular Mechanics
http://www.popularmechanics.com/science/research/4306443.html
A long-sought solar milestone was eclipsed on Tuesday, when Tempe, Ariz.based First
Solar Inc. announced that the manufacturing costs for its thin-film photovoltaic panels had
dipped below $1 per watt for the first time. With comparable costs for standard silicon panels
still hovering in the $3 range, it's tempting to conclude that First Solar's cadmium telluride (CdTe)
technology has won the race. But if we're concerned about the big picture (scaling up solar until it's
a cheap and ubiquitous antidote to global warming and foreign oil) a forthcoming study from the
University of CaliforniaBerkeley and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory suggests that
neither material has what it takes compared to lesser-known alternatives such aswe're not
kiddingfool's gold. Even if the solar cell market were to grow at 56 percent a year for the next 10
yearsslightly higher than the rapid growth of the past yearphotovoltaics would still only
account for about 2.5 percent of global electricity, LBNL researcher Cyrus Wadia says. "First Solar
is great, as long as we're talking megawatts or gigawatts," he says. "But as soon as they have to
start rolling out terawatts, that's where I believe they will reach some limitations." Even the current
rate of growth won't be easy to sustain. Despite the buck-per-watt announcement, First Solar's
share price plummeted more than 20 percent on Wednesday, thanks to warnings from CEO Mike
Ahearn about the effect of the credit crisis on potential solar customersas much as 10 to 15
percent of current orders might default.
Note: Solar energy costs have dropped consistently and steadily over the past 30 years. In the
late 1970s solar energy cost $100 per watt. The price will almost certainly continue to drop. The
San Francisco Chronicle reported in 2005 that "the electricity currently provided by utilities ...

averages $1 per watt." Why isn't it being trumpeted loudly worldwide in the media that solar energy
is reaching parity with traditional energy sources? Could it be that powerful interests don't want
solar energy to be competitive with oil and nuclear?

Blacklight Power bolsters its impossible claims of a new renewable

energy source
2008-10-21, New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/external/venturebeat/2008/10/21/21venturebeat-blacklig...
Ask nearly any physicist if its possible for a hydrogen atom to enter a lower energy state than the
ground, or resting, state they hold in nature, and youre likely to get an unequivocal no. But a tiny
company in New Jersey called Blacklight Power has been disputing that assumption for over a
decade, and of late, making gad-fly claims that its founder says will overturn the accepted scientific
order. Blacklights claims have a special significance: If theyre true, theres a source of cheap,
clean energy that can be easily tapped anywhere in the world. Blacklight is now saying that it has
physical proof of its energy generator, verified by an independent university lab. Its hydrino theory
isnt put forth by a single crackpot; instead, the company employs a good handful of high-level
scientists who would presumably rebel if the idea was totally false. It has also taken over $60
million in venture funding. Despite a hearty rejection by the scientific mainstream, and being
ignored for years on end, its founder, Randell Mills, has plugged on. Now an engineering team at
Rowan University ...has come forward with results from its own tests of the Blacklight process.
Tests conducted in sealed chambers, and measured with a device called a calorimeter,
show a heat reaction from a substance provided by Blacklight far beyond anything
anticipated. Weve been able to regularly reproduce these results and we believe any
research lab could do the same, Peter Jansson, the faculty member heading the experiments,
[said].
Note: For several videos demonstrating this amazing new energy source, click here. For reports
from professors and engineers who have validated this exciting technology, click here.

Puzzled Researchers Vet BlackLights Physics-Defying Hydrogen Power

2008-10-21, New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/external/gigaom/2008/10/21/21gigaom-blacklight-validat...
BlackLight Power, the company that has pulled in $60 million for its seemingly physics-defying fuel
cell, is back with an announcement about an independent validation of its technology. A team of
engineers, headed by Dr. Peter Jansson at Rowan University, have tested BlackLights prototypes
and found that the devices perform as BlackLight claims, ambiguously concluding that there is a
novel reaction of some type causing the large exotherm which is consistently produced. To
translate: Theres definitely lots of energy being produced. Theyre just not sure why. BlackLight
says its technology can push an electron closer to the nucleus by way of a catalytic
reaction, resulting in a huge amount of clean energy. The company describes the reaction

as somewhere between a nuclear and a chemical reaction, but without any of the messy
fallout. The team at Rowan tested BlackLights 1,000- and 50,000-watt reactors over three months
and were able to replicate BlackLights energy claims, saying that the energy produced cannot be
explained by other known sources like combustion or nuclear energy. The company says a
complete verification of the whole process will likely happen within a year. BlackLight tells us it is
now in the process of licensing its technology to power producers. The company says it has
enough capital to get through commercialization and plans to have its reactors in a power plant in
the next two years.
Note: For several videos demonstrating this amazing new energy source, click here. For reports
from professors and engineers who have validated this exciting technology, click here.

Loremo: The 'Low Resistance Mobile'

2008-02-20, MSN
https://web.archive.org/web/20080308132816/http://editorial.autos.msn.com/art...
The idea is deceptively simple. Forget about fancy batteries, regenerative braking, and alternative
fuels. Instead, make a car that's elegant in its minimalism and efficiency. The Loremo's German
designers revisited the basics engine efficiency, low weight, and minimal drag to
create a car that offers fuel-efficiency in the neighborhood of 130 to 150 miles per gallon.
The Loremo is likely to dazzle drivers not with its acceleration, but with its ability to drive
from New York to L.A. with only three stops at the pump. Loremo stands for low resistance
mobile, and its engineers have stuck obsessively to this idea. By building the car around a 2cylinder turbodiesel engine, and cutting back on weight, drag, and other excess fat such as sideopening doors, the Loremo puffs out a mere 50 grams of carbon dioxide per kilometer. This is
about 40 grams less per kilometer than the tiny diesel smart. According to its creators, this will
make the Loremo the most efficient production car ever sold. If the Loremo showed up as a
concept on an auto show pedestal, it would certainly garner some attention. But the Loremo is not
a car for dreamers; not only will it enter mass production next year, it will sport a base price
attainable by mortal motorists: 15,000 euros (about U.S. $22,000). After its 2009 release in
Europe, the Loremo will be redesigned to reach the North American market the following year. A
$30,000, 3-cylinder GT model will also become available, offering better acceleration (0-60 in
roughly 10 seconds, vs. 16 for the base model). Both hybrid and fully electric versions are also in
the works.
Note: For many exciting, reliable reports on new energy and automobile technologies, click here.

The New Dawn of Solar

2007-12-01, Popular Science magazine
http://www.popsci.com/popsci/flat/bown/2007/green/item_59.html

Imagine a solar panel without the panel. Just a coating, thin as a layer of paint, that takes light and
converts it to electricity. From there, you can picture roof shingles with solar cells built inside and
window coatings that seem to suck power from the air. Consider solar-powered buildings
stretching not just across sunny Southern California, but through China and India and Kenya as
well, because even in those countries, going solar will be cheaper than burning coal. Thats the
promise of thin-film solar cells: solar power thats ubiquitous because its cheap. The basic
technology has been around for decades, but this year, Silicon Valleybased Nanosolar
created the manufacturing technology that could make that promise a reality. The company
produces its PowerSheet solar cells with printing-press-style machines that set down a layer of
solar-absorbing nano-ink onto metal sheets as thin as aluminum foil, so the panels can be made
for about a tenth of what current panels cost and at a rate of several hundred feet per minute.
Nanosolars first commercial cells rolled off the presses this year. Cost has always been one of
solars biggest problems. Traditional solar cells require silicon, and silicon is an expensive
commodity. That means even the cheapest solar panels cost about $3 per watt of energy they go
on to produce. To compete with coal, that figure has to shrink to just $1 per watt. Nanosolars cells
use no silicon, and the companys manufacturing process allows it to create cells that are as
efficient as most commercial cells for as little as 30 cents a watt. "It really is quite a big deal in
terms of altering the way we think about solar and in inherently altering the economics of solar,"
says Dan Kammen, founding director of the Renewable and Appropriate Energy Laboratory at the
University of California at Berkeley.
Note: For exciting reports of other new energy technologies, click here.

Bribes offered to scientists

2007-02-03, Sydney Morning Herald (Australia's leading newspaper)
http://www.smh.com.au/news/environment/bribes-offered-to-scientists/2007/02/0...
Scientists and economists have been offered $10,000 each by a lobby group funded by one
of the world's largest oil companies to undermine the UN climate change report. Letters sent
by the American Enterprise Institute, an ExxonMobil-funded think tank with close links to the Bush
Administration, offered the payments for articles that emphasise the shortcomings of the report.
Travel expenses and additional payments were also offered. The institute has received more than
$1.6 million from ExxonMobil - which yesterday announced a $50 billion annual profit, the biggest
ever by a US company - and more than 20 of its staff have worked as consultants to the Bush
Administration. A former head of ExxonMobil, Lee Raymond, is the vice-chairman of the institute's
board of trustees.
Note: Why wasn't this important story covered by any major media in the U.S.? For an
answer, click here.

Kids Build Soybean-Fueled Car

2006-02-17, CBS News

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/02/17/eveningnews/main1329941.shtml
The star at last week's Philadelphia Auto Show wasn't a sports car or an economy car. It was a
sports-economy car one that combines performance and practicality under one hood. But as
CBS News correspondent Steve Hartman reports in this week's Assignment America, the car that
buyers have been waiting decades [for] comes from an unexpected source and runs on soybean
bio-diesel fuel to boot. A car that can go from zero to 60 in four seconds and get more than 50
miles to the gallon would be enough to pique any driver's interest. So who do we have to
thank for it. Ford? GM? Toyota? No just Victor, David, Cheeseborough, Bruce, and Kosi,
five kids from the auto shop program at West Philadelphia High School. The five kids ... built
the soybean-fueled car as an after-school project. It took them more than a year rummaging for
parts, configuring wires and learning as they went. As teacher Simon Hauger notes, these kids
weren't exactly the cream of the academic crop. "If you give kids that have been stereotyped as
not being able to do anything an opportunity to do something great, they'll step up," he says.
Stepping up is something the big automakers have yet to do. They're still in the early stages of
marketing hybrid cars while playing catch-up to the Bad News Bears of auto shop. "We made this
work," says Hauger. "We're not geniuses. So why aren't they doing it?" Kosi thinks he knows why.
The answer, he says, is the big oil companies.
Note: So why isn't this remarkable engine design breakthrough making front page headlines in all
major media? Why aren't the many other major energy breakthroughs that have been reported
given the headlines they deserve? Could it be that those who are reaping huge profits from oil
sales have much more political and media influence than you might imagine? For lots more
reliable information on this, click here.

Eco-car more efficient than light bulb

2005-07-05, CNN News
http://www.cnn.com/2005/TECH/07/04/eco.car
An eco-car that can travel the world using a fraction of the electricity it takes to power a light bulb
has been unveiled by its British creators. The hydrogen-powered Ech2o needs just 25 Watts -- the
equivalent of less than two gallons of petrol -- to complete the 25,000-mile global trip, while
emitting nothing more hazardous than water. But with a top speed of 30mph, the journey would
take more than a month to complete. Ech2o, built by British gas firm BOC, will bid to smash
the world fuel efficiency record of over 10,000 miles per gallon at the Shell Eco Marathon. The
record is currently ... 5,385 km/per liter [12,900 mpg!]. John Carolin, BOC global director
sustainable energy: "It sounds unbelievable how little power is used to keep the BOC Ech2o
moving, but it demonstrates the impact of careful design and is a valuable lesson for car makers in
the future.
Note: If these small test cars get over 10,000 miles per gallon, why aren't new cars getting at least
100 mpg?

Refiners Maintain a Firm but Legal Grip on Supplies

2005-06-18, Los Angeles Times
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-calgas18jun18,0,7589520.story
California refiners are simply cashing in on a system that allows a handful of players to keep prices
high by carefully controlling supplies. The result is a kind of miracle market in which profits abound,
outsiders can't compete and a dwindling cadre of gas station operators has little choice but go
along. Refiners "not only control how much supply is in the marketplace, they control who gets it
and at what price," said Dennis DeCota, executive director of the California Service Station and
Automotive Repair Assn. The recent history of California's fuel industry is a textbook case of
how a once-competitive business can become skewed to the advantage of a few, all with
the federal government's blessing. Refiners acknowledge their California businesses have
become the most profitable in the nation. The rest of the country isn't far behind. Characteristics
once unique to California specialty fuels, a refinery shortage, the growing dominance of a few
companies have begun to plague other gasoline markets.

Toyota smashes fuel economy record

2002-10-20, London Times
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,588-451038,00.html
Tucked away on the Toyota stand you will find a cheeky little coup that looks sporty but whose
raison dtre is fuel economy, the lowest exhaust emissions and ease of recycling. The ES3 the
initials stand for Eco Spirit achieves 104mpg in the official European fuel consumption
tests, a record for a four-seat car. Some months ago I drove this prototype and not only is it
even more economical than the special 3 litre (three litres of fuel for every 100km travelled, or
94mpg) versions of the Audi A2 and VW Lupo that sell in Germany, but the Toyota is more lively
and responsive and would be very acceptable as an everyday car. The ES3 has a 1.4 litre
turbocharged diesel engine and CVT (continuously variable transmission).
Note: So what happened to this amazing car? Why haven't we heard anything about it since the
article was published in 2002? Read the revealing WantToKnow.info article at this link to learn how
this amazing car, which was the talk of the fuel economy car industry in 2002, eventually
disappeared. And for an excellent essay which provides key information on this topic, including a
detailed list of suppressed inventions which greatly improve gasoline mileage reported over the
years in respected magazines, click here.

Tsunami bomb - NZ's devastating war secret

1999-09-25, New Zealand Herald (New Zealand's leading newspaper)
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=14727

Top-secret wartime experiments were conducted off the coast of Auckland to perfect a tidal
wave bomb, declassified files reveal. United States defence chiefs said that if the project had
been completed before the end of the war it could have played a role as effective as that of the
atom bomb. Details of the tsunami bomb, known as Project Seal, are contained in 53-year-old
documents released by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Papers stamped "top secret"
show the US and British military were eager for Seal to be developed in the post-war years too.
The experiments involved laying a pattern of explosives underwater to create a tsunami. It is
unclear what happened to Project Seal once the final report was forwarded to Wellington Defence
Headquarters late in the 1940s. The bomb was never tested on a full scale. "Whether it could ever
be resurrected ... Under some circumstances I think it could be devastating."

Listen, Detroit: You'll Get a Charge Out of This

1999-03-01, Time Magazine
http://www.time.com/time/reports/environment/heroes/heroesgallery/0,2967,ovsh...
Troy, Mich., in the belly of the automobile industry, is an odd place to spark a revolution against the
internal-combustion engine. But, then, Stanford Ovshinsky is no ordinary gearhead. Although he
never went to college, he founded a new field of physics based on the superconductivity of certain
alloys. The company he formed in 1960, Energy Conversion Devices, makes the photovoltaic cells
used on the Mir space station to generate electricity from sunlight. In the '80s the Japanese
licensed his patents to produce digital video discs. But what really revs him up these days is a car
battery. How dull is that? Not at all, if it can "change the world," as he claims with a subversive glint
in his eye. When Ovshinsky talked of scaling up his battery to run a car, he was ridiculed. "The
auto companies said it wouldn't work," he recalls. "Then, after one car got 200 miles on a
single charge, they said it couldn't be manufactured. Now that we are making them, they
say it is too costly. But that is a red herring too." Ovshinsky's team of engineers and
electrochemists has slashed the cost 40% in two years, they claim. If automakers would commit to
buying tens of thousands, Ovshinsky says, the batteries would make electric cars as cheap as
gasoline models.
Note: Ovshinsky, who has over 200 patents to his name, was censured for publicizing his amazing
battery. GM refused to use his superior battery in the GM's EV-1 when it first came out. The inferior
battery they used instead ensured the car would not be successful. Once Ovshinsky's battery
became even more effective and looked sure to overtake conventional gasoline as the more
effective way to run a car, his company was then sold by GM to Chevron Texaco, who shelved the
project entirely. To see a three-minute clip from the excellent movie "Who Killed the Electric Car"
on this, click here. For more on this remarkable man, click here.

Method and Apparatus for Tunneling by Melting

1972-09-22, US Patent and Trademark Office
http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PALL&p=1&...

The invention described herein was made in the course of, or under, a contract with the U. S.
ATOMIC ENERGY COMMISSION. It relates ... to a method and apparatus for drilling, tunneling
and shaft-sinking in rock with particular advantage at hitherto inaccessible depths. The present
invention uses the basic apparatus and method disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,357,505 and in Los
Alamos Scientific Laboratory of the University of California Report No. LA-3243 (1965) entitled
"Rock Melting as a Drilling Technique." In the existing rock melting devices of the prior art, a major
difficulty which limited performance was that of delivering a sufficiently large heat flux to the
melting face of the drill or penetrator. The development of the heat pipe alleviates this problem in
that the use of heat pipes enables the transfer of heat energy from a compact heat source to the
extended melting surface of the penetrator at rates high enough to maintain the surface above the
melting temperature of the rock. The extrapolation of a mechanism useful for forming large holes in
the earth in accordance with the present invention uses the combination of a refractory rockmelting tool, an in situ heat source preferably a small nuclear reactor and an exceedingly
efficient heat transfer mechanism such as a system of heat pipes to convey heat from the
source to the walls of the drilling tool.
Note: This patent shows that government scientists at Los Alamos were using a "small nuclear
reactor" to drill underground tunnels. Several of the inventors listed on the patent worked at Los
Alamos National Laboratory, including: McInteer, Berthus B.; Mills, Robert L.; Potter, Robert M.;
Robinson, Eugene S.; Rowley, John C.; and Smith, Morton C.. For photos and more fascinating
information on this most intriguing patent, click here.

The sports car that runs on saltwater

2014-09-01, Daily Mail (U.K.)
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2739768/The-sports-car-runs-SA...
Sports cars may not have the best reputation for being environmentally-friendly, but this sleek
machine has been designed to reach 217.5 mph (350 km/h) using nothing but saltwater. Its
radical drive system allows the 5,070lbs (2,300kg) Quant e-Sportlimousine to reach 0-60
mph (100 km/h) in 2.8 seconds, making it as fast as the McLaren P1. After making its debut
at the 2014 Geneva Motor Show in March, the saltwater technology has now been certified
for use on European roads. The 920 horsepower (680 kW) Quant e-Sportlimousine uses
something known as an electrolyte flow cell power system to power four electric motors within the
car. It works in a similar way to a hydrogen fuel cell, however, the liquid used for storing energy is
saltwater. The liquid passes through a membrane in between the two tanks, creating an electric
charge. This electricity is then stored and distributed by super capacitors. The car carries the water
in two 200-litre tanks, which in one sitting will allow drivers to travel up to 373 miles (600km).
NanoFlowcell AG, a Lichtenstein-based company behind the drive, is now planning to test the car
on public roads in Germany and elsewhere in Europe as the company prepares for series
production. It claims the technology offers five times the energy capacity of lithium-ion batteries of
the same weight. 'We've got major plans, and not just within the automobile industry,' says

NanoFlowcell AG Chairman of the Board Professor Jens-Peter Ellermann. 'The potential of the
NanoFlowcell is much greater, especially in terms of domestic energy supplies as well as in
maritime, rail and aviation technology.'
Note: See the link above for photos and videos of this sleek masterpiece. Why isn't this car and it's
unique technology getting more press? For more on this amazing car, see its website and read a
gizmag article with more on how the car has received approval to run on European roads. Explore
a treasure trove of concise summaries of incredibly inspiring news articles which will inspire you to
make a difference.

Finally! Independent Testing Of Rossi's E-Cat Cold Fusion Device:

Maybe The World Will Change After All
2013-05-20, Forbes
http://www.forbes.com/sites/markgibbs/2013/05/20/finally-independent-testing-...
Back in October 2011 I first wrote about Italian engineer, Andrea Rossi, and his E-Cat project, a
device that produces heat through a process called a Low Energy Nuclear Reaction (LENR). Very
briefly, LENR, otherwise called cold fusion, is a technique that generates energy through low
temperature (far lower than hot fusion temperatures which are in the range of tens off thousands of
degrees) reactions that are not chemical. Most importantly, LENR is, theoretically, much safer,
much simpler, and many orders of magnitude cheaper than hot fusion. What everyone wanted was
something that Rossi has been promising was about to happen for months: An independent test by
third parties who were credible. A report by credible, independent third parties is exactly what we
got. Published on May 16, the paper [is] titled Indication of anomalous heat energy production in a
reactor device, [by] serious academics with reputations to lose and the paper is detailed and
thorough. The authors [conclude,] "if we consider the whole volume of the reactor core and
the most conservative figures on energy production, we still get a value ... that is one order
of magnitude higher than any conventional source." This is not, of course, the last word or
even one anywhere near the end of this story but unless this is one of the most elaborate hoaxes
in scientific history it looks like the world may well be about to change. How quick will depend
solely on Rossi.
Note: For another point of view on this breakthrough testing, see the well written article at this link.
For dozens of other major media articles reporting spectacular breakthroughs in new energy
technology that strangely were neither debunked nor followed up on, click here.

Teslas Model S receives top rating from Consumer Reports

2013-05-09, Washington Post/Bloomberg
http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/tesla-electric-model-s-sedan-grabs-con...

Tesla Motors Inc.s electric Model S, Motor Trends 2013 Car of the Year, received the highest
rating from Consumer Reports in an evaluation of the luxury sedan that led first-quarter North
American plug-in car sales. The Model S from Palo Alto, California-based Tesla scored 99 out of
100 points, the non-profit magazine said in an e-mailed statement. The $89,650 car bought by
Consumer Reports performed better, or just as well overall as any vehicle its ever tested,
the ... magazine said. It accelerates, handles and brakes like a sports car, it has the ride
and quietness of a luxury car and is far more energy efficient than the best hybrid cars,
said Jake Fisher, Consumer Reports director of automotive testing. No rechargeable car has won
a score as high as the Model S. The magazine last gave a vehicle 99 points in 2007, when Toyota
Motor Corp.s Lexus LS460L ranked that high. Model S shortcomings include limited range, long
charge times and coupe-like styling that impairs rear visibility and impedes access, Consumer
Reports said. Along with reliability that isnt yet determined, Tesla still has a limited service
network, the magazine said. The test vehicle had an 85-kilowatt/hour lithium-ion battery pack and
averaged about 200 miles (322 kilometers) per charge in real-world driving, the magazine said.
The Tesla is easily the most practical electric car that has been tested to date, Consumer Reports
said.
Note: After undeniable suppression of the electric car by car manufacturers, independent upstart
Tesla Motors has done it! Expect to see more breakthroughs from this great new company. For
more on the company's amazing namesake and how his inventions were suppressed, click here.

Toyota Rav4 EV review: electrifying

2013-03-25, San Francisco Chronicle (SF's leading newspaper)
http://www.sfchronicle.com/business/article/Toyota-Rav4-EV-review-electrifyin...
In the new crop of electric cars, the Rav4 may be the best you've never heard of. It comes from
one of the world's largest automakers and sports a drivetrain built by Tesla Motors, rock star of the
plug-in world. And yet, outside the circle of electric enthusiasts, few drivers know it exists. You
can buy it only in California. Toyota doesn't advertise it on TV. So far, the company has
committed to building just 2,600. Critics, including some people who love the Rav4 EV, say
Toyota made it only to comply with California regulations that force automakers to sell
zero-pollution cars. "Everyone agrees it's a wonderful car," said Felix Kramer, founder of
CalCars, a plug-in vehicle advocacy group. "Too bad there's not enough." That suspicion comes
from experience. Toyota made an electric version of the Rav4 once before, building 1,484 of the
small SUVs between 1997 and 2003. Then the company killed the program, after California
changed its zero-emission vehicle (ZEV) rules. The new Rav4 EV ... boasts ferocious acceleration,
plenty of power and a low center of gravity thanks to the big battery pack hidden in the floor. It's
not a luxury car, but the interior is comfortable and plush, tricked out with a touch-screen and
heated seats. Those so inclined can take the Rav4 EV from a standstill to 60 mph in 7 seconds.
The car gets a solid 125 miles on a fully charged battery pack, and an easy-to-read number on the
dash constantly reminds you how many miles you have left.

Note: Once again a major car manufacturer produces a great electric vehicle only to suppress it.
Remember "Who Killed the Electric Car", the movie on GM's EV1 which was killed despite major
consumer interest? Then there was Toyota's 100 mpg Eco Spirit which was also killed. For lots
more reliable information on this suggesting industry suppression of energy breakthroughs, click
here.

Are we wildly underestimating solar and wind power?

2012-06-19, Washington Post blog
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/ezra-klein/wp/2012/06/19/are-we-wildly-un...
Right now, renewable energy sources like solar and wind still provide just a small fraction of the
worlds electricity. But theyre growing fast. Solar is growing exponentially. Across the globe, 55
terawatt-hours of solar power had been installed by the end of 2011. That may not seem like much
in itself the United States by itself, after all, needed about one hundred times that much power
in 2011. But solar has been growing at a stunning rate, as panels keep getting dramatically
cheaper. If these exponential growth rates [continue] solar could provide nearly 10 percent
of the worlds electricity by 2018. Official agencies keep underestimating the growth rate of
renewables. The International Energy Agency is forecasting that solar will catch on much more
slowly providing a mere 4.5 percent of the worlds electricity by 2035. But [t]he IEA has almost
always underestimated how quickly wind and solar can grow. Forecasters have consistently been
too pessimistic. For instance, back in 2000, the IEAs World Energy Outlook predicted that nonhydro sources of renewable energy would make up 3 percent of global energy by the year 2020.
The world reached that point in 2008, well ahead of schedule. Using only current technology,
renewables could technically provide the vast bulk of U.S. electricity by mid-century.
Note: The media has consistently underplayed the promising potential for alternative energy
sources. The fact that the above is a blog and not a regular article in the Post is yet another
example of this. For more on promising developments on energy technologies, click here.

The extra dollars you're paying at the pump are going to Wall Street
speculators
2012-02-28, Chicago Tribune
http://www.chicagotribune.com/sns-201202280930--tms--amvoicesctnav-a20120228f...
The current surge in gas prices has almost nothing to do with energy policy. It doesn't even have
much to do with global supply and demand. It has most to do with America's continuing failure to
adequately regulate Wall Street. Oil supplies aren't being squeezed. Over 80 percent of America's
energy needs are now being satisfied by domestic supplies. In fact, we're starting to become an
energy exporter. Demand for oil isn't rising. Oil demand in the U.S. is down compared to last year
at this time. The American economy is showing only the faintest signs of recovery. Meanwhile,
global demand is still moderate. Europe's debt crisis hasn't gone away. China's growth continues
to slow. But Wall Street is betting on higher oil prices. Hedge-fund managers and traders assume

that mounting tensions in the Middle East will hobble supplies later this year. Wall Street
speculators also assume global demand for oil will rise in the coming year. These are just
expectations, not today's realities. But they're pushing up oil prices just the same, because Wall
Street firms and other big financial players now dominate oil trading. Where there's money to be
made, Wall Street will find a way of making it. And when it comes to oil, so much money is at
stake that gigantic sums can be made if the bets pay off. Speculators figure they can hedge
against bad bets. Financial speculators historically accounted for about 30 percent of oil
contracts, producers and end users for about 70 percent. But today speculators account for
64 percent of all contracts.
Note: This article was written by Robert Reich, former U.S. Secretary of Labor, professor of public
policy at the University of California at Berkeley and the author of Aftershock: The Next Economy
and America's Future. He blogs at www.robertreich.org. For lots more reliable information from the
major media on energy manipulations, click here.

Method for Enhancement of Surface Plasmon Polaritons to Initiate &

Sustain LENR (Cold Fusion)
2012-01-16, NASA Website's Technology Gateway
http://technologygateway.nasa.gov/media/CC/lenr/lenr.html
[Video transcript] Narrator: While the world is drastically dependent on fossil fuel, researchers at
NASA Langley Research Center are working on another way of producing energy-efficient nuclear
power. Senior Resarch Scientist Dr Zawodny: This other form of nuclear power releases energy by
adding neutrons. Eventually [the nuclei] gain a sufficient number of neutrons that they
spontaneously decay into something of the same mass but a different element. It has the
demonstrated ability to produce excess amounts of energy, cleanly, without hazardous
ionizing radiation, without producing nasty waste. Narrator: This clean form of energy is ...
able to support everything from transportation systems to infrastructure. Dr. Zawodny: The
easiest implementation of this would be for the home. It would be ... dual use. It would
[produce] heat; and youd derive electricity from it to run your electronics, power the house, power
the building, power the light industry. And then the waste heat would be used for environmental
control [i.e. heating, air conditioning, etc.] and warm water. Narrator: NASAs method for
enhancement of surface plasmon polaritons to initiate and sustain LENR in Metal Hydride
Systems, a clean nuclear energy for your power-operated technology.
Note: LENR stands for Low Energy Nuclear Reactions, aka cold fusion. So NASA is now
acknowledging cold fusion is real! And their research provides major hope for the future. To see Dr.
Zawodny's patent for this revolutionary technology, click here. For more on NASA's involvement in
this, click here. For lots more reliable information on the suppression of cold fusion/LENR by the
media and the scientific mainstream, click here. For more inspiring news on amazing new energy
inventions, click here.

Cold Fusion Experiment: Major Success or Complex Hoax?

2011-11-02, Fox News
http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2011/11/02/andrea-rossi-italian-cold-fusion-pl...
A physicist in Italy claims to have demonstrated a new type of power plant that provides safe,
cheap and virtually unlimited nuclear power to the world, without fossil fuels or radiation concerns.
The only hitch: Scientists say the method -- cold fusion -- is patently impossible. They say it defies
the laws of physics. Andrea Rossi doesn't seem to care. He told FoxNews.com that his new
device takes in nickel and hydrogen and fuses them in a low-grade nuclear reaction that
essentially spits out sheer power, validating the strange science. With low energy, it's
possible to give a heater a certain amount of energy and to get from the same heater a
superior amount of energy, Rossi explained. He claims he demonstrated the device, called an
E-Cat, at the University of Bologna in Italy on Oct. 28. Nearly a century ago, in the 1920s, Austrian
scientists Friedrich Paneth and Kurt Peters hypothesized a form of nuclear reaction that doesnt
produce radiation. And since then, the theory of cold fusion -- or "low-energy nuclear reaction," as
its champions now call it -- has popped in and out the public's eyes, notably hitting the cover of
Time magazine in 1989. Sterling Allan, CEO of the alternative energy news agency Pure Energy
Systems, told FoxNews.com he attended Rossis demonstration and the E-Cat is self sustaining.
Note: For lots more on this exciting development, click here. And for a CBS video segment and
another excellent documentary showing top researchers who continue to be very excited about
results of ongoing cold fusion experiments, click here. For media reports on other suppressed new
energy inventions, click here.

Solar Energy: The Quest for Cheap

2011-10-13, Bloomberg Businessweek
http://www.businessweek.com/technology/solar-energy-the-quest-for-cheap-10132...
The big number is 50. When companies can produce solar photovoltaic modules for less
than 50 per watt, solar energy will be able to compete directly with coal. Right now, the
cheapest solar cells are being produced for as little as 70 per watt. They are selling for about
$1.26 per watt, with prices expected to drop to $1.17 next year. Most anticipate they they will hit
50 per watt within four or five years. As prices fall, demand is growing. Total solar installations
in the second quarter [of 2011] grew by 69 percent over the same period in 2010. The number of
Americans working in the solar industry more than doubled, to 100,000, from 2009 to 2011. Thats
considerably more than the 80,600 coal miners working in the U.S. Behind the price drops are
cheaper manufacturing costs, lower costs for such crucial raw materials as silicon, and rapidly
improving technology. Dozens of startups in the U.S. have potentially transformative ideas. The
question is which can come out on top. The wide variety of companies developing competing
technologies to capture and distribute solar power underscores the markets immaturity. Currently,
researchers are experimenting with materials ranging from silicon to gallium arsenide to cadmium
telluride, basing cost projections on disparate technologies that create solar cells. The goal is to
build one that competes without government subsidies.

Note: For lots more from reliable sources on developments in alternative energy technologies,
click here.

Man makes drinking water out of thin air

2011-08-01, KSDK.com/CNN
http://www.ksdk.com/news/article/269771/28/Man-makes-drinking-water-out-of-th...
Water out of air? A Texas man has invented a machine that does just that. The drought doesn't
worry [inventor Terry LeBleu] because he has invented and patented a new machine. It's called the
"Drought Master" and makes drinkable water out of air. "It pulls the air through it, pulls out the
moisture, and exhausts the air," LeBleu says. Depending on humidity, the machine can make
between five to seven gallons of pure water in one day. All you have to do is plug it in, and
one gallon costs only 4 cents in electrical charges. An independent lab took samples of
LeBleu's water and found it had no bacteria and is free of metals. Lab techs say it's similar to
distilled water. Willie Nelson owns 50 of these machines, including an indoor version. Even Texas
Governor Rick Perry owns one. But LeBleu wants his invention to benefit local farmers and
ranchers. The machine is quieter than a refrigerator, and you only have to wash the filter every few
years. Building one takes only two hours. The oldest model made is still up and running. It's been
functioning for a decade.
Note: For a more detailed article, click here.

GE official sees cheaper solar power

2011-05-27, Boston Globe/Bloomberg News
http://articles.boston.com/2011-05-27/business/29600903_1_solar-panels-solar-...
Solar power may be cheaper than electricity generated by fossil fuels and nuclear reactors
in three to five years because of innovations, said Mark M. Little, global research director for
General Electric Co. If we can get solar at 15 cents a kilowatt-hour or lower, which Im hopeful that
we will do, youre going to have a lot of people that are going to want to have solar at home, Little
said. The 2009 average US retail rate per kilowatt-hour for electricity ranged from 6.1 cents in
Wyoming to 18.1 cents in Connecticut, according to federal data. GE said in April that it had
boosted the efficiency of thin-film solar panels to a record 12.8 percent. Improving efficiency, or the
amount of sunlight converted to electricity, helps reduce costs. The panels will be made at a plant
GE intends to open in 2013. Most solar panels use silicon-based photovoltaic cells. The thin-film
versions, made of glass or other material coated with cadmium telluride or copper indium gallium
selenide alloys, account for about 15 percent of the $28 billion in worldwide solar-panel sales. First
Solar Inc. is the worlds largest producer of thin-film panels, with $2.6 billion in yearly revenue.
Note: For reliable reports on promising new energy technologies, click here.

Safe nuclear does exist, and China is leading the way with thorium
2011-03-20, The Telegraph (One of the UK's leading newspapers)
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/comment/ambroseevans_pritchard/8393984/Saf...
A few weeks before the tsunami struck Fukushimas uranium reactors and shattered public faith in
nuclear power, China revealed that it was launching a rival technology to build a safer, cleaner, and
ultimately cheaper network of reactors based on thorium. Chinas Academy of Sciences said it had
chosen a thorium-based molten salt reactor system. The liquid fuel idea was pioneered by US
physicists at Oak Ridge National Lab in the 1960s. Chinese scientists claim that hazardous waste
will be a thousand times less than with uranium. The system is inherently less prone to disaster.
The reactor has an amazing safety feature, said Kirk Sorensen, a former NASA engineer
at Teledyne Brown and a thorium expert. If it begins to overheat, a little plug melts and the
salts drain into a pan. There is no need for computers, or the sort of electrical pumps that
were crippled by the tsunami. The reactor saves itself, he said. US physicists in the late
1940s explored thorium fuel for power. It has a higher neutron yield than uranium, a better fission
rating, longer fuel cycles, and does not require the extra cost of isotope separation. The plans
were shelved because thorium does not produce plutonium for bombs. As a happy bonus, it can
burn up plutonium and toxic waste from old reactors, reducing radio-toxicity and acting as an ecocleaner.
Note: For a 30-minute documentary on the powerful potential of thorium as an energy source, click
here. For many reports from reliable sources on promising new energy technologies, click here.

Fusion's Ups and Downs

2010-03-23, MSNBC
http://cosmiclog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2010/03/23/2237165.aspx
This week, scientists gathered at the American Chemical Society's spring meeting in San
Francisco to turn the spotlight on a highly unorthodox path: the effect known as cold fusion. This
year's session featured nearly 50 presentations - including reports on batteries and bacteria that
appear to exhibit the cold-fusion effect. Back in 1989, cold fusion was heralded as a simple,
inexpensive way to get a power-generating fusion reaction on a desktop. But when the
experimental results couldn't be reproduced, the researchers were driven into obscurity [and] the
term "cold fusion" became synonymous with quackery. Chemists, however, have kept up their
interest in the effect. Rick Nebel [has headed] up a handful of researchers following the lesstraveled path to fusion at EMC2 Fusion Development Corp. EMC2 recently created a buzz in the
fusion underground by reporting on its Web site that it successfully completed a series of
experiments to "validate and extend" earlier results. The company is now using a $7.9 million
contract from the U.S. Navy to build a bigger test machine. Nebel and his colleagues are now
seeking contributions to fund the development of what they say would be a 100-megawatt
fusion plant - a "Phase 3" effort projected to cost $200 million and take four years.
"Successful Phase 3 marks the end of fossil fuels," the Web site proclaims.

Note: For a powerful, reliable documentary showing how promising results from cold fusion were
strongly suppressed, click here. For lots of reports from reliable sources of new energy
developments, click here.

The Bloom Box: An Energy Breakthrough?

2010-02-18, CBS 60 Minutes
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/02/18/60minutes/main6221135.shtml
In the world of energy, the Holy Grail is a power source that's inexpensive and clean, with no
emissions. Over 100 start-ups in Silicon Valley are working on it. One of them, Bloom Energy, is
about to make public its invention: a little power-plant-in-a-box they want to put literally in
your backyard. You'll generate your own electricity with the box and it'll be wireless. The
idea is to one day replace the big power plants and transmission line grid. K.R. Sridhar ...
says he knows it works because he originally invented a similar device for NASA. He really is a
rocket scientist. He invented a new kind of fuel cell, which is like a very skinny battery that always
runs. Sridhar feeds oxygen to it on one side, and fuel on the other. The two combine within the cell
to create a chemical reaction that produces electricity. There's no need for burning or combustion,
and no need for power lines from an outside source. "It's cheaper than the grid, it's cleaner than
the grid." Twenty large, well-known companies have quietly bought and are testing Bloom
boxes in California. The first customer was Google. Four units have been powering a Google
datacenter for 18 months. They use natural gas, but half as much as would be required for a
traditional power plant. John Donahoe, eBay's CEO, says its five boxes were installed nine months
ago and have already saved the company more than $100,000 in electricity costs. eBay's boxes
run on bio-gas made from landfill waste, so they're carbon neutral. "In five to ten years, we would
like to be in every home." [Sridhar] said a unit should cost an average person less than $3,000.
Note: To watch the fascinating 60 Minutes video clip of this amazing invention, click here. For
other CBS videos clips on the Bloom Box, click here. For astounding news on other new energy
sources and inventions, click here and here.

Inquiry Stokes Unease Over Trading Firms That Shape Markets

2009-09-04, New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/04/business/global/04optiver.html
Its superfast, supersecret oil trading software was called the Hammer. And if the Commodity
Futures Trading Commission is right, the name fit well with an intricate scheme that allowed
commodity traders in Chicago working for Optiver, a little-known company based in Amsterdam, to
put their orders first in line and subtly manipulate the price of oil to the companys advantage.
Transcripts and taped conversations of actions that took place in 2007 ... reveal the secretive
workings of high-frequency trading, a fast-growing Wall Street business. Critics say this highspeed form of computerized trading, which is used in a wide range of financial markets, enables its
practitioners to profit at other investors expense. Traders in the Chicago office of Optiver

openly talked among themselves of whacking and bullying up the price of oil. But when
called to account by officials of the New York Mercantile Exchange, they described their
actions as just providing liquidity. In July 2008, the commission charged Optiver with
manipulating the price of oil; negotiations over a settlement continue. The Securities and
Exchange Commission has opened up an investigation into high-speed-trading practices, in
particular the ability of some of the most powerful computers to jump to the head of the trading
queue and in a fraction of a millisecond capture the evanescent trading spread before the
rest of the market does.
Note: This and other reports likely show only the tip of the iceberg of how prices of key stocks and
commodities are manipulated. For a great collection of reports from major media sources on the
schemes and tricks used by financial corporations, click here.

A Few Speculators Dominate Vast Market for Oil Trading

2008-08-21, Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/20/AR20080820038...
Regulators had long classified a private Swiss energy conglomerate called Vitol as a trader that
primarily helped industrial firms that needed oil to run their businesses. But when the Commodity
Futures Trading Commission examined Vitol's books last month, it found that the firm was in fact
more of a speculator, holding oil contracts as a profit-making investment rather than a means of
lining up the actual delivery of fuel. Even more surprising to the commodities markets was the
massive size of Vitol's portfolio -- at one point in July, the firm held 11 percent of all the oil
contracts on the regulated New York Mercantile Exchange. The discovery revealed how an
individual financial player had gained enormous sway over the oil market without the knowledge of
regulators. Other CFTC data showed that a significant amount of trading activity was concentrated
in the hands of just a few speculators. The CFTC ... now reports that financial firms
speculating for their clients or for themselves account for about 81 percent of the oil
contracts on NYMEX, a far bigger share than had previously been stated by the agency.
That figure may rise in coming weeks as the CFTC checks the status of other big traders. Some
lawmakers have blamed these firms for the volatility of oil prices, including the tremendous run-up
that peaked earlier in the summer. "It is now evident that speculators in the energy futures markets
play a much larger role than previously thought, and it is now even harder to accept the agency's
laughable assertion that excessive speculation has not contributed to rising energy prices," said
Rep. John D. Dingell (D-Mich.).

Solar Energy, All Night Long

2008-07-31, Forbes Magazine
http://www.forbes.com/2008/07/30/nocera-solar-power-biz-energy-cz_jf_0731sola...

MIT professor Daniel G. Nocera has long been jealous of plants. He desperately wanted to do
what they do--split water into hydrogen and oxygen and use the products to do work. That, he
figures, is the only way we humans can solve our energy problems; enough energy pours down
from the sun in one hour to power the planet's energy needs for a year. Nocera's discovery
[is] a cheap and easy way to store energy that he thinks will be used to change solar power
into a mainstream energy source. Plants catch light and turn it into an electric current, then use
that energy to excite catalysts that split water into hydrogen and oxygen during what is called
photosynthesis' light cycle. The energy is then used during the dark cycle to allow the plant to build
sugars used for growth and energy storage. Nocera and Matthew Kanan, a postdoctoral fellow in
Nocera's lab, focused on the water-splitting part of photosynthesis. They found cheap and simple
catalysts that did a remarkably good job. They dissolved cobalt and phosphate in water and then
zapped it with electricity through an electrode. The cobalt and phosphate form a thin-film catalyst
around the electrode that then use electrons from the electrode to split the oxygen from water. The
oxygen bubbles to the surface, leaving a proton behind. A few inches away, another catalyst,
platinum, helps that bare proton become hydrogen. The hydrogen and oxygen, separated and onhand, can be used to power a fuel cell whenever energy is needed.
Note: This amazing breakthrough resulted in a $4 million government grant for further
development. For more, click here and here.

Investors' Growing Appetite for Oil Evades Market Limits

2008-06-06, Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/06/05/AR20080605043...
Hedge funds and big Wall Street banks are taking advantage of loopholes in federal trading
limits to buy massive amounts of oil contracts, ... helping to push oil prices to record highs.
The federal agency that oversees oil trading, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission,
has exempted these firms from rules that limit speculative buying. The CFTC has also
waived regulations over the past decade on U.S. investors who trade commodities on some
overseas markets, freeing those investors to accumulate large quantities of the future oil supply by
making purchases on lightly regulated foreign exchanges. Over the past five years, investors have
become such a force on commodity markets that their appetite for oil contracts has been equal to
China's increase in demand over the same period, said Michael Masters, a hedge fund manager
who testified before Congress on the subject last month. The commodity markets, he added, were
never intended for such large financial players. Commodities have become especially enticing to
investors as the credit crisis has roiled other investment opportunities such as stocks and debtrelated securities. The recent flood of investment money has transformed the markets for oil, as
well as uranium, wheat, cotton and other goods, into a volatile realm that some insiders call the
Wild West of Wall Street. Michael Greenberger, a professor at the University of Maryland and
former CFTC commissioner, said there were loopholes the agency could close without much effort.
"There's smoke here, and the CFTC hasn't wanted to look if there's a fire," he said. "But these are
dark markets. They don't even know who's doing the trading."

Note: For revealing reports on financial corruption and criminality from major media sources, click
here.

Cars that make hybrids look like gas guzzlers

2007-03-04, San Francisco Chronicle (San Francisco's leading newspaper)
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/03/04/ING44OD4AS1.DTL
Toyota Prius owners tend to be a proud lot since they drive the fuel-efficient hybrid gas-electric car
that's ... one of the hottest-selling vehicles in America. A few, however, felt that good was not good
enough. They've made "improvements" even though the modifications voided parts of their
warranties. Why? Five words: one hundred miles per gallon. "We took the hybrid car to its logical
conclusion," [Felix] Kramer says, by adding more batteries and the ability to recharge by plugging
into a regular electrical socket at night. Compared with the Prius' fuel efficiency of 50 mpg, plug-in
hybrids use half as much gasoline by running more on cleaner, cheaper, domestic electricity.
These trendsetters monkeyed with the car ... to make a point: If they could make a plug-in
hybrid, the major car companies could, too. Kramer ... and a cadre of volunteers formed the
California Cars Initiative (online at calcars.org). They added inexpensive lead-acid batteries ...
giving the car over 100 mpg in local driving and 50 to 80 mpg on the highway. The cost of
conversion is about $5,000 for a do-it-yourselfer. Several small companies like EnergyCS ...
started doing small numbers of conversions for fleets and government agencies using longerlasting, more energy-dense lithium-ion batteries. Kramer hired EnergyCS to convert his Prius and
reported on a typical day of driving. Compared with driving his Prius before the conversion, he ...
spewed out two-thirds less greenhouse gases at a total cost of $1.76 for electricity and gasoline,
instead of the $3.17 it would have required on gasoline alone. People want plug-in hybrids but
can't get them. Dealers don't sell them yet, and the few conversion services cater to fleets.
Note: For a video and educational package to guide those who want to build a 100 mpg car, see
www.eaa-phev.org. For why the car companies with their massive budgets haven't developed cars
like this, click here.

Cheap solar power poised to undercut oil and gas by half

2007-02-18, The Telegraph (One of the U.K.'s leading newspapers)
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=/money/2007/02/19/ccview19.xml
Within five years, solar power will be cheap enough to compete with carbon-generated
electricity. In a decade, the cost may have fallen so dramatically that solar cells could undercut
oil, gas, coal and nuclear power by up to half. Anil Sethi, the chief executive of the Swiss start-up
company Flisom, says he looks forward to the day - not so far off - when entire cities in America
and Europe generate their heating, lighting and air-conditioning needs from solar films on buildings
with enough left over to feed a surplus back into the grid. The secret? A piece of dark polymer foil,
as thin a sheet of paper. It is so light it can be stuck to the sides of buildings. It can be massproduced in cheap rolls like packaging - in any colour. The "tipping point" will arrive when the

capital cost of solar power falls below $1 (51p) per watt, roughly the cost of carbon power. The
best options today vary from $3 to $4 per watt - down from $100 in the late 1970s. Mr Sethi
believes his product will cut the cost to 80 cents per watt within five years, and 50 cents in a
decade. "We don't need subsidies, we just need governments to get out of the way and do
no harm," he said. Solar use [has] increased dramatically in Japan and above all Germany,
where Berlin's green energy law passed in 2004 forces the grid to buy surplus electricity from
households at a fat premium. The tipping point in Germany and Japan came once households
[understood] that they could undercut their unloved utilities. Credit Lyonnais believes the rest of the
world will soon join the stampede. Needless to say, electricity utilities are watching the solar
revolution with horror.
Note: Why is this inspiring, important news getting so little press coverage? And why not more
solar subsidies? For a possible answer, click here. And for an amazing new energy source not yet
reported in the major media which could make even solar energy obsolete, click here.

Coming in out of the cold: Cold fusion, for real

2005-06-06, Christian Science Monitor
http://www.christiansciencemonitor.com/2005/0606/p25s01-stss.html
A very reputable, very careful group of scientists at the University of Los Angeles ... has
initiated a fusion reaction using a laboratory device that's not much bigger than a
breadbox, and works at roughly room temperature. This time, it looks like the real thing. The
whole trick with fusion is you've got to get protons close enough together for the strong force to
overcome their electrical repulsion and merge them together into a nucleus. Instead of using high
temperatures and incredible densities to ram protons together, the scientists at UCLA cleverly used
the structure of an unusual crystal. Crystals are fascinating things; the atoms inside are all lined up
in a tightly ordered lattice, which creates the beautiful structure we associate with crystals.
Stressing the bonds between the atoms of some crystals causes electrons to build up on one side,
creating a charge difference over the body of the crystal. Instead of using intense heat or pressure
to get nuclei close enough together to fuse, this new experiment used a very powerful electric field
to slam atoms together. This experiment has been repeated successfully and other scientists have
reviewed the results. For the time being, don't expect fusion to become a readily available energy
option. The current cold fusion apparatus still takes much more energy to start up than you get
back out. But it really may not be long until we have the first nuclear fusion-powered devices in
common use.
Note: If the above link fails, click here. Why wasn't this widely reported? For a possible answer,
click here.

Fans of GM Electric Car Fight the Crusher

2005-03-10, Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A21991-2005Mar9.html

What's at stake, they say, is no less than the future of automotive technology, a practical solution
for driving fast and fun with no direct pollution whatsoever. GM agrees that the car in question,
called the EV1, was a rousing feat of engineering that could go from zero to 60 miles per
hour in under eight seconds with no harmful emissions. The market just wasn't big enough,
the company says, for a car that traveled 140 miles or less on a charge before you had to plug it in
like a toaster. Some 800 drivers once leased EV1s, mostly in California. After the last lease ran out
in August, GM reclaimed every one of the cars, donating a few to universities and car museums
but crushing many of the rest. Enthusiasts discovered a stash of about 77 surviving EV1s behind a
GM training center in Burbank and last month decided to take a stand. Mobilized through Internet
sites and word of mouth, nearly 100 people pledged $24,000 each for a chance to buy the cars
from GM. On Feb. 16 the group set up a street-side outpost of folding chairs that they have staffed
ever since in rotating shifts, through long nights and torrential rains, trying to draw attention to their
cause. GM refuses to budge. Toyota is aware of a growing fad among do-it-yourselfers who put a
new battery in their Prius so it can be plugged in at home and then travel about 20 miles on electric
power alone.
Note: Why would GM simply crush cars for which people are willing to pay $24,000? For a
possible answer to this important question, click here. To learn how to convert a Toyota Prius to get
100 mpg, click here.

Air Force pursuing antimatter weapons

2004-10-04, San Francisco Chronicle (San Francisco's leading newspaper)
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2004/10/04/MNGM393GPK1.DTL
The U.S. Air Force is quietly spending millions of dollars investigating ways to use a radical power
source -- antimatter, the eerie "mirror" of ordinary matter -- in future weapons. The most powerful
potential energy source presently thought to be available to humanity, antimatter is a term normally
heard in science-fiction films. But antimatter itself isn't fiction. During the Cold War, the Air Force
funded numerous scientific studies of the basic physics of antimatter. Following an initial inquiry
from The Chronicle this summer, the Air Force forbade its employees from publicly
discussing the antimatter research program. Still, details on the program appear in
numerous Air Force documents distributed over the Internet prior to the ban. It almost defies
belief, the amount of explosive force available in a speck of antimatter. One millionth of a gram of
positrons contain as much energy as 37.8 kilograms (83 pounds) of TNT. A simple calculation,
then, shows that about 50-millionths of a gram could generate a blast equal to the explosion ... in
Oklahoma City in 1995. Officials at Eglin Air Force Base initially agreed enthusiastically to try to
arrange an interview with ... Kenneth Edwards, director of the "revolutionary munitions" team at the
Munitions Directorate at Eglin. "We're all very excited about this technology," spokesman Rex
Swenson [said] in late July. But Swenson backed out in August after he was overruled by higher
officials in the Air Force and Pentagon. Reached by phone in late September, Edwards repeatedly
declined to be interviewed. His superiors gave him "strict instructions not to give any interviews
personally. "I'm sorry about that -- this (antimatter) project is sort of my grandchild."

Utilities wage campaign against rooftop solar

2015-03-07, Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/utilities-sensing-threa...
Three years ago, the nations top utility executives gathered at a Colorado resort to hear
warnings about ... rooftop solar panels. According to a presentation prepared for the group,
Industry must prepare an action plan to address the challenges. Three years later, the industry
and its fossil-fuel supporters are waging a determined campaign to stop a home-solar
insurgency that is rattling the boardrooms of the countrys government-regulated electric
monopolies. Recently, the battle has shifted to public utility commissions, where industry backers
have mounted a ... successful push for fee hikes that could put solar panels out of reach for many
potential customers. In a closely watched case last month, an Arizona utility voted to impose a
monthly surcharge of about $50 for net metering, a common practice that allows solar customers
to earn credit for the surplus electricity they provide to the electric grid. Net metering makes home
solar affordable by sharply lowering electric bills to offset the $10,000 to $30,000 cost of rooftop
panels. A Wisconsin utilities commission approved a similar surcharge for solar users last year,
and a New Mexico regulator also is considering raising fees. In some states, industry officials [are
now] arguing that solar panels hurt the poor. Its really about utilities fear that solar customers are
taking away demand, said Angela Navarro, an energy expert with the Southern Environmental
Law Center.
Note: In Arizona, traditional utility companies are brazenly manipulating the law to attack solar
power installation companies. Meanwhile, the Rockefellers have stopped investing in fossil fuels.
Does this mean that the renewable energy revolution is now in full swing?

Goodbye, Oil: US Navy Cracks New Renewable Energy Technology To

Turn Seawater Into Fuel, Allowing Ships To Stay At Sea Longer
2014-04-08, International Business Times
http://www.ibtimes.com/goodbye-oil-us-navy-cracks-new-renewable-energy-techno...
After decades of experiments, U.S. Navy scientists believe they may have solved one of the
worlds great challenges: how to turn seawater into fuel. The development of a liquid
hydrocarbon fuel could one day relieve the militarys dependence on oil-based fuels and is being
heralded as a game changer because it could allow military ships to develop their own fuel and
stay operational 100 percent of the time, rather than having to refuel at sea. The new fuel is
initially expected to cost around $3 to $6 per gallon, according to the U.S. Naval Research
Laboratory, which has already flown a model aircraft on it. The Navys 289 vessels all rely on oilbased fuel, with the exception of some aircraft carriers and 72 submarines that rely on nuclear
propulsion. The breakthrough came after scientists developed a way to extract carbon
dioxide and hydrogen gas from seawater. The gasses are then turned into a fuel by a gasto-liquids process with the help of catalytic converters. The next challenge for the Navy is to
produce the fuel in industrial quantities. It will also partner with universities to maximize the amount

of CO2 and carbon they can recapture. For the first time we've been able to develop a technology
to get CO2 and hydrogen from seawater simultaneously. That's a big breakthrough," said Dr.
Heather Willauer, a research chemist who has spent nearly a decade on the project, adding that
the fuel "doesn't look or smell very different."
Note: Strangely, the major media networks appear to be largely silent on this important
breakthrough, except for Forbes, which downplays the whole thing, as you can see at this link. For
a treasure trove of great news articles which will inspire you to make a difference, click here.

BlackLight Power, Inc. Announces Sustained Production of Electricity

Using Photovoltaic Conversion of Millions of Watts of Brilliant Plasma
2014-04-03, Yahoo News
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/blacklight-power-inc-announces-sustained-201700...
BlackLight Power, Inc. [has] achieved sustained electricity production from a primary new energy
source by using photovoltaic technology to transform brilliant plasma, with power comprising
millions of watts of light, directly into electricity. By applying a very high current through its
proprietary water-based solid fuel in BlackLight Powers breakthrough Solid Fuel-Catalyst-InducedHydrino-Transition (SF-CIHT) technology, water ignites into brilliant plasma, a ... bright flash of
extraordinary optical power that has a power density of over 1,000,000 times that of any prior
controllable reaction. BlackLight Power has now successfully converted the brilliant plasma directly
into electricity using photovoltaic cells (solar cells). Simply replacing the consumed H2O
regenerated the fuel, and the fuel can be continuously fed into the electrodes to continuously
output optical power that can be converted into electricity. [This] safe, non-polluting powerproducing system catalytically converts the hydrogen of the H2O-based solid fuel into a nonpolluting ... lower-energy state hydrogen called Hydrino, by allowing the electrons to fall to
smaller radii around the nucleus. The energy release is 200 times that of burning the equivalent
amount of hydrogen with oxygen. Using readily-available components, BlackLight has
developed a system engineering design of an electric generator that is closed, except for
the addition of H2O fuel, and generates ten million watts of electricity, enough to power ten
thousand homes. Remarkably, the device is less than a cubic foot in volume.
Note: How strange that the major media are not picking up on this story of major proportions. For
a 2008 CNN article showing Blacklight had attracted $60 million and was no longer seeking
funding, click here. For more on Blacklight Power, click here. For more evaluation of this
development, click here.

California duped on energy buys again

2013-08-01, San Francisco Chronicle (SF's leading newspaper)
http://www.sfchronicle.com/opinion/editorials/article/California-duped-on-ene...

JPMorgan Chase & Co. has agreed to pay federal regulators $410 million to settle allegations that
the giant bank manipulated energy markets in California and Michigan. About $285 million of the
settlement will go to the U.S. Treasury for civil penalties, and about $124 million will be refunded to
California ratepayers. The remainder will be refunded to Michigan ratepayers. If this story sounds
familiar, that's because it is. Californians who remember the Enron energy debacle of 2000-01
won't be surprised to learn that JPMorgan's traders have been accused of fraudulent
behavior. Once again, the fraud was performed by manipulating the auction system that was
developed by a quasi-state agency, the California Independent System Operator, to handle
California's electricity needs. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission found that JPMorgan
engaged in 12 manipulative bidding strategies, which wound up forcing ratepayers to pay
higher amounts than they should have - all because the bank wanted to find a cheap way to
profit off of aging power plants in Southern California. JPMorgan used a variety of bait-andswitch strategies - duping Cal-ISO into paying exorbitant fees for running the plants at a low level,
for instance, or manipulating the bidding system so that Cal-ISO was forced to pay rates that were
many times higher than market rate. The fact that this kind of manipulation is still happening is
upsetting. And while $410 million is a record settlement for the FERC, it's a drop in the bucket to
JPMorgan, which reported $6.5 billion in quarterly profits this month.
Note: Remember Enron, which scammed millions and then went bankrupt, wiping out pensions of
its many employees? To read CBS reports on how Enron purposely shut down power plants so
they could cause and then cash in on the energy crisis, click here.

Teen's invention could charge your phone in 20 seconds

2013-05-18, NBC News
http://www.nbcnews.com/tech/innovation/teens-invention-could-charge-your-phon...
Waiting hours for a cellphone to charge may become a thing of the past, thanks to an 18-year-old
high-school student's invention. She won a $50,000 prize ... at an international science fair for
creating an energy storage device that can be fully juiced in 20 to 30 seconds. The fast-charging
device is a [type of] so-called supercapacitor, a gizmo that can pack a lot of energy into a tiny
space, charges quickly and holds its charge for a long time. What's more, it can last for 10,000
charge-recharge cycles, compared with 1,000 cycles for conventional rechargeable batteries,
according to [the inventor] Eesha Khare of Saratoga, Calif. Supercapacitors also allowed her to
focus on her interest in nanochemistry "really working at the nanoscale to make significant
advances in many different fields." To date, she has used [her] supercapacitor to power a lightemitting diode, or LED. The invention's future is even brighter. She sees it fitting inside
cellphones and the other portable electronic devices that are proliferating in today's world,
freeing people and their gadgets for a longer time from reliance on electrical outlets. "It is
also flexible, so it can be used in rollup displays and clothing and fabric," Khare added. "It
has a lot of different applications and advantages over batteries in that sense." Khare's invention
won her the Intel Foundation Young Scientist Award at the Intel International Science and
Engineering Fair, conducted ... in Phoenix, Ariz.

Note: Now let's see if it actually makes it to market or is blocked by the companies that profit from
selling many chargers. For a treasure trove of great news articles which will inspire you to make a
difference, click here.

MU professor revisits decades-old fusion project

2012-11-03, Kansas City Star/Associated Press
http://www.kansascity.com/2012/11/03/3899586/mu-professor-revisits-decades.html
A University of Missouri professor has resurrected his two-decade-old work in the contested field of
cold fusion. In 1991, Mark Prelas was part of a research team that conducted a fusion experiment
that emitted a burst of millions of neutrons. The work stopped when funding was cut off. At the
time, cold fusion claims had been dismissed as junk science. Prelas shifted to other work. But his
neutron-producing experiment resumed this year, and he presented his findings at a cold fusion
conference in August in South Korea. Prelas, now a professor in the university's Nuclear Science
and Engineering Institute, received funding from the Sidney Kimmel Institute for Nuclear
Renaissance at MU. In the original experiment, the team created an emitted neutron-recording
device and expected to count about 10 neutrons a second. They reached a million neutrons in a
second. With SKINR funding, [Prelas] re-created the experiment. More technologically advanced
equipment has allowed for a better counting system, and in one run, his research team saw
neutron emissions at similar levels to the 1991 observation. Rob Duncan, MU's vice chancellor of
research, said ... "We've got to understand what this is. The focus clearly has to be on an
opportunity to discover new physics and to understand new science. That really is our aim
here at SKINR.
Note: For deeply revealing reports from reliable major media sources on new energy inventions,
click here.

Oil boom poses environmental challenge to U.S.

2011-09-04, San Francisco Chronicle (San Francisco's leading newspaper)
http://articles.sfgate.com/2011-09-04/opinion/30108735_1_west-texas-intermedi...
Step aside, Saudi Arabia and Alaska. A major oil boom is under way in the U.S. lower 48 states
and Canada. Oil rigs are sprouting across American corn fields and backyards, bringing a surge in
greenhouse gas emissions and new public worries about local environmental effects. Oil
companies and their supporters are grandly predicting a new age of North American petroleum,
and it's no lie. U.S. reserves of oil that is ultra-heavy ... add up to more than 2 trillion barrels, with
2.4 trillion more in Canada - far greater than the conventional Middle Eastern and North African
reserves of 1.2 trillion barrels. For decades, these supplies of ultra-heavy oil were viewed as
exorbitantly expensive to extract. But in the past few years, a revolution in oil-field technology has
made a significant portion of these reserves accessible at competitive costs. [In] 2005 the
country's net petroleum imports peaked at 60.3 percent of total consumption. Net imports
[shrank] to 49.3 percent by 2010. The number of rigs drilling for oil in the [US] is eight times

greater than a decade ago. Already, the price gap between the international oil benchmark ... and
the U.S. standard ... has grown in the past year alone to about $20 per barrel. Peak oil ... may be
in the offing internationally but is nowhere to be seen in North America. Beckoning are two
visions of our future. On one side is a surge of dirty oil that is likely to embolden a new crop of
business-as-usual politicians. On the other is the emerging gamut of technologies for energy
efficiency and renewable power that have already made California a clean-tech leader. Can
America go beyond oil, or will it embrace the old status quo?
Note: Though it may be encouraging that peak oil is not an imminent threat, let us hope that clean
energy technologies replace oil-based energy generation before too long.

Top Gear's electric car shows pour petrol over the BBC's standards
2011-08-05, The Guardian (One of the UK's leading newspapers)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/georgemonbiot/2011/aug/05/top-gear-bbc
What distinguishes the BBC from the rest of this country's media? Perhaps the most important
factor is its editorial guidelines, which are supposed to ensure that the corporation achieves "the
highest standards of due accuracy and impartiality and strive[s] to avoid knowingly and materially
misleading our audiences." Woe betide the producer or presenter who breaches these guidelines.
Unless, that is, they work for Top Gear. Take, for example, Top Gear's line on electric cars.
Casting aside any pretence of impartiality or rigour, it has set out to show that electric cars
are useless. If the facts don't fit, it bends them until they do. It's currently being sued by
electric car maker Tesla. Now it's been caught red-handed faking another trial, in this case
of the Nissan LEAF. Last Sunday, an episode of Top Gear showed Jeremy Clarkson and James
May setting off for Cleethorpes in Lincolnshire, 60 miles away. The car unexpectedly ran out of
charge when they got to Lincoln, and had to be pushed. They concluded that "electric cars are not
the future". But it wasn't unexpected: Nissan has a monitoring device in the car which transmits
information on the state of the battery. This shows that, while the company delivered the car to Top
Gear fully charged, the programme-makers ran the battery down before Clarkson and May set off,
until only 40% of the charge was left.
Note: For lots more from reliable sources on promising new energy and automotive technologies,
click here. For more on corruption in the mass media, click here.

The women of India's Barefoot College bring light to remote villages

2011-06-24, The Guardian (One of the UK's leading newspapers)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/global-development/2011/jun/24/india-barefoot-colle...
Santosh Devi is [a] 19-year-old, semi-literate woman from the backwaters of Rajasthan [who] has
broken through India's rigid caste system to become the country's first Dalit solar engineer. While
differences of caste have begun to blur in the cities, in rural India Dalits also known as
"untouchables" are still impoverished and widely discriminated against. Santosh trained to be a

solar engineer at the Barefoot College in Tilonia, 100km from Jaipur. The college was set up in
1972 by Sanjit "Bunker" Roy to teach rural people skills with which they could transform their
villages, regardless of gender, caste, ethnicity, age or schooling. The college claims to have
trained 15,000 women in skills including solar engineering, healthcare and water testing. Roy, 65,
says his approach low cost, decentralised and community driven works by "capitalising on the
resources already present in the villages". The college, spread over eight acres, runs entirely on
solar energy, maintained by the Barefoot solar engineers. Since the solar course was launched
in 2005, more than 300 Barefoot engineers have brought power to more than 13,000 homes
across India. A further 6,000 households, in more than 120 villages in 24 countries from
Afghanistan to Uganda, have been powered on the same model. Only villages that are
inaccessible, remote and non-electrified are considered for solar power. A drop in the ocean,
perhaps 44% of rural households in India have no electricity but these women are making an
important contribution to the nation's power needs.
Note: For a very inspiring TED talk filled with great stories by the founder of this college, click
here.

New engine sends shock waves through auto industry

2011-04-06, MSNBC
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42460541/ns/technology_and_science-innovation
Hybrid vehicles are still tethered to the gas pump via a fuel-thirsty 100-year-old invention: the
internal combustion engine. However, researchers at Michigan State University have built a
prototype gasoline engine that requires no transmission, crankshaft, pistons, valves, fuel
compression, cooling systems or fluids. Their so-called Wave Disk Generator could greatly
improve the efficiency of gas-electric hybrid automobiles and potentially decrease auto emissions
up to 90 percent when compared with conventional combustion engines. The engine has a rotor
that's equipped with wave-like channels that trap and mix oxygen and fuel as the rotor spins.
These central inlets are blocked off, building pressure within the chamber, causing a shock wave
that ignites the compressed air and fuel to transmit energy. The Wave Disk Generator uses 60
percent of its fuel for propulsion; standard car engines use just 15 percent. As a result, the
generator is 3.5 times more fuel efficient than typical combustion engines. Researchers
estimate the new model could shave almost 1,000 pounds off a car's weight currently taken
up by conventional engine systems. Last week, the prototype was presented to the energy
division of the Advanced Research Projects Agency, which is backing the Michigan State
University Engine Research Laboratory with $2.5 million in funding. Michigan State's team of
engineers hope to have a car-sized 25-kilowatt version of the prototype ready by the end of the
year.
Note: For many inspiring new developments on automotive technology, click here.

Solar power market tops $71 billion in 2010

2011-03-14, San Francisco Chronicle (San Francisco's leading newspaper)

http://articles.sfgate.com/2011-03-14/business/28686980_1_solar-market-solar-...
Ten years ago, when Ron Pernick predicted that solar power would be a $23.5 billion
industry by the decade's end, skeptics scoffed. After all, worldwide sales of photovoltaic
solar equipment in 2000 were just $2.5 billion. Pernick's prediction had to be wrong. It was.
The global solar market last year hit $71.2 billion. Pernick is co-founder and managing director
of the Clean Edge Inc. market research firm, and for the last 10 years, his outfit has produced
annual tallies of alternative energy sales around the world. The latest report, released today,
shows a decade of remarkable growth. The market for solar power, wind power and biofuels still
pales when compared with that for fossil fuels (Exxon Mobil, for example, made $383.2 billion last
year). But clean-energy technology is no longer stuck in a niche. "It went from relative obscurity 10
years ago to being one of the dominant market forces today," said Pernick. Wind power has grown
from a $4 billion global market in 2000 to $60.5 billion in 2010. Ten years ago, alternative energy
firms received less than 1 percent of the venture capital invested in the United States. Last year,
they got 23 percent, with investments totaling $5.1 billion. For biofuels, the report's data only
stretch back to 2005. But in that time, the worldwide market for ethanol, biodiesel and other
biofuels has grown from $15.7 billion to $56.4 billion.
Note: For many reports from reliable sources on promising new energy technologies, click here.

Mass. company making diesel with sun, water, CO2

2011-02-27, BusinessWeek/Associated Press
http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D9LLD31G1.htm
A Massachusetts biotechnology company says it can produce the fuel that runs Jaguars and jet
engines using the same ingredients that make grass grow. Joule Unlimited has invented a
genetically-engineered organism that it says simply secretes diesel fuel or ethanol
wherever it finds sunlight, water and carbon dioxide. [The] company says it can manipulate
the organism to produce the renewable fuels on demand at unprecedented rates, and can do it in
facilities large and small at costs comparable to the cheapest fossil fuels. What can it mean? No
less than "energy independence," Joule's web site tells the world, even if the world's not quite
convinced. "We make some lofty claims, all of which we believe, all which we've validated," said
Joule chief executive Bill Sims. Joule was founded in 2007. In the last year, it's roughly doubled
its employees to 70, closed a $30 million second round of private funding in April and added
John Podesta, former White House chief of staff under President Bill Clinton, to its board of
directors. The company worked in "stealth mode" for a couple years before it recently began
revealing more about what it was doing. This month, it released a peer-reviewed paper it says
backs its claims. Joule says its organisms secrete a completed product, already identical to
ethanol and the components of diesel fuel, then live on to keep producing it at remarkable rates.
Joule claims, for instance, that its cyanobacterium can produce 15,000 gallons of diesel full per

acre annually, over four times more than the most efficient algal process for making fuel. And they
say they can do it at $30 a barrel. The company plans to break ground on a 10-acre demonstration
facility this year, and Sims says they could be operating commercially in less than two years.
Note: For many other fascinating new energy inventions reported in the major media which should
be making news headlines, click here. For a powerful two-page summary showing why these
amazing inventions get so little attention and are sometimes even suppressed, click here.

Italian Scientists Claim (Dubious) Cold Fusion Breakthrough

2011-01-24, Fox News/Popular Science
http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2011/01/24/italian-scientists-claim-cold-fusio...
Two Italian scientists claim to have successfully developed a cold fusion reactor that produces
12,400 watts of heat power per 400 watts of input. Not only that, but theyll be commercially
available in just three months. Cold fusion is a tricky business -- some say a theoretically
implausible business. Hypothetically (and broadly) speaking, the process involves fusing two
smaller atomic nuclei together into a larger nucleus, a process that releases massive amounts of
energy. If harnessed, cold fusion could provide cheap and nearly limitless energy with no
radioactive byproduct or massive carbon emissions. Andrea Rossi and Sergio Focardi claim [their
reactor] fuses atomic nuclei of nickel and hydrogen using about 1,000 watts of electricity which,
after a few minutes, is reduced to an input of just 400 watts. This reaction purportedly can turn
292 grams of 68 degree water into turbine-turning steam -- a process that would normally
require 12,400 watts of electricity, netting them a power gain of about 12,000 watts. They say
that commercially scaled, their process could generate eight units of output per unit of input and
would cost roughly one penny per kilowatt-hour, drastically cheaper than your average coal plant.
Note: For a balanced and informative article on this, see the Technology News article available
here. Sadly, the only other media report on this fascinating news was a Washington Times article
available here. For lots more useful information and videos on this exciting discovery, click here.

Sempra agrees to major refund for energy crisis

2010-04-29, San Francisco Chronicle (San Francisco's leading newspaper)
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/04/28/BUQ41D6D34.DTL
Sempra Energy has agreed to pay about $410 million to settle claims that it played Enron-style
games with California's electricity market during the 2000-01 energy crisis, state officials said.
Houston's Enron, as well as other companies, used a variety of tactics to create the
appearance of congested power lines in some instances and energy shortages in others.
Electricity prices soared, and rolling blackouts rippled across the state. Enron traders were
caught on audio tape bragging about how much their trading schemes were costing "Grandma
Millie," their derisive term for the California utility customer. The crisis forced the state to buy
expensive long-term power contracts that Californians are still paying off, month by month, on their

utility bills. Pacific Gas and Electric Co., the state's largest utility, tumbled into bankruptcy as a
result of soaring wholesale power prices. And Gov. Gray Davis lost his job in a recall election
fueled by public anger over his handling of the crisis. Since then, the state government has
reached 39 settlement agreements with energy companies for a total of $3.2 billion.
Note: To see how blatant the corruption is, watch the tapes of Enron traders laughing at causing
traffic accidents at this link. For many more examples of corporate corruption reported by reliable,
verifiable sources, click here.

Europe Finds Clean Energy in Trash, but U.S. Lags

2010-04-13, New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/13/science/earth/13trash.html
The lawyers and engineers who dwell in an elegant enclave here are at peace with the hulking
neighbor just over the back fence: a vast energy plant that burns thousands of tons of household
garbage and industrial waste, round the clock. Far cleaner than conventional incinerators, this new
type of plant converts local trash into heat and electricity. Dozens of filters catch pollutants, from
mercury to dioxin, that would have emerged from its smokestack only a decade ago. In that time,
such plants have become both the mainstay of garbage disposal and a crucial fuel source across
Denmark, from wealthy exurbs like Horsholm to Copenhagens downtown area. Their use has not
only reduced the countrys energy costs and reliance on oil and gas, but also benefited the
environment, diminishing the use of landfills and cutting carbon dioxide emissions. The
plants run so cleanly that many times more dioxin is now released from home fireplaces
and backyard barbecues than from incineration. Across Europe, there are about 400 plants,
with Denmark, Germany and the Netherlands leading the pack in expanding them and building
new ones. By contrast, no new waste-to-energy plants are being planned or built in the United
States, the Environmental Protection Agency says even though the federal government and 24
states now classify waste that is burned this way for energy as a renewable fuel, in many cases
eligible for subsidies.
Note: Why isn't the US implementing this clean technology? For lots more from major media
sources on promising new clean energy developments, click here.

Navy Submarine Runs Eternally on Thermal Power from Ocean Currents

2010-04-08, Popular Science magazine
http://www.popsci.com/technology/article/2010-04/submarine-runs-eternally-the...
A Navy-funded thermal engine bobbing off the coast of Hawaii is accomplishing a rare feat -- it
produces more energy than it consumes. Though it's not quite a perpetual motion machine, it
could provide scientists or the Navy with a perpetual presence on the seas. The engine is attached
to an unmanned underwater vessel, called SOLO-TREC, and uses the energy of the ocean to
derive a practically limitless energy supply. SOLO-TREC is outfitted with a series of tubes full of

waxy phase-change materials. As the float encounters warm temperatures near the ocean's
surface, the materials expand; when it dives and the waters grow cooler, the materials contract.
The expansion and contraction pressurizes oil, which drives a hydraulic motor. The motor
generates electricity and recharges the batteries, which power a pump. The pump can change the
float's buoyancy, allowing it to move up and down the water column. "In theory what you have now
is unlimited endurance for something that has this type of engine," said Thomas Swean Jr., team
leader for ocean engineering and marine systems at the Office of Naval Research, which funded
the project. "Other things can break, but as far as the energy source, it will only stop
working if the ocean ran out of energy, which is unlikely to happen."
Note: For lots more from major media sources on promising new energy inventions, click here.

Signs of Hope
2009-11-24, New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/24/opinion/24herbert.html
Is the economic, social and physical deterioration that has caused so much misery in the Motor
City a sign of whats in store for larger and larger segments of the United States? I found real
reason to hope when a gentleman named Stan Ovshinsky took me on a tour of a remarkably quiet
and pristine manufacturing plant ... about 30 miles north of Detroit. What is being produced in the
plant is potentially revolutionary. A machine about the length of a football field runs 24 hours a day,
seven days a week, turning out mile after mile after mile of thin, flexible solar energy material, from
which solar panels can be sliced and shaped. Mr. Ovshinsky ... developed the technology and
designed the production method that made it possible to produce solar material by the mile. He
invented the nickel metal hydride battery that is in virtually all hybrid vehicles on the road today.
When I pulled into the parking lot outside his office ... he promptly installed me in the drivers seat
of a hydrogen hybrid prototype a car in which the gasoline tank had been replaced with a safe
solid-state hydrogen storage system invented by Mr. Ovshinsky. Whats weird is that this man,
with such a stellar track record of innovation on products and processes crucial to the
economic and environmental health of the U.S., gets such little attention and so little
support from American policy makers. In addition to his work with batteries, photovoltaics and
hydrogen fuel cells, his inventions have helped open the door to flat-screen televisions, new forms
of computer memory and on and on.
Note: Ovshinsky has been at the forefront of new energy breakthroughs for years, yet has
received very little press, likely because his inventions threaten the established oil industry. For a
powerful, three-minute video showing how some of his key inventions have been shelved because
they threatened profits, click here.

Study appears to support theory of abiotic oil

2009-11-04, Houston Chronicle (Houston's leading newspaper)
http://blog.chron.com/sciguy/2009/11/new-study-appears-to-support-theory-of-a...

You may have heard of abiotic oil, the notion that oil is not the result of ancient biomass hence
the term fossil fuels but rather from compressed methane seeping up from the Earths mantle.
Most petroleum engineers spurn abiotic oil as a crackpot idea, but the notion has percolated along
and been popularized by books such as Thomas Golds Deep Hot Biosphere. Setting aside the
climate issue of burning petroleum, the idea of naturally replenished oil supplies is alluring
considering oil is by far the most portable, energy dense fuel around. [A] paper published in
Energy & Fuels, a peer-reviewed publication, supports the theory of abiotic oil. For their study
geochemists at the Carnegie Institution of Washington combined the key ingredients for the
abiotic synthesis of methane in a device and then simulated the high pressures and
temperatures near the interface between the Earths crust and mantle. They found it highly
plausible that methane could form from chemical reaction in this environment, writing that
their experiment strongly suggests that it is likely that, in deep earth geologic systems, some
methane generation is inevitable. The theory of abiotic oil holds that rapidly rising streams of
compressed methane gas reach the crust from the mantle, and when they strike pockets of high
temperature they condense into heavier hydrocarbons like crude oil.
Note: For more on the intriguing abiotic oil theory, click here. For key reports from major media
sources on promising energy sources, click here.

A Battle to Preserve a Visionarys Bold Failure

2009-05-05, New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/05/science/05tesla.html
In 1901, Nikola Tesla began work on a global system of giant towers meant to relay through the air
not only news, stock reports and even pictures but also, unbeknown to investors such as J.
Pierpont Morgan, free electricity for one and all. It was the inventors biggest project, and his most
audacious. The first tower rose on rural Long Island and, by 1903, stood more than 18 stories tall.
Tesla, who lived from 1856 to 1943, made bitter enemies who dismissed some of his claims as
exaggerated, helping tarnish his reputation in his lifetime. Today, his work tends to be poorly
known among scientists, though some call him an intuitive genius far ahead of his peers. He was
widely celebrated for his inventions of motors and power distribution systems that used the form of
electricity known as alternating current, which beat out direct current (and Thomas Edison) to
electrify the world. Around 1900 ... inventors around the world were racing for what was
considered the next big thing wireless communication. [Tesla's] own plan was to turn
alternating current into electromagnetic waves that flashed from antennas to distant
receivers. The scale of his vision was gargantuan. Investors, given Teslas electrical
achievements, paid heed. The biggest was J. Pierpont Morgan, a top financier. He sank
$150,000 (today more than $3 million) into Teslas global wireless venture. But Morgan was
[eventually] disenchanted. Margaret Cheney, a Tesla biographer, observed that Tesla had seriously
misjudged his wealthy patron, a man deeply committed to the profit motive. The prospect of
beaming electricity to penniless Zulus or Pygmies, she wrote, must have left the financier less
than enthusiastic.

Note: This article underplays a number of things about Tesla. Morgan stopped funding him
primarily because he eventually realized that there would be no way to charge for the electricity
Tesla was generating. If successful, electricity would be available virtually for free to those supplied
by his tower. Tesla was then shunned by the power elite and his rightful claim as inventor of the
radio (not Marconi) was erased in the history books. As stated on the PBS website, "It wasn't until
1943 a few months after Tesla's death that the U.S. Supreme Court upheld Tesla's radio
patent number 645,576." For more on this amazing man, click here and here.

Torture tests say battery power's hardly nerdy

2009-03-30, Boston Globe
http://www.boston.com/business/technology/articles/2009/03/30/torture_tests_s...
Bill Dub gets giddy when he talks about batteries and speed. After all, his 500-horsepower
Killacycle electric motorcycle goes from 0 to 60 miles per hour in under a second. He
claims it is the fastest electric vehicle on the planet. In October, the Killacycle traveled a
quarter mile in 7.89 seconds, topping out at 174 mph, a record. Dub, 56, an engineer and
Rhode Island native whose day job is designing air chemistry instruments at the University of
Colorado, is the bike's designer, owner, and builder. He is out to prove that electric vehicles do not
have to be "nerd-mobiles." At the heart of electric vehicles like the Killacycle are the batteries.
A123 Systems Inc., based in Watertown, sponsors the Killacycle and provides its battery. Dub
read about A123's lithium-ion battery technology in 2003 and decided to approach company
officials. He thought drag racing was a great way to torture-test the company's innovative battery
cells. "I told them I'll take the battery cells out to the drag strip and set a world record," he said.
Electric-vehicle racing hit the start line about 15 years ago, when pioneers like Dub began
building the machines. "Bill is quite amazing and does pretty good promoting electric-vehicle
racing in general," said Mike Willmon, president of the National Electric Drag Racing Association,
based in Santa Rosa, Calif. The mission of the group, whose membership stands at 100, is to
increase public awareness about the performance side of electric vehicles.
Note: Why such a weak title for this amazing bike? Why not a title like "Electric motorcycle goes 0
to 60 in one second"? Could it be the media doesn't want us to know things like this? For lots more
suggesting this may be the case, click here. And for more on this amazing motorcyle and an
unassuming electric car that does the quarter mile in under 12 seconds, click here.

Legislators taking hard look at oil trading

2008-11-26, San Francisco Chronicle (San Francisco's leading newspaper)
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/11/26/BU70149LTD.DTL
For a few months this summer, the oil market speculator ... helped push oil prices steadily higher,
shattering records that had lasted for decades. As oil topped $145 per barrel, Congress started
looking for ways to rein the speculators in. Then oil prices plunged, and interest in the issue
fizzled. But that may soon change. "This will remain an issue," said Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D.,

who introduced oil market legislation this year. "Because when the price of oil has gone from
$50 to $147 and back, it's clear to me and everyone else that this has nothing to do with
supply and demand. It has to do with speculation." Among possible changes, Congress may
try to assert more authority over unregulated oil swaps that don't take place on any formal market.
Many factors helped shove prices higher, including the growth of China's economy and the decline
of the American dollar. But oil kept rising even as gasoline sales fell in the United States, the
world's largest oil consumer. That wouldn't have happened if supply and demand really were
driving the market, many analysts say. "The entire move from $70 (per barrel) to $147 was people
fleeing the dollar and looking at oil as an asset class," said Amy Myers Jaffe, an energy research
fellow at Rice University's Baker Institute. "It was speculators, so when they exited the market,
we went right back to $70." Speculators are investors who trade in oil or other commodities
strictly as a financial investment. They include hedge funds and investment banks as well as
retirement funds.
Note: For lots more reports on corporate corruption from reliable sources, click here.

VW May Produce 282 MPG Two-Seat Car

2008-07-02, US News & World Report
http://usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/cars-trucks/daily-news/080702-VW-May-Pro...
Volkswagen has a new car in pre-production that, the automaker estimates, could get up to 282
mpg. That's not a misprint. Autoblog explains, "A few years back, Volkswagen introduced a
concept vehicle," known as the VW 1L, "which derived its name from its stated goal of using just
one liter of fuel per one-hundred kilometers traveled." The concept "actually beat its lofty goal
rather handily as it managed to achieve a miserly 282 miles per gallon in testing. Much of
its amazing fuel-saving capability stemmed from its 660 pounds (300 kilograms) curb
weight. The concept also featured a single cylinder engine and a 1+1 seating arrangement down
the center of the car." The U.K.'s Car Magazine reports, "At the time the chairman of VW's
supervisory board predicted that the super-economical two-seater would go into productionin
2012. Now the VW 1L will hit the market two years ahead of schedule, in 2010." Whether the 1L
would be sold in the U.S. market isn't yet clear.
Note: Any bets on whether this car will actually go into production and be promoted? Check out
what happened to the Eco Spirit, which got over 100 mpg at this link.

Students increase fuel-efficiency

2008-06-22, San Francisco Chronicle (San Francisco's leading newspaper)
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/06/20/MTTF114KJO.DTL
What we drive in the future may not be designed in Detroit, or Tokyo or Stuttgart, but on the
college campuses of North America. Teams of students from 17 colleges and universities in the
United States and Canada have spent the last three years taking apart models of a Chevrolet

Equinox, and re-designing and re-fitting the crossover SUV to get better fuel efficiency than the
engineers and designers at General Motors have been able to achieve. It's called Challenge X. So
what did these college teams come up with? They came up with bio-diesel, ethanol, hydrogen,
hybrid electric, plug-in electric - with most of the teams using two of these energy sources together.
The team from Penn State created an Equinox that runs on three fuels: bio-diesel, hydrogen and
electric hybrid power. "The way it's designed, it's always burning hydrogen and bio-diesel together,
and the hybrid motor turns on and off," explained Nate Simmons. The team from San Diego State
created a bio-diesel electric hybrid, and transformed the transmission from automatic to manual for
even better gas mileage. They were able to boost the EPA rating for the conventional Equinox from
a rating of 23 miles per gallon highway up into the low 30s. "We set out to produce the most
powerful vehicle in the competition," said faculty advisor James Burns. This year's winner was
Mississippi State University, for its bio-diesel hybrid electric design. The MSU vehicle is
powered by a 1.9-liter GM direct injection turbo-diesel engine, fueled by bio-diesel (B20). It
won for achieving a whopping 38 percent increase in fuel economy over the productionmodel Equinox.
Note: College and even high school students have been beating car manufacturers for years, yet
the media seem to largely ignore this. For striking examples, click here and here.

Turning physics on its ear

2008-02-04, Toronto Star (Toronto's leading newspaper)
http://www.thestar.com/Business/article/300042
Thane Heins is nervous and hopeful. In four days the Ottawa-area native will travel to Boston
where he'll demonstrate an invention that appears ... to operate as a perpetual motion machine.
The audience, esteemed Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor Markus Zahn, could
either deflate Heins' heretical claims or add momentum to a 20-year obsession. Zahn is a leading
expert on electromagnetic and electronic systems. In a rare move for any reputable academic, he
has agreed to give Heins' creation an open-minded look rather than greet it with outright dismissal.
The invention ... could moderately improve the efficiency of induction motors, used in everything
from electric cars to ceiling fans. At best it means a way of tapping the mysterious powers of
electromagnetic fields to produce more work out of less effort, seemingly creating electricity from
nothing. Heins has modified his test so the effects observed are difficult to deny. He holds a
permanent magnet a few centimetres away from the driveshaft of an electric motor, and the
magnetic field it creates causes the motor to accelerate. Contacted by phone a few hours after the
test, Zahn is genuinely stumped and surprised. He said the magnet shouldn't cause
acceleration. "It's an unusual phenomenon I wouldn't have predicted in advance. But I saw
it. It's real. To my mind this is unexpected and new," he [said]. "There are an infinite number of
induction machines in people's homes and everywhere around the world. If you could make them
more efficient, cumulatively, it could make a big difference."
Note: For a treasure trove of reports on new energy breakthroughs from reliable, verifiable
sources, click here.

Humming a greener tune for vehicles

2008-01-24, The Guardian (One of the UK's leading newspapers)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/jan/24/it.greentech
In 2000 Jonathan Goodwin, a self-described "gearhead", bought his first Hummer, an old H1, in
Denver, Colorado. "The thing did eight miles to the gallon and nought to 60 in about two days," he
recalls. On his drive home to Wichita, Kansas, it broke down three times. The engine died. Rather
than fix the engine, he replaced it with a new Duramax diesel and doubled the fuel economy to 20
miles per US gallon (equivalent to 24 miles per Imperial gallon), tripled the horsepower to 600 and
quadrupled the torque to 1,200ft lbs. Driven by his quest for more power and less consumption he
had inadvertently stumbled across a solution for America's SUV-loving masses. The byproduct of
the system he installed is lower emissions - a greener output for these thirsty beasts. "Now we can
have our cake and eat it," he says. "It's difficult for these huge companies. The technology is there
to make cars that have vastly improved consumption figures already, but they're driven by the
need to sell all the cars they currently make," Goodwin says. "If they announced they were
bringing out a 100mpg car then no-one would buy the old line." Goodwin sees three stages to a
process of change: converting all autos to diesel which can then run on biofuel, making the
step to bio-electric and finally to hydroelectric, meaning cars will run on water.
Note: For more on this amazing man and his cool inventions, click here.

A way to squeeze oil and gas from just about anything

2007-12-00, Popular Science magazine
http://www.popsci.com/popsci/flat/bown/2007/innovator_2.html
Everything that goes into Frank Pringles recycling machine a piece of tire, a rock, a
plastic cup turns to oil and natural gas seconds later. Ive been told the oil companies
might try to assassinate me, Pringle says without sarcasm. The machine is a microwave
emitter that extracts the petroleum and gas hidden inside everyday objects. Every hour, the first
commercial version will turn 10 tons of auto waste tires, plastic, vinyl into enough natural gas
to produce 17 million BTUs of energy (it will use 956,000 of those BTUs to keep itself running).
Pringle created the machine about 10 years ago after he drove by a massive tire fire and thought
about the energy being released. He went home and threw bits of a tire in a microwave emitter
hed been working with for another project. It turned to what looked like ash, but a few hours later,
he returned and found a black puddle on the floor of the unheated workshop. Somehow, hed
struck oil. Or rather, he had extracted it. Petroleum is composed of strings of hydrocarbon
molecules. When microwaves hit the tire, they crack the molecular chains and break it into its
component parts: carbon black (an ash-like raw material) and hydrocarbon gases, which can be
burned or condensed into liquid fuel. If the process worked on tires, he thought, it should work on
anything with hydrocarbons. The trick was in finding the optimum microwave frequency for each
material. In 2004 he teamed up with engineer pal Hawk Hogan to take the machine commercial.

Their first order is under construction in Rockford, Illinois. Its a $5.1-million microwave machine
the size of small bus called the Hawk, bound for an auto-recycler in Long Island, New York. Oil
companies are looking to the machines to gasify petroleum trapped in shale.
Note: For many exciting breakthroughs in new energy technologies, click here.

The 50% MPG Gain That Detroit Won't Touch

2007-08-26, Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/23/AR20070823016...
Gerald Rowley keeps his dreams in his garage. There ... he stores an aging Mazda 626 sedan
[specially outfitted with a] one-gallon steel box in the trunk connected to fuel lines leading to a
gasoline vaporizing device under the hood. The steel box holds one gallon of regular unleaded
gasoline. The device beneath the hood is called the VFS, Vaporizing Fuel System. I came here to
drive Rowley's VFS-equipped car. For years, I had spurned the invitations of homespun inventors
worldwide to travel to distant points to witness first-hand machines that could deliver 100 miles per
gallon or 200 miles per gallon. The claims sounded too incredible to believe -- ridiculous, in fact. If
such devices really worked, really did what their inventors said they did, why would they still be
sitting on shelves in anonymous workshops -- ignored by the driving public and all of the vehicle
manufacturers who serve them? What automobile manufacturer in its right mind, especially
with rising concerns about future oil availability and with gasoline prices escalating
worldwide, would not jump at the opportunity to acquire a device that delivered 100 miles
per gallon? Rowley's patented device is nothing new. It's just the latest iteration of an idea already
developed by others -- the notion that you could get more miles per gallon out of a traditional
gasoline engine if you pre-heated the fuel to about 350 degrees Fahrenheit, thus turning it into a
vapor before it enters the combustion chamber. Vaporized fuel, when properly mixed with air,
burns more efficiently, saves fuel and emits fewer tailpipe pollutants than traditional fuel-air
mixtures in which gasoline is sprayed into a combustion chamber in tiny droplets and then mixed
with air before burning. All car companies know this.
Note: Why won't the car manufacturers develop this amazing, proven technology? For a possible
answer, click here. And for a treasure trove of exciting reports on new energy developments, click
here.

Vehicle mileage estimates get real

2006-12-12, Los Angeles Times
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-fuel12dec12,0,1026595.story
That 55-mile-per-gallon hybrid car you've been eyeing may end up being a 44-mpg hybrid. The
federal Environmental Protection Agency announced a new system Monday for evaluating fuel
economy that will lower mileage estimates for most vehicles. On average, vehicles rated under the
2008 method will post a 12% drop in city gasoline mileage and an 8% decline in highway mileage.

With the new testing requirements, the EPA is attempting to come up with estimates that more
closely reflect the real-world mileage motorists can expect when they purchase a vehicle. Under
the current system ... actual mileage is often far lower than the posted EPA ratings. Hybrids
will be hit harder because the new test eliminates some of the all-electric driving that helped them
produce impressive results. A recent study ... found that the average mileage for passenger cars
and light trucks was about 14% less than EPA estimates. The mileage for gas-electric hybrids
probably will be 20% to 30% lower than present estimates for city driving and 10% to 20% lower
on the highway. These vehicles quickly lose their all-electric advantage when operated in cold
weather or quickly accelerated. The new EPA mileage estimates won't harm automakers' ability to
meet federal rules requiring an industrywide average fuel economy of 27.5 miles per gallon for
cars and 21 mpg for sport utility vehicles, pickup trucks and vans.
Note: The government could easily mandate higher gas mileage, but has not significantly raised
the bar in almost 20 years. Why? The current average mileage for all cars is less than the mileage
of the 1908 Model T. With all of the incredibly technological advances in other fields, how is this
possible? For more on this vital topic, click here and here. Toyota came out with a hybrid that got
100 mpg in 2002. For what happened to it, click here. And to learn how a Toyota Prius can be
converted to get 100 miles per gallon, click here.

Who Killed the Electric Car?

2006-07-10, Popular Science magazine
http://www.popsci.com/cars/article/2006-07/who-killed-electric-car
Chris Paines documentary film "Who Killed the Electric Car?" argues convincingly that there was
indeed a market for the cars and a devoted one, ... but that GM [General Motors] squashed
the EV1 because, quite simply, it threatened the livelihood of the entire automotive industry.
The car used no gasoline, no oil and no mufflers, and it required only sporadic brake
maintenance. Each of these components represents billions of dollars in profits for the
industry. GM, the oil companies and various government agencies argued that the car wasnt
practical, didnt have enough range for consumers and was less promising than the apparently
imminent hydrogen technology. The reality was exactly the opposite, Paines film suggests the
viability of hydrogen as an automotive fuel source alone is in fact almost comically optimistic. The
whisper-quiet EV1 was designed by [an] aviation pioneer, Paul MacCready of AeroVironment. In
the 1970s, MacCready built the only successful human-powered aircraft, the Gossamer Condor
and the Gossamer Albatross. His solar-powered electric car Sunraycer, built for GM, won the 1987
World Solar Challenge Race in Australia. His corporate mantra is "do more with less" that is,
focus on creating vehicles that require less energy to operate, not on finding ways to pump more
power into inefficient systems. His teams battery-powered EV1 was a triumph of engineering and
a joy to operate.
Note: For lots more on key suppressed automotive and energy inventions, click here.

Beam weapons almost ready for battle

2006-01-11, MSNBC
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/10805240/
LOS ALAMOS, N.M. - There is a new breed of weaponry fast approaching. They are labeled
"directed-energy weapons," and they may well signal a revolution in military hardware -perhaps more so than the atomic bomb. Directed-energy weapons take the form of lasers, highpowered microwaves and particle beams. Their adoption for ground, air, sea, and space warfare
depends not only on using the electromagnetic spectrum, but also upon favorable political and
budgetary wavelengths too. After more than two decades of research, the United States is on the
verge of deploying a new generation of weapons that discharge beams of energy, such as the
Airborne Laser and the Active Denial System, as well as the Tactical High Energy Laser, or THEL.
Then theres Active Denial Technology -- a non-lethal way to use millimeter-wave electromagnetic
energy to stop, deter and turn back an advancing adversary. This technology, supported by the
U.S. Marines, uses a beam of millimeter waves to heat a foes skin, causing severe pain without
damage, and making the adversary flee the scene. By tuning the resonance of a laser onto Earths
ionosphere, you can create audible frequencies. Like some boom box in the sky, the laserproduced voice could bellow from above down to the target below: "Put down your weapons."

On the Biodiesel Bandwagon

2005-07-10, San Francisco Chronicle (Leading newspaper of San Francisco)
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/07/10/CMGI8D65IU1.DTL
Economists have predicted that 2005 is the year of the "global oil- production peak," when the
world produces the most oil it will ever produce. And so ends the era of cheap fossil fuels, taking
with it everything we've associated with modern American living: cheap groceries, cheap electricity,
cheap construction, cheap beer, cheap everything. Because without cheap fossil fuel, nothing is
cheap; and without cheap stuff, our society will soon be a very, very different place. A better place.
At least for Ben Jordan. "The sooner we get rid of fossil fuels," explains Jordan, "the sooner we
can have alternatives like biodiesel." Using vegetable oil as fuel isn't new; in fact, it's what the
diesel engine was originally intended to run on. When Rudolf Diesel first showcased his engine
at the 1900 World's Fair in Paris, he used peanut oil. Diesel engines -- operating solely on
vegetable oils -- got an average of 30 percent more miles per gallon than traditional
combustion engines, and soon became the standard for buses, trucks, freightliners and marine
craft. In the 1920s, impressed by the efficiency of the engine and eager to control the diesel
market, oil companies forced car manufacturers to modify diesel engines to run off their huge
supplies of cheap, low-grade petroleum diesel. And the world's cities have been clogged with
sooty, black, highly polluting diesel exhaust ever since.
Note: For many promising reports on new energy developments, click here.

Advanced vehicles demonstrate zero oil-consumption, reduced

emissions
2005-05-18, Boston Globe
http://www.boston.com/cars/news/2005/may/0518_tourdesol.html
Carmakers such as Toyota and Honda can't seem to make hybrid vehicles fast enough to keep up
with public interest. Interest in this new technology is growing, and one group is highlighting these
technical marvels in a yearly event called the Tour de Sol. Top prize for the Monte-Carlo Rally went
to a modified Honda Insight driven by Brian Hardegen, of Pepperell, who broke the 100-mile-pergallon barrier over a 150-mile range. The car actually got 107 miles-per gallon. St. Mark's High
School in Southboro, and North Haven Community School, North Haven, ME, demonstrated
true zero-oil consumption and true zero climate-change emissions with their modified
electric Ford pick-up and Volkswagen bus. More than 60 hybrid, electric and biofueled vehicles
from throughout the US and Canada demonstrated that we have the technology today to power
our transportation system with zero-oil consumption and zero climate-change emissions.
Note: If the above link fails, click here. If high school students can do it, why aren't the car
companies seriously developing these technologies? And why are car manufacturers not able to
keep up with demand on hybrid vehicles? For more, click here.

Halliburton operates in Iran despite sanctions

2005-03-07, MSNBC News
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7119752
in January, Halliburton won a contract to drill at a huge Iranian gas field called Pars, which an
Iranian government spokesman said "served the interests" of Iran. "I am baffled that any American
company would want to have employees operating in Iran," says Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine. "I
would think they'd be ashamed." Halliburton says the operation videotaped by NBC News is
entirely legal. It's run by a subsidiary called "Halliburton Products and Services Limited," based
outside the U.S. In fact, the law allows foreign subsidiaries of U.S. corporations to do business in
Iran under strict conditions. Other U.S. oil services companies, like Weatherford and Baker
Hughes, also are in Iran. And foreign subsidiaries of NBC's parent company, General
Electric, have sold equipment to Iran. For Halliburton to have done this legally, the foreign
subsidiary operating in Iran must be independent of the main operation in Texas. Yet, when an
NBC producer approached managers in Iran, he was sent to company officials in Dubai. But they
said only Halliburton headquarters in Houston could talk about operations in Iran.

Warming Up to Cold Fusion

2004-11-21, Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A54964-2004Nov16.html

Peter Hagelstein is trying to revive hope for a future of clean, inexhaustible, inexpensive energy.
Fifteen years after the scientific embarrassment of the century ... a panel of scientists gathered.
The panel's charge was simple: to determine whether [cold fusion] had even a prayer of a chance
at working. The Department of Energy went to great lengths to cloak the meeting from public view.
No announcement, no reporters. None of the names of the people attending that day was
disclosed. Since 1989, hundreds of scientists working in dozens of labs around the world have
claimed ... results. Supporters point to the written literature -- more than 3,000 papers -- as proof of
the effect. But the most credible cold fusion advocates concede that the vast majority of those
papers are of poor quality. "Brilliant," "genius" and "reclusive" were words used to describe [SRI
scientist Peter] Hagelstein 20 years ago, when he rose to prominence as one of the young
scientists behind President Ronald Reagan's plans to build a missile shield in outer space.
Hagelstein [now] describes the mainstream scientific community as "mafias" that promote and
publish their friends' work, unwilling to accept new ideas. As Hagelstein explains it, leading
physicists came out swiftly and prematurely against cold fusion. Hagelstein says his acceptance of
cold fusion was by no means immediate. It took several years before he was convinced. [Now]
Hagelstein says, he has seen enough cold fusion data to convince him that the science is
clearly real. The field's acceptance, he maintains, will be simply a matter of the scientific
community's looking at the improved experimental results in the future and coming to understand
them.
Note: If the above link fails, click here. Why all the secrecy around this important topic? To learn
why the power elite don't want cheap energy, click here.

Fuel Of Of The Future?

1996-08-06, Seattle Times
http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=19960806&slug=2342894
Inventors who are mixing water with fuel to power engines say they're onto something big.
German-born inventor Rudolf Gunnerman [believes] that one of the world's most common
compounds - good old tap water - can be blended with fuel to power your car, truck or lawn mower.
Gunnerman claims to have devised a means to blend water with naphtha in order to power
engines in a cleaner, cheaper, more efficient way. "New ideas and better ideas are not
necessarily found by universities or by large companies. New ideas and better ideas are
found by people who look for them," says Gunnerman, 68. "Caterpillar" is the single word that
brings a degree of credibility to Gunnerman's claims. The Peoria, Ill.-based heavy- equipment
manufacturer entered a joint venture with Gunnerman in July 1994. Together, under the name
Advanced Fuels, they've conducted experimental uses of the A-21 fuel - made up of 70 percent
naphtha, a crude-oil byproduct, and 30 percent water. And now, Paccar Inc. is throwing its trucking
weight in Gunnerman's corner. The Bellevue-based manufacturer of Kenworth and Peterbilt trucks
recently sent a truck to Peoria for testing with the A-21 fuel. Paccar changed out the engine to add
a Caterpillar engine and modified the cylinders and fuel injectors to handle more fluid volume.

They also did a series of baseline tests of noise, cooling, drivability and fuel economy, said Jim
Reichman, Paccar's technology-development manager. Back at Paccar's Mount Vernon technical
center, Reichman is enthused. "We're pretty pleased with it," he said.
Note: For key reports from reliable sources on new energy developments, click here.

Half gas, half water: does it work?

1996-02-11, Salt Lake Tribune
http://www.sltrib.com/96/feb/11/twr/02403339.htm
It seems too good to be true, but rigorous tests under way in Nevada, California and Illinois show a
breakthrough fuel that is more than half tap water could power the nation's vehicles, trains and
gas-powered aircraft by century's end. The milky fuel was developed by Reno inventor Rudolf
Gunnerman and is being pushed through the federal fuels-testing labyrinth by Gunnerman
and diesel giant Caterpillar Inc. It has passed every test thrown at it. In virtually all
categories, it tops conventional gasoline and diesel as a clean, cheap and safe fuel that can
be used in almost any combustion engine. If it works -- and disinterested outsiders who have
tested it say it may -- drivers could see the price of gasoline cut more than half. "Everybody said it
cannot work, that I'm a fraud,'' the German-born inventor said. No one's laughing now: Nevada last
November certified the water-based fuel as a "clean alternative fuel,'' meaning it can be used to
meet federal mandates requiring clean fuels in fleets and other vehicles. The Energy Department
is awaiting test data from trials run by Caterpillar before passing judgment. If DOE reaches the
same conclusion as Nevada, Gunnerman's concoction could be used as a clean fuel in all states.
Note: If the above link fails, click here. Why didn't this exciting development make headline news?
For lots more showing very promising results on this most intriguing invention, click here. For
exciting reports from reliable sources on highly promising new energy developments and
technologies, click here and here.

"Death Ray" for Planes

1940-09-22, New York Times
http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive/pdf?res=9807E2DA1638E532A25751C2A96F9C94...
Nikola Tesla, one of the truly great inventors [says] that he stands ready to divulge to the United
States government the secret of his "teleforce," of which he said, "airplane motors would be melted
at a distance of 250 miles, so that an invisible 'Chinese Wall of Defense' would be built around the
country against any enemy attack by an enemy air force, no matter how large." This "teleforce" ...
would operate through a beam one-hundred-millionth of a square centimeter in diameter, and
could be generated from special plant that would cost no more then $2,000,000 and would take
only about three months to construct. A dozen such plants, located at strategic points along the
coast, according to Mr. Tesla, would be enough to defend the country against all aerial attack. The
beam would melt any engine, whether diesel or gasoline driven, and would also ignite the

explosives aboard any bomber. No possible defense against it could be devised, he asserts, as the
beam would be all-penetrating. The beam [would involve] a new method for producing "a
tremendous repelling electrical force." This would be the projector, or the gun of the
system. The voltage for propelling the beam to its objective, according to the inventor, will
attain a potential of 80,000,000 volts. With this enormous voltage, he said, microscopic electrical
particles of matter will be catapulted on their mission of defensive destruction.
Note: If you are unable to access this article at the link above, you can also find it at this link. The
technology Tesla was exploring here may well have been used in the currently functioning HAARP
facilities, which some researchers believe are being used to manipulate weather and more. For an
abundance of reliable information on HAARP, click here. For an amazing 35-page autobiography
by Tesla himself, click here.

Tesla at 75
1931-07-20, Time Magazine
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,742063,00.html
Nikola Tesla (pronounced Teshlah) [invented] the Tesla induction motor which made alternating
current practical, and the Tesla transformer which steps up oscillating currents to high potentials.
Last week was Dr. Tesla's 75th birthday. To Nikola Tesla, all the world's a power house. For 40
years he has been reasoning, calculating and arguing that the earth has a definite electrical
resonance. All that men need do to have unlimited power at their command, and that power
without the necessity of transmission wires, would be to generate electricity in tune with
the earth's. Only possible drawbacks would be the vast expense of installation ... and anyone
could tap the current. There could be no financial control of electricity. In Colorado in 1899, Tesla
built a huge induction coil by which he generated and, he says, sent out wireless waves the same
year Marconi established wireless communication. Tesla claims priority, because he conceived his
system six years earlier, in 1893. The theoretical path of Tesla's waves were through the earth, not
through the air as Hertzian waves go. [Tesla has commented] "I think that nothing can be more
important than interplanetary communication. It will certainly come some day, and the certitude
that there are other human beings in the universe, working, suffering, struggling, like ourselves, will
produce a magic effect on mankind and will form the foundation of a universal brotherhood that will
last as long as humanity itself." Dr. Tesla migrated to the U. S. in 1884 to work for Thomas Alva
Edison, whom he soon quit. His naturalization papers he keeps in a safety box, his scientific
medals and degrees in old trunks and cupboards.
Note: The above link requires a small payment. To view the full article free, click here. Though
Marconi gets major mention in the history books while Tesla is given but a footnote, the U.S.
Supreme Court in 1943 "ruled that that Tesla's radio patents had predated those of [Marconi]," as
stated in this Chicago Tribune article. There are many intriguing secrets about this mysterious
genius. To learn how the government seized his work immediately after his death and lots more,
click here. For other verifiable information on incredible new energy inventions based on Tesla
technology and more, click here.

Tesla's New Device Like Bolts of Thor

1915-12-08, New York Times
http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=F10F15F7385B17738DDDA10894D...
Nikola Tesla, the inventor, winner of the 1915 Nobel Physics Prize, has filed patent applications on
the essential parts of a machine ... which he says will render fruitless any military expedition
against a country which possesses it. The destructive invention will go through space with a
speed of 300 miles a second, [a] manless airship without propelling engine or wings, sent
by electricity to any desired point on the globe on its errand of destruction, if destruction its
manipulator wishes to effect. Ten miles or a thousand miles, it will be all the same to the machine,
the inventor says. Straight to the point, on land or on sea, it will be able to go with precision,
delivering a blow that will paralyze or kill, as is desired. A man in a tower on Long Island could
shield New York against ships or army by working a lever, if the inventor's anticipations become
realizations. "It is perfectly practicable to transmit electrical energy without wires and produce
destructive effects at a distance. I have already constructed a wireless transmitter which makes
this possible, and have described it in my technical publications. With transmitters of this kind we
are enabled to project electrical energy in any amount to any distance and apply it for innumerable
purposes, both in peace and war. The art is already so far developed that great destructive effects
can be produced at any point on the globe, determined beforehand and with great accuracy." Dr.
Tesla then said that it would be possible with his wireless mechanism to direct an ordinary
aeroplane, manless, to any point over a ship or an army, and to discharge explosives of
great strength from the base of operations.
Note: If you are unable to access this article at the link above, you can also find it at this link or this
one. Some believe that this amazing technology was developed and then kept secret for reasons
of national security. The technology Tesla was exploring here could have played a part in the
secretive HAARP facilities, which some researchers believe are being used to manipulate weather
and more. For an abundance of reliable information on HAARP, click here. For an amazing 35page autobiography by Tesla himself, click here.

APS authored Congressional letter to feds asking to crack down on

solar industry
2015-01-16, ABC's Arizona Affiliate
http://www.abc15.com/news/local-news/investigations/aps-authored-congressiona...
Arizonas largest utility company has been at odds with the solar panel industry for years. Now,
APS [Arizona Public Service, the states largest utility] is asking the Federal Trade Commission to
crack down on solar companies. But they didnt ask them directly. Six Arizona Congressmen sent
letters to federal regulators asking them to investigate solar leasing companies. Reporter Evan
Wyloge ... has the original letter and proves its actually APS spearheading the effort. Arizona
Public Service [is] one of the largest campaign donors for the group of lawmakers. The APSauthored, congressmen-signed letter comes as the latest in an ongoing effort to stymie

third-party solar panel companies, whose business has grown tenfold over the past halfdecade, presenting a challenge to the long-term business model of traditional utilities like
APS. The high-profile fight between the traditional utility and newer rooftop solar panel companies
is not unique to Arizona. Similar struggles have emerged in other states. On Nov. 19, Democratic
Reps. Ron Barber, Ann Kirkpatrick and Kyrsten Sinema asked [regulators] in a joint letter to ... look
into solar panel leasing practices. Then, on Dec. 12, Republican Reps. Trent Franks, Paul Gosar
and Matt Salmon sent a similar letter to the FTC. After both letters were sent, the Arizona
Corporation Commission voted late in 2014 to open a docket on consumer complaints about solar
companies. Initial hearings are expected to begin this spring.
Note: For more along these lines, see concise summaries of deeply revealing government
corruption and energy news articles from reliable major media sources.

Heavyweight Response to Local Fracking Bans

2015-01-03, New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/04/us/heavyweight-response-to-local-fracking-b...
Longmont [Colorado] has become a cautionary tale of what can happen when cities decide to
confront the oil and gas industry. In an aggressive response to a wave of citizen-led drilling bans,
state officials, energy companies and industry groups are taking Longmont and other
municipalities to court, forcing local governments into ... expensive, long-shot efforts to defend the
measures. Two years ago, [Longmont] residents voted to ban hydraulic fracturing from their
grassy open spaces and a snow-fed reservoir. In Colorado, the energy industry, which argues that
cities lack the authority to outlaw fracking, has already won rulings overturning three fracking
prohibitions. Longmont, which sits near the juncture of rolling plains and jagged mountains, has
spent about $136,000 fighting unsuccessfully so far to defend a 2012 measure that outlawed
fracking. In July, a district court judge tossed out the ban, and the city is appealing. A judge
also overturned a fracking ban last year in Fort Collins, Colo., and denied pleas from the city
to keep the ban in place while local officials went to court to defend a five-year fracking
moratorium. In Broadview Heights, Ohio, energy companies are suing the town and residents
are suing the energy companies in return over a bill of rights that outlawed fracking and the
disposal of its byproducts. While the Longmont City Council voted unanimously in August to
defend the fracking ban, other towns have decided it is just too costly a fight.
Note: Fracking can poison drinking water, negatively impact human health, and may cause
earthquakes.

Three-Wheeled Elio Gets Closer to Going on Sale

2014-08-15, ABC News/Associated Press
http://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory/wheeled-elio-closer-sale-24991923

Your next commuter car could have two seats, three wheels and get 84 miles to the gallon. Elio
Motors wants to revolutionize U.S. roads with its tiny car, which is the same length as a Honda Fit
but half the weight. With a starting price of $6,800, it's also less than half the cost. Phoenix-based
Elio plans to start making the cars next fall at a former General Motors plant in Shreveport,
Louisiana. Already, more than 27,000 people have reserved one. Elio hopes to make 250,000 cars
a year by 2016. Because it has three wheels two in front and one in the rear the Elio is
actually classified as a motorcycle by the U.S. government. But Elio Motors founder Paul Elio says
the vehicle has all the safety features of a car, like anti-lock brakes, front and side air bags and a
steel cage that surrounds the occupants. Drivers won't be required to wear helmets or have
motorcycle licenses. The Elio's two seats sit front and back instead of side by side, so the
driver is positioned in the center with the passenger directly behind. The Elio has a threecylinder, 0.9-liter engine and a top speed of more than 100 miles per hour. It gets an
estimated 84 mpg on the highway and 49 mpg in city driving. Elio keeps the costs down in
several ways. The car only has one door, on the left side, which shaves a few hundred dollars off
the manufacturing costs. Having three wheels also makes it cheaper. It will be offered in just two
configurations with a manual or automatic transmission and it has standard air conditioning,
power windows and door locks and an AM/FM radio. More features, such as navigation or blindspot detection, can be ordered.
Note: For more on this, see concise summaries of deeply revealing alternative automotive
technology news articles from reliable major media sources.

Oil a key motive for U.S. air strikes in Iraq

2014-08-12, San Francisco Chronicle (SF's leading newspaper)
http://www.sfgate.com/business/bottomline/article/Oil-a-key-motive-for-U-S-ai...
This week's U.S. air strikes in northern Iraq are being accompanied with an undertow of "it's all
about oil" talk. Take for example, Columbia School of Journalism Dean Steve Coll's observation in
The New Yorker, that "Obama's defense of Erbil (capital of the semiautonomous Kurdish
region) is effectively the defense of an undeclared Kurdish oil state." It's no secret that Iraqi
Kurdistan has an abundance of oil reserves, nor that U.S. oil companies, like [Chevron] are
busy exploring there. Chevron has three "production sharing contracts" with the Kurdish
government, covering a combined 444,000 acres, north of Irbil, where it's in the early testing and
drilling stage. And it likes what it sees. Asked for an update, a Chevron spokesman said Monday,
"We continue monitoring the situation. We remain in regular contact with the Kurdistan Regional
Government and are dedicated to supporting the (Kurdistan Region of Iraq) in developing its
natural resources." A potentially bigger worry for both Chevron and the Kurds .. could be if Iraq did
stabilize and unite, with Kurdistan under its umbrella. For Chevron ... a new arrangement in Iraq
could entail the renegotiation of contracts it has with the Kurds, which by the way, Baghdad
refused to recognize. Kurdistan's oil pipeline via Turkey continues to pump out oil - 120,000
barrels per day.

Note: For more on this, see concise summaries of deeply revealing military corruption news
articles from reliable major media sources.

Oil companies fracking into drinking water sources, new research

shows
2014-08-12, Los Angeles Times
http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-fracking-groundwater-pavillion-20140811-s...
Energy companies are fracking for oil and gas at far shallower depths than widely believed,
sometimes through underground sources of drinking water, according to research released [on
August 12] by Stanford University scientists. Fracking involves high-pressure injection of millions of
gallons of water mixed with sand and chemicals to crack geological formations and tap previously
unreachable oil and gas reserves. Fracking fluids contain a host of chemicals, including known
carcinogens and neurotoxins. Fears about possible water contamination and air pollution have fed
resistance in communities around the country. Fracking into underground drinking water sources is
not prohibited by the 2005 Energy Policy Act, which exempted the practice from key provisions of
the Safe Drinking Water Act. But the industry has long held that it does not hydraulically fracture
into underground sources of drinking water because oil and gas deposits sit far deeper than
aquifers. The study, however, found that energy companies used acid stimulation ... and
hydraulic fracturing in the Wind River and Fort Union geological formations that make up
the Pavillion gas field and that contain both natural gas and sources of drinking water.
Thousands of gallons of diesel fuel and millions of gallons of fluids containing numerous
inorganic and organic additives were injected directly into these two formations during
hundreds of stimulation events, concluded Dominic DiGiulio and Robert Jackson of Stanfords
School of Earth Sciences.
Note: For more on this, see concise summaries of deeply revealing corporate corruption news
articles from reliable major media sources.

NASA approves 'impossible' space engine design that apparently

violates the laws of physics and could revolutionise space travel
2014-08-04, The Independent (One of the UK's leading newspapers)
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/nasa-approves-impossible-space-engi...
In a quiet announcement that has sent shockwaves through the scientific world, NASA has
cautiously given its seal of approval to a new type of impossible engine that could revolutionize
space travel. In a paper published by the agencys experimental Eagleworks Laboratories, NASA
engineers confirmed that they had produced tiny amounts of thrust from an engine without
propellant an apparent violation of the conservation of momentum; the law of physics that states
that every action must have an equal and opposite reaction. NASAs engineers have tested an
engine known as a Cannae Drive, a machine [that] uses electricity to generate

microwaves, bouncing them around inside a specially designed container that theoretically
creates a difference in radiation pressure and so results in directional thrust. In an ordinary
engine the rocket moves forward as fuel is flung backwards - the momentum of the rocket (a
measure of both its mass and velocity combined) is 'conserved' because it is moved from the
rocket to the fuel. However, with the Cannae Drive there is no fuel - the microwaves aren't expelled
from the engine. NASAs scientists tested a version of the drive designed by US scientist Guido
Fetta and found that the propellantless engine was able to produce between 30 and 50
micronewtons of thrust a tiny amount (0.00003 to 0.00005 per cent of the force of an iPhone
pressing down when held in the hand) but still a great deal more than nothing.
Note: For more on this, see concise summaries of deeply revealing new energy technologies
news articles from reliable major media sources.

Solar has won. Even if coal were free to burn, power stations couldn't
compete
2014-07-07, The Guardian (One of the UK's leading newspapers)
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/jul/07/solar-has-won-even-if-co...
Last week ... the wholesale price of electricity in Queensland fell into negative territory in the
middle of the day. For several days the price, normally around $40-$50 a megawatt hour, hovered
in and around zero. Prices were deflated throughout the week, largely because of the influence of
one of the newest, biggest power stations in the state rooftop solar. Negative pricing moves, as
they are known, are not uncommon. But they are only supposed to happen at night, when most of
the population is mostly asleep, [and] demand is down That's not supposed to happen at
lunchtime. Daytime prices are supposed to reflect higher demand, when people are awake, office
buildings are in use, factories are in production. That's when fossil fuel generators would normally
be making most of their money. The influx of rooftop solar has turned this model on its head.
The impact has been so profound, and wholesale prices pushed down so low, that few coal
generators in Australia made a profit last year. Hardly any are making a profit this year.
State-owned generators like Stanwell are specifically blaming rooftop solar. The problem for
Australian consumers [comes] in the cost of delivery of [electricity] through the transmission and
distribution networks, and from retail costs and taxes. This is the cost which is driving households
to take up rooftop solar, in such proportions that the level of rooftop solar is forecast ... to rise
sixfold over the next decade. Households are tipped to spend up to $30bn on rooftop modules. It
is not clear how centralised, fossil-fuel generation can adapt. In an energy democracy, even
free coal has no value.
Note: Explore a treasure trove of concise summaries of incredibly inspiring news articles which will
inspire you to make a difference.

Elon Musk Takes on Carbon With Solar, Battery Bets

2014-06-17, ABC News/Associated Press

http://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory/elon-musk-takes-carbon-solar-battery...
The energy world is not keeping up with Elon Musk, so he's trying to take matters into his own
hands. Musk, chairman of the solar installer SolarCity, announced [on June 17] that the company
would acquire a solar panel maker and build factories "an order of magnitude" bigger than the
plants that currently churn out panels. Musk is also a founder and the CEO of the electric vehicle
maker Tesla Motors, which is planning what it calls a "gigafactory" to supply batteries for its cars.
In both cases, Musk's goal is to make sure that the components critical to his vision of the future
electric cars and solar energy are available and cheap enough to beat fossil fuels. Musk's
future customer could ignore traditional energy companies completely. They'd have
SolarCity panels on their roof that would generate enough power [to] charge up a Tesla
[car] in the garage. A Tesla battery could then power the home at night with stored solar
power. Musk has made a career of thinking far into the future. He is also the CEO of SpaceX, the
rocket company with an ultimate goal of enabling people to live on other planets. SolarCity says it
won't try to turn out more of the garden-variety panels now clogging the market. Instead, it wants
to make panels that are more efficient, and make them at a low cost in huge factories in order to
reduce the overall cost of solar electricity. Just as he drew customers to electric vehicles by
making sleek, fast sports cars, Musk wants to attract homeowners to solar with pretty panels. "We
want to have a cool-looking aesthetically pleasing solar system on your roof," he said.
Note: For more on this, see concise summaries of deeply revealing new energy development
news articles from reliable major media sources. Explore a treasure trove of concise summaries of
incredibly inspiring news articles which will inspire you to make a difference.

Silicon Valley embraces open source as a moneymaker

2014-06-14, San Francisco Chronicle (SF's leading newspaper)
http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Silicon-Valley-embraces-open-source-as-a-5...
Open source is going commercial. Once an esoteric philosophy that called for people around the
world to collectively create and give away software, Silicon Valley is increasingly embracing the
open source ethos as a way to make money. To expand the small market for electric cars, Tesla
Motors CEO Elon Musk this week said he would share the company's technology with competitors.
He follows industry leaders like Google, which has long allowed outside companies to customize
its mobile operating system at no charge. Even Facebook is extolling the virtues of open source,
which enables outside programmers to spot security flaws and helps preserve a spirit of
innovation. As defined by the Open Source Initiative, the phrase ... means people not only can
access and modify software code but redistribute it for free. The valley is starting to sense that
enforcing patents doesn't always make sense. "Patents are so incompatible with the open source
software philosophy," said Daniel Nazer, a staff attorney with the Electronic Frontier Foundation.
That's Musk's mantra. The Tesla CEO didn't decide to give away his company's technology
because he is a nice guy. Instead, Musk realized that electric cars won't gain mass acceptance if
he is the only one making them. "Tesla Motors was created to accelerate the advent of

sustainable transport," Musk said this week. "If we clear a path to the creation of
compelling electric vehicles, but then lay intellectual property land mines behind us to
inhibit others, we are acting in a manner contrary to that goal."
Note: Explore a treasure trove of concise summaries of incredibly inspiring news articles which will
inspire you to make a difference.

Tesla: 'All our patents belong to you'

2014-06-13, The Independent (One of the UK's leading newspapers)
http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/tesla-all-our-patent...
Electric car manufacturer Tesla has confirmed that it will be opening up its patents to other
manufacturers in order to boost the adoption and technological development of electric cars.
Teslas billionaire founder Elon Musk said that the decision had been made in the spirit of
the open source movement and for the advancement of electric vehicle technology. If
we clear a path to the creation of compelling electric vehicles, but then lay intellectual
property landmines behind us to inhibit others, we are acting in a manner contrary to that
goal, wrote Musk in a blog post announcing the move. Tesla's first electric car has been launched
this month in the UK. The Tesla Model S, a luxury saloon car priced between 50,000 and
100,000, has a range of 300 miles and will be supported by a fledgling network of Tesla's
'supercharger' stations. Musk notes that there is a global fleet of some 2 billion cars with 100
million new vehicles added to this every year, and that if electric cars are to help address the
carbon crisis they must be produced in far greater volumes than they are currently. In comparison
Tesla only sold 22,500 Model S cars in 2013 and even the best-selling all-electric vehicle (the
Nissan Leaf) has only sold 100,00 units. Our true competition is not the small trickle of non-Tesla
electric cars being produced, but rather the enormous flood of gasoline cars pouring out of the
worlds factories every day, wrote Musk. We believe that Tesla, other companies making electric
cars, and the world would all benefit from a common, rapidly-evolving technology platform.
Note: Explore a treasure trove of concise summaries of incredibly inspiring news articles which will
inspire you to make a difference.

EnerVault unveils 'flow battery' for solar energy storage

2014-05-22, San Francisco Chronicle (SF's leading newspaper)
http://www.sfgate.com/business/article/EnerVault-unveils-flow-battery-for-sol...
In an almond orchard outside Turlock in the Central Valley, two large tanks hold water, minerals and more importantly, energy. The tanks ... are part of a "flow battery" that stores energy from
nearby solar panels. It's the largest battery of its kind in the world. And it could play a role in
California's push to develop bigger and better ways to store large quantities of energy. This
particular flow battery ... was built by EnerVault of Sunnyvale, part of the Bay Area's fast growing
energy-storage industry. Like most of its competitors, EnerVault is young, founded in 2008, with

about $30 million in venture funding to date. Some companies try to perfect the lithium-ion
batteries found in laptops and electric cars. Others, including EnerVault and Primus Power of
Hayward, specialize in flow batteries, which store energy in tanks of electrolytes. The fluid is then
pumped through the battery's cells when power is needed. In contrast, the batteries found at a
grocery store contain the electrolyte, cathode and anode all in one package. "Flow batteries are
batteries turned inside out," said Jim Pape, EnerVault's chief executive officer. His company's
flow batteries use iron and chromium, blended into the water inside its tanks. Both
materials are safe to handle. Iron and chromium also have the benefit of being cheap.
"That's our special sauce," Pape said. "Iron and chromium are very, very abundant, and
abundance equals low cost."
Note: For lots more from reliable sources on exciting new energy developments, click here. For a
treasure trove of great news articles which will inspire you to make a difference, click here.

Germany Taps Universities in Its Push for Green Energy

2014-05-11, New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/12/world/europe/germany-taps-universities-in-i...
Germany has set an ambitious goal: to run its economy almost entirely on renewable energy by
2050. The energy push, known as the Energiewende, or energy transformation, is often compared
in scope to the countrys postwar reconstruction. It will require wide-ranging changes in German
society not just in energy supply but in architecture and agriculture, urban planning, and
economic markets. Treading onto this unknown territory, Germany has called on its universities to
help make the transformation work. While Germany is supporting university research into solar
power and other clean energy, perhaps the biggest innovation in higher education is how the
Energiewende has triggered the creation of new interdisciplinary approaches, pushing institutions
to develop new courses, degrees and departments. Green technology is not necessarily where the
breakthroughs need to happen, said Karl-Friedrich Ziegahn, head of the renewable energy
department at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technologys School of Energy. In terms of the
transformation, Germanys biggest challenges today, he said, are socioeconomic in nature: public
awareness, cost and community involvement. Germany has already made enormous strides in
clean energy generation. In roughly a decade, it has expanded its green power supply to
account for a quarter of its electricity which is twice the United States share of
renewables. On especially sunny and windy days, when wind farms and solar parks churn out
power at peak volume, more than two-thirds of the countrys electricity needs are covered by
renewables.
Note: For more on promising alternative energy developments, see the deeply revealing reports
from reliable major media sources available here.

The Koch Attack on Solar Energy

2014-04-27, New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/27/opinion/sunday/the-koch-attack-on-solar-ene...
At long last, the Koch brothers and their conservative allies in state government have found a new
tax they can support. Naturally its a tax on something the country needs: solar energy panels. For
the last few months, the Kochs and other big polluters have been spending heavily to fight
incentives for renewable energy, which have been adopted by most states. They
particularly dislike state laws that allow homeowners with solar panels to sell power they
dont need back to electric utilities. So theyve been pushing legislatures to impose a surtax on
this increasingly popular practice, hoping to make installing solar panels on houses less attractive.
Oklahoma lawmakers recently approved such a surcharge at the behest of the American
Legislative Exchange Council, the conservative group that often dictates bills to Republican
statehouses and receives financing from the utility industry and fossil-fuel producers, including the
Kochs. [The] group is trying to repeal or freeze Ohios requirement that 12.5 percent of the states
electric power come from renewable sources like solar and wind by 2025. Twenty-nine states have
established similar standards that call for 10 percent or more in renewable power. These states
can now anticipate well-financed campaigns to eliminate these targets or scale them back. The
coal producers motivation is clear: They see solar and wind energy as a long-term threat to their
businesses.
Note: For more on the growth of the solar energy industry, see the deeply revealing reports from
reliable major media sources available here.

Things To Think About While Shopping For Dinner

2014-04-25, Forbes
http://www.forbes.com/sites/bethhoffman/2014/04/25/things-to-think-about-whil...
Of all our daily human activities, what we eat has perhaps the largest direct impact on the
environment. Agriculture uses an estimated 70 percent of global freshwater to grow our food, and
in the U.S., 22 percent of all our energy use is gobbled up by the food system. [In addition], the
agriculture sector produces about a fifth of the worlds greenhouse gases. A common myth is that
the food system uses so much fossil fuel because we ship food around the globe. [But] our
addiction to convenience foods uses far more. From the making of fertilizer [to] running your
refrigerator, the food system uses an enormous amount of energy. Not only are most of those fast
and packaged foods higher in sugar and lower on nutrients. They are also wasting valuable energy
resources. Conventional food uses far more energy than organic [food does]. According to the
Environmental Protection Agency, in 2007, U.S. agriculture used more than a billion pounds of
pesticides. The USDA also reports farmers used 22 million tons of synthetic fertilizer in
2011. The amount of energy used to create synthetic nitrogen fertilizer (more than 13 million
tons) could heat 5.5 million homes for a year. Junk food wastes money and precious resources.
In 2013, Americans drank close to 39 gallons of soda per person (at a cost of about $150 per
person), and in 2011, roughly 25 percent of the calories we consumed came from snack foods.
And yet we willingly pay 1000 times more for that can of soda then what it actually costs. It turns
out, it is not organic food that is the rip off.

Koch brothers, big utilities attack solar, green energy policies

2014-04-19, Los Angeles Times
http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-solar-kochs-20140420,0,7412286.story#axzz...
The Koch brothers, anti-tax activist Grover Norquist and some of the nation's largest power
companies have backed efforts in recent months to roll back state policies that favor green energy.
The conservative luminaries have pushed campaigns in Kansas, North Carolina and Arizona, with
the battle rapidly spreading to other states. Alarmed environmentalists and their allies in the solar
industry have fought back, battling the other side to a draw so far. Both sides say the fight is
growing more intense as new states, including Ohio, South Carolina and Washington, enter the
fray. At the nub of the dispute are two policies found in dozens of states. One requires utilities to
get a certain share of power from renewable sources. The other, known as net metering,
guarantees homeowners or businesses with solar panels on their roofs the right to sell any excess
electricity back into the power grid at attractive rates. Net metering forms the linchpin of the solarenergy business model. Without it, firms say, solar power would be prohibitively expensive. The
American Legislative Exchange Council, or ALEC, a membership group for conservative
state lawmakers, recently drafted model legislation that targeted net metering. The group
also helped launch efforts by conservative lawmakers in more than half a dozen states to
repeal green energy mandates. The group's campaign in [Kansas] compared the green energy
mandate to Obamacare, featuring ominous images of Kathleen Sebelius, the outgoing secretary of
Health and Human Services, who was Kansas' governor when the state adopted the requirement.
Note: For more on the growth of the solar energy industry, see the deeply revealing reports from
reliable major media sources available here.

Explosive growth for state's surviving solar firms

2014-01-19, San Francisco Chronicle SF's leading newspaper)
http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Explosive-growth-for-state-s-surviving-sol...
Many California and Bay Area [solar] companies are in a period of explosive growth. Companies
such as SolarCity, Sungevity, SunPower and Sunrun are installing panels at a heady pace, and
adding jobs along the way. Their expansion has been fueled by ... a worldwide plunge in the price
of solar cells. Companies that design and install solar systems for homes, businesses or utilities
have seen their sales rise. "They're not just survivors - they're strong survivors," said
Lyndon Rive, chief executive officer of SolarCity in San Mateo. "And it's not just us. It's the
industry. ... The notion that it's a failure is so outrageous." The number of solar installations
- both large and small-scale - is booming. In 2013, the United States added enough new
photovoltaic panels to generate a maximum of 4.2 gigawatts of electricity, roughly the output of
four nuclear reactors. Over the past five years, the number of residential installations has grown at
an average annual rate of 70 percent, according to the NPD Solarbuzz market information firm.
"The demand today is coming from the fact that someone can put solar on their house and save
money," said Paul Nahi, CEO of Enphase Energy, a Petaluma company that makes microinverters

for solar arrays. "It is true that they may also be saving the planet. But that's not their main
consideration." The drop in prices isn't their only reason for growth. Companies including SolarCity,
SunEdison and Sunrun began offering solar leases or power purchase agreements to
homeowners and businesses. Rather than buy the panels, customers could just buy the energy.
That financial innovation revolutionized the industry.
Note: For more on exciting new developments in alternative energy technologies, click here. For a
treasure trove of great news articles which will inspire you to make a difference, click here.

ALEC calls for penalties on 'freerider' homeowners in assault on clean

energy
2013-12-04, The Guardian (One of the UK's leading newspapers)
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/dec/04/alec-freerider-homeowners-assaul...
An alliance of corporations and conservative activists is mobilising to penalise
homeowners who install their own solar panels casting them as "freeriders" in a
sweeping new offensive against renewable energy. Over the coming year, the American
Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) will promote legislation with goals ranging from penalising
individual homeowners and weakening state clean energy regulations, to blocking the
Environmental Protection Agency, [the government's] main channel for climate action. Details of
ALEC's strategy to block clean energy development at every stage from the individual rooftop to
the White House are revealed as the group gathers for its policy summit in Washington this
week. About 800 state legislators and business leaders are due to attend the three-day event,
which begins ... with appearances by the Wisconsin senator Ron Johnson and the Republican
budget guru and fellow Wisconsinite Paul Ryan. Other ALEC speakers will be a leading figure
behind the recent government shutdown, US senator Ted Cruz of Texas, and the governors of
Indiana and Wyoming. For 2014, ALEC plans to promote a suite of model bills and resolutions
aimed at blocking Barack Obama from cutting greenhouse gas emissions, and state governments
from promoting the expansion of wind and solar power through regulations known as Renewable
Portfolio Standards. ALEC [wants] to lower the rate electricity companies pay homeowners
for direct power generation and maybe even charge homeowners for feeding power into
the grid.
Note: For more on government corruption, see the deeply revealing reports from reliable major
media sources available here.

Documentary looks at possible problems with smart grids

2013-08-12, USA Today
http://www.usatoday.com/story/cybertruth/2013/08/12/crowd-sourced-documentary...

Josh del Sol got curious in the summer of 2011 after a friend linked a serious illness to the recent
installation of a "smart meter." Del Sol subsequently learned that electrical utilities across North
America had been quietly installing "smart grids" that ... monitor Internet-connected meters
and appliances in homes and businesses. Now, del Sol is on the verge of premiering a featurelength documentary ... titled Take Back Your Power, disclosing questionable industry practices in
support of implementing networked control systems for power plants. The film links billing
mistakes, invasive monitoring, even human illnesses to the rising use of smart grids in the
U.S. and Europe. "Take Back Your Power delivers an ominous, powerful message about the
energy industry's shift to closely watching how customers use energy in their home in an invasive,
controversial manner," says Lee Waterworth, president of Yekra, a video-on-demand company. Del
Sol says access to industry sources was tough. "We had a difficult time getting anyone in the
industry to talk to us on camera once they found out that we were wanting to get to the bottom of
some of these concerns," he says. The filmmaker was surprised by the contrast between the views
of industry officials and those of ordinary citizens trying to get to the bottom of safety, privacy and
health concerns. Del Sol hopes the documentary helps to prompt the electricity industry "to provide
more transparency, accountability and clarity on the issues we explore in the film."
Note: You can find this documentary on the Internet. For more, read how solar providers are using
"smart" systems to help their customers save money while traditional utilities use these systems
only to cut their own costs. Meanwhile, concerns about the health impacts of wireless tech and the
ongoing erosion of privacy rights continue to grow.

BP and Shell raided in European commission price-rigging inquiry

2013-05-14, The Guardian (One of the UK's leading newspapers)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2013/may/14/bp-shell-oil-price-rigging
The London offices of BP and Shell have been raided by European regulators investigating
allegations they have "colluded" to rig oil prices for more than a decade. The European
commission said its officers carried out "unannounced inspections" at several oil companies in
London, the Netherlands and Norway to investigate claims they may have "colluded in reporting
distorted prices to a price reporting agency [PRA] to manipulate the published prices for a number
of oil and biofuel products". The commission said the alleged price collusion, which may have
been going on since 2002, could have had a "huge impact" on the price of petrol at the pumps
"potentially harming final consumers". Lord Oakeshott, former Liberal Democrat Treasury
spokesman, said the alleged rigging of oil prices was "as serious as rigging Libor" which
led to banks being fined hundreds of millions of pounds. He demanded to know why the UK
authorities had not taken action earlier. "Why have we had to wait for Brussels to find out if
British oil giants are ripping off British consumers?" he said. "The price of energy ripples right
through our economy and really matters to every business and families." The European authorities
declined to name any of the companies raided but BP, Shell, Norway's Statoil and Platts, the
world's leading oil price reporting agency, all confirmed they are being investigated.

Note: For deeply revealing reports from reliable major media sources on corporate corruption,
click here.

Solar-powered plane completes first leg of cross-country journey

2013-05-04, Los Angeles Times
http://www.latimes.com/news/nation/nationnow/la-na-nn-solar-airplane-phoenix-...
[Solar Impulse HB-SIA, a] solar-powered aircraft making a landmark cross-country flight [piloted by
Bertrand Piccard], successfully completed its first leg [on May 4], and will rest about a week in
[Phoenix] Arizona before taking to the skies again. "It's a little bit like being in a dream," Piccard
told the Associated Press. The aircraft, running off solar cells and electric batteries rather
than fossil fuels, ... travels at a leisurely 43 mph and cruises at a maximum altitude of
28,000 feet. Spokeswoman Alenka Zibetto [said] that the exact length of the stay would depend on
weather. It is proving to be a popular attraction. Online registration for the Sunday slots -- with
space for 150 people per hour -- filled up within a day, Zibetto said. The solar company
SunPower [manufactured] the solar cells lining the 208-foot wingspan of Solar Impulse.
Note: For a treasure trove of great news articles on exciting new energy technologies, click here.
For a treasure trove of great news articles which will inspire you to make a difference, click here.

The Falling Cost Of Solar Energy Is Surprising Everyone

2013-05-02, Business Insider
http://www.businessinsider.com/citi-the-solar-age-is-dawning-2013-5
Citi has just named solar photovoltaics, which convert solar radiation into electric currents via
semiconductors, to its list of 10 world-disrupting technologies. In a note this week in advance of the
disruption report, Citi's Jason Channell said that in many cases, renewables are already at cost
parity with established forms of electricity sources. The biggest surprise in recent years has
been the speed at which the price of solar panels has reduced, resulting in cost parity
being achieved in certain areas much more quickly than was ever expected; these fast
learning rates are likely to continue, meaning that the technology just keeps getting
cheaper. At peak solar exposure, parts of the southwest U.S. are now already capable of meeting
their electricity needs via solar panels. The rapidly expanding parity provides enormous scope for
growth in the solar industry, driven by standalone economics as opposed to subsidies, which are
becoming ever scarcer in an austerity-driven world. Gas isn't going away, but renewables are
coming on strong.
Note: It's rather strange that most mainstream media have hardly reported on this most awesome
news at all. For another article showing that solar energy cost is already near parity with other
energy sources, click here. For a treasure trove of great news articles on exciting new energy
technologies, click here. For a treasure trove of great news articles which will inspire you to make
a difference, click here.

Saudi Arabia focuses on renewable energy

2013-02-01, San Francisco Chronicle (SF's leading newspaper)
http://www.sfgate.com/opinion/article/Saudi-Arabia-focuses-on-renewable-energ...
While the United States still searches for a coherent national energy policy, countries you wouldn't
expect are at the forefront of a green transformation. China has concrete plans to shift to
renewables on a national scale and is manufacturing solar panels so cheaply it's hard for
American companies to compete. Saudi Arabia, the world's biggest oil producer - led by
octogenarians rarely associated with swift societal change - is moving at lightning speed to
transform its electricity grid from near zero to 100 percent renewable sources. It's not that the
Saudis suddenly have become environmentalists. In September, Citigroup issued a chilling, though
not surprising, warning that Saudi Arabia could run out of crude for export by 2030. Even before
Citigroup published its analysis, the Saudi government announced that it would spend more than
$100 billion to develop 41 gigawatts of solar energy, enough to power one-third of the sundrenched country, by 2032. In October, Saudi Arabia's 68-year-old Prince Turki Al Faisal told an
economic forum in Brazil he would like to see the kingdom go entirely renewable within his lifetime.
Saudi Arabia demonstrated its seriousness just a few weeks later by bringing senior executives
from 20 U.S. clean-energy companies to Riyadh to explore partnerships. SunPower Corp., a San
Jose manufacturer of solar systems already working with the Saudis, was one of the delegation's
leaders. In other words: American companies are helping transform Saudi Arabia into a
clean-energy haven so that the world's biggest oil producer can keep sending dirty and
expensive crude back to gas-guzzling Americans.
Note: For deeply revealing reports from reliable major media sources on energy developments,
click here.

Denmark Moves To Cool Its Red-Hot Solar Energy Market

2012-11-30, Forbes
http://www.forbes.com/sites/justingerdes/2012/11/30/denmark-moves-to-cool-its...
Denmark's energy minister introduced legislation earlier this month that would ... trim generous
subsidies that [along] with the falling price of [solar] panels had triggered [rapid] growth in the
number of residential solar energy systems added to the grid this year. Homeowners have
installed so many rooftop photovoltaic (PV) arrays in 2012 that Denmark exceeded its 2020
solar energy target (200 MW) eight years early. Unlike the solar energy booms in Germany,
Spain, the Czech Republic, and Italy, where governments used feed-in tariffs to stimulate domestic
PV markets, Denmarks solar surge has been powered by net-metering rules. Under a feed-in tariff
scheme, homeowners, businesses, or other PV system owners are paid above-market rate for
electricity sold to the grid over a long-term contract, usually 20 years; in net-metering jurisdictions
like Denmark or California, PV system owners receive credit for surplus electricity sent to the grid.
In Denmark, home to some of the highest electricity rates in Europe, the existing netmetering rules offer a generous return. The new rules introduced by Danish Climate and

Energy Minister Martin Lidegaard on November 20 reduce the incentives offered to solar system
owners and make PV arrays larger than 6 kilowatts eligible for subsidies. Under a national energy
plan approved by the Danish Parliament in March, renewables will account for 35% of the
electricity fed to the Danish grid by 2020 and 100% by 2050.
Note: Isn't that a strange title for the article? Why not something like "Denmark Achieves Solar
Energy Goal 8 Years Early"? And with the questionable future of fossil fuels, why aren't more
countries embracing policies like that of Denmark?

Patriot Coal to Stop Mountaintop Removal Mining

2012-11-16, ABC News/Associated Press
http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/patriot-coal-stop-mountaintop-removal-mini...
Bankrupt Patriot Coal Corp. agreed [on November 15] to become the first U.S. coal operator to
phase out and eventually stop all large-scale mountaintop removal mining in central Appalachia,
under an agreement reached with three environmental groups that sued over pollution from
several West Virginia operations. St. Louis-based Patriot said the proposed agreement allows it to
postpone as much as $27 million in expenses into 2014 and beyond, improving its liquidity and the
likelihood it can successfully emerge from Chapter 11 protection as a viable business.
Mountaintop removal is a highly efficient but particularly destructive form of strip mining
unique to West Virginia, Kentucky, Virginia and Tennessee. Coal companies blast apart
mountain ridge tops to expose multiple coal seams. The resulting rock and debris is
dumped in streams, creating so-called valley fills. Patriot is one of the largest mountaintop
removal operators in the region. Presented to U.S. District Judge Robert Chambers in
Huntington for consideration, the agreement came out of water pollution lawsuits filed by the Sierra
Club, Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition and West Virginia Highlands Conservancy. Michael
Brune, executive director of the Sierra Club, called the agreement a historic moment in the fight
against what he called an "abhorrent" form of mining. "Patriot Coal may be the first company to
cease mountaintop removal mining, but because of the tireless efforts of committed volunteers and
community organizations, it certainly won't be the last," he said.
Note: For deeply revealing reports from reliable major media sources on energy issues, click here.

San Francisco area drivers 1st with algae biofuel

2012-11-14, San Francisco Chronicle (SF's leading newspaper)
http://www.sfgate.com/news/science/article/San-Francisco-area-drivers-1st-wit...
Drivers in the San Francisco Bay Area have become the first motorists in the nation to fill
up their gas tanks with an algae-based biofuel. Biodiesel B20 is made from 20 percent algae
and 80 percent petroleum, and can be used by any vehicle that runs on diesel. Advocates
say it is the first in a wave of clean fuel to hit the marketplace. "We are putting a stake in the
ground," said Matt Horton, chief executive officer of Propel Fuels, as he prepared to fill the first

tank with the algae-based product at a Valero station in Redwood City. The fuel's algae was grown
by South San Francisco-based Solazyme Inc. and already has been used in trials by the military
and industrial companies. It was sold for about $4.25 a gallon at the Redwood City station, about
the same as the average price for diesel fuel in California. Horton said most diesel vehicles could
run on 100 percent algae fuel, but doing so would result in higher costs for consumers. He added
that many automakers oppose allowing a mix higher than 20 percent.
Note: For deeply revealing reports from reliable major media sources on new energy
developments, click here.

Energy firm uses 'land grabs' to secure fracking rights from reluctant
landowners
2012-10-02, NBC News
http://openchannel.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/10/02/14183177-energy-firm-uses-lan...
Ranjana Bhandari and her husband knew the natural gas beneath their ranch-style home in
Arlington, Texas, could be worth a lot - especially when they got offer after offer from Chesapeake
Energy Corp. Their repeated refusals didn't stop Chesapeake, the second-largest natural gas
producer in the United States. This June, after petitioning a Texas state agency for an exception to
a 93-year-old statute, the company effectively secured the ability to drain the gas from beneath the
Bhandari property anyway -- without having to pay the couple a penny. In fact, since January
2005, the Texas agency has rejected just five of Chesapeake's 1,628 requests for such
exceptions. Chesapeake's use of the Texas law is among the latest examples of how the
company executes what it calls a "land grab" -- an aggressive leasing strategy intended to
lock up prospective drilling sites and lock out competitors. Chesapeake has become the
principal player in the largest land boom in America since the California Gold Rush of the late
1840s and 50s, amassing drilling rights on more land than almost any U.S. energy company. After
years of leasing tracts from New York to Wyoming, the company now controls the right to drill for
oil and gas on about 15 million acres -- roughly the size of West Virginia.
Note: For deeply revealing reports from reliable major media sources on corporate corruption,
click here.

U.S. lays out examples of 'gross negligence' by BP

2012-09-04, MSNBC/Reuters
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/48904731#.UEttgKDAHLQ
The U.S. Justice Department is ramping up its rhetoric against BP [formerly British Petroleum] for
the massive 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, describing in new court papers examples of what it
calls "gross negligence and willful misconduct." The court filing is the sharpest position yet taken
by the U.S. government as it seeks to hold the British oil giant largely responsible for the largest oil
spill in U.S. history. Gross negligence is a central issue to the case, slated to go to trial in New

Orleans in January 2013. A gross negligence finding could nearly quadruple the civil damages
owed by BP under the Clean Water Act to $21 billion. The U.S. government and BP are engaged
in talks to settle civil and potential criminal liability, though neither side will comment on the status
of negotiations. Specifically, errors made by BP and Swiss-based Transocean Ltd, owner of the
Deepwater Horizon platform, in deciphering a key pressure test of the Macondo well are a clear
indication of gross negligence, the Justice Department said. "That such a simple, yet
fundamental and safety-critical test could have been so stunningly, blindingly botched in so
many ways, by so many people, demonstrates gross negligence," the government said in its
39-page filing.
Note: For deeply revealing reports from reliable major media sources on corporate corruption,
click here.

Tesla test drive: Smooth, silent, fast

2012-07-14, San Francisco Chronicle (San Francisco's leading newspaper)
http://www.sfgate.com/business/article/Tesla-test-drive-Smooth-silent-fast-37...
A word of caution about the Model S, Tesla Motors' new electric sedan: The S stays smooth and
silent, even when it's flying down the highway. Absent gears, engine noise or any vibration
that doesn't originate with a pothole, it's absurdly easy for Model S drivers to shred speed
limits without the slightest clue. Depending on the range of the battery pack and other options,
Model S prices range all the way from $57,400 to $105,400 before state and federal incentives.
The Model S functions much like a typical, automatic transmission sedan. But it's not quite the
same. Put the car in drive and take your foot off the brake pedal, for example, and the S doesn't go
anywhere. It just sits there until you touch the accelerator. Push the accelerator, and the car
responds instantly. There's no sense of an engine laboring to pick up speed. Like other electric
vehicles, the Model S uses regenerative braking. The brakes capture some of the moving car's
kinetic energy, convert it to electricity and use it to recharge the battery while you drive. It's one of
the ways a Model S with the most expensive battery pack option can drive more than 300
miles without plugging in. With the Model S, the regenerative braking starts the moment you
ease off the accelerator pedal. The drop in speed is so pronounced that the car's brake lights will
go on, even before you touch the brake pedal itself. It feels almost like having two separate
braking systems working at the same time.
Note: For lots more inspiring reports from reliable major media sources on new automotive and
alternative energy technologies, click here.

We were wrong on peak oil. There's enough to fry us all

2012-07-02, The Guardian (One of the UK's leading newspapers)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/jul/02/peak-oil-we-we-wrong

For the past 10 years an unlikely coalition of geologists, oil drillers, bankers, military strategists and
environmentalists has been warning that peak oil the decline of global supplies is just around
the corner. We had some strong reasons for doing so: production had slowed, the price had risen
sharply, depletion was widespread and appeared to be escalating. The first of the great resource
crunches seemed about to strike. Some of us made vague predictions, others were more specific.
In all cases we were wrong. Peak oil hasn't happened, and it's unlikely to happen for a very long
time. ["Oil - The Next Revolution"] by the oil executive Leonardo Maugeri, published by Harvard
University, provides compelling evidence that a new oil boom has begun. The constraints on oil
supply over the past 10 years appear to have had more to do with money than geology. The low
prices before 2003 had discouraged investors from developing difficult fields. The high prices of
the past few years have changed that. Maugeri's analysis of projects in 23 countries suggests that
global oil supplies are likely to rise by a net 17m barrels per day (to 110m) by 2020. This, he
says, is "the largest potential addition to the world's oil supply capacity since the 1980s".
The investments required to make this boom happen depend on a long-term price of $70 a
barrel the current cost of Brent crude is $95. Money is now flooding into new oil: a trillion
dollars has been spent in the past two years; a record $600bn is lined up for 2012.

Solar power generation world record set in Germany

2012-05-28, The Guardian (One of the UK's leading newspapers)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/may/28/solar-power-world-record-ge...
German solar power plants produced a world record 22 gigawatts of electricity equal to 20
nuclear power stations at full capacity through the midday hours of Friday and Saturday. Norbert
Allnoch, director of the Institute of the Renewable Energy Industry in Muenster, said the 22
gigawatts of solar power fed into the national grid on Saturday met nearly 50% of the nation's
midday electricity needs. "Never before anywhere has a country produced as much
photovoltaic electricity," Allnoch [said]. The record-breaking amount of solar power shows
one of the world's leading industrial nations was able to meet a third of its electricity needs
on a work day, Friday, and nearly half on Saturday when factories and offices were closed.
Government-mandated support for renewables has helped Germany became a world leader in
renewable energy and the country gets about 20 percent of its overall annual electricity from those
sources. Germany has nearly as much installed solar power generation capacity as the rest of the
world combined and gets about four percent of its overall annual electricity needs from the sun
alone. It aims to cut its greenhouse gas emissions by 40% from 1990 levels by 2020. "This shows
Germany is capable of meeting a large share of its electricity needs with solar power," Allnoch
said. "It also shows Germany can do with fewer coal-burning power plants, gas-burning plants and
nuclear plants."
Note: For lots more from reliable sources on developments in alternative energy technologies,
click here.

Power shifts as off-grid options spread worldwide

2012-04-13, San Francisco Chronicle/Bloomberg
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2012/04/12/BU031O2FFD.DTL
An electricity revolution [is] sweeping through power markets and threatening traditional utilities'
dominance of the world's supply. From the poorest parts of Africa and Asia to the most-developed
regions in the United States and Europe, solar units ... and small-scale wind and biomass
generators promise to extend access to power to more people than ever before. In the developing
world, they're slashing costs in the process. Across India and Africa, startups and mobile phone
companies are developing what are called called microgrids, in which stand-alone generators
power clusters of homes and businesses in places where electric utilities have never operated. In
Europe, cooperatives are building their own generators and selling power back to the national or
regional grid. The revolution is just beginning, says Jeremy Rifkin, a professor at the Wharton
School of the University of Pennsylvania and author of "The Third Industrial Revolution." Disruptive
to the economic status quo, the transformation opens up huge opportunities to consumers
who may find themselves trading power in the future much as they swap information over
the Internet today, he says. "This is power to the people." Within a decade, installing
photovoltaic panels may be cheaper for many families than buying power from national
grids in much of the world, including the United States, Japan, Brazil and the United Kingdom,
according to data from Bloomberg New Energy Finance.
Note: For a treasure trove of major media articles showing dozens of amazing new energy
technologies which could replace our dependence on fossil fuels, click here.

Wall Street speculation blamed for gas price spike

2012-03-08, San Francisco Chronicle (San Francisco's leading newspaper)
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2012/03/07/BUQ81NHHPQ.DTL
Public anger over high gasoline prices is turning to a familiar target - Wall Street. The role of
speculative investors in this year's price spike has come under increasing scrutiny in recent weeks,
nowhere more so than in Washington. Nearly 70 members of Congress wrote a stern letter
Monday to a federal commission that regulates the country's main market for crude oil, demanding
that the commission crack down on speculation. President Obama, his energy policies under
attack from Republicans, ordered a fresh look at speculation's role in the market on Tuesday. "This
is just another example, in my view, of Wall Street playing the casino," said Rep. Jackie Speier, DHillsborough, who signed the letter to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. "Everyone
should be outraged that every time they're filling up their tank, they're paying a premium
because of speculation." How big is that premium? One of the trading commission's five
members estimated last month that speculative investors were adding 56 cents to the price
of each gallon of gas. As a result, Honda Civic drivers pay an additional $7.39 per fill-up, said
Commissioner Bart Chilton. Owners of the Ford F150 pickup pay an extra $14.56. Speculative

investors include hedge funds and investment banks that buy contracts for the future delivery of oil
but never intend to take possession of the fuel itself. They buy and sell strictly as a financial
investment, and their presence in the market has swelled.
Note: For lots more reliable information from the major media on energy manipulations, click here.

Boulder Votes for Municipal Utility

2011-11-03, Wall Street Journal
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204621904577014231689288216.html
Voters in Boulder, Colo., narrowly backed the creation of a municipal power authority to replace
Xcel Energy Inc., the biggest electricity provider in Colorado. The city can't cut all ties with Xcel
right away. The shift to a municipal utility will take at least three years and could be derailed over
issues such as how much Boulder will pay Xcel for its infrastructure. Supporters of the move argue
that a public utility would allow Boulder, a liberal college town, to embrace renewable energy and
sharply reduce carbon emissions. Xcel relies heavily on coal-fired plants. Xcel spent nearly $1
million to try to defeat the Boulder ballot measures, outspending supporters about 10 to 1. "People
like a David-and-Goliath story, and that's absolutely what this is," said Ken Regelson, who
led a community group supporting a public utility. Nationwide, 16 new public power
authorities have been formed in the last decade, including 13 that have taken over from
private utilities. Nearly all serve communities of less than 10,000, said Ursula Schryver, a vice
president of the American Public Power Association, a trade group. Boulder's population is nearly
100,000. The last large-scale municipalization took place in 1998, on New York's Long Island.
Note: This is significant positive news as the largest city yet in the U.S. has voted to take control of
their energy and make it greener. For a more optimistic and detailed description of this major
victory, click here.

The great high-speed rail lie

2011-08-03, San Francisco Chronicle (San Francisco's leading newspaper)
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/08/02/EDTD1KID15.DTL
In 2008, voters approved a $10 billion bond to begin construction of a bullet train from Los Angeles
to San Francisco that would make that trip in less than three hours. So who knew that by 2011 the
general consensus would be that the project is an ill-conceived, mismanaged boondoggle? Former
Amtrak spokesman and Reason Foundation writer Joseph Vranich knew. In 2008, before the state
Senate Transportation and Housing Committee, he called the project "science fiction." He said the
train won't travel from Los Angeles to San Francisco in less than three hours because that
exceeds the speed of all existing high-speed rail. But on French railway schedules, a TGV (Train
Grande Vitesse) takes two hours, 38 minutes to go from Paris to Avignon. That's 430 miles. The
route for the L.A.-to-San Francisco line is 432. So what's going on here? It's simple. Vranich
makes stuff up. The Reason Foundation is funded by Chevron, ExxonMobil, Shell Oil, the

American Petroleum Institute, Delta Airlines, the National Air Transportation Association
and, of course, the Koch Family Foundation. They know what will happen once Americans,
furious about gas prices and the way airlines treat them, experience electrically powered
200-mph trains.
Note: For lots more evidence that progress in the transportation sector is stymied by big money
interests, click here.

Volkswagen XL1 review

2011-02-04, The Telegraph (One of the UK's leading newspapers)
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/car-manufacturers/volkswagen/8293372/Volk...
Volkswagen's amazing 300mpg-plus XL1 two-seater diesel/electric hybrid is a supercar where
mpg matters more than mph. Imagine a different sort of supercar; small, lightweight, with the
... most parsimonious engine. Thats VWs 21st-century streamliner, the XL1, honed not for
speed but to achieve an astonishing 313mpg. VW has been messing about with these cigarthin eco cars since the 1980 ARVW concept. In 1999, it developed a Lupo capable of three litres
per 100km (94mpg), but Ferdinand Pich, VWs chairman, was more ambitious and had already
ordered his R&D team to build him a one-litre (282mpg) car. In normal operation, the car stays in
electric drive until full throttle is used, speeds exceed 62mph or the battery charge is down to 20
per cent. In e-mode, the car remains on battery power until 10 per cent of its charge remains
(about 22 miles), whereupon the motor starts to charge it and power the vehicle. The 2.2-gallon
fuel tank gives a range of about 340 miles. As might be expected, the body style is all about wind
cheating. With a frontal area of 16.15sq ft and a drag coefficient of 0.186, the XL1 will be the
worlds most aerodynamic production car.
Note: For many exciting reports from reliable sources on breakthroughs in automotive technology,
click here.

Solar energy making a return to White House

2010-10-06, Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/10/05/AR20101005059...
The White House is going solar after all - a home improvement that carries modest energy benefits
but much larger symbolic importance. It isn't the first time the White House has used solar energy.
President Jimmy Carter put 32 solar panels on the roof in the late 1970s, but President
Ronald Reagan removed them in 1986. Two grass-roots campaigns have recently been
lobbying President Obama to restore them as a sign of his commitment to renewable
energy. The roof of the White House residence will get solar panels and a solar water heater,
Energy Secretary Steven Chu and the White House Council on Environmental Quality's chair,
Nancy Sutley. A campaign launched by Oakland, Calif.-based Sungevity called Solar on the White
House and another by 350.org founder Bill McKibben tried to get Obama to reinstall solar panels.

"The White House did the right thing, and for the right reasons: They listened to the Americans
who asked for solar on their roof, and they listened to the scientists and engineers who told them
this is the path to the future," McKibben said in a statement. "If it has anything like the effect of the
White House garden, it could be a trigger for a wave of solar installations across the country and
around the world," he said.

62 Mpg For New Cars? It's The US Target For 2025

2010-10-01, NPR/Associated Press
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=130244924
Cars and trucks averaging 62 miles per gallon? Seems extraordinary now, but ... automakers could
be required to build lineups like that by 2025, making today's high-mileage hybrids seem
conventional and turning gas guzzlers into mere relics. By a decade and a half from now, in 2025,
a carmaker's fleet of new vehicles may need to meet a standard somewhere from 47 mpg to
62 mpg, the Transportation Department and Environmental Protection Agency said. Those
mileage gains that would be the equivalent of an annual decrease in carbon dioxide
emissions per mile of 3 to 6 percent. The government envisions gas-electric hybrids making up
about half the lineup of new vehicles under the most aggressive standards, while electrics and
plug-ins would comprise about 10 percent of the fleet. After little progress during the past three
decades, rules adopted earlier this year will lift the new vehicle fleet average to 35.5 mpg by 2016,
an increase of more than 40 percent over current standards.Fuel efficiency standards are
designed to improve gas mileage across each automaker's lineup and across the nation's entire
fleet of new vehicles. Vehicles must meet differing standards based on their dimensions. Compact
cars must get better mileage than sport utility vehicles, for example, but requirements for all types
of vehicles will go up.
Note: Despite rampant government claims of wanting independence from foreign oil, fuel
efficiency has almost always been largely determined by congressional mandates which the oil
companies have consistently fought against. For more on this, click here. For lots more on new
energy technologies, click here.

Could This Lump Power the Planet?

2009-11-14, Newsweek magazine
http://www.newsweek.com/id/222792
When I meet [Edward] Moses [at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory], the 60-year-old
scientist ... shows me a tiny pellet ... and swears it will provide an endless supply of safe, clean
energy. The pellet Moses holds is a model, but the real version will contain a few milligrams of
deuterium and tritium, isotopes of hydrogen that can be extracted from water. If you blast the pellet
with a powerful laser, you can create a reaction like the one that takes place at the center of the
sun. Harness that reaction, and you've created a star on earth, and with the heat from that star you
can generate electricity without creating any pollution. Forget about nuke plants, coal, oil, or wind

and solar. "This is the real solar power," says Moses. What Moses is talking about is controlled
nuclear fusion. Instead of splitting the nucleus of an atom, you're trying to force a deuterium
nucleus to merge, or fuse, with a tritium nucleus. When that happens, you produce helium and
throw off energy. Scientists have been trying to produce energy with fusion for decades. So far,
they keep failing. The joke is that fusion energy is only 40 years away, and will always be only 40
years away. Moses believes, however, that his lab, which is called the National Ignition
Facility, or NIF, has cracked the problem. The big challenge fusion has faced is lack of
power. NIF's laser ... can produce 60 times more energy than any other laser ever built.
Right now it's still being tested. But next year Moses and his scientists will fire it up with a full load
of deuterium-tritium fuel, and Moses feels confident it will achieve "ignition," meaning a controlled
burn in which you get out more energy than you put in.
Note: For many reports from reliable sources of promising new energy developments, click here
and here.

Chrysler drops three electric vehicles despite having touted them to get
billions in government bailout cash
2009-11-09, USA Today
http://content.usatoday.com/communities/driveon/post/2009/11/620001133/1
If you believed all the talk from Chrysler about how our tax dollars would help finance its fast-track
electric-vehicle future, you're in for a big disappointment. Chrysler has disbanded the
engineering team that was trying to bring three electric models to market as a rush job.
Chrysler [had] cited its devotion to electric vehicles as one of the key reasons why the
Obama administration and Congress needed to give it $12.5 billion in bailout money. The
change of heart on electric vehicles has come under Fiat. At a marathon presentation of Chrysler's
five-year strategy, CEO Sergio Marchionne talked about just about everything on Chrysler's plate
... except its earlier electric-car plans. With the group's disbanding, Chrysler's electric plans will be
melded into Fiat's. Marchionne is apparently no fan of electric power. He says electrics will only
make up 1% or 2% of Fiat sales by 2014 and that he doesn't put a lot of faith in the technology
until battery developments are pushed forward. As a result, Chrysler won't have an electric car on
sale as soon as next year, such as the Dodge Circuit sports car concept it had unveiled. The
change has come so fast that Chrysler's website has been still featuring pictures of the electric
vehicles. As late as August, Chrysler took $70 million in grants from the U.S. Department of
Energy to develop a test fleet of 220 hybrid pickup trucks and minivans, vehicles now scrapped in
the sweeping turnaround plan for Chrysler.
Note: For reports from reliable sources on promising new developments in electric automobile
technologies, click here.

Energy crisis is postponed as new gas rescues the world

2009-10-11, The Telegraph (One of the UK's leading newspapers)

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/comment/ambroseevans_pritchard/6299291/Ene...
Advances in technology for extracting [natural] gas from shale and methane beds have quickened
dramatically, altering the global balance of energy faster than almost anybody expected. Tony
Hayward, BP's chief executive, said proven natural gas reserves around the world have risen to
1.2 trillion barrels of oil equivalent, enough for 60 years' supply and rising fast. "There has been
a revolution in the gas fields of North America. Reserve estimates are rising sharply as technology
unlocks unconventional resources," he said. The breakthrough has been to combine 3-D
seismic imaging with new technologies to free "tight gas" by smashing rocks, known as
hydro-fracturing or "fracking" in the trade. The US is leading the charge. Texas A&M
University said US methods could increase global gas reserves by nine times to 16,000 TCF
(trillion cubic feet). Shale gas is undoubtedly messy. Millions of gallons of water mixed with sand,
hydrochloric acid and toxic chemicals are blasted at rocks. This is supposed to happen below the
water basins but accidents have been common. Pennsylvania's [environmental authorities] have
shut down a Cabot Oil & Gas operation after 8,000 gallons of chemicals spilled into a stream. The
claims of BP ... are so extraordinary that we may need to rewrite the geo-strategy textbooks for the
next half century.
Note: For more on the risks associated with fracking, click here. For lots more from reliable
sources on new energy developments, click here.

Have a Nice Day

2009-09-16, New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/16/opinion/16friedman.html
Applied Materials is one of the most important U.S. companies youve probably never heard of. It
makes the machines that make the microchips that go inside your computer. The chip business,
though, is volatile, so in 2004 Mike Splinter, Applied Materialss C.E.O., decided to add a new
business line to take advantage of the companys nanotechnology capabilities making the
machines that make solar panels. The other day, Splinter gave me a tour of the companys
Silicon Valley facility, culminating with a visit to its war room, where Applied maintains a
real-time global interaction with all 14 solar panel factories its built around the world in the
last two years. Not a single one is in America. Lets see: five are in Germany, four are in China,
one is in Spain, one is in India, one is in Italy, one is in Taiwan and one is even in Abu Dhabi. The
reason that all these other countries are building solar-panel industries today is because most of
their governments have put in place the three prerequisites for growing a renewable energy
industry: 1) any business or homeowner can generate solar energy; 2) if they decide to do so, the
power utility has to connect them to the grid; and 3) the utility has to buy the power for a
predictable period at a price that is a no-brainer good deal for the family or business putting the
solar panels on their rooftop. Regulatory, price and connectivity certainty, that is what Germany put
in place, and that explains why Germany now generates almost half the solar power in the world

today and, as a byproduct, is making itself the world-center for solar research, engineering,
manufacturing and installation. With more than 50,000 new jobs, the renewable energy industry in
Germany is now second only to its auto industry.
Note: For lots more from reliable sources on promising new energy developments, click here.

A climate solution that's out of this world

2009-05-14, New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/gwire/2009/05/14/14greenwire-a-climate-solution-thats-...
One of the newest energy lobbyists claims he has the answer to climate change: spaceships. The
government has in its possession "extraterrestrial vehicles," lobbyist Stephen Bassett said. As in
flying saucers. Imagine the power source, he said, behind a 30-foot wide saucer that weighs
the same as a tractor-trailer yet hurtles through galaxies at 20,000 miles per hour. "What is
the energy system operating that craft?" Bassett said. "They're not burning kerosene."
Bassett ... is working for free as a lobbyist, representing the Hawaii-based Exopolitics Institute, an
educational organization which describes itself as "dedicated to studying the key actors,
institutions and political processes associated with extraterrestrial life." Bassett said he is less
lobbyist and more political activist. "The UFO phenomenon is real," Bassett said. "The E.T.
extraterrestrial presence is real." Bassett's been lobbying about seven months, targeting the
science and technology, and defense and aviation angles. He added energy to his portfolio in a
Senate filing last week. He has spoken to lawmakers in the past, Bassett said, but he's writing off
lobbying Congress for now, calling the extraterrestrial issue "the third rail" of politics. Besides, he
and other believers have a bigger name on their list. "Knowing that Congress could not act,"
Bassett said, "what we did was focus on the executive branch, the White House." Those who
believe the truth is out there have been waiting for someone like President Obama to come clean
about the government hiding information on extraterrestrials, Bassett said.
Note: What's highly unusual about this article is that there is not a note of ridicule. This may be a
first for a UFO article in the New York Times. For lots more eye-opening, reliable information on
this topic, including a Times article in which a former CIA chief describes a UFO cover-up, click
here and here.

Navy scientist announces possible cold fusion reactions

2009-03-23, Houston Chronicle (Houston's leading newspaper)
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/6333164.html
A U.S. Navy researcher announced today that her lab has produced significant new results that
indicate cold fusion-like reactions. If the work by analytical chemist Pamela Mosier-Boss and her
colleagues is confirmed, it could open the door to a cheap, near-limitless reservoir of energy.
Devising a fusion-based source of energy on Earth has long been a clean-energy holy grail of
physicists. A small group of scientists has [tried] to produce fusion reactions at low temperatures. If

such experiments did produce fusion reactions, they would generate highly energetic neutrons as
a byproduct. These are what Mosier-Boss says her San Diego-based group has found. If you
have fusion going on, then you have to have neutrons, she said. But we do not know if fusion is
actually occurring. It could be some other nuclear reaction. Todays announcement is based partly
on research published by Mosier-Boss group last year in the journal Naturwissenschaften. The
announcement may turn heads, given its stage at the American Chemical Societys big meeting
and the fact that the organization promoted it to science journalists in advance. Its big, said
Steven Krivit, founder of the New Energy Times publication, which has tracked cold fusion
developments for two decades. What were talking about may be more than anybody
actually expected, he said. Were talking about a new field of science thats a hybrid
between chemistry and physics.
Note: For a powerful documentary showing a major cover-up around cold fusion, click here. Many
highly esteemed scientists have repeatedly demonstrated the reality of cold fusion, only to have
their research sometimes ruthlessly shut down. For many hopeful reports from reliable sources on
the array of new energy developments currently underway, click here.

Oil producers running out of storage space

2009-03-03, MSNBC/Associated Press
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29495753
Supertankers that once raced around the world to satisfy an unquenchable thirst for oil are now
parked offshore, fully loaded, anchors down, their crews killing time. In the United States, vast
storage farms for oil are almost out of room. As demand for crude has plummeted, the world
suddenly finds itself awash in oil that has nowhere to go. Its been less than a year since oil prices
hit record highs. But now producers and traders are struggling with the new reality: The world
wants less oil, not more. And turning off the spigot is about as easy as turning around one
of those tankers. So oil companies and investors are stashing crude, waiting for demand to
rise and the bear market to end so they can turn a profit later. Meanwhile, oil-producing
countries such as Iran have pumped millions of barrels of their own crude into idle tankers,
effectively taking crude off the market to halt declining prices that are devastating their economies.
Traders have always played a game of store and sell, bringing oil to market when it can fetch the
best price. They say this time is different because of how fast the bottom fell out of the oil market.
Nobody expected this, said Antoine Halff, an analyst with Newedge. The majority of people out
there thought the market would keep rising to $200, even $250, a barrel. They were tripping over
each other to pick a higher forecast. Now the strategy is storage. Anyone who can buy cheap oil
and store it might be able to sell it at a premium later, when the global economy ramps up again.

Exxon Mobil sets record with $45.2 billion profit

2009-01-30, Miami Herald/Associated Press
http://www.miamiherald.com/business/nation/story/879748.html

Exxon Mobil Corp. ... reported a profit of $45.2 billion for 2008, breaking its own record for a U.S.
company. The previous record for annual profit was $40.6 billion, which the world's largest publicly
traded oil company set in 2007. The extraordinary full-year profit wasn't a surprise given
crude's triple-digit price for much of 2008, peaking near an unheard of $150 a barrel in July.
Since then, however, prices have fallen roughly 70 percent amid a deepening global
economic crisis. In the fourth quarter alone crude tumbled 60 percent, prompting spending and
job cuts in an industry that was reporting robust, often record, profits as recently as last summer.
Irving, Texas-based Exxon said net income slid sharply to $7.8 billion, or $1.55 a share, in the
October-December period. That compared with $11.7 billion, or $2.13 a share, in the same period
a year ago, when Exxon set a U.S. record for quarterly profit. It has since topped that mark twice,
first in last year's second quarter and then with earnings of $14.83 billion in the third quarter.
Revenue in the most-recent quarter fell 27 percent to $84.7 billion. The industry went into
retrenchment toward the end of the year with demand falling. The company, which produces about
3 percent of the world's oil, said overall output fell 3 percent in the most-recent period. For the full
year, Exxon Mobil's massive profit amounted to $8.69 a share, versus $7.28 a share a year ago.
Note: How can it be said that this record-breaking profit "wasn't a surprise," when ethically we
would all expect the oil companies not to gouge consumers world-wide at the time when oil prices
were artificially driven to record highs? Why should the oil companies be allowed to rake in huge
profits causing the vast majority of us to suffer even greater losses at the gas pump? This is
generally called gross profiteering. Shouldn't these "windfall profits" be taxed away?

The 65 mpg Ford the U.S. Can't Have

2008-09-01, Business Week
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/08_37/b4099060491065.htm
If ever there was a car made for the times, this would seem to be it: a sporty subcompact
that seats five, offers a navigation system, and gets a whopping 65 miles to the gallon. Oh
yes, and the car is made by Ford Motors, known widely for lumbering gas hogs. Ford's 2009 Fiesta
ECOnetic goes on sale in November. But here's the catch: Despite the car's potential to transform
Ford's image and help it compete with Toyota Motor and Honda Motor in its home market, the
company will sell the little fuel sipper only in Europe. "We know it's an awesome vehicle," says
Ford America President Mark Fields. "But there are business reasons why we can't sell it in
the U.S." The main one: The Fiesta ECOnetic runs on diesel. Automakers such as Volkswagen
and Mercedes-Benz have predicted for years that a technology called "clean diesel" would
overcome many Americans' antipathy to a fuel still often thought of as the smelly stuff that powers
tractor trailers. Diesel vehicles now hitting the market with pollution-fighting technology are as
clean or cleaner than gasoline and at least 30% more fuel-efficient. Yet while half of all cars sold in
Europe last year ran on diesel, the U.S. market remains relatively unfriendly to the fuel.

Michigan solar car team wins 2,400-mile race

2008-07-25, CNN News

http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/science/07/25/michigan.solar.car
In the world of higher education, summer is usually the off-season. But for some students, this
summer was the culmination of years of hard work in a 2,400-mile solar car race from Plano,
Texas to Calgary, Alberta. Fifteen teams of students drove photovoltaic-powered cars across
the North American Solar Challenge finish line in Calgary Tuesday, led by the University of
Michigan Solar Car Team and its vehicle, Continuum. Michigan's victory, which took about
51 hours and 42 minutes on the road, is its fifth NASC championship. The school also won
the last NASC, in 2005. Jeff Ferman, the race manager for Michigan, talked about how rewarding it
was to enter Calgary and be greeted by 40,000 people."The streets were lined with people," he
said. "There were people on overpasses with tripods taking pictures." The Michigan team led
almost the entire race from Texas, trailing only on the first day of driving when it had to stop to fix a
minor electrical problem. But that 20-minute stop was the only time it had to pull over to make
repairs, which team members said was one reason they did so well.
Note: If you do the math, this amazing solar powered car built by college students averaged 46.5
mph over a 2,400 mile course! Why didn't this make news headlines? Try doing a Google search
on "Solar Challenge" (the annual solar car race). You will find that almost no major media cover
this amazing event at all. The few who have (including this CNN article) usually fail to mention
anything about the speeds attained by these cars. Why is the media not giving better coverage to
these incredible breakthroughs? For a possible answer, click here.

Scientists find bugs that eat waste and excrete petrol

2008-06-14, London Times
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/environment/article4133668.ece
Ten years ago I could never have imagined Id be doing this, says Greg Pal, 33, a former
software executive. I mean, this is essentially agriculture, right? But ... this is the one hot area
everyone wants to get into. He means bugs. To be more precise: the genetic alteration of bugs
very, very small ones so that when they feed on agricultural waste such as woodchips or wheat
straw, they do something extraordinary. They excrete crude oil. Unbelievably, this is not science
fiction. Mr Pal holds up a small beaker of bug excretion that could, theoretically, be poured into the
tank of the giant Lexus SUV next to us. Not that Mr Pal is willing to risk it just yet. He gives it a
month before the first vehicle is filled up on what he calls renewable petroleum. After
that, he grins, its a brave new world. Mr Pal is a senior director of LS9, one of several
companies in or near Silicon Valley that have ... embarked ... on an extraordinary race to make
$140-a-barrel oil (70) from Saudi Arabia obsolete. All of us here everyone in this company and
in this industry, are aware of the urgency, Mr Pal says. What is most remarkable about what they
are doing is that instead of trying to reengineer the global economy as is required, for example,
for the use of hydrogen fuel they are trying to make a product that is interchangeable with oil.

The company claims that this Oil 2.0 will not only be renewable but also carbon negative
meaning that the carbon it emits will be less than that sucked from the atmosphere by the raw
materials from which it is made.
Note: For a treasure trove of exciting reports on new energy inventions, click here.

Petrol pricey? Japanese invent car that runs on water

2008-06-13, Reuters News
http://in.reuters.com/article/lifestyleMolt/idINSP7366720080613
Tired of petrol prices rising daily at the pump? A Japanese company has invented an electricpowered, and environmentally friendly, car that it says runs solely on water. Genepax unveiled the
car in the western city of Osaka, saying that a liter (2.1 pints) of any kind of water -- rain, river or
sea -- was all you needed to get the engine going for about an hour at a speed of 80 km (50
miles). "The car will continue to run as long as you have a bottle of water to top up from
time to time," Genepax CEO Kiyoshi Hirasawa told local broadcaster TV Tokyo. "It does not
require you to build up an infrastructure to recharge your batteries, which is usually the
case for most electric cars," he added. Once the water is poured into the tank at the back of the
car, the a generator breaks it down and uses it to create electrical power, TV Tokyo said. Whether
the car makes it into showrooms remains to be seen. Genepax said it had just applied for a patent
and is hoping to collaborate with Japanese auto manufacturers in the future. Most big automakers,
meanwhile, are working on fuel-cell cars that run on hydrogen and emit -- not consume -- water.
Note: To watch a Reuters video clip on this amazing car, click here.

Algae: 'The ultimate in renewable energy'

2008-04-01, CNN
http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/science/04/01/algae.oil/
Texas may be best known for "Big Oil." But the oil that could some day make a dent in the
country's use of fossil fuels is small. Microscopic, in fact: algae. Literally and figuratively, this is
green fuel. "Algae is the ultimate in renewable energy," Glen Kertz, president and CEO of Valcent
Products, told CNN while conducting a tour of his algae greenhouse on the outskirts of El Paso.
"We are a giant solar collecting system. We get the bulk of our energy from the sunshine," said
Kertz. Algae are among the fastest growing plants in the world, and about 50 percent of their
weight is oil. That lipid oil can be used to make biodiesel for cars, trucks, and airplanes. Most
people know algae as "pond scum." And until recently, most energy research and development
projects used ponds to grow it. But instead of ponds, Valcent uses a closed, vertical system,
growing the algae in long rows of moving plastic bags. The patented system is called Vertigro, a
joint venture with Canadian alternative energy company Global Green Solutions. The companies
have invested about $5 million in the Texas facility. "A pond has a limited amount of surface
area for solar absorption," said Kertz. "By going vertical, you can get a lot more surface

area to expose cells to the sunlight. It keeps the algae hanging in the sunlight just long
enough to pick up the solar energy they need to produce, to go through photosynthesis,"
he said. Kertz said he can produce about 100,000 gallons of algae oil a year per acre, compared
to about 30 gallons per acre from corn; 50 gallons from soybeans. Valcent research scientist Aga
Pinowska said there are about 65,000 known algae species, with perhaps hundreds of thousands
more still to be identified. A big part of the research at the west Texas facility involves determining
what type of algae produces what type of fuel.
Note: For many exciting reports of new energy inventions, click here.

'Eco-Patent Commons' hopes to improve environmental innovation

2008-01-14, San Francisco Chronicle (San Francisco's leading newspaper)
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/01/14/BU6IUDVBM.DTL
IBM Corp., Nokia, Sony and Pitney Bowes are expected to announce Monday that they have put
31 inventions into an "Eco-Patent Commons" designed to make these Earth-friendly manufacturing
and waste-reduction processes more widely available. "This is an open source effort along the
lines of the Creative Commons," said IBM assistant general counsel David Kappos, who is
responsible for the company's intellectual property. The open source movement, symbolized by the
free Linux operating system, believes that innovation occurs more quickly when new ideas
and processes are open to the public for anyone to troubleshoot and improve. The EcoPatent Commons adopts this activist tactic in certain fields - like waste reduction - where
the participating firms have decided that the societal benefit of having every willing manufacturer
adopt these cleaner processes outweighs any potential advantage they might gain by keeping the
idea close to the vest. One of the newly freed eco-patents is an IBM invention for using a specially
folded piece of corrugated cardboard to cushion electronic components against shock during
shipping - replacing the Styrofoam products that can easily become an environmental headache.
Likewise, Nokia is giving away a patent designed to help safely dispose of mobile phones by
reusing their components in other gadgets such as digital cameras. Kappos said the Eco-Patent
Commons would be run by an independent, nonprofit group, the World Business Council for
Sustainable Development, and expressed hope that other companies would follow the lead and
add real clout to what is more a symbolic than substantive effort to make global business a little
greener.

E-dragsters go for gas-powered records

2007-07-29, MSNBC/Associated Press
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20024352
Straddling a 619-pound motorcycle, Scotty Pollacheck tucks in his knees and lowers his head as
he waits for the green light. When he revs the engine, there's no roar. The bike moves so fast that
within seconds all that's visible is a faint red taillight melting in the distance. Pollacheck crosses the
quarter-mile marker doing 156 mph; he's traveled 1,320 feet in 8.22 seconds, faster than any of

the gas-powered cars, trucks or motorcycles that have raced in the drag sprints on this weekend at
Portland International Raceway. It's particularly impressive given Pollacheck is riding a vehicle that
uses no gasoline and is powered entirely by lithium-ion batteries. Pollacheck and his bike
dubbed the KillaCycle are part of a growing movement that's exploiting breakthroughs in battery
technology and could soon challenge the world's fastest-accelerating vehicles in the $1 billion
drag-racing industry. "In professional drag racing I expect to see the electrics eventually pass
up the fuel dragsters," said Dick Brown, president of AeroBatteries, which sponsors White
Zombie, the world's quickest-accelerating street-legal electric car a 1972 white Datsun 1200.
"Electric gives you instant torque whereas gasoline you have to build up," Brown said. The
KillaCycle runs on 990 lithium-ion battery cells that feed two direct current motors, generating 350
horsepower. The bike accelerates from zero to 60 mph in just under a second faster than many
professional gas-powered drag motorcycles and within striking distance of the quickest bikes that
run on nitromethane. With that hyper-potent racing fuel, riders can get to 60 mph in 0.7 seconds.
Note: For more on this amazing motorcyle and an unassuming electric car that does the quarter
mile in under 12 seconds, click here.

Fla. Man Invents Machine To Turn Water Into Fire

2007-05-24, WPFB-TV (ABC affiliate in Palm Beach, FL)
http://www.wpbf.com/news/13383827/detail.html
A Florida man may have accidentally invented a machine that could solve the gasoline and energy
crisis plaguing the U.S.. [John] Kanzius, 63, invented a machine that emits radio waves in an
attempt to kill cancerous cells while leaving normal cells intact. While testing his machine, he
noticed that his invention had other unexpected abilities. Filling a test tube with salt water from a
canal in his back yard, Kanzius placed the tube and a paper towel in the machine and turned it on.
Suddenly, the paper towel ignited. Kanzius performed the experiment without the paper towel and
got the same result -- the saltwater was actually burning. [He] said he showed the experiment to a
handful of scientists across the country who claim they are baffled at watching salt water ignite.
Kanzius said the flame created from his machine reaches a temperature of around 3,000 [F]. He
said a chemist told him that the immense heat created from the machine breaks down the
hydrogen-oxygen bond in the water, igniting the hydrogen. "You could take plain salt water out
of the sea, put it in containers and produce a violent flame that could heat generators that
make electricity, or provide other forms of energy," Kanzius said. He said engineers are
currently experimenting with him in Erie, Pa. in an attempt to harness the energy. They've built an
engine that, when placed on top of the flame, chugged along for two minutes. Kanzius admits all
the excitement surrounding a new possible energy source was a stroke of luck. Someone who
witnessed his work on the cancer front asked him if perhaps the machine could be used for
desalinization. "This was an experiment to see if I could heat salt water, and instead of heat, I got
fire," Kanzius said.
Note: Why aren't millions of dollars being channeled to explore this exciting field further? To watch
a video clip of this exciting machine igniting sea water, click here.

Gas-sipping vehicle gets 1,900 mpg

2007-04-21, Los Angeles Times
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-garagebriefs21apr21,1,5317797.story
We couldn't pass up mention of the winner of last week's Eco-marathon Americas, a fuel-economy
challenge sponsored by Shell Oil Co. A team from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo won the $10,000
grand prize by achieving the equivalent of 1,902.7 miles per gallon on regular gasoline in a
student-built vehicle. Granted, the students didn't win in someone's mom's Dodge minivan. Their
"car" is a one-occupant streamliner built of carbon fiber composite. At a measly 98 pounds, it
weighed less than the driver. And that was 98 pounds including the car's 50-cubic-centimeter
Honda engine. "The main reason we do this is because it's a way to encourage students to focus
on technical innovation for potential future careers," said David Sexton, president of Shell Oil
Products. But there is a practical side to the competition, said Cal Poly team manager Tom Heckel,
a junior mechanical engineering major. "Any publicity we can get makes people aware that the
20 mpg or so they're averaging in their cars can be improved on a lot." The event, held
April 14 at the California Speedway in Fontana, was the first time that Shell had brought its 25year-old Eco-marathon competition to the U.S. The event drew 20 university, college and high
school teams from around the U.S. and Canada. Rules called for each vehicle to complete seven
1.45-mile laps around the speedway's inner track, averaging at least 15 mph. Fuel consumption
was measured after each attempt and adjusted for ambient temperature and other factors in a
complex formula that ends up giving an extrapolation of miles per gallon.
Note: Why would the president of Shell Oil Products state the main reason for this competition is
about careers and not finding ways to improve gas mileage? The world record is over 10,000 mpg.
How is it that the average car gets only 22 mpg when the Ford Model T got 25 mpg almost 100
years ago? For more, click here.

Feds miss energy standards by up to 15 years

2007-03-01, MSNBC/Associated Press
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17403743
The government for decades has failed to meet legal deadlines for tougher energy efficiency
standards for appliances and other equipment, costing consumers and industry tens of billions of
dollars in electric costs, a congressional study said Thursday. The Government Accountability
Office reported that over several decades the Energy Department has "missed all 34
congressional deadlines for setting efficiency standards," with delays ranging from several
months to as long as 15 years. The standards approved by Congress seek to reduce energy use
from a broad range of products from refrigerators and home heating systems to electricity grid
transformers and electric motors in factories. If the deadlines had been met on only four widely
used consumer products - refrigerators, freezers, central air conditioners and heat pumps consumers would have saved $28 billion in accumulated energy costs by 2030 - because more

energy efficient products would have been on the market sooner. Andy Karsner, the department's
assistant secretary in charge of energy efficiency programs, acknowledged the department has
had "a simply abysmal" record on meeting efficiency standard deadlines set by Congress.
Note: Could it be that the powerful energy lobby didn't want these policies instituted? For more,
click here.

Exxon's 'outlandish' earnings spark furor

2007-02-02, Globe and Mail (One of Canada's Leading Newspapers)
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20070202.EXXON02/TPStory
The world's largest publicly owned oil company announced yesterday the largest corporate profit
ever, but news of its near $40-billion (U.S.) windfall in 2006 sparked an angry backlash, coming on
the eve of a major report blaming the use of fossil fuels for wreaking devastation on the planet.
Exxon shares have risen by about 20 per cent in the past year. Exxon wasn't alone in
unprecedented oil earnings. Royal Dutch Shell PLC, an Anglo-Dutch company, and U.S.-run
Marathon Oil and Valero Energy, also posted best-ever annual results yesterday. And
ConocoPhillips Co., also American, last week posted its highest profits. Profits at the five
companies together totalled $91.1-billion -- in a year when drivers paid record prices for
gasoline. Both Democratic and Republican members of Congress have also urged Exxon to end
its funding of organizations that deny the existence of -- or minimize the seriousness of -- humanmade global warming. Scientists yesterday accused the conservative American Enterprise
Institute, which receives funding from Exxon, of offering scientists up to $10,000 for articles that
undercut a report to be released today from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Last
month, the Union of Concerned Scientists ... said that Exxon has spent $16-million over the past
10 years financing organizations that deny the seriousness of climate change. Alden Meyer, a
strategist with the group, compared Exxon's efforts to discredit the science of global warming to
the tobacco companies' efforts to sow doubts about the link between smoking and lung cancer in
order to protect their profits.
Note: Compare this Canadian article with the New York Times reporting of this record profit, or
that of any other major U.S. newspaper. The U.S. press barely mentions that oil company gouging
which took dollars from your pocket is what led to record profits. To understand why the U.S. press
behaves in this way, click here.

8 technologies for a green future

2007-01-26, CNN
http://money.cnn.com/magazines/business2/business2_archive/2007/02/01/8398988...
The planet's most pressing environmental problems ... may seem just too big to be solved with
today's technology. But don't despair: A lot of bright minds are working on futuristic projects that
promise to make the world greener. It's save-the-world stuff like toxic-waste-eating trees, smart

electricity grids, oceangoing robots, and floating environmental sensors. This technology may
seem far out - but it will probably be here a lot sooner than you think. 1. Try a solar-powered
hydrogen fueling station in your garage. It's about the size of a filing cabinet and runs on electricity
generated by standard-issue rooftop solar panels. The first version of the home fueling station is
expected to produce enough hydrogen to give your runabout a range of some 100 miles without
emitting a molecule of planet-warming greenhouse gas. 2. Environmental sensor networks
[provide] real-time data on a variety of phenomena that affect the economy and society - climate
change, hurricanes, air and water pollution. 3. Toxin-eating trees ... a technology that uses
vegetation to absorb hazardous waste from industrial plants and other polluters. 4. Nuclear waste
neutralizer ... a chemical technology called Urex+ that extracts reusable uranium and separates
out cesium, allowing four times as much waste to be packed into nuclear burial grounds. 5.
Autonomous ocean robots. 6. Sonic water purifier ... a sci-fi solution for an age-old problem that
leaves 1.1 billion people without access to clean water: 7. Endangered-species tracker. 8. The
interactive, renewable smart power grid ... the electricity grid of the future ... will look more like the
Internet - distributed, interactive, open-source - than the dumb, one-way network of today.
Note: For many other exciting discoveries of new energy sources, click here.

Oil industry denies price manipulation

2006-11-26, BusinessWeek/Associated Press
http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D8LKSUQO0.htm
An Associated Press analysis suggests that big oil companies have been crimping supplies ...
across the country for years. The analysis, based on data from the U.S. Energy Information
Administration, indicates that the industry slacked off supplying oil and gasoline during the
prolonged price boom between early 1999 and last summer, when prices began to fall. The
findings support a conclusion already reached by many motorists. Fifty-five percent of Americans
believe gas prices are high because [of] oil companies. Though set back temporarily by the [9/11]
attacks, the oil business has profited handsomely since then. The biggest six refiners ... rang up
$400 billion in profits since 2001. Though reserves have kept pretty steady, the oil industry taps
those resources to varying degrees from year to year. The industry has shelved an average of 21
percent more unrefined oil from the start of 2004 through last June. Last spring, stocks of shelved
crude reached their highest level in eight years, despite the fabulous riches at hand in high prices
then. The industry also protected profits by not building any new refineries. [And] thanks to
mergers, the top 10 companies now control three-quarters of national refining capacity, up from
half in the early 1990s. A 2001 study by the Federal Trade Commission reported that some
firms were deciding to "maximize their profits" by crimping supply. One executive told
regulators "he would rather sell less gasoline and earn a higher margin on each gallon
sold." However upsetting to drivers, such tactics are usually viewed as legal. "A decision to limit
supply does not violate the antitrust laws," regulators wrote in one FTC report.

The 100-mpg car is coming

2006-07-19, MSN
http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/SavingandDebt/SaveonaCar/The100mpgCarIsC...
Though the 100 mpg car sounds like a myth, it turns out that such vehicles do exist -- only
they're built in your neighbor's garage, not a giant production plant. Known as plug-in hybridelectric vehicles ... theyre basically Priuses or similar hybrids that have been equipped with extra
batteries, so that they rarely use their gasoline engines at all. "People are salivating for plug-ins,"
says Bradley Berman, editor of the site HybridCars.com. A hybrid vehicle today like a Prius has
both a gasoline engine and a battery, which is fed by the braking energy produced by the car. It
cant be plugged in. A plug-in hybrid keeps those components, but essentially gets an extra fuel
tank, in the form of an added battery bank ... that allows the car to run exclusively off battery power
for most driving. Felix Kramer, founder of the California Cars Initiative, a nonprofit group that
promotes the use of high-efficiency, low-emission cars, owns the first consumer plug-in in North
America. Not surprisingly, he loves it. "Many days I use no gasoline, because I go at neighborhood
speeds for under 30 miles, and Im just all-electric all day," he says. And the mileage? "At highway
speeds, you can easily get over 100 mpg." Other plug-in owners offer up similar results. "I used to
fill up every 400 miles or so," he says ... "and now I fill up every 800 miles or so." Advocates
estimate that it costs less than $1 per gallon to replenish a plug-in hybrid. "Our goal is to have a
$3,000 kit," CalCars' Kramer says. (That number, coincidentally, is also what many plug-in
evangelists think that the technology would cost for Toyota to add to its hybrids.)
Note: If people are doing this in their garage, why aren't the auto makers already producing them?
In fact, a similar vehicle was produced to be marketed in 2002, but then pulled off the market. To
find why average car mileage has remained virtually unchanged for 100 years, click here.

Tesla: The Missing Papers

2004-04-01, PBS
http://www.pbs.org/tesla/ll/ll_mispapers.html
One of the more controversial topics involving Nikola Tesla is what became of many of his
technical and scientific papers after he died in 1943. Just before his death at the height of World
War II, he claimed that he had perfected his so-called "death beam." So it was natural that the FBI
and other U.S. Government agencies would be interested in any scientific ideas involving
weaponry. The morning after the inventor's death, his nephew Sava Kosanovic hurried to his
uncle's room at the Hotel New Yorker. By the time he arrived, Tesla's body had already been
removed, and Kosanovic suspected that someone had already gone through his uncle's
effects. Technical papers were missing as well as a black notebook he knew Tesla kept a
notebook with several hundred pages, some of which were marked "Government." Just after World
War II, there was a renewed interest in beam weapons. Copies of Tesla's papers on particle beam
weaponry were sent to Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio. An operation code-named
"Project Nick" was heavily funded and placed under the command of Brigadier General L. C.

Craigie to test the feasibility of Tesla's concept. Details of the experiments were never published,
and the project was apparently discontinued. But something peculiar happened. The copies of
Tesla's papers disappeared and nobody knows what happened to them.
Note: For more on this amazing man, click here and here.

Engines That Run on Water?

1994-08-08, BusinessWeek Magazine
http://www.businessweek.com/archives/1994/b338480.arc.htm
Rudolf W. Gunnerman has a tiger by the tail--the Exxon tiger. If the technology that the 66-year-old
inventor has spent $6 million and the past seven years developing lives up to his claims, cars and
trucks could one day be running on a fraction of the gasoline and diesel fuel they now use. Ditto for
buses, planes, trains, and anything else powered by an internal-combustion engine--from lawn
mowers to huge electrical generators. Gunnerman claims to have a technology that enables
engines to burn a mixture of half fuel, half water. Yes, water. What's more, he says, the mixture
gets 40% better mileage from the gasoline it contains and emits significantly less pollution
because engines run cooler. In particular, tailpipes emit virtually no nitrogen oxides--the
principal source of smog. Caterpillar Inc. is so intrigued that in early July it formed a joint venture
with A-55 LP, Gunnerman's tiny, nine-person company in Reno, Nev. A-55 is short for aqueous
55%, the amount of water by weight in the patented fuels. But the key ingredient is 0.5% of a
secret emulsifier that enables fuel and water to mix--and stay mixed. Gunnerman financed his
work with royalties from other patents, especially those covering the making of pellets for
woodstoves.
Note: If the above link fails, click here. Why didn't this exciting development make headline news?
For lots more showing very promising results on this most intriguing invention, click here. For
exciting reports from reliable sources on highly promising new energy developments and
technologies, click here and here.

Sun and Wind Alter Global Landscape, Leaving Utilities Behind

2014-09-14, New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/14/science/earth/sun-and-wind-alter-german-lan...
Of all the developed nations, few have pushed harder than Germany to find a solution to global
warming. And towering symbols of that drive are appearing in the middle of the North Sea. They
are wind turbines, standing as far as 60 miles from the mainland, stretching as high as 60-story
buildings and costing up to $30 million apiece. On some of these giant machines, a single blade
roughly equals the wingspan of the largest airliner in the sky, the Airbus A380. By years end,
scores of new turbines will be sending low-emission electricity to German cities hundreds of miles
to the south. It will be another milestone in Germanys costly attempt to remake its electricity
system, an ambitious project that has already produced striking results: Germans will soon be

getting 30 percent of their power from renewable energy sources. Germanys relentless push
into renewable energy has implications far beyond its shores. By creating huge demand for
wind turbines and especially for solar panels, it has helped lure big Chinese manufacturers
into the market, and that combination is driving down costs faster than almost anyone
thought possible just a few years ago. The changes have devastated its utility companies,
whose profits from power generation have collapsed. The word the Germans use for their plan is
starting to make its way into conversations elsewhere: energiewende, the energy transition.
Worldwide, Germany is being held up as a model, cited by environmental activists as proof that a
transformation of the global energy system is possible.
Note: For more on this, see concise summaries of deeply revealing new energy development
news articles from reliable major media sources. Explore a treasure trove of concise summaries of
incredibly inspiring news articles which will inspire you to make a difference.

Why is solar booming?

2014-08-01, Time Magazine
http://time.com/3204258/wall-street-goes-green
The clean-power revolution is for real. Wind and solar have gotten much cheaper, less novel and
more predictable. Green electricity is no longer avant-garde; it has produced more than half of new
U.S. generating capacity this year. Wind has tripled since 2008, while solar is up 1,200%. This is
terrific newsfor homeowners who reduce their electric bills by going solar, ratepayers whose
utilities save them money by buying wind power, and the planet. But theres a deeper message.
People assume the future of clean energy depends on gee-whiz technological innovations: better
solar panels and wind turbines, cheaper batteries and biofuels. And we will need those advances
in the long term to cut carbon emissions 80% by 2050. But the biggest advances in the near term
are likely to be boring financial innovations. The innovation that launched the sunshine
revolution was the solar lease, which has helped homeowners and businesses install
rooftop systems without having to plunk down tens of thousands of dollars up front. Now
they can sign 20-year contracts with no money down to lease panels from installers like
SolarCity or Sunrun, then make payments out of the savings on their electric bills. Now
were moving into the next phase of the renewable revolution. Those 20-year leases look a lot like
mortgages, auto loans or other financial instruments that Wall Street routinely packages into
securities. And Wall Street has begun to package solar contracts into securities. The market for
commercial solar securities has grown from less than $1 billion to $15 billion since 2008.
Note: You can find the text for this article at http://investorshub.advfn.com/.... For more on this, see
concise summaries of deeply revealing new energy developments news articles from reliable
major media sources. Explore a treasure trove of concise summaries of incredibly inspiring news
articles which will inspire you to make a difference.

Electric car with massive range in demo by Phinergy, Alcoa

2014-06-04, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation

http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/electric-car-with-massive-range-in-demo-by-...
Imagine making the 19-hour, 1,800-kilometre drive from Toronto to Halifax in an electric car without
having to stop for a recharge. That's theoretically possible with a special kind of battery being
demonstrated this week in Montreal. The battery ... consists of panels made mostly of aluminum.
The battery can extend the range of an electric car by 1,600 kilometres when used in conjunction
with the vehicle's regular lithium-ion battery. "We hope that this will increase the penetration of
electric cars with zero emissions," said Aviv Tzidon, CEO of Phinergy, ... adding that it
should put an end to "range anxiety." That kind of anxiety about how far an electric car can
go before needing a recharge has often been cited as a reason the market for electric cars
is still relatively small. The regular battery range of electric cars now on the market is a few
hundred kilometres at most 135 kilometres for the Nissan Leaf and 480 kilometres for the more
expensive version of the Tesla Model S. That makes those cars unsuitable for extended road trips,
unless high-voltage fast-charging stations, which are still relatively uncommon, are available along
the way.
Note: See a five-minute video presentation of this exciting development. Explore a treasure trove
of concise summaries of incredibly inspiring news articles which will inspire you to make a
difference.

Running on renewable energy, Burlington, Vermont powers green

movement forward
2014-01-31, PBS
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/vermont-city-come-rely-100-percent-renewable-e...
Burlington recently announced that it now produces or gets more power than its citizens
use. And its all coming from renewable sources of energy like wind and solar and
hydroelectric. Ken Nolan helps run Burlington Electric, the local utility company that supplies
power to the citys 42,000 residents. Some might say, of course this is happening in Burlington
the town thats often cast as a liberal, progressive haven. But Burlington and Vermont at large
has plenty of economic reasons to try and do their part to tackle climate change: Vermonts
iconic, multi-million dollar industries skiing and maple syrup are as dependent on the climate
as any industry in the U.S. And the state suffered hundreds of millions of dollars in damage from
Hurricane Irene the type of storm scientists say will grow in frequency unless we reduce our
consumption of fossil fuels. Nolan says that switching from fossil fuel energy to renewable energy
will likely save the city about $20 million dollars over the next two decades. Whats more,
consumers havent been hit with a big price increase: while residential customers across the
US have seen small but gradual increases in their utility bills over the years, Burlingtons
rates havent increased since 2009. Theres nothing magic about Burlington in terms of where it
sits. It was just a bunch of decisions made over ten years or more, to get towards renewable
energy.

Note: Explore a treasure trove of concise summaries of incredibly inspiring news articles which will
inspire you to make a difference.

Peugeot unveils battery-free hybrid

2013-01-22, Chicago Tribune
http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2013-01-22/business/chi-peugeot-unveils-ba...
PSA Peugeot Citroen [has] unveiled a pioneering hybrid vehicle concept combining a conventional
engine with compressed nitrogen propulsion which it said would halve the cost of cutting emissions
compared with current gasoline-electric hybrids. The French carmaker said the so-called "Hybrid
Air" system developed with auto parts supplier Robert Bosch would be lighter than a hybrid
running on petrol and battery power. Peugeot, which is cutting more than 10,000 jobs as it
struggles to stem losses and expand overseas, said the technology would be launched around
2016, with vehicles priced below 20,000 euros ($26,600). Unlike Toyota's Prius hybrid, which
supplements a conventional engine with an electric motor, the new Peugeot will use a
separate hydraulic motor driven by nitrogen compressed by energy from braking and
deceleration. In city driving conditions, the vehicles can travel on the compressed gas
power as much as 80 percent of the time with the 3-cylinder gasoline engine cut. Peugeot said
a prototype Hybrid Air subcompact emitted 72 grams of CO2 per km, compared with 104 grams for
a Peugeot 208 model with the same combustion engine.
Note: For a video and more on this exciting development, click here. Let's hope this doesn't go the
way of Toyota's Eco Spirit in 2002, which strangely never made it to market. For deeply revealing
reports from reliable major media sources on exciting new energy and automotive technology
developments, click here.

Pee power! African teens create urine-fueled generator

2012-11-08, CNET
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-57547296-1/pee-power-african-teens-create...
Four teenage African girls have come up with a urine-powered generator ... which they claim
generates one hour of electricity from one liter (about a quart) of urine. The pee-powered product
made its debut at Maker Faire Africa in Lagos, Nigeria. Urine is put into an electrolytic cell,
which separates out the hydrogen. The gas cylinder pushes hydrogen into a cylinder of
liquid borax, which is used to remove the moisture from the hydrogen gas. This purified
hydrogen gas is pushed into the generator. The girls will probably be famous chemists one day,
in any case, but they aren't the first to propose urine (or more solid human and animal waste) as a
possible alternative fuel. Last year, in one example, researchers from Ohio University came up
with their own technology for extracting hydrogen from urine. Doing so, they say, requires less
power than plucking it from water, as hydrogen can be separated more easily from the ammonia
and urea chemical compounds present in pee. The four African teens likely are the youngest

researchers yet to dabble in pee as power. Skepticism aside, can we all just agree that the
foursome should be lauded for their efforts to find alternative power sources on a continent that
could really use them?
Note: For a treasure trove of great news articles which will inspire you to make a difference, click
here.

Tesla unveils faster electric car charging station

2012-09-25, Boston Globe/Associated Press
http://www.boston.com/business/technology/2012/09/25/tesla-unveils-faster-ele...
Tesla Motors Inc. unveiled a solar-powered charging station ... that it said will make
refueling electric vehicles on long trips about as fast as stopping for gas and a bathroom
break in a conventional car. CEO Elon Musk said ... that the companys roadside
Supercharger has been installed at six highway rest stops in California. The free stations are
designed to fully charge Teslas new Model S sedan in about an hour, and a half-hour-long
charge can produce enough energy for a 150-mile trip, he said. The first six, which were
developed and deployed in secret, are in Barstow, Hawthorne, Lebec, Coalinga, Gilroy and
Folsom. Tesla spokeswoman Christina Ra said they are open only to company employees, but
would be available to the public in early October. Musk said his Palo Alto-based company planned
to have more stations running throughout California and in parts of Nevada and Oregon by the end
of the year, and expected to blanket almost the entire United States within two
years. Tesla unveiled the Model S, its first mass-market vehicle, in June. The base model
costs sells for $49,900 after a federal tax credit. Along with persuading consumers that electric
vehicles are practical, the charging stations were developed with an eye toward alleviating doubts
about their environmental effects. Musk said the solar-powered stations in California would
produce more clean energy than is needed to keep cars running.
Note: For inspiring reports from reliable major media sources on new developments in automotive
and energy technologies, click here.

Americans Empowered to Separate Solar Fact from Fiction with Real

Goods Solar's Free "87 Solar Myths" eBook
2012-06-21, San Francisco Chronicle (San Francisco's leading newspaper)
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2012/06/21/prweb9626179.DTL
Real Goods Solar, the nation's most established residential solar installer and integrator, is helping
Americans separate solar fact from solar fiction with a free, downloadable myth-busting eBook
known as 87 Solar Myths, available online at www.RealGoodsSolar.com. 87 Solar Myths is a quick
read to dispel what solar professionals across the U.S. say are today's most pervasive solar
industry inaccuracies. Interest is high. Nearly one thousand eBooks have been downloaded since
its Earth Week release. 87 Solar Myths slaps down perennial [myths] such as "Solar technology is

too expensive," "Coal power is cheaper than getting power from the sun," "A solar lease traps you
in your home," or "$0 down solar is too good to be true," while confirming the veracity of other wellpublicized solar tenets. "What we've learned in speaking with people across the U.S. over the
years is that we aren't just in the business of solar, we're in the business of educating," explained
Real Goods Solar Residential Marketing Director Cheryl Moody. "There are some whacky - and
some serious - rumors that persist amongst consumers. Our goal is to equip homeowners
with an unbiased source of information so that they can confidently make valid decisions
as to how the benefits of solar energy could improve their circumstances," Moody said.
Note: For more on promising developments on energy technologies, click here.

Obama sets fuel-efficiency goal: 54.5 mpg by 2025

2011-07-30, San Francisco Chronicle (San Francisco's leading newspaper)
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/07/29/BAS81KGSRJ.DTL
Fuel efficiency of automobiles in the United States will increase dramatically under an agreement
reached by the federal government, auto manufacturers and the state of California that was
announced by President Obama on [July 29]. The agreement requires that cars and light-duty
trucks achieve an average fuel economy of 54.5 miles per gallon by 2025, up from the
requirement of 35.5 miles per gallon that is mandated by 2016. The new requirement will ...
reduce oil consumption by 2.2 million barrels per day by 2025. Currently, the United States
imports 9.1 million barrels of oil per day. Thirteen auto manufacturers, which account for 90
percent of vehicles sold in the United States, agreed to the standard. They are Ford, GM, Chrysler,
BMW, Honda, Hyundai, Jaguar/Land Rover, Kia, Mazda, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Toyota and Volvo.
The fuel economy standard is an average for a fleet of cars, which means that the actual miles per
gallon for some vehicles will be lower because fleets also include electric cars and other vehicles
that will far exceed the standard. The average vehicle at a dealership is likely to be closer to 40
miles per gallon, though that is double the average today.
Note: Some people believe the market drives innovation in gas mileage. As this article clearly
shows, this is not the case. For a revealing article showing how car manufacturers have avoided
better gas mileage, click here.

Japan to Scrap Plan to Boost Nuke Energy to 50 Pct

2011-05-10, ABC News/Associated Press
http://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory?id=13568464
Japan will scrap a plan to obtain half of its electricity from nuclear power and will instead promote
renewable energy and conservation as a result of its ongoing nuclear crisis, the prime minister said
[on May 10]. Naoto Kan said Japan needs to "start from scratch" on its long-term energy policy
after the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant was heavily damaged by a March 11 earthquake
and tsunami and began leaking radiation. Some 80,000 people living within a 12-mile (20-

kilometer) radius of the plant were evacuated from their homes. Nuclear plants supplied about 30
percent of Japan's electricity, and the government had planned to raise that to 50 percent by 2030.
Kan told a news conference that nuclear and fossil fuel used to be the pillars of Japanese
energy policy but now the government will add two more pillars: renewable energy such as
solar, wind and biomass, and an increased focus on conservation. "I believe the government
bears a major responsibility for having promoted nuclear energy as national policy. I apologize to
the people for failing to prevent the nuclear accident," Kan said.
Note: For lots more from reliable sources on promising renewable energy sources, click here.

Electric Sportscar Completes Alaska-Argentina Trip

2010-11-16, ABC News/Associated Press
http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory?id=12165261
An electric sportscar finished a remarkable road trip [on November 16] on the Panamerican
Highway, traveling from near the Arctic Circle in Alaska to the world's southernmost city without a
single blast of carbon dioxide emissions. Developed by engineers from Imperial College London,
the SRZero sportscar ran on lithium iron phosphate batteries powering two electric motors with a
peak output of 400 horsepower during its 16,000-mile (26,000-kilometer) journey. Powering up was
a joy at times, the team said such as in Chena Hot Springs, Alaska, where they started their trip
July 3 after charging the batteries using geothermal energy. "The SRZero was literally being
charged from energy taken straight out of the earth with absolutely zero CO2 emissions," Alex
Schey, a mechanical engineer who organized the trip, wrote in his blog that day. Finding places to
plug in along the way became a major challenge as the team passed through 14 countries in 70
days of driving. But every time the driver hit the brakes and there was plenty of that as the team
made its way through the Rocky Mountains, Mexico and Central America and then through South
America the car recovered kinetic energy, extending its capacity to drive as much as six hours
and more than 400 kilometers (250 miles) on a single charge. This was no clunky science
project all that horsepower enabled the car to reach 60 mph (96 kph) in just seven
seconds and reach top controlled speeds of 124 mph (200 kph), the team said.
Note: For many reports from reliable sources on new automotive and energy technologies, click
here.

Cannabis electric car to be made in Canada

2010-08-23, CBC News (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation)
http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/cannabis-electric-car-to-be-made-in-canada-...
An electric car made of hemp is being developed by a group of Canadian companies in
collaboration with [the Alberta provincial government]. The Kestrel will be prototyped and tested
later in August by Calgary-based Motive Industries Inc. The compact car, which will hold a driver
and up to three passengers, will have a top speed of 90 kilometres per hour and a range of 40 to

160 kilometres before needing to be recharged, depending on the type of battery. The car's body
will be made of an impact-resistant composite material produced from mats of hemp, a
plant from the cannabis family. The material is being supplied by Alberta Innovates-Technology
Futures, a provincial Crown corporation that provides technical services and funding to help
commercialize new technologies. The Kestrel is one of five electric vehicles being developed by
Project Eve, an automotive industry collaboration founded by Motive and Toronto Electric, an
Ontario material handling and electric motor company, to boost the production of electric vehicles
and electric vehicle components in Canada. The Kestrel cars will be built with the help of
polytechnic schools in Alberta, Quebec and Toronto, and the first 20 cars are scheduled to be
delivered next year to EnMax, a Calgary-based energy distribution, supply and service company
that is taking part in Project Eve. Automotive pioneer Henry Ford first built a car made of
hemp fibre and resin more than half a century ago.
Note: The U.S. continues to have laws against growing hemp. Is it time for change? For more on
exciting new automotive technologies, see the deeply revealing reports from reliable major media
sources available here.

Obama Acts to Ease Way to Construct Reactors

2010-01-30, New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/30/science/earth/30nuke.html
The Obama administration [has] moved vigorously on two fronts ... to promote nuclear power,
proposing a tripling of federal loan guarantees for new projects and appointing a high-level
commission to study what to do with nuclear waste. Administration officials confirmed that their
2011 federal budget request next week would raise potential loan guarantees for the projects to
more than $54 billion, from $18.5 billion. Energy Secretary Steven Chu has been saying for weeks
that the administration would seek a greater amount of guarantees; commercial investment has
been hard to come by because there is so much uncertainty about the cost and schedule
for building plants. When President Obama said in his State of the Union address on [January
27] that the country should build a new generation of safe, clean nuclear power plants, it was one
of the few times he got bipartisan applause. Opponents have complained that loan guarantees
for projects that cannot attract commercial investment amounted to nuclear socialism.
Note: The US administration is allocating billions in loan guarantees for risky nuclear power plants
in 2010, yet only $320 million for solar energy research, which is on track to become cheaper than
fossil fuel energy generation before long. Could corporate largess have an influence in this? For
lots more, click here.

Fossils From Animals And Plants Are Not Necessary For Crude Oil And
Natural Gas, Swedish Researchers Find
2009-09-12, Science Daily

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090910084259.htm
Researchers at the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) in Stockholm have managed to prove that
fossils from animals and plants are not necessary for crude oil and natural gas to be generated.
The findings are revolutionary since this means, on the one hand, that it will be much easier to find
these sources of energy and, on the other hand, that they can be found all over the globe. Using
our research we can even say where oil could be found in Sweden, says Vladimir Kutcherov, a
professor at the Division of Energy Technology at KTH. Together with two research colleagues,
Vladimir Kutcherov has simulated the process involving pressure and heat that occurs naturally in
the inner layers of the earth, the process that generates hydrocarbon, the primary component in oil
and natural gas. According to Vladimir Kutcherov, the findings are a clear indication that the
oil supply is not about to end, which researchers and experts in the field have long feared.
He adds that there is no way that fossil oil, with the help of gravity or other forces, could
have seeped down to a depth of 10.5 kilometers in the state of Texas, for example, which is rich
in oil deposits. As Vladimir Kutcherov sees it, this is further proof, alongside his own research
findings, of the genesis of these energy sources that they can be created in other ways than via
fossils. This has long been a matter of lively discussion among scientists. There is no doubt that
our research proves that crude oil and natural gas are generated without the involvement of
fossils. All types of bedrock can serve as reservoirs of oil, says Vladimir Kutcherov.
Note: The research work of Kutcherov and others on this topic was recently published in the
scientific journal Nature Geoscience. For more reports from reliable sources on key new energy
discoveries, click here.

Wauseon plant to open Monday for 110-mpg car engines

2009-05-30, Toledo Blade (Toledo, OH's leading newspaper)
http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090530/BUSINESS03/905...
The man who drove his 20-year-old Mustang from Napoleon, Ohio, to Las Vegas and back last
year on 39 gallons of fuel will open his first manufacturing facility Monday to allow others to get 110
miles per gallon. Doug Pelmear, owner of Horse Power Sales.net Inc. and Hp2G LLC, will hold an
open house ... in Wauseon to begin manufacturing his revolutionary engine. The factory ... will be
tooled to initially turn out 20 of Mr. Pelmear's custom engines per day with one shift of 25 workers.
A Decatur, Ind., specialty car company, Revenge Designs Inc., has contracted with Mr. Pelmear to
purchase 2,000 engines for use in a new vehicle it plans to unveil at the end of this year at the Los
Angeles International Auto Show. The vehicle is to be called the Revenge Verde Super Car, which
will use Mr. Pelmear's 400-horsepower engine and its 500 foot-pounds of torque to travel up to 200
mph and get 110 mpg - though admittedly not at the same time. "The engine is going to be a really
great partnership with the car," explained Emily Levault, a spokesman for Revenge Design. "The
idea behind this was to give people what they want while putting people back in their jobs." Ms.
Levault said the Verde will be introduced as both a left and right-hand drive, so that it can be
marketed around the world. Mr. Pelmear has said that he employs more precise tolerances

and manufacturing techniques to decrease heat and energy loss and increase the efficiency
of the internal combustion engine. He said he has more than quadrupled the industry
average engine efficiency of about 8 percent.
Note: For a treasure trove of reliable reports on breakthrough developments in auto and new
energy technologies, click here.

Electric motor polarizes opinion

2009-02-28, Toronto Star
http://www.thestar.com/News/Ontario/article/594471
Thane Heins ... has invented a technology that he says will put out more energy than it consumes.
His invention, he boldly claims, offers a way to make electric cars that can travel hundreds of
kilometres from the energy in a small, inexpensive battery. The Star first profiled Heins and his
controversial invention a year ago. In a nutshell, he had figured out a way to eliminate the
electromagnetic friction that typically limits the performance of an electrical generator an effect
known as Back EMF. Not only that, but he also learned how to redirect that magnetic energy so
that, instead of causing resistance, it gave an electrical motor connected to the generator a
significant boost. The result, as far as Heins was concerned, violated Lenzs law or whats often
called the law of diminishing returns. For many, that equates to a perpetual motion machine, an
impossible claim in the conventional field of physics. Within no time the story spread globally
across the Internet, became chatter on blogs, and triggered a flood of email to this
reporters inbox some praising Heins for his determination, others calling the Star
irresponsible for giving credibility to his claim. The story, love it or hate it, was the secondmost read article on TheStar.com in 2008. Much has happened over the past 12 months.
Through his Ottawa-based company Potential Difference Inc., Heins has been in serious talks with
a designer of small wind turbines in Montreal, a senior engineer from a large utility in Turkey, and a
small manufacturer of electrical equipment in Toronto.
Note: Read how an esteemed MIT professor was baffled by this invention in the original Star
article available here. For lots more on promising new energy inventions and technologies from
major media sources, click here.

Politicians fume as Exxon profits soar to U.S. record

2008-07-31, Houston Chronicle
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/nation/5918750.html
Exxon Mobil Corp. jumped into the political fray Thursday as its $11.7 billion record quarterly
earnings and $8 billion in share buybacks raised hackles in Washington. "They tell us they
want to do more domestic production," said Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y. "They tell us they
need to drill offshore. They tell us that they can find oil on the mainland. And what do they
do with their profits? They buy back stock, simply to increase their share price." Democrats

argue that producers already hold 68 million acres of federal lands on which they are not
producing oil or gas. Irving-based Exxon Mobil, the world's largest oil company, was the fourth
major oil giant to release quarterly results. Hours earlier, Royal Dutch Shell, based in the
Netherlands, announced a 33 percent increase in profit. Houston-based ConocoPhillips last week
announced a 13 percent increase in net income during a quarter in which oil prices rose from
about $100 to $140 a barrel. London-based BP announced a 28 percent profit increase on
Tuesday. Analysts ... focused less on Exxon Mobil's profits than on its 8 percent drop in
production. The world's largest oil companies ... are benefiting from record-high oil prices. Exxon
Mobil increased spending on capital and exploration projects by 38 percent in the quarter to $7
billion. It also spent $8 billion buying back its own shares and reported $39 billion in cash on hand.
A Democratic analysis of the top five oil company's expenditures from 2004 through 2007 found
that the majors plowed about $181 billion into stock buybacks, nearly three times as much as they
spent on U.S. production activity.

Citing Need for Assessments, U.S. Freezes Solar Energy Projects

2008-06-27, New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/27/us/27solar.html?partner=rssuserland&emc=rss...
Faced with a surge in the number of proposed solar power plants, the federal government has
placed a moratorium on new solar projects on public land until it studies their environmental
impact, which is expected to take about two years. The Bureau of Land Management says an
extensive environmental study is needed to determine how large solar plants might affect millions
of acres it oversees in six Western states. But the decision to freeze new solar proposals
temporarily ... has caused widespread concern in the alternative-energy industry ... just as the
demand for viable alternative energy is accelerating. It doesnt make any sense, said Holly
Gordon, vice president for ... a solar thermal energy company in Palo Alto, Calif. The
Bureau of Land Management land has some of the best solar resources in the world. This
could completely stunt the growth of the industry. Much of the 119 million surface acres of
federally administered land in the West is ideal for solar energy. Galvanized by the national
demand for clean energy development, solar companies have filed more than 130 proposals with
the Bureau of Land Management since 2005. According to the bureau, the applications, which
cover more than one million acres, are for projects that have the potential to power more than 20
million homes. Craig Cox, the executive director of the Interwest Energy Alliance, a renewable
energy trade group, said he worried that the freeze would throw a monkey wrench into the solar
energy industry at precisely the wrong time.
Note: For many encouraging stories on new energy developments, click here.

Powering the Future

2008-03-13, Newsweek Magazine
http://www.newsweek.com/id/123021

Chances are you've heard of hybrids and biofuels, but what about oil-producing yeast and
turbinelike buoys that transform ocean waves into electricity? Those are just a couple of the
alternative-energy sources that may power the future according to Fred Krupp, president of the
Environmental Defense Fund and coauthor, with Miriam Horn, of the new book Earth: The Sequel
(Norton). "Everyone knows the current story of melting glaciers, rising sea levels, worsening
hurricanes, dying coral reefs," said Krupp. "'The Sequel' is the story of what happens next."
Newsweek's Katie Paul talked with Krupp about ... the next industrial revolution. Newsweek: You
seem to be a big fan of solar energy. Why do you think there's so much promise to it? Fred Krupp:
We have two chapters on solar energy at the beginning of the book because we think there's
tremendous potential there. Every hour, the sun provides the earth with as much energy as all
of human civilization uses in an entire year. So, if you could capture just 10 percent of it on
a ... 100-mile square piece of land, you could power the entire United States. With solar
thermal energy, capturing heat instead of immediately going to electricity, one advantage is that
you can store hot water much more cheaply than you can store electricity. There is tremendous
potential there, even before advanced batteries are developed, and reason to think solar energy
can compete. [Newsweek:] And besides solar? How are they addressing some of the negatives
associated with biofuels? [Krupp:] I think we've come to understand that the current generation of
biofuels has problems and that we need a whole new generation.
Note: For more exciting reports from major media sources on new energy technologies, click here.

Safeway's trucking fleet shifts to biodiesel

2008-01-19, San Francisco Chronicle (San Francisco's leading newspaper)
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/01/19/BU63UHSMM.DTL
Safeway grocery trucks no longer just deliver vegetables. In a sense, they now run on
vegetables, too. Safeway, the nation's third-largest grocery chain, said Friday that its entire
nationwide trucking fleet now uses biodiesel, a renewable fuel that can be made from plant
oils, used cooking grease or animal fat. In Safeway's case, the biodiesel comes from soy oil or
canola oil. It is blended with regular petroleum diesel before being pumped into the company's
more than 1,000 trucks. The move is part of Safeway's broader effort to green its operations. The
Pleasanton company buys much of its electricity from wind farms, has switched to energy-efficient
refrigeration and lighting, and is installing solar panels on 24 of its California stores. Biodiesel
generally produces less air pollution than diesel made from petroleum. And it helps rein in
greenhouse gas emissions because the plants used to make it absorb carbon dioxide from the
atmosphere. Safeway won't reveal how much fuel it's buying or the price it's paying. Biodiesel
typically costs more than regular diesel. The price increased last year as some farmers switched
from growing soybeans to growing corn, hoping to tap into the growing market for another
alternative fuel - corn-based ethanol. Safeway estimates that using the biodiesel blend will cut the
company's carbon dioxide emissions by 75 million pounds each year, the equivalent of taking
7,500 cars off the road.
Note: For a treasure trove of exciting reports of new energy technology breakthroughs, click here.

Aptera's Super-MPG Electric Typ-1 e: Exclusive Video Test Drive

2007-12-21, Popular Mechanics
http://www.popularmechanics.com/automotive/new_cars/4237853.html
Three hundred miles per gallon and a Jetsons-style look are enough to get anyone excited.
But ever since the word got out on it last month, Apteras innovative Typ-1 three-wheeler
has been the target of relentless theorizing and conjecture across the Web. Is it real? Does
it have what it takes to be a practical vehicle for daily transport? Is it stable enough to drive?
Does it even actually drive? Well we wondered some of those things, too, so we scouted out if a
drivable prototype really exists. It does. This week we visited Apteras headquarters in Carlsbad,
Calif., and became the very first outside of the company to hit the street in the Typ-1 e. And, as
you can see from the video of our 20-mile test drive above, were impressed. Aptera has two
innovative models that are almost production-ready at $30,000 and below: for next year, the allelectric, 120-mile-range Typ-1 e that we drove; and, by 2009, the range-extended series gasoline
Typ-1 h, which Aptera says will hit 300 mpg. A more conventional third model, called Project X or
perhaps Typ-2, is now in the design phase, with plans for a four-wheeled chassis and seating up
for to five passengers. For now, though, the Typ-1 will certainly do. Check out a full gallery for the
inside scoop on all the specs from the shop and the street.
Note: To watch the video of the test drive of this exciting new vehicle, click on the article link
above. For many exciting reports on new energy technologies and innovative vehicle designs, click
here.

Sun-powered desert race: The World Solar Challenge

2007-10-24, CNN
http://edition.cnn.com/2007/TECH/science/10/24/solar.race/index.html
The [Panasonic World Solar] Challenge is the world's premier long-distance race for solarpowered vehicles, with competitors traveling 3000 kms [1,800 miles] along the Stuart
Highway from Darwin in the far north of Australia to Adelaide in the south in cars powered
solely by sunlight. In the process they ... send out a strong environmental message, pushing
forward the boundaries of green technology and promoting the benefits of solar power as an
alternative energy source. "It's a great adventure," the race director Chris Selwood told CNN, "One
that allows the bright young people of the globe to come up with creative solutions to the problem
of sustainable transport, while at the same time drawing attention to the importance of lightening
the environmental footprint of our personal transport needs." First run in 1987, the race was the
brainchild of Danish adventurer and environmental campaigner Hans Thostrup, who in 1982
designed and built "Quiet Achiever," the world's first ever solar-powered car. The inaugural
competition featured 23 teams, with the winning vehicle -- the General Motors-sponsored
Sunraycer -- completing the distance at an average speed of 67 kilometers per hour (42 miles per
hour). The average speed has shot up to 103 kph (64 mph) ... while the competition has

expanded to incorporate several different classes of vehicle: the Challenge and Adventure Classes
for exclusively solar cars, and the Greenfleet Technology Class for other types of environmentally
friendly, low-emission vehicles.
Note: Cars running on nothing but solar power averaging more than 60 mph over 1,800 miles?
Why isn't this front page news? For lots more from reliable, verifiable sources on promising new
energy and auto designs, click here.

Old oil fears don't match 2007 reality

2007-07-15, San Francisco Chronicle (San Francisco's leading newspaper)
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2007/07/15/INGHKQVEIO1.DTL
Congress is debating action to address the nation's dependence on foreign oil. This would seem to
be good news. Not necessarily. While tightening requirements on fuel efficiency is a good idea,
many other envisioned policies aimed at "energy independence" fix a problem that no longer
exists, while moving in the wrong direction with regard to today's actual energy challenges -particularly those related to climate change. Rather than staying the course with energy priorities
of the past, congressional leaders should declare independence from oil fears and craft an energy
policy relevant to the 21st century. Do you believe that the United States is dangerously vulnerable
to oil supply disruptions? Then, ask yourself: "When was the last time I saw clear evidence of this
vulnerability?" If you're like most Americans, you'll think back to the Arab oil embargo of 1973, with
its long gas lines and associated recession. There are three problems with using 1973 as a point
of reference: -- First, the long gas lines in 1973 were caused by price controls imposed by
President Richard Nixon in 1971, not embargoes of oil imposed by Arabs two years later.
Without price controls, we would have had higher prices at the pump when supplies were reduced,
not long lines. Unpleasant, but not as memorable. -- Second, many studies of the era -- including a
landmark 1997 paper co-authored by current Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke -- have
found that monetary policy had more to do with the recessions of the '70s than did oil price shocks.
-- Third, 2007 is not 1973.

Here Comes the Sun

2007-03-02, CNN
http://money.cnn.com/magazines/business2/business2_archive/2006/11/01/8392039
Venture capitalists are pouring hundreds of millions of dollars into [Silicon] Valley solar startups
pursuing technological breakthroughs to make sun power as cheap as fossil fuel. Three of the
largest tech IPOs of 2005 were for solar companies. The world's largest chip-equipment maker will
begin producing machines to manufacture solar wafers, laying the groundwork for an industrial
infrastructure that should lower the cost of producing solar cells. Solar energy has just the sort
of oversize potential that the titans of tech saw in computing: a free and practically
inexhaustible power source. California is also committing $3.2 billion to fund a drive to install
solar panels on a million rooftops by 2018, and a November ballot initiative ... would tax Big Oil to

provide $4 billion in funding for alternative-energy research, programs, and startups. Perhaps no
startup has benefited more from the solar gold rush than Nanosolar. The Palo Alto company ... has
racked up more than $100 million in funding so far. Nanosolar is pursuing a technology that
produces solar cells on a film that's a 100th the thickness of conventional silicon wafers. Its
ultimate goal: integrating thin-film cells directly into building materials. A skyscraper's glass
windows, for instance, could be embedded with thin-film cells, giving them energy-producing
capabilities. Nanosolar plans to build a manufacturing facility next year ... that will eventually
produce 430 megawatts' worth of solar cells per year. That would nearly triple the nation's
manufacturing capacity and make Nanosolar one of the world's largest solar producers. Thanks to
aggressive government subsidies, Germany and Japan are currently the global leaders in solar
production.
Note: With all of its talk about energy independence, why isn't the U.S. aggressively supporting
research into solar power like Japan and Germany? For reliable, verifiable information which
answers this question, click here.

Green limo line at Oscars gets longer and sexier

2007-02-21, Washington Post/Reuters
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/21/AR20070221021...
From a plug-in hybrid car to the sexy electric Tesla Roadster, celebrities wanting to make a green
statement on the way to the red carpet of the Oscars will have plenty of environment-friendly rides.
Global Green USA has lined up 30 cars to shuttle the likes of Leonardo DiCaprio and Davis
Guggenheim, director of the Oscar-nominated documentary on global warming "An Inconvenient
Truth," to the star-studded ceremony in Hollywood. The environmental group began the green
limousine campaign five years ago at the Oscars to raise awareness among the tens of millions of
viewers worldwide about alternative fuel cars, energy independence and solutions to global
warming. On a Hollywood parking lot ahead of Wednesday's Global Green USA celebrity party,
Steve Schneider showed off his tiny $10,000 ZAP (Zero Air Pollution) cars made in California. One
was a mini pick-up and the other a three-wheeler. "It is the first time that common people can be
introduced to this type of technology," said Schneider. "We are trying to have mass appeal. This
vehicle operates at a cost of a penny a mile." But it is the two-seat, scarlet-colored prototype of the
Tesla Roadster, invented and financed in Silicon Valley, that will be the coveted car pulling up to
the red carpet. Already 330 celebrities, including George Clooney, have signed up to buy the
electric car that goes from 0 to 60 mph (0 to 100 kph) in four seconds. Production will begin
later this year and the base price is $92,000, although the company also is working on a
sedan that will cost between $50,000 and $65,000.
Note: If the above link fails, click here. Why has the media given so little attention to these
breakthrough vehicles? For a possible answer, click here.

Pioneering U.S. renewable energy lab is neglected

2007-01-22, International Herald Tribune (Owned by New York Times)

http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/01/22/business/lab.php
Thirty years after it was founded by President Jimmy Carter, the National Renewable Energy
Laboratory at the edge of the Rockies here still does not have a cafeteria. The hopes for this
neglected lab brightened a bit just over a year ago when President George W. Bush made the first
presidential call on the lab since Carter. But one year after the presidential visit, the money
flowing into the primary national laboratory for developing renewable fuels is actually less
than it was when the Bush Administration took office. "Our budget is nothing compared to
the price of a B-2 bomber or an aircraft carrier," said Rob Farrington, manager of advanced
vehicle systems at the lab. The problem is that, despite a lot of promises, no one so far has
wanted to pay the extra costs to make wind and solar more than a trivial energy source. Most of
the money and attention is still focused on the dirty, but cheaper energy standbys: offshore oil, oil
sands and coal. Companies can still deduct purchases of sport utility vehicles and utility bills.
Meanwhile, fuel efficiency standards for automobiles have changed only slightly over the decades.
Renewable energy today supplies only 6 percent of America's energy needs. Under current
policies [renewables] would supply 7 percent of U.S. energy supplies by 2030 while coal would
increase over the same period from 23 percent to 26 percent. While top energy companies are ...
beginning to invest significant amounts of money in wind, solar and biomass, those investments
pale in comparison with the resources they are pouring into making synthetic fuels out of oil sands,
which emit significantly more carbon than conventional oil.
Note: With all the talk about oil dependence and energy crisis, why wouldn't the government and
industry want to put serious money into development of new energy sources? For a startlingly
clear answer, click here.

Science a la Joe Camel

2006-11-26, Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/24/AR20061124007...
At hundreds of screenings this year of "An Inconvenient Truth," the first thing many viewers said
after the lights came up was that every student in every school in the United States needed to see
this movie. The producers of former vice president Al Gore's film about global warming ... certainly
agreed. So the company that made the documentary decided to offer 50,000 free DVDs to the
National Science Teachers Association (NSTA). It seemed like a no-brainer. In their e-mail
rejection, they expressed concern that ... they didn't want to offer "political" endorsement of the
film; and they saw "little, if any, benefit to NSTA or its members" in accepting the free DVDs. As for
classroom benefits, the movie has been enthusiastically endorsed by leading climate scientists
worldwide, and is required viewing for all students in Norway and Sweden. But there was one
more curious argument in the e-mail: Accepting the DVDs, they wrote, would place "unnecessary
risk upon the [NSTA] capital campaign, especially certain targeted supporters." One of those
supporters, it turns out, is the Exxon Mobil Corp. That's the same Exxon Mobil that for more
than a decade has done everything possible to muddle public understanding of global

warming and stifle any serious effort to solve it. It has run ads in leading newspapers ...
questioning the role of manmade emissions in global warming, and financed the work of a small
band of scientific skeptics who have tried to challenge the consensus that heat-trapping pollution is
drastically altering our atmosphere. NSTA says it has received $6 million from the company
since 1996. Exxon Mobil has a representative on the group's corporate advisory board.

Fuelling debate
2006-07-10, Toronto Star
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Articl...
A poignant new documentary asks who killed GM's promising electric car project? A new
documentary released June 28 in New York and Los Angeles, appropriately titled Who Killed The
Electric Car? tries in Clue-like fashion to figure out why GM pulled the plug on its EV1 electric
vehicle program, which by most accounts was approaching success when the first prototype was
introduced in the mid-1990s. "It was a revolutionary, modern car, requiring no gas, no oil changes,
no mufflers, and rare brake maintenance," according to a synopsis of the film. In the 1990s a strict
clean-air mandate introduced in California that called for zero-emission vehicles was what led GM
to introduce the EV1. Eventually that California mandate got watered down from "zero" to "low"
emissions, and the automakers decided to literally blow up their EV programs. GM, which leased
out the EV1 cars it produced, called them all back after California changed its policy. The cars
were crushed and shredded. Who were the people leasing these vehicles? Tom Hanks, Mel
Gibson and Ted Danson, among others, many of whom appear in the movie and talk favourably
about their electric cars. If the implications of an advance means loss of future business to a
paradigm, the key players of that paradigm will lobby to kill it. The paradigm? Big oil.
Similarly, the auto industry has an interest in perpetuating the manufacture of vehicles that require
routine, costly maintenance.
Note: For more information and showing times on the highly revealing Who Killed The Electric Car,
visit
www.whokilledtheelectriccar.com.
For
even
deeper
information
www.WantToKnow.info/newenergysources

NASA engineer chasing dream to harness energy from ocean waves

2005-12-06, Houston Chronicle/Orlando Sentinel
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/space/3507969.html
The son of [a] rocket scientist thinks he is close to perfecting...a machine that might make cheap,
clean electricity from the ocean. "I believe it'll change the world," said second-generation inventor
Tom Woodbridge, a NASA engineer. In theory, the idea is simple. Spinning copper wires through a
stable magnetic field makes electricity lots of electrons jumping off the magnetic field and
zooming through a conductive metal. And since the ocean waves are already moving, why not
cobble together a machine to harness that energy? Think Pogo Stick inside a floating drum. The
rocking motion of the waves pushes a long cylinder of magnets up and down a copper coil. His

small model generates 10 watts of power in a 6-inch wave chop. A full-scale version could
generate 160 kilowatts. That one buoy is enough to power 160 houses, following the rule of
thumb that the average U.S. home uses about 1,000 kilowatts of electricity each month.
Note: The Houston Chronicle actually cut off part of the original article, including the last three
sentences above. To read the entire article, click here. For lots more on new energy inventions,
see click here.

Senate must look at tougher mileage rules

2005-09-06, Reuters
http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=scienceNews&storyID=2005-...
Faced with a record-high national gasoline price of $3.07 per gallon, a senior Republican senator
said on Tuesday it was time for lawmakers to take another look at imposing stricter mileage
standards on mini-vans and other vehicles. Most Republicans and the White House oppose
significantly higher mileage requirements because of the potential impact on U.S. automakers and
passenger safety. On Tuesday, the U.S. government reported that the average U.S. weekly retail
gasoline price rocketed to $3.07 cents per gallon, up nearly 46 cents from last week, because of
Katrina's damage to refineries and pipelines. In June, the Senate voted to reject a Democratic
amendment to the energy bill to require better mileage for new gas-guzzling sport utility
and other vehicles. Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin had proposed that the standards be revised to boost
the fuel economy of passenger cars to 40 miles per gallon (mpg) by 2016, and sport utility vehicles
to 27.5 mpg. The proposal was defeated.
Note: Why did no major media pick up on this crucial story from one of the most watched news
services in the world? Why, with all of the talk about getting off of our dependence on oil, wouldn't
lawmakers want our cars to get better car mileage? For possible answers, click here.

Energy-beam weapons still missing from action

2005-08-12, MSNBC/Associated Press
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/8516353
For years, the U.S. military has explored a new kind of firepower that is instantaneous, precise and
virtually inexhaustible: beams of electromagnetic energy. "Directed-energy" pulses can be throttled
up or down depending on the situation, much like the phasers on "Star Trek" could be set to kill or
merely stun. Such weapons are now nearing fruition. The hallmark of all directed-energy weapons
is that the target -- whether a human or a mechanical object -- has no chance to avoid the shot
because it moves at the speed of light. At some frequencies, it can penetrate walls. "When you're
dealing with people whose full intent is to die, you can't give people a choice of whether to
comply," said George Gibbs, a systems engineer for the Marine Expeditionary Rifle Squad
Program who oversees directed-energy projects. "What I'm looking for is a way to shoot
everybody, and they're all OK." Among the simplest forms are inexpensive, handheld lasers that fill

people's field of vision, inducing a temporary blindness to ensure they stop at a checkpoint, for
example. Some of these already are used in Iraq. A separate branch of directed-energy
research involves bigger, badder beams: lasers that could obliterate targets tens of miles
away from ships or planes. Such a strike would be so surgical that, as some designers put
it at a recent conference here, the military could plausibly deny responsibility. The directedenergy component in the project is the Active Denial System, developed by Air Force researchers
and built by Raytheon Co. It produces a millimeter-wavelength burst of energy that penetrates 1/64
of an inch into a person's skin, agitating water molecules to produce heat. The sensation is certain
to get people to halt whatever they are doing.

1908 Ford Model T: 25 MPG, 2004 EPA Average All Cars: 21 MPG
2005-07-11, Detroit News/Newsweek/More
http://www.WantToKnow.info/050711carmileageaveragempg
"Consumers and regulators are putting more pressure on the auto industry to enhance fuel
economy, which was stagnant at an average 20.8 miles per gallon among all 2004 models
and below the 1988 high of 22.1 mpg." -- Detroit News, 4/11/05
"The Prius is the first significant departure from the combustion engine to make any major
inroads in the auto industry since Henry Ford invented the Model T in 1908." -- Newsweek,
9/20/04
"Ford's Model T, which went 25 miles on a gallon of gasoline, was more fuel efficient than
the current Ford Explorer sport-utility vehicle -- which manages just 16 miles per gallon."
-- Detroit News, 6/4/03
Genius inventors for the past 100 years have made remarkable discoveries of new, more efficient
energy sources, only to find their inventions either suppressed or not given the attention and
funding needed to break us free of our dependence on archaic oil-based technologies. Read this
article for more reliable information on this vital topic.

Tapes Show Enron Arranged Plant Shutdown

2005-02-04, New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/04/national/04energy.html?ex=1265259600&en=172...
In the midst of the California energy troubles in early 2001, when power plants were under a
federal order to deliver a full output of electricity, the Enron Corporation arranged to take a plant
off-line on the same day that California was hit by rolling blackouts, according to audiotapes of
company traders. The tapes and memorandums were made public by a small public utility north of
Seattle that is fighting Enron over a power contract. They also showed that Enron, as early as
1998, was creating artificial energy shortages and running up prices in Canada in advance
of California's larger experiment with deregulation. The tapes provide new details of market

manipulation during the California energy crisis that produced blackouts and billions of dollars
of surcharges to homes and businesses on the West Coast in 2000 and 2001. In one January
2001 telephone tape of an Enron trader the public utility identified as Bill Williams and a Las Vegas
energy official identified only as Rich, an agreement was made to shut down a power plant
providing energy to California. The shutdown was set for an afternoon of peak energy demand.
The next day, Jan. 17, 2001, as the plant was taken out of service, the State of California called a
power emergency, and rolling blackouts hit up to a half-million consumers, according to daily logs
of the western power grid. Officials with the Snohomish County Public Utility District in Washington
State, which released the tapes, said they believed Enron officials had taken similar measures with
other power plants. This tape, they said, was proof of what was going on.
Note: For many key reports from reliable sources on corporate corruption, click here.

Cloudborn Electric Wavelets To Encircle the Globe

1904-03-27, New York Times
http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F50716FB355F13718DDDAE0A94DB4...
To gather in the latent electricity in the clouds and with the globe itself as a medium of
transmission to convey telegraphic messages, power for commercial purposes, or even the
sound of the human voice to the utmost confines of the earth is the latest dream of Nikola
Tesla. The transmitting station is an octagonal tower, pyramidal in shape, and some 187 feet in
height. J. Pierpont Morgan [was] interested in his odd enterprise and furnished him with financial
assistance. Tesla's transmitting tower as it stands in lonely grandeur and boldly silhouetted against
the sky ... is a source or great satisfaction and of some mystification. No instruments have been
installed as yet in the transmitter, nor has Mr. Tesla given any description of what they will be like.
But in his article he announces that he will transmit from the tower an electric wave of a total
maximum activity of ten million horse power. This, he says, will be possible with a plant of but 100
horse power, by the use of a magnifying transmitter of his own invention. What he expects to
accomplish is summed up in the closing paragraph as follows: "When the great truth, accidentally
revealed and experimentally confirmed, is fully recognized, that this planet ... is to electric currents
virtually no more than a small metal ball and that by virtue of this fact many possibilities ... are
rendered absolutely sure of accomplishment; when the first plant is inaugurated and it is shown
that a telegraphic message ... can be transmitted to any terrestrial distance, ... the energy of a
waterfall made available for supplying light, heat or motive power, anywhere ... humanity will be
like an ant heap stirred up with a stick."
Note: If the above link fails, click here Claimed by some to be greater than Thomas Edison, Nikola
Tesla was a brilliant inventor whose name and inventions were long suppressed after J.P. Morgan
and others realized Tesla's inventions could give the public free energy, thereby taking away a
major source of income for the elite. For a PBS tribute to Tesla, click here. For lots more on this
energy genius, click here. For more on the energy cover-up, click here.

This Strange Metal Might Be the Newest State of Matter

2015-05-12, Popular Mechanics
http://www.popularmechanics.com/science/energy/a15501/jahn-teller-metal-new-s...
Researchers at Japan's Tohoku University are making a bold claim: an entirely new state of
matter. The team, led by Kosmas Prassides, says they've created what's called a Jahn-Teller
metal by inserting rubidium, a strange alkali metal element, into buckyballs, a pure carbon
structure which has a spherical shape from a series of interlocking polygons (think of the Epcot
Center, but in microscopic size.) The researchers created a complex crystalline structure that
seemed to conduct, insulate, and magnetize while acting as a metal. It goes far beyond what
ordinary matter can do. So what's the big deal? Applying pressure to the compound when it's in
the conductor/insulator phase turns it into the weird state of matter, and also makes it
superconductive at (relatively) high temperatures. Most superconductors that we know of need to
be barely above absolute zero. Understanding and then mastering high-temperature
superconductors, which this weird state of matter could help researchers to do, could make
all sorts of new things possible in computing, transportation, infrastructure ... sort of everything.
Discoveries of superinsulators in 2008 sort of hinted that this state of matter was possible, but
confirmation would be a game changer for materials science.
Note: Explore a treasure trove of concise summaries of incredibly inspiring news articles which will
inspire you to make a difference.

SolaRoad generates more power than expected

2015-05-11, CBC News/Associated Press
http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/solaroad-generates-more-power-than-expected...
A Dutch bike path designed to generate solar power has produced more power than
expected in its first six months. SolaRoad has generated more than 3,000 kilowatt hours of
electricity since the 70-metre-long strip officially opened in November 2014, in Krommenie, a
village northwest of Amsterdam, the project reported late last week. It said that was enough to
power a single-person household for a year. "We did not expect a yield as high as this so quickly,"
said Sten de Wit, spokesman for the public-private partnership project, in a statement that deemed
the first half-year of a three-year pilot a success. Based on what it has produced so far, the bike
path is expected to generate more than 70 kilowatt hours per square metre per year, close to the
upper limit predicted based on lab tests. SolaRoad is made of concrete paving slabs embedded
with ordinary solar panels. The solar panels are protected by a centimetre-thick layer of
transparent, skid-resistant tempered safety glass that can support bicycles and vehicles. So far,
more than 150,000 cyclists have zipped over the solar-generating part of the bike path. SolaRoad
says they "hardly notice it is a special path."The SolaRoad project hopes to test the technology on
smaller municipal roads next. Meanwhile, a similar project called Solar Roadways is underway in
the U.S.

Note: For more along these lines, read about how solar power is booming, and find out about the
new energy developments underway all over the world.

White House Reinstalls Solar Panels For First Time in Nearly 30 Years
2014-05-09, Time Magazine
http://time.com/94067/white-house-solar-panels/
The Obama Administration has installed solar panels on the White House for the first time in nearly
30 years. Of course, they could eventually be taken down again, as President Jimmy Carters were
in 1986 by President Ronald Reagan. [In] the meantime, however, they serve as a a symbol of the
clean energy revolution. Solar panels in the White House ... are a really important message
that solar is here, we are doing it, we can do a lot more, U.S. Secretary of Energy Dr.
Ernest Moniz said in a White House video about the panels released [May 9]. I am very bullish
on the future of solar energy as a key part of our energy future. Everything from the solar
components, to the inverter technology, to the labor that put the panels on the roof, was all
American, added Cyrus Waida, an assistant director of clean energy at the White House. Every
four minutes, some small business or homeowner is going solar. Were going through a transition
here and the industry is going through a transition that were just seeing the beginning of.
Note: For more on promising alternative energy developments, see the deeply revealing reports
from reliable major media sources available here.

Norway has fallen in love with electric cars

2014-01-29, The Guardian (One of the UK's leading newspapers)
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/jan/29/norway-electric-cars-sale
For three months at the end of 2013, the luxury electric sports car the Tesla Model S and Nissan
Leaf family electric car were the best-selling models among all cars sold in [Norway], beating
popular and conventionally-fuelled cars including the VW Golf. The latest figures suggest that over
21,000 all-electric vehicles (EVs) are now registered in the country of 5 million people with sales
running at over 1,200 a month, or over 10% of all sales. The Nordic rush for zero-emission
vehicles, which have a range of just over 100 miles in the case of the Leaf, is less inspired by
concern for the environment than for the chance of free commuting in the bus lane and generous
incentives, says the industry. Battery-powered cars in the world's fourth richest country are
not just exempt from high rates of purchase tax, and VAT, but pay no road and ferry tolls or
parking fees, cost less to insure and can be charged up for free electricity from thousands
of points. Local government will also subsidise the installation of charging points in
homes. Research suggests the subsidies could be worth nearly 5,000 a year per car. "You can
buy a Nissan leaf for 280,000 [Norwegian krone (Nok)] (26,500) which compares with 300,000
(29,400) for a VW Golf. Over 10,000 km, it costs about 1,800 Nok (176) to run, but the same for

a petrol car would be 8,000 Nok (784). On top of that I save 35Nok (3.20) a day on tolls but
some people are saving far more," says Snorre Sletvold, president of the Norwegian electric
vehicle association.
Note: For a treasure trove of great news articles which will inspire you to make a difference, click
here.

EDF exits US nuclear, focuses on renewables

2013-07-31, Business Spectator/Reuters
http://www.businessspectator.com.au/news/2013/7/31/renewable-energy/edf-exits...
French utility EDF, the world's biggest operator of nuclear plants, is pulling out of nuclear
energy in the United States, bowing to the realities of a market that has been transformed
by cheap shale gas. Several nuclear reactors in the US have been closed or are being
shuttered as utilities baulk at the big investments needed to extend their lifetimes now that
nuclear power has been so decisively undercut by electricity generated from shale gas. "The
spectacular fall of the price of gas in the US, which was unimaginable a few years ago, has made
this form of energy ultra competitive vis a vis all other forms of energy," EDF Chief Executive Henri
Proglio told a news conference. EDF agreed with its partner Exelon on an exit from their
Constellation Energy Nuclear Group (CENG) joint venture, which operates five nuclear plants in
the United States with a total capacity of 3.9 gigawatts. "Circumstances for the development of
nuclear in the US are not favourable at the moment," Proglio said. International Energy Agency
analyst Dennis Volk said CENG's eastern US power plants were located in some of the most
competitive power markets in the country, with high price competition, growing wind capacity and
cheap gas. "It is simply not easy to invest in nuclear and recover your money there," Volk said.
Proglio said EDF would now focus on renewable energy in the United States. EDF employs 860
people in US solar and wind, and since 2010 its generating capacity has doubled to 2.3 gigawatts.
Note: For more on encouraging energy developments, see the deeply revealing reports from
reliable major media sources available here.

Oil supply grows, but so does price

2013-01-25, San Francisco Chronicle (SF's leading newspaper)
http://www.sfgate.com/business/article/Oil-supply-grows-but-so-does-price-422...
Since 2008, oil production in the United States has surged ... 28 percent as the controversial
practice of fracking unlocks new supplies in North Dakota and Texas. At the same time, use of oil
and petroleum products has fallen 4 percent, as Americans switch to more efficient cars. In theory
at least, both of those factors should have pushed the price of crude down. Instead, it's gone up.
Since bottoming out during the financial crisis, oil futures traded on the New York Mercantile
Exchange have nearly tripled in value, climbing from $33.87 per barrel in December 2008 to
roughly $95 this month. Oil still costs substantially more now than it did in 2007, before the

recession began. The high price illustrates a brutal truth of today's interconnected world - oil is a
global commodity, bought and sold in a global marketplace. Even while demand falls in the United
States, it's growing in countries such as China and India. Critics say the price paradox undercuts
the oil industry's efforts to drill in more of America's public lands and coastal waters. "It really
debunks the myth of 'Drill, baby, drill,' that if we just produce more oil, prices will stay low or go
lower," said Michael Marx, director of the Sierra Club's Beyond Oil campaign. Will all that extra
petroleum finally mean lower prices? "It's a difficult question to answer, because there's not a
one-for-one (relationship) between an increase in production and a decrease in prices,"
said Doug MacIntyre, director of the Energy Information Administration's office of
petroleum statistics. "There are so many other factors."
Note: Though the author refers to "so many other factors," he doesn't even mention greed and
corruption which almost everyone knows are rampant. When will the media focus their attention on
these fundamental challenges of our world?

Biofuel created by explosive technology

2013-01-13, San Francisco Chronicle (SF's leading newspaper)
http://www.sfgate.com/science/article/Biofuel-created-by-explosive-technology...
Chemical engineers at UC Berkeley have created a new, cleaner fuel out of an old concoction that
was once used to make explosives. The fuel, which uses a century-old fermentation process to
transform plant material into a propellant, could eventually replace gasoline and drastically cut
down on greenhouse gas emissions, according to the team of Berkeley scientists. The discovery,
published in the journal Nature, means corn, sugar cane, grasses and other fast-growing plants or
trees, like eucalyptus, could be used to make the propellant, replacing oil. The research into
creating a diesel substitute is part of a 10-year development program by the Energy Biosciences
Institute, a collaboration among UC Berkeley, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and the
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The research, paid for using $50 million a year from
the British oil company BP, has been going on for five years. [The researchers] extracted the
acetone and butanol from the fermentation mixture [and] then created a catalyst that converted the
brew into a mix of hydrocarbons similar to those in diesel fuel. The resulting substance burns as
well as petroleum-based fuel and contains more energy per gallon than ethanol, according
to the study. It can be produced using a variety of renewable starches and sugars that can
be grown in crops. The expectation in California is that it will be used initially for niche
markets, like the military, and eventually in trucks, trains and other vehicles that need more oomph
than hybrid or battery power can provide.
Note: For deeply revealing reports from reliable major media sources on promising new energy
developments, click here.

State seeks answers in gas price spikes

2012-11-15, San Francisco Chronicle (SF's leading newspaper)

http://www.sfgate.com/business/article/State-seeks-answers-in-gas-price-spike...
October's record-setting jump in gasoline prices cost Californians $320 million, and yet state
officials lack some of the basic information needed to ensure that refineries aren't playing games
with the fuel market. That was the testimony [on November 15] at a hearing that explored the
causes of the price spike, which saw the state's average price for a gallon of regular reach $4.67.
The hearing could lead to legislation. With its own specialized gasoline blends made by just a
handful of refineries, California has long been prone to price spikes. But four of the most severe on
record happened in 2012. The October price spike began after an electrical outage suddenly shut
down an ExxonMobil refinery in Los Angeles County. Fuel supplies in California had already been
strained by the Aug. 6 fire at Chevron Corp.'s Richmond refinery, as well as the closure of a crudeoil pipeline in the Central Valley. Severin Borenstein, director of the University of California Energy
Institute in Berkeley, noted that the state's reliance on just a few refining companies gives those
businesses significant power over the market, even if they don't conspire to raise prices. No
pipelines connect California to refineries in the Midwest or on the Gulf Coast, leading many
analysts to label the state an "energy island." "Unfortunately, we've created a situation in the
California market where because we're an island and because it's pretty concentrated, we
actually do have companies that are in a pretty strong position to raise prices by putting
less (gas) on the market. There is no law against them doing that," [Borenstein said].
Note: For deeply revealing reports from reliable major media sources on corporate corruption,
click here.

Pioneering scientists turn fresh air into petrol in massive boost in fight
against energy crisis
2012-10-19, The Independent (One of the UK's leading newspapers)
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/exclusive-pioneering-scientist...
A small British company has produced the first "petrol from air" using a revolutionary technology
that promises to solve the energy crisis as well as to help curb global warming by removing carbon
dioxide from the atmosphere. Air Fuel Synthesis in Stockton-on-Tees has produced five litres of
petrol since August when it switched on a small refinery that manufactures gasoline from carbon
dioxide and water vapour. The company hopes that within two years it will build a larger,
commercial-scale plant capable of producing a ton of petrol a day. It also plans to produce green
aviation fuel to make airline travel more carbon-neutral. "We've taken carbon dioxide from air
and hydrogen from water and turned these elements into petrol," said Peter Harrison, the
company's chief executive. "There's nobody else doing it in this country or indeed overseas as far
as we know. It looks and smells like petrol but it's a much cleaner and clearer product than
petrol derived from fossil oil," Mr Harrison told The Independent. Being able to capture carbon
dioxide from the air, and effectively remove the principal industrial greenhouse gas resulting from
the burning of fossil fuels such as oil and coal, has been the holy grail of the emerging green
economy. Using the extracted carbon dioxide to make petrol that can be stored, transported and
used as fuel for existing engines takes the idea one step further.

Note: For deeply revealing reports from reliable major media sources on new energy technologies,
click here.

Teen girl from Egypt has just reinvented space travel

2012-05-30, MSN
http://now.msn.com/now/0530-egyptian-physics-fuel.aspx
Egyptian Aisha Mustafa, 19, has dazzled the physics world with a new invention that could launch
spacecraft off the Earth's surface and soaring through space without any fuel. Space is filled with
a billowing sea of quantum particles that jump in and out of existence, and Aisha Mustafa
proposes using thin silicon panels, spaced closely together, to trap these particles and
then move against them, creating a propelling force. This innovation would make space
exploration lighter, safer and cheaper. Mustafa still has some design work to do, but unfortunately
her research is currently limited by lack of state funding for space science departments at the
university level, though her school's science club did help fund her application for a patent.
Note: For more on this intriguing innovation, click here.

Billionaire helps fund MU energy research

2012-02-10, Columbia Tribune (Columbia, MO's leading newspaper)
http://www.columbiatribune.com/news/2012/feb/10/billionaire-helps-fund-mu-ene...
The founder of an apparel company has given the University of Missouri $5.5 million to study new
sources of clean energy. Sidney Kimmel, founder and chairman of The Jones Group which
includes brands such as Anne Klein, Nine West and Gloria Vanderbilt donated the money
through his charitable foundation. The money will be used to create the Sidney Kimmel Institute for
Nuclear Renaissance, SKINR, which will involve researchers from the MU Research Reactor and
physics, engineering and chemistry departments. Mostly, MU scientists will be trying to figure out
why excess heat has been observed when hydrogen or deuterium interacts with materials such as
palladium, nickel or platinum under extreme conditions. Researchers dont know how the heat is
created, nor can they duplicate the results on a consistent basis. Its a chance to turn cold
confusion to real understanding and opportunity, said Rob Duncan, MUs vice chancellor for
research. Since researchers Martin Fleischmann and Stanley Pons declared they had
observed tabletop energy, scientists have been scrambling to re-create the phenomenon.
Once dubbed cold fusion, some now refer to the process as a low-energy nuclear
reaction. Some companies have even been trying to find marketplace applications for the excess
heat, even though its not consistent. Duncan has called on the scientific community to stop trying
to label the phenomenon before figuring out what causes it. The gift, he said, will let MUs research
team focus on the pure science without being distracted by trying to find uses for it.

Note: The comment about scientists scrambling to reproduce the cold fusion research of Pons and
Fleischmann is not quite the reality. The two scientists were slammed and ridiculed in a
coordinated effort to suppress their amazing discoveries, which threatened the huge profits of the
oil industry. For lots more reliable information on this, click here and here.

Duke, Google turn hog waste into clean energy

2011-12-26, San Francisco Chronicle/Los Angeles Times
ttp://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/12/25/MNK51MGUV9.DTL
Loyd Bryant used to pump manure from his 8,640 hogs into a fetid lagoon, where it raised an
unholy stink and released methane and ammonia into the air. The tons of manure excreted daily
couldn't be used as fertilizer because of high nitrogen content. The solution to Bryant's hog waste
problem was right under his nose - in the manure itself. A new waste-processing system essentially a small power plant - installed on his 154-acre farm uses bacteria to digest the
waste and burns methane to produce electricity. It also converts toxic ammonia into forms
of nitrogen that can be used as fertilizer for more profitable crops. Waste-to-energy systems
have been around for at least 15 years. But Duke University, which helped develop and pay for
Bryant's system, says this one is the cleanest in existence - and virtually the only one that tackles
all of the environmental problems created by animal waste. The system was built with off-the-shelf
parts and simple design plans that are free for the asking. It's poised to become the standard for a
cleaner waste-to-energy model that brings together farmers, utilities and private companies in an
environmentally friendly effort. Bryant saves money on electricity and gets a cleaner farm.
Improved air quality in his hog barns also means his pigs will have lower mortality rates and
convert feed more efficiently, fattening Bryant's profits.
Note: For reports from reliable sources on exciting new energy developments, click here.

UN climate change panel says 80 percent of energy needs could be met

by renewables by 2050
2011-05-09, Washington Post/Associated Press
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/un_climate_change_panel_says_80_percent_o...
Renewable sources such as solar and wind could supply up to 80 percent of the worlds energy
needs by 2050 and play a significant role in fighting global warming, a top climate panel [has]
concluded. But the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change said that to achieve that
level, governments would have to spend significantly more money and introduce policies that
integrate renewables into existing power grids and promote their benefits in terms of reducing air
pollution and improving public health. The report shows that it is not the availability of the
resource but the public policies that will either expand or constrain renewable energy
development over the coming decades, said Ramon Pichs, who co-chaired the group tasked
with producing the report. Developing countries have an important stake in this future this is
where 1.4 billion people without access to electricity live.

Note: For lots more from reliable sources on promising renewable energy sources, click here.

The power to move... out of thin air

2010-12-11, New Zealand Herald
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10693646
New Zealand engineer John Fleming is part of an effort to bypass the hydrogen era and go directly
to the nitrogen-hydrogen economy. Texas-based Fleming, 65, is responsible for a string of
inventions that produced more efficient, cleaner-burning heating appliances and holds a number of
patents. He ... is helping researchers at Texas Tech University look at the potential to power
vehicles using liquid ammonia, produced by combining hydrogen and nitrogen. Fleming's most
tangible contribution has been a small, cheap processing plant that converts hydrogen and
nitrogen into ammonia using a compression and decompression system. It promises on-site
production of hydrogen-carrying liquid fuel, solving the problem of storing and distributing (with
considerable energy loss) a highly explosive gas from large and expensive centralised plants.
"Ammonium can be liquefied, produces no carbon or solid deposits and can burn in internal
combustion engines carrying a reasonable amount of hydrogen." Based on an electrolyser he
devised for potential use in gas fireplaces, the processor offers huge cost savings in the production
of hydrogen using electricity. The processor costs US$200 (compared with around $130,000
using large-scale conventional models) and is predicted to produce fuel for about US27c a
litre [about $1.00/gallon] before taxes.
Note: For lots more on new energy inventions, click here.

The Sun Also Surprises

2010-08-16, New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/16/opinion/16joseph.html
Occasionally, a large solar storm can rain energy down on the earth, overpowering electrical grids.
About once a century, a giant pulse can knock out worldwide power systems for months or even
years. Its been 90 years since the last super storm, but scientists say we are on the verge of
another period of high solar activity. Significant storms have hit earth several times over the last
150 years, most notably in 1859 and 1921. Those occurred before the development of the modern
power grid; recovering from a storm that size today would cost up to $2 trillion a year for several
years. Storms dont have to be big to do damage. [A] storm in 2003 caused a blackout in
Sweden and fried 14 high-voltage transformers in South Africa. The storm was relatively
weak, but by damaging transformers it put parts of the country off-line for months. Thats
because high-voltage transformers ... are the most sensitive part of a grid; a strong
electromagnetic pulse can easily fuse their copper wiring, damaging them beyond repair. Even
worse, transformers are hard to replace. They weigh up to 100 tons, so they cant be easily moved
from the factories in Europe and Asia where most of them are made; right now, theres already a
three-year waiting list for new ones.

Note: The 1859 solar storm knocked out sturdy telegraph machines. An equivalent storm today
could do unbelievable damage and conceivalby knock out the Internet for a time. For more on the
1859 storm and its implications, click here. and here.

Gulf oil spill worsens -- but what about the safety of gas fracking?
2010-06-18, Los Angeles Times
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/greenspace/2010/06/gulf-oil-spill-bp-hydrauli...
Imagine a siege of hydrocarbons spewing from deep below ground, polluting water and air,
sickening animals and threatening the health of unsuspecting Americans. And no one knows how
long it will last. No, were not talking about BPs gulf oil spill. Were talking about hydraulic
fracturing of natural gas deposits. Fracking, as the practice is also known, may be coming to a
drinking well or a water system near you. It involves blasting water, sand and chemicals, many of
them toxic, into underground rock to extract oil or gas. "Gasland," a compelling documentary on
HBO ..., traces hydraulic fracturing across 34 states from California to Louisiana to Pennsylvania.
The expos by filmmaker Josh Fox, alternately chilling and darkly humorous, won the 2010
Sundance Film Festivals special jury prize for documentary. It details how former Vice
President Dick Cheney, in partnership with the energy industry and drilling companies such
as his former employer, Halliburton Corp., successfully pressured Congress in 2005 to
exempt fracking from the Safe Drinking Water Act, the Clean Air Act and other
environmental laws. Each well requires the high-pressure injection of a cocktail of nearly 600
chemicals, including known carcinogens and neurotoxins, diluted in 1 million to 7 million gallons of
water. Some 450,000 wells have been drilled nationwide.
Note: For many reliable reports on government and corporate corruption, click here and here.

Could CO2 be the green fuel powering tomorrow's cars?

2010-05-06, The Guardian (One of the UK's leading newspapers)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/may/06/co2-green-fuel-car
Trees and algae have been turning CO2 into fuel since the dawn of time, unlocking the
chemical energy within this molecule to power metabolic processes. With a little ingenuity, it is
already possible to transform CO2 into anything from petrol to natural gas. Any conversion
processes will take a lot of energy. The question is, can these processes be refined to ensure
that less energy is used to create this fuel than is provided by it? The key challenge is to
convert CO2 into carbon monoxide (CO), by removing one of its oxygen atoms. Once you have
CO, the process of creating hydrocarbon fuels such as petrol is easy. It's achieved through a
reaction known as the Fischer-Tropsch process most commonly used to synthesise liquid fuel
from coal. But getting from CO2 to CO requires ... a lot of energy. The US Government's Sandia
National Laboratories, in Albuquerque, New Mexico, have opted for ... a system that takes its

energy source from concentrated solar power. As Green Futures goes to press, researchers from
Bristol and Bath Universities in the UK have also announced plans for solar-powered CO2-to-fuel
conversion.
Note: If plants are able to convert CO2 to energy and have been doing this for billions of years,
why can't scientists figure out a way to do this for human use?

Taking Charge Taking Charge

2009-08-08, Sydney Morning Herald (One of Australia's leading newspapers)
http://www.smh.com.au/news/motoring/news/taking-charge-taking-charge/2009/08/...
Once upon a time, you needed a crystal ball to see the future. Now all you need is a powerpoint.
This week in Japan, Nissan unveiled the future of motoring, the production-ready, plug-in, electric
family car. Called the Leaf, this spacious five-door hatch promises to usher in a new paradigm of
motoring. Its name was chosen to indicate clean air, or, as the company said, because it "purifies
air by taking emissions out of the driving experience." It's not a far-off dream of engineers, either.
The Leaf will be on the roads in Japan and the US next year. And Nissan has two more EVs
(electric vehicles) that are "imminent," as one senior company executive [said]. Simple in
concept yet sophisticated in its execution, the car plugs into regular powerpoints to charge
its onboard batteries. Unlike hybrids such as Toyota's Prius, Honda's Insight and the forthcoming
Holden Volt, the Leaf doesn't require any petrol. It's 100 per cent electric. So far, Nissan, in its
alliance with Renault (the two companies share the one chief executive but have separate boards),
has signed understandings or agreements with 27 governments around the world to bring in
electric cars. For consumers, though, the biggest hurdle will be its price. Rival Mitsubishi has its
first all-electric car, the iMiEV, on the cusp of entering Japanese showrooms but, contrary to its
diminutive size, it carries a big price tag there -- nearly $60,000 [Australian]. But Nissan is working
on the financing details of the Leaf so it costs less to own and run than a comparable petrol car. It's
Nissan's EV strategy to take the technology to the masses.
Note: For more reports from reliable sources on exciting new automotive technology and energy
developments, click here.

China Vies to Be Worlds Leader in Electric Cars

2009-04-02, New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/02/business/global/02electric.html?partner=rss...
Chinese leaders have adopted a plan aimed at turning the country into one of the leading
producers of hybrid and all-electric vehicles within three years, and making it the world leader in
electric cars and buses after that. The goal, which radiates from the very top of the Chinese
government, suggests that Detroits Big Three, already struggling to stay alive, will face even stiffer
foreign competition on the next field of automotive technology than they do today. To some extent,
China is making a virtue of a liability. It is behind the United States, Japan and other countries

when it comes to making gas-powered vehicles, but by skipping the current technology, China
hopes to get a jump on the next. The United States has been a laggard in alternative vehicles.
G.M.s plug-in hybrid Chevrolet Volt is scheduled to go on sale next year, and will be assembled in
Michigan using rechargeable batteries imported from LG in South Korea. Chinas intention, in
addition to creating a world-leading industry that will produce jobs and exports, is to
reduce urban pollution and decrease its dependence on oil, which comes from the Mideast
and travels over sea routes controlled by the United States Navy. Beyond manufacturing,
subsidies of up to $8,800 are being offered to taxi fleets and local government agencies in 13
Chinese cities for each hybrid or all-electric vehicle they purchase. China wants to raise its annual
production capacity to 500,000 hybrid or all-electric cars and buses by the end of 2011, from 2,100
last year.
Note: For lots more on new developments in auto and energy technologies from reliable sources,
click here.

Cooking with the power of the sun

2009-03-13, KSL-TV (Salt Lake City NBC affiliate)
http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=5845295
People are looking for ways to trim budgets and cut down on energy use. There's a product
heating up in Utah that does just that. It even helps a good cause. Don't underestimate the power
of cooking with the sun. LaRue Howells first bought a Global Sun Oven a year ago to be prepared
for an emergency, but now she uses it a few times a week, all-year round and shares her
knowledge with members of her church. Howells said, "I can grab the solar oven and some food
and take off if I needed to, and it's wonderful to have." She baked bread for us. The temperature
outside was in the low 40s. "We baked bread when it was 17 degrees outside," she said. "The
temperature outside isn't the issue, it's the sun." To control the heat of the oven, you adjust the
angle of the oven to the sun. If you want to reduce the heat, you angle it away from the sun. Onethird of the Sun Ovens sold in the U.S. are sold in Utah. Joe Crane, with Kitchen Kneads, said,
"Just being prepared, self-sufficient brings a lot of peace of mind to people." Crane started to sell
them nearly a year ago. "Temperature makes no difference," he said. "I've cooked at 5 below to 90
degrees in the summer time." All you need is sun, and cook times aren't much longer than with a
conventional oven. As useful as we might find them, Sun Ovens are life sustaining in
developing countries looking for solutions to deforestation and energy deficiency.
Domestic sales help pay for ovens in Afghanistan, Nepal and South Africa. They cost
around $300. Sun Ovens [use] no electricity and [burn] no fuels, meaning no emissions.
Note: For more on this fascinating development, https://www.sunoven.com. See also
http://solarcookers.org

No Furnaces but Heat Aplenty in Passive Houses

2008-12-27, New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/27/world/europe/27house.html?partner=rss&emc=r...
From the outside, there is nothing unusual about the stylish new gray and orange row houses in
the Kranichstein District. But these houses are part of a revolution in building design: There are no
drafts, no cold tile floors, no snuggling under blankets until the furnace kicks in. There is, in fact, no
furnace. In Berthold Kaufmanns home, there is, to be fair, one radiator for emergency backup in
the living room but it is not in use. Even on the coldest nights in central Germany, Mr.
Kaufmanns new passive house and others of this design get all the heat and hot water they
need from the amount of energy that would be needed to run a hair dryer. You dont think about
temperature the house just adjusts, said Mr. Kaufmann. His new home uses about onetwentieth the heating energy of his parents home of roughly the same size, he said. The concept
of the passive house, pioneered in this city of 140,000 outside Frankfurt, approaches the [energy
efficiency] challenge from a different angle. Using ultrathick insulation and complex doors and
windows, the architect engineers a home encased in an airtight shell, so that barely any
heat escapes and barely any cold seeps in. That means a passive house can be warmed not
only by the sun, but also by the heat from appliances and even from occupants bodies. And
in Germany, passive houses cost only about 5 to 7 percent more to build than conventional
houses. New passive houses use an ingenious central ventilation system. The warm air going out
passes side by side with clean, cold air coming in, exchanging heat with 90 percent efficiency.
Note: For lots more on new energy technologies from reliable sources, click here.

Survey: Oil May Lose Top Rank as Cheapest Energy

2008-12-10, ABC News/Associated Press
http://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory?id=6432204
Over the next 20 years or so, oil and natural gas will lose top ranking as the world's most
affordable energy sources, according to a survey of energy executives. Deeper wells in more
inhospitable places, both political and geological, have altered presumptions of doing business in
the oil patch. Nearly three out of four executives and managers surveyed last month by Deloitte
LLP said oil and gas are the cheapest available energy sources for now, though only 23 percent
believe that will be the case in 25 years. The sampling revealed a growing concern about the
sustainability of oil and natural gas in the coming years. Future sources of fossil fuels, the cost of
producing them and the price consumers will pay are some of the biggest uncertainties facing the
industry. "Clearly, the oil and gas professionals involved in our survey are starting to think
about the nation's transition to renewable energy and other alternative fuels," said Gary
Adams, vice chairman of Deloitte's oil and gas practice. Of the executives interviewed by Deloitte,
53 percent said they think the U.S. could run out of reasonably priced oil within the next quarter
century, and 56 percent said the world is likely to face the same scenario in the next 50 years.
Three out of four said shifting away from the nation's reliance on fossil fuels for transportation
needs is an appropriate goal for the country, yet most think the best alternative right now is natural
gas. About 30 percent said electric plug-in vehicles are the most promising alternative.

Note: For a treasure trove of exciting reports of new developments in energy production, click
here.

The 10 big energy myths

2008-11-27, The Guardian (One of the U.K.'s leading newspapers)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/nov/27/renewableenergy-energy
There has never been a more important time to invest in green technologies, yet many of us
believe these efforts are doomed to failure. What nonsense. Myth 1: solar power is too
expensive to be of much use. In reality, today's bulky and expensive solar panels capture only
10% or so of the sun's energy, but rapid innovation in the US means that the next generation of
panels will be much thinner, capture far more of the energy in the sun's light and cost a fraction of
what they do today. Myth 2: wind power is too unreliable. Actually, during some periods earlier
this year the wind provided almost 40% of Spanish power. Parts of northern Germany generate
more electricity from wind than they actually need. Northern Scotland, blessed with some of the
best wind speeds in Europe, could easily generate 10% or even 15% of the UK's electricity needs
at a cost that would comfortably match today's fossil fuel prices. Myth 3: marine energy is a
dead-end. This year we have seen the installation of the first tidal turbine to be successfully
connected to the UK electricity grid in Strangford Lough, Northern Ireland, and the first group of
large-scale wave power generators 5km off the coast of Portugal, constructed by a Scottish
company.
Note: The remaining energy myths treated in this article are: Myth 4: nuclear power is cheaper
than other low-carbon sources of electricity. Myth 5: electric cars are slow and ugly. Myth 6:
biofuels are always destructive to the environment. Myth 7: climate change means we need more
organic agriculture. Myth 8: zero carbon homes are the best way of dealing with greenhouse gas
emissions from buildings. Myth 9: the most efficient power stations are big. Myth 10: all proposed
solutions to climate change need to be hi-tech. For lots more on exciting new energy technology
developments from reliable sources, click here.

Talkin' 'bout my generation

2008-09-01, Ode Magazine
http://www.odemagazine.com/doc/56/talkin-bout-my-generation
In the 1920s, millions of rural Americans got their energy the same way they got their butterthey
made it themselves. Off-grid when off-grid wasnt cool, they used some 600,000 windmills to run
radios and power, maintaining sputtering lights with an electric current that ebbed, flowed and
sometimes simply disappeared with the prairie wind. Fully 90 percent of those windmills
disappeared within a generation, as even the most isolated farmers eagerly plugged in to the new
centralized power system. But today the same technologies that help iPod-bedecked college
students steal music are reviving the model of microgenerationclean, decentralized
power that people make themselvesby linking homes into a vast network that keeps

buzzing even when the wind stops blowing. Microgeneration, meet the YouTube generation.
Were talking about a new meaning of power to the people, raves Jeremy Rifkin, alternative
energy activist and adviser to the European Union and many European governments. Forget about
wind farms and solar plants run by conventional utility companies, he says. In the new energy
regime, the people are the utilities and their houses are the power plants. The cornerstone of this
new grid is buildings that produce, rather than just consume, energy. These homes and office
buildings convert wind, solar and biomass into electricity, which they use, store for later as
hydrogen and upload onto the grid.
Note: This inspiring article comes from what may be the most inspiring news source in our world
today, Ode Magazine. For more on this excellent magazine "for intelligent optimists," see
http://www.odemagazine.com.

Aiming to put fuel cells to work

2008-03-31, Boston Globe
http://www.boston.com/business/technology/articles/2008/03/31/aiming_to_put_f...
A powerful winter storm swept across northeastern Ohio in early January, knocking out power for
nearly 60,000 customers. But in an isolated one-story building, tucked among the trees and fields
of Cuyahoga Valley National Park, the lights stayed on. So did the computers. The power source:
two fuel cells, each about the size of a refrigerator. "It worked seamlessly," said Tom Toledo,
maintenance operations supervisor at the park. "We didn't even realize there was a power
outage." The performance of these fuel cells, a demonstration project for fuel cell maker
Acumentrics Corp. of Westwood, is an example of a technology whose time may be
approaching. Unlike traditional technologies, which burn fuels like oil, coal, and natural gas to
make power, fuel cells rely on chemical reactions to produce electricity and heat. Fuel cells are
most frequently imagined as an advanced engine for automobiles. But as Acumentrics' success in
Ohio demonstrates, on-site generation represents another application, one that specialists say will
make it to market long before fuel cells replace the internal combustion engine. Acumentrics, in
fact, is moving toward commercial production of a compact fuel cell system to power and heat
homes. Working with the Italian heating products company Merloni TermoSanitari, Acumentrics
hopes to get these household units, small enough to hang on a wall, into European markets by
2010. Estimated price: $5,200. "This is a new way of making electricity," said Gary Simon,
Acumentrics chief executive. "It's like going from vacuum tubes to microchips." Acumentrics is one
of about 40 Massachusetts firms developing fuel cell technology that someday may power
everything from military outposts to cellphones.
Note: For many exciting reports of new energy inventions, click here.

Energy Traders Avoid Scrutiny

2007-10-21, Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/20/AR20071020012...

One year ago, a 32-year-old trader at a giant hedge fund named Amaranth held huge sway over
the price the country paid for natural gas. Trading on unregulated commodity exchanges, he made
risky bets that led to the fund's collapse -- and, according to a congressional investigation, higher
gas bills for homeowners. But as another winter approaches, lawmakers and federal regulators
have yet to set up a system to prevent another big fund from cornering a vital commodity market.
Called by some insiders the Wild West of Wall Street, commodity trading is a world where
many goods that are key to national security or public consumption, such as oil, pork
bellies or uranium, are traded with almost no oversight. Part of the problem is that the
regulator, the federal Commodity Futures Trading Commission, has had a hard time keeping up
with the sector it oversees. Commodity trading has exploded in complexity and popularity, growing
six-fold in trading volume since 2000 -- the year that a handful of giant energy companies,
including Enron, successfully lobbied to get Congress to exempt energy markets from government
regulation. Meanwhile CFTC's staffing has dropped to its lowest level in the agency's 33-year
history. Its computer systems that monitor trades are outdated. Its leadership has seen frequent
turnover. "We are facing flat budgets and exponential growth in the industry," said CFTC Acting
Chairman Walter Lukken. "Over the long term this type of budgetary situation is not sustainable."
Commodities markets also have become complex with many trading futures contracts as well as
financial tools called derivatives and swaps, whose value is based on the risk of futures contracts.
Gathering data on these products has been a challenge for the CFTC. The evolution of the
markets has led to some tension between the CFTC and the Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission.
Note: For more revealing major media reports of unregulated financial corruption and its impact,
click here.

Possible Energy Source: Burning Seawater

2007-09-10, CBS News/Associated Press
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/09/10/tech/main3246430.shtml
An Erie cancer researcher has found a way to burn salt water, a novel invention that is being
touted by one chemist as the "most remarkable" water science discovery in a century. John
Kanzius happened upon the discovery accidentally when he tried to desalinate seawater with a
radio-frequency generator he developed to treat cancer. He discovered that as long as the salt
water was exposed to the radio frequencies it would burn. The discovery has scientists excited by
the prospect of using salt water, the most abundant resource on earth, as a fuel. Rustum Roy, a
Penn State University chemist, has held demonstrations at his State College lab to confirm his own
observations. The radio frequencies act to weaken the bonds between the elements that
make up salt water, releasing the hydrogen, Roy said. Once ignited, the hydrogen will burn
as long as it is exposed to the frequencies, he said. The discovery is "the most remarkable
in water science in 100 years," Roy said. "This is the most abundant element in the world. It is
everywhere," Roy said. "Seeing it burn gives me the chills." Roy will meet this week with officials
from the Department of Energy and the Department of Defense to try to obtain research funding.
The scientists want to find out whether the energy output from the burning hydrogen - which

reached a heat of more than 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit - would be enough to power a car or other
heavy machinery. "We will get our ideas together and check this out and see where it leads," Roy
said. "The potential is huge."
Note: For an exciting survey of major media reports of new energy inventions, click here.

Green-tech startup says battery's time has passed

2007-09-04, Associated Press
http://www.dailybreeze.com/business/articles/9556542.html
Millions of inventions pass quietly through the U.S. patent office each year. Patent No. 7,033,406
did, too, until energy insiders spotted six words in the filing that sounded like a death knell for the
internal combustion engine. An Austin-based startup called EEStor promised "technologies for
replacement of electrochemical batteries," meaning a motorist could plug in a car for five minutes
and drive 500 miles roundtrip between Dallas and Houston without gasoline. By contrast, some
plug-in hybrids on the horizon would require motorists to charge their cars in a wall outlet overnight
and promise only 50 miles of gasoline-free commute. And the popular hybrids on the road today
still depend heavily on fossil fuels. "It's a paradigm shift," said Ian Clifford, chief executive of
Toronto-based ZENN Motor Co., which has licensed EEStor's invention. "The Achilles' heel
to the electric car industry has been energy storage. By all rights, this would make internal
combustion engines unnecessary." Clifford's company bought rights to EEStor's technology in
August 2005 and expects EEStor to start shipping the battery replacement later this year for use in
ZENN Motor's short-range, low-speed vehicles. The technology could also help invigorate the
renewable-energy sector by providing efficient, lightning-fast storage for solar power, or, on a small
scale, a flash-charge for cell phones and laptops. EEStor's secret ingredient is a material
sandwiched between thousands of wafer-thin metal sheets, like a series of foil-and-paper gum
wrappers stacked on top of each other. Charged particles stick to the metal sheets and move
quickly across EEStor's proprietary material. The result is an ultracapacitor, a battery-like device
that stores and releases energy quickly.
Note: For many exciting articles about new, efficient and clean energy inventions, click here.

The Greenest Green Fuel

2007-07-01, Popular Science magazine
http://www.popsci.com/popsci/science/ee6d4d4329703110vgnvcm1000004eecbccdrcrd...
Algae seems a strange contender for the mantle of Worlds Next Great Fuel, but the green goop
has several qualities in its favor. Algae, made up of simple aquatic organisms that capture light
energy through photosynthesis, produces vegetable oil. Vegetable oil, in turn, can be transformed
into biodiesel, which can be used to power just about any diesel engine. Algae has some
important advantages over other oil-producing crops, like canola and soybeans. It can be
grown in almost any enclosed space, it multiplies like gangbusters, and it requires very few

inputs to flourishmainly just sunlight, water and carbon dioxide. Because algae has a high
surface-area-to-volume ratio, it can absorb nutrients very quickly, [Jim] Sears says. Its small size
is what makes it mighty. The proof is in the numbers. About 140 billion gallons of biodiesel would
be needed every year to replace all petroleum-based transportation fuel in the U.S. It would take
nearly three billion acres of fertile land to produce that amount with soybeans, and more than one
billion acres to produce it with canola. Unfortunately, there are only 434 million acres of cropland in
the entire country, and we probably want to reserve some of that to grow food. But because of its
ability to propagate almost virally in a small space, algae could do the job in just 95 million acres of
land. Whats more, it doesnt need fertile soil to thrive. It grows in ponds, bags or tanks that can be
just as easily set up in the desertor next to a carbon-dioxide-spewing power plantas in the
countrys breadbasket. Sears claims that these efficiencies will allow Solix Biofuels, the company
he founded, to create algae-based biodiesel that costs about the same as gasoline.
Note: For many other innovative ideas to develop cheap, renewable energy sources, click here.

Water into fuel?

2007-05-22, WKYC (NBC affiliate in Cleveland, Ohio)
http://www.wkyc.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=68227
Retired TV station owner and broadcast engineer, John Kanzius, wasn't looking for an answer to
the energy crisis. He was looking for a cure for cancer. Four years ago, inspiration struck in the
middle of the night. Kanzius decided to try using radio waves to kill the cancer cells. His wife
Marianne heard the noise and found her husband inventing a radio frequency generator with her
pie pans. "I got up immediately, and thought he had lost it." Here are the basics of John's idea:
Radio-waves will heat certain metals. Tiny bits of certain metal are injected into a cancer patient.
Those nano-particals are attracted to the abnormalities of the cancer cells and ignore the healthy
cells. The patient is then exposed to radio waves and only the bad cells heat up and die. But John
also came across yet another extrordinary breakthrough. His machine could actually make
saltwater burn. John Kanzius discovered that his radio frequency generator could release
the oxygen and hydrogen from saltwater and create an incredibly intense flame. "If that was
in a car cylinder you could see the amount of fire that would be in the cylinder." The APV
Company Laboratory in Akron has checked out John's ... invention. They were amazed. "That
could be a steam engine, a steam turbine. That could be a car engine if you wanted it to be."
Imagine the possibilities. Saltwater as the ultimate clean fuel. A happy byproduct of one man
searching for the cure for cancer.
Note: Though this exciting breakthrough was reported in dozens of local media, not one major
news outlet found it worthy of mention. To verify this yourself, click here.

Electricity from the sea

2007-03-10, Los Angeles Times
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-wave11mar11,0,2922563.story

Off the western coast of Scotland, on the Isle of Islay, science teacher Ray Husthwaite turns on the
light in his classroom. The electricity comes from a power cable that runs to the mainland. But it
also comes from the ocean. A few miles from the school, wave action compresses and
decompresses air in a chamber. The moving air powers a turbine, which generates electricity. "It is
pleasant ... to sit beside the gray, concrete structure and listen to the rising and falling of the
waves, driving air through the turbines like the breath of a great sea monster," Husthwaite said. "It
seems insane to me to be investing in nuclear power stations and gas turbines when there
are endless, free energy resources in the rivers, oceans and the wind." Ocean power
gradually is joining the ranks of wind and solar power as a source of renewable energy. Islay's
wave-power converter, the Limpet 500, has been operating since 2000. In Hawaii, the Navy has
been churning up electrons with the help of a floating buoy. And in Portugal, engineers are
installing snakelike tubes designed to convert the sea's motion into electricity. Some designs, like
the Limpet, use waves to push air through a column. Others convert the sea's up-and-down motion
into mechanical energy. One wave-power company executive told a congressional committee last
year that several hundred square miles off the California coast could supply the electrical needs of
all of the homes in the state.
Note: To learn about an abundance of other new energy technologies which could replace oil, click
here.

2 Ex-Enron Traders Get Probation

2007-02-14, CBS News/Associated Press
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/02/14/business/main2479660.shtml
Two of three former Enron Corp. traders accused of driving up energy prices during California's
power crisis were each sentenced Wednesday to two years of court-supervised release in federal
court. Timothy Belden ... was sentenced after pleading guilty in October 2002 to one count of
conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Belden's plea was the first prosecution of anyone related to the
West's energy crisis in 2000 and 2001. He had faced up to five years in prison, and must forfeit
$2.1 million. The second defendant, Jeffrey Richter, was a lower-level trading manager ... who also
pleaded guilty to two counts related to manipulating energy prices. He had faced up to five years
and agreed to pay a $410,000 fine. Internal company memos describe how Belden's trading unit
took power out of California at a time of rolling blackouts and shortages and sold it out of state to
elude price caps. Enron bought California power at cheap, capped prices, routed it outside the
state, then sold it back into California at vastly inflated prices. The crisis played a role in Pacific
Gas & Electric Co.'s bankruptcy and will leave California consumers paying abnormally
high electricity prices for years. Transcripts of Enron energy traders showed them openly
discussing manipulating California's power market during profanity-laced telephone conversations
in which they merrily gloated about ripping off those poor grandmothers during the energy
crunch. On the calls, other traders openly and gleefully discussed creating congestion on
transmission lines and taking generating units off-line to pump up electricity prices.

Note: So while California taxpayers cough up hundreds of millions of dollars as a result of Enron's
scheming and thousands of employees across the U.S. lost their entire pensions, the result of the
first prosecution of anyone related to the Enron scam is probation? For lots more on this, click
here.

Fuel's paradise? Power source that turns physics on its head

2005-11-04, The Guardian (One of the UK's leading newspapers)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/story/0,3605,1627424,00.html
It seems too good to be true: a new source of near-limitless power that costs virtually
nothing, uses tiny amounts of water as its fuel and produces next to no waste. Randell Mills,
a Harvard University medic who also studied electrical engineering at Massachusetts Institute of
Technology, claims to have built a prototype power source that generates up to 1,000 times more
heat than conventional fuel. Independent scientists claim to have verified the experiments and Dr
Mills says that his company, Blacklight Power, has tens of millions of dollars in investment lined up
to bring the idea to market. What has much of the physics world up in arms is Dr Mills's claim that
he has produced a new form of hydrogen, the simplest of all the atoms, with just a single proton
circled by one electron. In his "hydrino", the electron sits a little closer to the proton than normal,
and the formation of the new atoms from traditional hydrogen releases huge amounts of energy.
According to Dr Mills, there can be only one explanation: quantum mechanics must be wrong.
"We've done a lot of testing. We've got 50 independent validation reports, we've got 65 peerreviewed journal articles," he said. "We ran into this theoretical resistance and there are
some vested interests here.
Note: Hundreds of respected scientists, including a genius friend of ours with 12 patents to his
name, have developed devices which produce energy for a very low price, only to have their
inventions either bought and shelved or destroyed systematically by those with vested interests.
Our friend's $7 million company was taken over by vested oil interests after first both his home and
office were ransacked and than a bullet-hole was put through his office window. For lots more on
this, see our New Energy Information Center.

Solar Challenge Finishes in Calgary

2005-07-28, Detroit News/CBS/Open Source Energy Network
http://pesn.com/2005/07/28/9600141_Solar_Challenge_results/
U of Michigan takes prize, finishing the 2500-mile course in 54 hours. Fourteen of the twenty
entrants completed the race. The last to cross the finish line (Kansas State U) came in 12.5 hours
after the winner. The ten-day solar car race from Austin to Calgary came to a successful finish
yesterday. The University of Michigan's Momentum placed first, completing a few seconds
under 54 hours. They also set a record by averaging 46.2 mph in this, the world's longest
solar car race. The University of Minnesota's Borealis III came in second, trailing by 12 minutes.
MIT's Tesseract came in third. Canada's leading team, the University of Waterloo, came in fifth with

their Midnight Sun. Fourteen cars went all the way to the finish line, with the last to cross being
Kansas State University's Paragon on its maiden race, at 87.5 hours, a little over 12 hours after
the winner.
Note: A solar powered car averaged 46.2 mph in over a 2,500 mile course! Why isn't this making
mainstream news headlines? I invite you to do a Google news search on "Solar Challenge" (the
annual solar car race). You will find that almost no major media cover this event at all. The few
who do somehow fail to mention anything about the speeds attained by these cars. Why is the
media not covering these incredible breakthroughs?

Israelis unleash Scream at protest

2005-06-06, Toronto Star (One of Canada's leading newspapers)
http://www.torstarreports.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout...
The knees buckle, the brain aches, the stomach turns. And suddenly, nobody feels like protesting
anymore. Witnesses describe a minute-long blast of sound emanating from a white Israeli
military vehicle. Within seconds, protestors began falling to their knees, unable to maintain
their balance. An Israeli military source, speaking on the customary condition of anonymity,
confirmed the existence of the Scream. "The intention is to disperse crowds with sound pulses that
create nausea and dizziness," the Israel Defence Force spokesperson told the Toronto Star. The
IDF is saying little about the science behind the Scream, citing classified information. But the
technology is believed to be similar to the LRAD Long-Range Acoustic Device used by U.S.
forces in Iraq as a means of crowd control. Hillel Pratt, a professor of neurobiology ... likens the
effect of such technologies to simulated seasickness. "It doesn't necessarily have to be a loud
sound. The combination of low frequencies at high intensities, for example, can create
discrepancies in the inputs to the brain," said Pratt. Arik Asherman, a leader of Rabbis For Human
Rights, was cautiously optimistic the Scream could make a positive difference. But Asherman said
Israeli officials would be wise to use the Scream sparingly. "We need to remind ourselves the
problem is not the demonstrations, but what the demonstrations are about," he said. "If this makes
it any more difficult for Palestinians to express themselves in a non-violent way, that is problematic.
The best way to disperse demonstrations is to deal with the actual issues.
Note: If the above link fails, click here.

Obsession: Mr. Singh's Search for the Holy Grail

2004-10-01, Popular Science
http://www.popsci.com/popsci/futurecar/19b09aa138b84010vgnvcm1000004eecbccdrc...
[Somender Singh] claims that his invention makes an engine cleaner, quieter and colder...while
using up to 20 percent less gas. So far, all Singhs invention has earned him is a few polite
rejection letters from presidents, professors and auto manufacturers. I am...no man with letters
after his name or fancy institutions, and what I have invented is really very simple, he admits.

Remember that the internal combustion engine is itself hardly rocket science. The internal
combustion engine (ICE) has been with us for about 200 years. The basic conceptthe boom that
turns a crankhas not really changed at all. The efficiency of that bang had stalled out at around
28 percent. The vast majority of the fuel was dissipated as engine heat or exhaust. Singh knew
that ... the combustion chamber [was where] fuel was turned to bang. He modified a motorcycle,
then a two-stroke, then a four-stroke, then a car, then 50 cars. Singh applied for a patent in
January 1999, and the U.S. Patent Office issued him No. 6237579 in May 2001. Finally he was
allowed to bring his engines and hook them to a Benz EC-70 dynamometer with a five-gas
analyzer and a Benz gravimetric fuel-measuring device. At between 2,000 and 2,800 rpm, Singhs
modified engine used between 10 and 42 percent less fuel than its unmodified twin, with no
appreciable losses in torque or power.
Note: After posting a message on a group of high-school students who achieved dramatic
improvements in car engine efficiency two weeks ago, we received emails from more than ten
people claiming to have made or know of similar inventions. The above article was sent as
evidence in one case. Dozens of other cases that could be real. For Mr. Singh's website, see
http://www.somender-singh.com. For lots more, click here.

Schwarzenegger electricity plan fuels fears of another debacle

2003-10-11, San Francisco Chronicle (San Francisco's leading newspaper)
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2003/10/11/MN20927.DTL
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2003/10/11/MN20927.DTL
Gov.-elect Arnold Schwarzenegger is preparing a push to deregulate the state's electricity markets
-- a move embraced by business leaders and some energy analysts but criticized by many
Democrats and consumer advocates as a return to the failed policies that sparked California's
energy crisis. "Deregulation has already cost the state $50 billion, give or take," said Mike Florio,
senior attorney for The Utility Reform Network. "Why on earth anyone would want to do that again
is mystifying to us." Florio also said he was suspicious of Schwarzenegger's idea because
former Enron Corp. Chairman and CEO Ken Lay met with the actor and others in the spring
of 2001, when Lay was pushing deregulation in California. Schwarzenegger has said he
doesn't remember details of the meeting.
Note: What was Schwarzenegger doing meeting with the CEO of Enron well over two years before
the recall vote which gave him the governorship of California? Could it be big business had plans
for him?

Take water and potash, add electricity and get - a mystery

2003-05-18, Telegraph (One of the U.K.'s leading newspapers)
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2003/05/18/ncell18.xml&s...

British researchers believe that they have made a groundbreaking scientific discovery after
apparently managing to "create" energy from hydrogen atoms. In results independently verified at
Bristol University, a team from Gardner Watts - an environmental technology company - show a
"thermal energy cell" which appears to produce hundreds of times more energy than that
put into it. If the findings are correct and can be reproduced on a commercial scale, the
thermal energy cell could become a feature of every home, heating water for a fraction of
the cost and cutting fuel bills by at least 90 per cent. The makers of the cell, which passes an
electric current through a liquid between two electrodes, admit that they cannot explain precisely
how the invention works. "What we are saying is that the device seems to tap into another,
previously unrecognised source of energy." The cell is the product of research into the
fundamental properties of hydrogen, the most common element in the universe. Hydrogen can
exist in a so-called metastable state that harbours a potential source of extra energy. [Quantum]
theory suggests that if electricity were passed into a mixture of water and a chemical catalyst, the
extra energy would be released in the form of heat. After some experimentation, the team found
that a small amount of electricity passed through a mixture of water and potassium carbonate potash - released an astonishing amount of energy. "It generates a lot of heat in a very small
volume," said Christopher Eccles, the chief scientist at Gardner Watts. The findings of the Gardner
Watts team were tested by Dr Jason Riley of Bristol University, who found energy gains of between
three and 26 times what had been put in.
Note: For an abundance of reliable reports on amazing new energy developments, click here.

Wind Power Blows Away Coal and Gas in Nordic Countries

2014-10-17, Scientific American/Reuters
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/wind-power-blows-away-coal-and-gas-...
Wind power is blowing gas and coal-fired turbines out of business in the Nordic countries, and the
effects will be felt across the Baltic region as the renewable glut erodes utility margins for thermal
power stations. Fossil power plants in Finland and Denmark act as swing-producers, helping
to meet demand when hydropower production in Norway and Sweden falls due to dry
weather. The arrival of wind power on a large scale has made this role less relevant and has
pushed electricity prices down, eroding profitability of fossil power stations. "Demand for coal
condensing power in the Nordic power market has decreased as a result of the economic
recession and the drop in the wholesale price for electricity," state-controlled Finnish utility Fortum
said. Nordic wholesale forward power prices have almost halved since 2010 to little over 30 euros
per megawatt-hour (MWh) as capacity increases while demand stalls on the back of stagnant
populations, low economic growth and lower energy use due to improved efficiency. "The Nordic
system price will likely more often clear well below the production cost for coal fired power
production," said Marius Holm Rennesund Oslo-based consultancy THEMA. "This will, in our view,
result in mothballing of 2,000 MW of coal condensing capacity in Denmark and Finland towards
2030," he added. Adding further wind power capacity at current market conditions could lead to
power prices dropping towards as low as 20 euros per MWh, the marginal cost for nuclear
reactors, Rennesund said.

Note: For more along these lines, see concise summaries of key energy news articles from
reliable major media sources. To learn about new energy technologies, see the excellent, reliable
resources provided in our New Energy Information Center.

Rockefellers, Heirs to an Oil Fortune, Will Divest Charity of Fossil Fuels

2014-09-21, New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/22/us/heirs-to-an-oil-fortune-join-the-divestm...
John D. Rockefeller built a vast fortune on oil. Now his heirs are abandoning fossil fuels. The
family whose legendary wealth flowed from Standard Oil is planning to announce on Monday that
its $860 million philanthropic organization, the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, is joining the
divestment movement that began a couple years ago on college campuses. In recent years,
180 institutions including philanthropies, religious organizations, pension funds and
local governments ... have pledged to sell assets tied to fossil fuel companies from their
portfolios and to invest in cleaner alternatives. In all, the groups have pledged to divest assets
worth more than $50 billion from portfolios. Some say they are taking action to align their assets
with their environmental principles. Others want to shame companies that they believe are
recklessly contributing to a warming planet. Ultimately ... their actions, like those of the antiapartheid divestment fights of the 1980s, could help spur international debate, while the shift of
investment funds to energy alternatives could lead to solutions to the carbon puzzle. At the
Rockefeller Brothers Fund, there is no equivocation. The fund has already eliminated investments
involved in coal and tar sands entirely while increasing its investment in alternate energy sources.
The family has also engaged in shareholder activism with Exxon Mobil, the largest successor to
Standard Oil. Members have met privately with the company ... in efforts to get it to moderate its
stance on issues pertaining to the environment and climate change. They acknowledged that they
have not caused the company to greatly alter its course.
Note: Read through a rich collection of energy news articles with inspiring and revealing news on
energy developments. Then explore a treasure trove of concise summaries of incredibly inspiring
news articles which will inspire you to make a difference.

Amory Lovins: energy visionary sees renewables revolution in full

swing
2014-02-17, The Guardian (One of the UK's leading newspapers)
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/feb/17/amory-lovins-renewable-energy
Amory Lovins last year harvested from his small garden more than 30 pounds of bananas, along
with guava, mango, papaya, loquat, passion and other exotic fruit. Nothing remarkable in that,
except that the energy analyst and chief scientist of the Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) does not
live in the tropics but in an unheated house 6,500 feet up a mountain near Aspen, Colorado, where
the temperature falls to -44C and where last week more than two feet of snow fell in less than 24
hours. The fruit is grown in a greenhouse that is part of the sprawling, experimental, super-

insulated house at Old Snowmass, built 30 years ago for $500,000 (300,000) and an inspiration
for a generation of energy thinkers, designers and sustainable builders. Visited by 100,000 people,
it was the archetype for the European Passivhaus movement. "Heating systems are so 20th
century," he says. "We have found you actually save money by not putting in a heating
system. It's cheaper. The monitoring system uses more energy than the lights." Lovins has
always maintained that energy conservation not only pays for itself, but that energy-saving
technology can lead to higher quality of life at lower cost. He has advised many of the world's
largest companies and dozens of countries how to reduce bills with renewables but has also
challenged the giant car, aviation and construction industries to rethink the way they operate.
Renewables have scaled up incredibly fast, he says. "Worldwide it is faster than mobile phones.
More Kenyans now get first electricity now from solar than the grid. China got more generation
from wind in 2012 than from nuclear and it added more generation from non-hydro renewable
energy than fossil and nuclear combined. It is now the world leader in seven of the 10 renewable
energies and wants to be top in all 10.
Note: For a treasure trove of great news articles which will inspire you to make a difference, click
here.

Life After Oil and Gas

2013-03-24, New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/24/sunday-review/life-after-oil-and-gas.html?p...
As renewable energy gets cheaper and machines and buildings become more energy efficient, a
number of countries that two decades ago ran on a fuel mix much like Americas are successfully
dialing down their fossil fuel habits. Thirteen countries got more than 30 percent of their electricity
from renewable energy in 2011, according to the Paris-based International Energy Agency, and
many are aiming still higher. A National Research Council report released last week concluded that
the United States could halve by 2030 the oil used in cars and trucks compared with 2005 levels
by improving the efficiency of gasoline-powered vehicles and by relying more on cars that use
alternative power sources. Other countries have made far more concerted efforts to reduce fossil
fuel use than the United States and have some impressive numbers to show for it. Of the countries
that rely most heavily on renewable electricity, some, like Norway, rely on that old renewable,
hydroelectric power. But others, like Denmark, Portugal and Germany, have created financial
incentives to promote newer technologies like wind and solar energy. People convinced that
America needs the oil that would flow south from Canada through the Keystone XL
pipeline might be surprised to learn that Canada produced 63.4 percent of its electricity
from renewable sources in 2011, largely from hydropower and a bit of wind. (Maybe that is
why Canada has all that oil to sell.) The United States got only 12.3 percent of its electricity
from renewables in 2011.
Note: For deeply revealing reports from reliable major media sources on promising energy
developments, click here.

An Energy Coup for Japan: Flammable Ice

2013-03-13, New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/13/business/global/japan-says-it-is-first-to-t...
Japan said [on March 12] that it had extracted gas from offshore deposits of methane hydrate. The
gas, whose extraction from the undersea hydrate reservoir was thought to be a world first, could
provide an alternative source of energy to known oil and gas reserves. That could be crucial
especially for Japan, which is the worlds biggest importer of liquefied natural gas and is
engaged in a public debate about whether to resume the countrys heavy reliance on
nuclear power. Experts estimate that the carbon found in gas hydrates worldwide totals at
least twice the amount of carbon in all of the earths other fossil fuels, making it a potential
game-changer for energy-poor countries like Japan. Researchers had already successfully
extracted gas from onshore methane hydrate reservoirs, but not from beneath the seabed, where
much of the worlds deposits are thought to lie. The exact properties of undersea hydrates and
how they might affect the environment are still poorly understood, given that methane is a
greenhouse gas.
Note: For deeply revealing reports from reliable major media sources on new energy
developments, click here.

MSV Explorer amphibious vehicle promises perpetual motion

2012-12-14, MSN
http://cars.uk.msn.com/news/in-pictures-msv-explorer-amphibious-vehicle-promi...
As if the images of this MSV Explorer prototype amphibious vehicle werent arresting enough,
Cornish inventor Chris Garner claims to have solved the centuries-old conundrum of perpetual
motion which could lead to electric cars that never have to be recharged. Garner ... is utterly
convinced that what hes come up with will work, saying hes spent 35,000 hours of science on
the project so far. Its called the hyper performance gyro generator, and he doesnt just want us to
take his word for it instead hes having it tested ... at the University of Plymouth next week.
Garner prefers to call it self-sustaining energy. He explained that the gyro gen functions on the
principle that it can go from 1rpm to 6,000rpm with very little in the way of friction or drag. Once
spinning it wont stop until it wears out. If the resulting ampage ... is higher than that
required to power an electric motor then youve got free fuel for travel. In the example
currently under development, the gyro gen produces 1,600 amps, far more than the 400
amps required to drive a pair of motors. The remaining electrical energy could then be used to
power ancilliaries, such as air conditioning, lights and so forth. Whether it all works in reality
remains to be seen well have a better idea after the tests next week but it could mean a future
free from electric vehicle range anxiety for all of us.
Note: To get the full story on this, click on the MSN link above and then click through the 14 slides
of the vehicle there. For lots more great information on this exciting new technology, click here.

Earthquake Outbreak in U.S. Tied to Fracking Wastewater

2012-04-12, San Francisco Chronicle/Bloomberg
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2012/04/12/bloomberg_article...
A spate of earthquakes across the middle of the U.S. is "almost certainly" man-made, and may be
caused by wastewater from oil or gas drilling injected into the ground, U.S. government scientists
said in a study. Researchers from the U.S. Geological Survey said that for the three decades
until 2000, seismic events in the nation's midsection averaged 21 a year. They jumped to 50
in 2009, 87 in 2010 and 134 in 2011. Those statistics, included in the abstract of a research paper
to be discussed at the Seismological Society of America conference next week in San Diego, will
add pressure on an energy industry already confronting more regulation of the process of hydraulic
fracturing. An abstract of the federal study, which was led by William Ellsworth, Earthquake
Science Center staff director for the U.S. Geological Survey in Menlo Park, California, was
published online earlier this month. "A naturally-occurring rate change of this magnitude is
unprecedented outside of volcanic settings or in the absence of a main shock, of which there were
neither in this region," Ellsworth and his colleagues wrote.
Note: Few are aware that Canada's province Quebec has banned fracking. Many other places are
considering similar measures.

Solar Flare: What If Biggest Known Sun Storm Hit Today?

2012-03-08, NationalGeographic.com
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2012/03/120308-solar-flare-storm-sun-...
A powerful sun stormassociated with the second biggest solar flare of the current 11-year sun
cycleis now hitting Earth, so far with few consequences. But the potentially "severe geomagnetic
storm," in NASA's words, could disrupt power grids, radio communications, and GPS as well as
spark dazzling auroras. The storm ... won't hold a candle to an 1859 space-weather event,
scientists sayand it's a good thing too. If a similar sun storm were to occur in the current
dayas it well couldmodern life could come to a standstill, they add. That storm has been
dubbed the Carrington Event, after British astronomer Richard Carrington, who witnessed the
megaflare and was the first to realize the link between activity on the sun and geomagnetic
disturbances on Earth. During the Carrington Event, northern lights were reported as far south as
Cuba and Honolulu, while southern lights were seen as far north as Santiago, Chile. The flares
were so powerful that "people in the northeastern U.S. could read newspaper print just from the
light of the aurora," Daniel Baker, of the University of Colorado's Laboratory for Atmospheric and
Space Physics, said at a geophysics meeting in December 2010. In addition, the geomagnetic
disturbances were strong enough that U.S. telegraph operators reported sparks leaping
from their equipmentsome bad enough to set fires, said Ed Cliver, a space physicist at the
U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory in Bedford, Massachusetts. If something similar happened
today, the world's high-tech infrastructure could grind to a halt.

Note: For more on this, click here and here. The first article talks about the vulnerability of the
world's nuclear reactors to such a storm. If telegraph systems failed in the solar storm of 1859,
how much damage do you think such a storm would do to our modern electronics? And why aren't
more people talking about this?

Top DOE official drives a plug-in Toyota Prius

2010-08-24, USA Today
http://content.usatoday.com/communities/driveon/post/2010/08/top-doe-official...
David Sandalow, the Energy Department's assistant secretary for policy and international affairs,
practices what he preaches when it comes to alternative-energy vehicles. Sandalow drives a
Toyota Prius converted to a plug-in electric for his 5-mile commute to work every day. He
recharges at night in the carport of his Washington home. Sandalow's Prius, which was converted
two years ago to allow him to recharge the battery from an electric outlet, gets more than 80 miles
per gallon and lets him drive 30 miles on a single charge. He can drive up to 30 miles on a
single charge, only has to fill the gas tank about twice a month, and he figures he gets
about 80 miles a gallon. Including the six-hour electric plug-in a day, it works out to about
75 cents per gallon of gas. His aftermarket conversion cost about $9,000, on top of the price
of the Prius. Sandalow wrote the 2007 book Freedom From Oil, and he thinks that hybrids and
plug-ins are the quickest way for the country to lessen its dependence on foreign oil.
Note: For key reports from reliable sources on exciting new developments in automotive design
and new energy technologies, click here.

Bye-Bye Batteries: Radio Waves as a Low-Power Source

2010-07-18, New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/18/business/18novel.html
Matt Reynolds, an assistant professor in the electrical and computer engineering department at
Duke University, wears other hats, too including that of co-founder of two companies. These
days, his interest is in a real hat now in prototype: a hard hat with a tiny microprocessor and
beeper that sound a warning when dangerous equipment is nearby on a construction site. Whats
unusual, however, is that the hats beeper and microprocessor work without batteries. They
use so little power that they can harvest all they need from radio waves in the air. The
waves come from wireless network transmitters on backhoes and bulldozers, installed to
keep track of their locations. The microprocessor monitors the strength and direction of the radio
signal from the construction equipment to determine if the hats wearer is too close. Dr. Reynolds
designed this low-power hat, called the SmartHat, with Jochen Teizer, an assistant professor in the
school of civil and environmental engineering at Georgia Tech. They are among several people
devising devices and systems that consume so little power that it can be drawn from ambient radio
waves, reducing or even eliminating the need for batteries. Their work has been funded in part by
the National Science Foundation.

Note: For exciting reports on new energy developments, click here.

Gulf oil spill: A hole in the world

2010-06-19, The Guardian (One of the UK's leading newspapers)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/theguardian/2010/jun/19/naomi-klein-gulf-oil-spill/
The Deepwater Horizon disaster is not just an industrial accident it is a violent wound inflicted on
the Earth itself. It lays bare the hubris at the heart of capitalism. This Gulf coast crisis is about
many things corruption, deregulation, the addiction to fossil fuels. But underneath it all, it's about
this: our culture's excruciatingly dangerous claim to have such complete understanding and
command over nature that we can radically manipulate and re-engineer it with minimal risk to the
natural systems that sustain us. But as the BP disaster has revealed, nature is always more
unpredictable than the most sophisticated mathematical and geological models imagine. In
the arc of human history, the notion that nature is a machine for us to re-engineer at will is
a relatively recent conceit. In her ground-breaking 1980 book The Death of Nature, the
environmental historian Carolyn Merchant reminded readers that up until the 1600s, the Earth was
alive. Europeans like indigenous people the world over believed the planet to be a living
organism, full of life-giving powers but also wrathful tempers. There were, for this reason, strong
taboos against actions that would deform and desecrate "the mother", including mining. [But] with
nature now cast as a machine, devoid of mystery or divinity, its component parts [can] be dammed,
extracted and remade with impunity.
Note: For illuminating insights into the nature of reality and the reality of nature, click here.

Research in a Vacuum: DARPA Tries to Tap Elusive Casimir Effect for

Breakthrough Technology
2009-10-12, Scientific American
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=darpa-casimir-effect-research
The Casimir effect governs interactions of matter with the energy that is present in a vacuum.
Success in harnessing this force could someday help researchers develop low-friction
ballistics and even levitating objects that defy gravity. For now, the U.S. Defense
Department's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has launched a two-year,
$10-million project encouraging scientists to work on ways to manipulate this quirk of quantum
electrodynamics. Vacuums generally are thought to be voids, but Hendrik Casimir believed these
pockets of nothing do indeed contain fluctuations of electromagnetic waves. He suggested [that]
as the boundaries of a region of vacuum move, the variation in vacuum energy (also called zeropoint energy) leads to the Casimir effect. Recent research done at Harvard University, Vrije
University Amsterdam and elsewhere has proved Casimir correct and given some experimental
underpinning to DARPA's request for research proposals.

Note: Debunkers of the new energy movement have long claimed that zero point energy is a
theoretical construct which cannot have practical applications. This article shows that attitudes are
now shifting. For lots more reliable information on what's still hidden from the public on the new
energy front, click here.

A lesson for Detroit - Tata Nano

2009-03-31, San Francisco Chronicle (San Francisco's leading newspaper)
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/03/30/EDTK16PF19.DTL
Don't dismiss the Nano as a small, poor man's car that will cause a mere ripple on the world
market. The Nano is a radical innovation, with the potential to revolutionize automobile
manufacturing and distribution. The tiny Nano incorporates three innovations, which together make
it huge. First, the Nano uses a modular design that enables a knowledgeable mechanic to
assemble the car in a workshop. Thus, Tata can outsource assembly to independent workshops
that can then assemble the car on buyers' orders. This innovation not only removes costly labor
from the manufacturer's side but also allows for distributed entrepreneurship on the dealer's side.
Second, the low cost of the Nano comes from a combination of its no-frills design and its use of
numerous lighter components, from simple door handles and bulbs to the transmission and engine
parts. The lighter vehicle enables a more energy-efficient engine that gets 67 miles to the gallon.
Third, at just 122 inches long, the Nano is one of the shortest four-passenger cars on the market,
yet it allows for ample interior space. These innovations have enabled Tata to introduce the Nano
at a base price of $2,000. The low price has triggered worldwide interest in the car and a
surge of orders, even in a struggling auto market. The Nano has the potential of flourishing
despite the recession or softening its sting because of its extraordinary low price. It's a
radical innovation precisely because it is a poor man's car.
Note: For a treasure trove of inspiring developments in new energy and automotive technologies,
click here.

Nuclear Ambitions: Amateur Scientists Get a Reaction From Fusion

2008-08-18, Wall Street Journal
http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB121901740078248225.html
In the garage of his house, Frank Sanns spends nights tinkering with one of his prized
possessions: a working nuclear-fusion reactor. Mr. Sanns, 51 years old, is part of a small
subculture of gearheads, amateur physicists and science-fiction fans who are trying to build fusion
reactors in their basements, backyards and home laboratories. Mr. Sanns ... believes he's on track
to make fusion a viable power source. "I'm a dreamer," he says. Many of these hobbyists call
themselves "fusioneers," and have formed a loosely knit community that numbers more than 100
world-wide. Getting into their elite "Neutron Club" requires building a tabletop reactor that
successfully fuses hydrogen isotopes and glows like a miniature star. Only 42 have
qualified; some have T-shirts that read "Fusion -- been there...done that." Called fusors and

based on a 1960s design first developed by Philo T. Farnsworth, an inventor of television, the
reactors are typically small steel spheres with wires and tubes sticking out and a glass window for
looking inside. But they won't be powering homes anytime soon -- for now, fusors use far more
energy than they produce. But the allure is strong. A fusion power plant would likely be fueled by
deuterium and tritium, both isotopes of hydrogen that are in plentiful supply. Fusion advocates say
reactors would be relatively clean, generating virtually no air pollution and little long-lived
radioactive waste. Today's nuclear power plants, in contrast, are fission-based, meaning they split
atoms and create a highly radioactive waste that can take millennia to decompose.
Note: How strange that this article seems to accept table-top nuclear fusion as a fact, when
mainstream science supposedly debunked this possibility two decades ago. For lots more on
infinite energy posibilities, click here.

U.S. Advised Iraqi Ministry on Oil Deals

2008-06-30, New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/30/world/middleeast/30contract.html?partner=rs...
A group of American advisers led by a small State Department team played an integral part
in drawing up contracts between the Iraqi government and five major Western oil
companies to develop some of the largest fields in Iraq, American officials say. The disclosure,
coming on the eve of the contracts announcement, is the first confirmation of direct involvement
by the Bush administration in deals to open Iraqs oil to commercial development and is likely to
stoke criticism. In their role as advisers to the Iraqi Oil Ministry, American government lawyers and
private-sector consultants provided template contracts and detailed suggestions on drafting the
contracts, advisers and a senior State Department official said. At a time of spiraling oil prices,
the no-bid contracts, in a country with some of the worlds largest untapped fields and
potential for vast profits, are a rare prize to the industry. The contracts are expected to be
awarded Monday to Exxon Mobil, Shell, BP, Total and Chevron, as well as to several smaller oil
companies. The deals have been criticized by opponents of the Iraq war, who accuse the Bush
administration of working behind the scenes to ensure Western access to Iraqi oil fields even as
most other oil-exporting countries have been sharply limiting the roles of international oil
companies in development. Though enriched by high prices, the companies are starved for new oil
fields. American military officials say the pipelines [in Iraq] now have excess capacity, waiting for
output to increase at the fields.
Note: For many revealing reports from reliable sources on the real reasons behind the war in Iraq,
click here.

5 electric cars you can buy now

2008-06-08, CNN Money
http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2008/autos/0806/gallery.electric_cars_now/inde...

The Tesla Roadster, which recently entered production, is probably the best known electric car in
America. The company's president has called it "the only production electric car for sale in the
United States." There are several other electric car companies that would differ with him on that
point, but those other vehicles are either limited to speeds below 25 miles per hour or have fewer
than four wheels, making their status as "cars" somewhat debatable. With a full set of wheels
and a claimed top speed of 125 mph, there's no question this two-seat convertible is a real
car. Tesla also boasts an amazing 220-mile range on a full charge as measured in EPA fuel
economy tests. Meanwhile, the charging time claimed by Tesla is less than half that of other
electric vehicles, thanks to advanced lithium-ion batteries -- which do account for much of the car's
high cost. But even gasoline-powered two-seat soft-tops are luxury toys, not daily drivers. Tesla
promises it is working hard on a more moderately priced four-door model for driving's other half.
The GEM car, from Chrysler's Global Electric Motorcars division, is more typical of what's available
to today's average consumer. It's a small, lightweight vehicle that can go up to 25 mph. It can go
just a little faster on a downhill grade, but the electric motor automatically steps in to slow it down.
The 25 mph top speed is a matter of law, not engineering. "Low Speed Vehicles" (LSVs) like the
GEM don't have to meet the same safety requirements as faster cars. But 25 mph is still adequate
for many daily commutes and around-the-town errands.
Note: For many exciting reports on new automotive and energy developments, click here.

PG+E embraces solar thermal power technology

2007-11-05, San Francisco Chronicle (San Francisco's leading newspaper)
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/11/05/BUBTT5KM2.DTL
As California utilities scramble to buy more renewable energy, Pacific Gas and Electric Co. and a
Palo Alto startup will announce plans today to build a solar power plant big enough to light more
than 132,000 homes. Ausra Inc. will design and build the plant, which will be located on the
Carrizo Plain of eastern San Luis Obispo County and could begin operating as soon as 2010. San
Francisco's PG&E has agreed to buy the plant's power for 20 years. Like the rest of California's big
utilities, PG&E faces a state-imposed deadline to derive 20 percent of its power from certain
renewable sources by the end of 2010. So the company is turning to solar thermal power plants,
which can generate large amounts of energy on a reliable basis. In July, the company agreed to
buy power from a solar plant planned for the Southern California desert, which will generate 553
megawatts, enough for more than 414,000 homes. PG&E plans to buy 1,000 megawatts of solar
thermal energy within the next five years. "Solar works best when it's really hot, and that's
when we need a lot of power," said Peter Darbee, the utility's chief executive officer. "So solar is
something we're exploring more." Solar thermal plants do not use the solar cells that more
Californians are bolting to their rooftops. Instead, they use the sun's energy to heat liquids
that turn turbines and generate power. Ausra's technology uses flat mirrors that focus sunlight
on tubes carrying water, which then turns to steam. The plants can produce far more electricity
than silicon solar cells provide and at a far lower price. Ralph Cavanagh, with the Natural
Resources Defense Council, said he's pleased to see the recent attention on solar thermal plants.

"They're a very good idea for California, and they're also a really good idea for the world," said
Cavanagh, director of the environmental group's energy program. "This is one of the scalable
solutions that can make a big difference."
Note: For more inspiring reports of new renewable energy developments, click here.

Papers Detail Industry's Role in Cheney's Energy Report

2007-07-18, Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/17/AR20070717019...
At 10 a.m. on April 4, 2001, representatives of 13 environmental groups were brought into the Old
Executive Office Building for a long-anticipated meeting. Since late January, a task force headed
by Vice President Cheney had been busy drawing up a new national energy policy, and the groups
were getting their one chance to be heard. A confidential list prepared by the Bush administration
shows that Cheney and his aides had already held at least 40 meetings with interest groups, most
of them from energy-producing industries. By the time of the meeting with environmental groups,
according to a former White House official who provided the list to The Washington Post, the initial
draft of the task force was substantially complete and President Bush had been briefed on its
progress. In all, about 300 groups and individuals met with staff members of the energy task force,
including a handful who saw Cheney himself, according to the list, which was compiled in the
summer of 2001. For six years, those names have been a closely guarded secret, thanks to a
fierce legal battle waged by the White House. Some names have leaked out over the years,
but most have remained hidden because of a 2004 Supreme Court ruling that agreed that the
administration's internal deliberations ought to be shielded from outside scrutiny. The list of
participants' names and when they met with administration officials provides a clearer picture of
the task force's priorities and bolsters previous reports that the review leaned heavily on oil and
gas companies and on trade groups -- many of them big contributors to the Bush campaign and
the Republican Party. It clears up much of the lingering uncertainty about who was granted access
to present energy policy views to Cheney's staff.

Clean energy claim: Aluminum in your car tank

2007-05-23, MSNBC
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18700750
A Purdue University engineer and National Medal of Technology winner says he's ready and able
to start a revolution in clean energy. Professor Jerry Woodall and students have invented a
way to use an aluminum alloy to extract hydrogen from water a process that he thinks
could replace gasoline as well as its pollutants and emissions tied to global warming. But
Woodall says there's one big hitch: "Egos" at the U.S. Department of Energy, a key funding
source for energy research, "are holding up the revolution. The hydrogen is generated on demand,
so you only produce as much as you need when you need it," he said in a statement released by
Purdue this week. So instead of having to fill up at a station, hydrogen would be made inside

vehicles in tanks about the same size as today's gasoline tanks. An internal reaction in those tanks
would create hydrogen from water and 350 pounds worth of special pellets. The hydrogen would
then power an internal combustion engine or a fuel cell stack. "It's a simple matter to convert
ordinary internal combustion engines to run on hydrogen," Woodall said. "All you have to do is
replace the gasoline fuel injector with a hydrogen injector." "The egos of program managers at
DOE are holding up the revolution," he told MSNBC.com. "Remember that Einstein was a patent
examiner and had no funding for his 1905 miracle year," Woodall added. "He did it on his own
time. If he had been a professor at a university in the U.S. today and put in a proposal to develop
the theory of special relativity it would have been summarily rejected."
Note: For a treasure trove of reliable information on clean, new energy sources, click here.

The Air Car

2007-05-19, BusinessWeek
http://www.businessweek.com/autos/content/mar2007/bw20070319_949435.htm
Many respected engineers have been trying for years to bring a compressed air car to market,
believing strongly that compressed air can power a viable "zero pollution" car. Now the first
commercial compressed air car is on the verge of production and beginning to attract a lot of
attention, and with a recently signed partnership with Tata, India's largest automotive
manufacturer, the prospects of very cost-effective mass production are now a distinct possibility.
The MiniC.A.T is a simple, light urban car. How does it work? 90m3 of compressed air is stored in
fibre tanks. The expansion of this air pushes the pistons and creates movement. It is incredibly
cost-efficient to run according to the designers, it costs less than one Euro per 100Km
(about a tenth that of a petrol car). Its mileage is about double that of the most advanced
electric car (200 to 300 km or 10 hours of driving), a factor which makes a perfect choice in cities
where the 80% of motorists drive at less than 60Km. The car has a top speed of 68 mph. Refilling
the car will ... take place at adapted petrol stations to administer compressed air. In two or three
minutes, and at a cost of approximately [US$2] the car will be ready to go another 200-300
kilometres. As a viable alternative, the car carries a small compressor which can ... refill the tank in
3-4 hours. At the moment, four models have been made: a car, a taxi (5 passengers), a Pick-Up
truck and a van. The final selling price will be approximately [US$11,000]. "Moteur Development
International" (MDI) ... has researched and developed the Air Car over 10 years.
Note: Why aren't U.S. automakers interested in this breakthrough technology? For abundance of
reliable information on the exciting new developments in auto design for super-efficient mileage,
click here.

Physics promises wireless power

2006-11-15, BBC News
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6129460.stm

The tangle of cables and plugs needed to recharge today's electronic gadgets could soon be a
thing of the past. US researchers have outlined a relatively simple system that could deliver power
to devices such as laptop computers or MP3 players without wires. The concept exploits centuryold physics and could work over distances of many metres. Although the team has not built and
tested a system, computer models and mathematics suggest it will work. "Resonance" [is] a
phenomenon that causes an object to vibrate when energy of a certain frequency is applied.
"When you have two resonant objects of the same frequency they tend to couple very strongly,"
Professor Soljacic [explained]. Resonance can be seen in musical instruments. "When you play a
tune on one, then another instrument with the same acoustic resonance will pick up that tune, it
will visibly vibrate," he said. Instead of using acoustic vibrations, the team's system exploits the
resonance of electromagnetic waves. Electromagnetic radiation includes radio waves, infrared and
X-rays. The team from MIT is not the first group to suggest wireless energy transfer. Nineteenthcentury physicist and engineer Nikola Tesla experimented with long-range wireless energy
transfer, but his most ambitious attempt - the 29m [it was actually 187 feet] high aerial
known as Wardenclyffe Tower, in New York - failed when he ran out of money. A UK company
called Splashpower has also designed wireless recharging pads onto which gadget lovers can
directly place their phones and MP3 players to recharge them.
Note: What the article fails to mention is that Tesla's experiments previous to the 1903
Wardenclyffe tower were quite successful, so much so that J.P. Morgan was willing to pour huge
amounts into the tower. When he learned, however, that Tesla's intention was to make energy
available free to the public, he pulled the plug on the project and many of Tesla's amazing
inventions were buried and erased from the history books. For verification, click here and here. For
lots more on suppressed energy inventions, click here.

Exxon Mobil Posts Largest Annual Profit for U.S. Company

2006-01-30, New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/30/business/30cnd-exxon.html?ex=1296277200&en=...
Exxon Mobil, the nation's largest energy company, today reported a 27 percent surge in profits for
the fourth quarter as elevated fuel prices gave rise to the most lucrative year ever for an American
company. Exxon's profits are expected to generate new scrutiny of the company's operations in
Washington, where legislators have recently expressed concern over Big Oil's good fortune as
soaring oil and natural gas prices pressure consumers. Exxon said its profits climbed more
than 40 percent last year, while its tax bill rose only 14 percent. Exxon's revenue last year
allowed it to surpass Wal-Mart as the largest company in the United States. [The company's]
revenue of $371 billion surpassed the gross domestic product of $245 billion for Indonesia, an
OPEC member and the world's fourth most populous country with 242 million people.
Note: This article fails to mention the huge profits reaped by oil companies as a result of gas price
gouging immediately after Katrina.

E.P.A. Holds Back Report on Car Fuel Efficiency

2005-07-28, New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/28/business/28fuel.html?ex=1280203200&en=da4fa...
With Congress poised for a final vote on the energy bill, the Environmental Protection
Agency made an 11th-hour decision Tuesday to delay the planned release of an annual
report on fuel economy. But a copy of the report, embargoed for publication Wednesday, was
sent to The New York Times by a member of the E.P.A. communications staff just minutes before
the decision was made to delay it until next week. The contents of the report show that
loopholes in American fuel economy regulations have allowed automakers to produce cars
and trucks that are significantly less fuel-efficient, on average, than they were in the late
1980's. The average 2004 model car or truck got 20.8 miles per gallon, about 6 percent less than
the 22.1 m.p.g. of the average new vehicle sold in the late 1980's, according to the report.
Releasing the report this week would have been inopportune for the Bush administration, its critics
said, because it would have come on the eve of a final vote in Congress on energy legislation six
years in the making. The bill, as it stands, largely ignores auto mileage regulations.
Note: For more, see our New Energy Information Center.

The doctor many believe can cure cancer

2004-08-09, MSN of Australia
http://aca.ninemsn.com.au/stories/1744.asp
Over a period of 30 years, highly qualified Perth-based surgeon Dr John Holt has had some
startling successes with a radio-wave therapy treatment for cancer patients. Dr Holt's
controversial treatment works, in layperson's terms, by giving the patient an injection of a glucoseblocking agent. He then shines "radio waves" into the body at a specific frequency. Dr Holt doesn't
guarantee it will cure every cancer, but it's not expensive and there's no quackery about it. Born in
Bristol 80 years ago and a member of the Royal Colleges, Dr Holt has 26 medical letters after his
name. For more than a decade he was in charge of Western Australia's main cancer institute, until
the late '70s, when he was blacklisted by his medical colleagues and politicians. The polarisation
of the medical and scientific community in Perth over Dr Holt's treatment has been evident since
the mid-'70s. While the medical community continues to argue the merits of Dr Holt's unorthodox
measures, the families of his successes feel they owe everything to this gentle man. After two
brain tumours and a tumour on her spine, Sophia Rosa was sent by pre-eminent brain surgeon Dr
Charlie Teo for the radical treatment. Two years later, the only sign Sophia had cancer are the
side-effects from the massive doses of chemotherapy given in Sydney.
Note: If the above link fails, click here. For more on Dr. Holt's work, click here. For the story of
Royal Rife, another famed scientist who suffered dearly for finding a cure for cancer, click here.

Michigan becomes 5th US state to thwart direct Tesla car sales

2014-10-22, CNBC/Reuters
http://www.cnbc.com/id/102109510
Michigan Governor Rick Snyder signed a bill on Tuesday that will keep electric carmaker Tesla
Motors from selling its cars directly to consumers in the state, home to the biggest U.S.
automakers. Snyder said in a letter to members of the state House of Representatives on Tuesday
that the measure merely "clarifies" existing law not to allow direct manufacturer-to-consumer retail
sales. Those sales, he said, must be made through franchised dealers. Michigan becomes the
fifth U.S. state to keep Tesla from easily selling cars directly to consumers. In all of those
states except Michigan, Tesla operates "galleries" where consumers can view Tesla cars but
cannot discuss prices, take test drives or order cars. Michigan has gone a step further, said
Diarmuid O'Connell, Tesla vice president of business development, and will not allow even the
informational galleries. Tesla, which has challenged some of the long-held conventions of auto
industry, wants to set up its own sleek stores rather than to sell through a franchised dealer
network. The Michigan measure, passed 38-0 in the state's Senate and 106-1 in the House, does
not mention Tesla by name. But, O'Connell said, the legislation clearly is addressed to the
company. O'Connell said the bill was pushed through the legislature without chance for
public debate because well-connected auto dealers did not want a public airing of the
state's policy. Detroit-based General Motors on Tuesday said it supported the new measure.
Note: For more along these lines, see these concise summaries of deeply revealing government
corruption news articles from reliable sources. You can also read more about inspiring innovations
and how these are suppressed.

Researchers Develop Transparent Solar Concentrator That Could Cover

Windows, Electronics
2014-08-24, Huffington Post
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/08/24/transparent-solar-concentrator_n_570...
Scientists at Michigan State University announced this week the creation of a transparent
luminescent solar concentrator that could turn windows and even cellphone screens into solarpower generators. The material works by absorbing light in the invisible spectrum (ultraviolet and
near infrared) and then re-emitting it in the infrared. The infrared light is then channeled to the
edge of the clear surface, where thin strips of photovoltaic cells generate the power. Because we
cannot see infrared or ultraviolet light, the material remains transparent even while
concentrating sunlight. Previous luminescent solar concentrators have been developed,
but they emitted light in the visible spectrum, creating a stained-glass effect. No one wants
to sit behind colored glass, Richard Lunt, who leads the lab researching this new
technology, said. The new technology is promising, but needs to be made more efficient.
Researchers say that the solar conversion efficiency is around one percent. Ideally, this could be
increased to more than five percent. Luminescent solar concentrators are less efficient than
traditional photovoltaics, which absorb a larger range of wavelengths, but they could allow energy
harvesting on surfaces that would otherwise never be used to generate power. The transparent

technology could be used in a variety of applications, Lunt said, and its affordability means it has
the potential for eventual commercial or industrial use. Ultimately we want to make solar
harvesting surfaces that you do not even know are there, he said. The researchers' findings were
published in the journal Advanced Optical Materials in July.
Note: Why isn't the major media reporting this exciting development? For more on this, see
concise summaries of deeply revealing new energy inventions news articles from reliable major
media sources. Explore a treasure trove of concise summaries of incredibly inspiring news articles
which will inspire you to make a difference.

Craving Energy and Glory, Pakistan Revels in Boast of Water-Run Car

2012-08-05, New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/05/world/asia/boast-of-water-run-car-thrills-p...
In a nation thirsting for energy, he loomed like a messiah: a small-town engineer who claimed he
could run a car on water. The assertion based on the premise that he had discovered a way to
easily split the oxygen and hydrogen atoms in water molecules with almost no energy would, if
proven, represent a stunning breakthrough for physics and a near-magical solution to Pakistans
desperate power crisis. By the grace of Allah, I have managed to make a formula that converts
less voltage into more energy, the professed inventor, Agha Waqar Ahmad, said in a telephone
interview. This invention will solve our countrys energy crisis and provide jobs to hundreds of
thousands of people. Established scientists have debunked his spectacular claims, first made one
month ago, saying they violate ironclad laws of physics. The quest to harness chemical energy
from water is a holy grail of science, offering the tantalizing promise of a world free from
dependence on oil. Groups in other countries, including Japan, the United States and Sri
Lanka, have previously made similar claims. They have been largely ignored. Not so with Mr.
Ahmad, even if he is an unlikely scientific prodigy. He graduated with a degree in mechanical
engineering in 1990 from a small technical college in Khairpur, in southern Sindh Province, he said
in the interview. For most of his career he worked in a local police department. He is currently
unemployed. But he sprang up at a moment when Pakistan was intensely aware of its power
shortcomings.
Note: For deeply revealing reports from reliable major media sources on new energy inventions,
click here.

BP and the Axis of Evil

2010-06-19, BBC Blogs
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/adamcurtis/2010/06/post.html
BP is accused of destroying the wildlife and coastline of America, but if you look back into history
you find that BP did something even worse to America. They gave the world Ayatollah Khomeini.
Back in 1951 the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company - which would later become BP - and its principal

owner the British government, conspired to destroy democracy and install a western-controlled
regime in Iran. The resulting anger and the repression that followed was one of the principal
causes of the Iranian revolution in 1978/79 - out of which came the Islamist regime of Ayatollah
Khomeini. And what's more, BP and the British government were so arrogant and bumblingly
inept at handling the crisis that they had to persuade the Americans help them. They did
this by pretending there was a Communist threat to Iran. The American government, led by
President Eisenhower, believed them and the CIA were instructed to engineer a coup which
removed the Iranian prime minister Mohamed Mossadegh. The CIA, led by Allen Dulles, ... sent
the CIA's top Middle East agen, Kermit Roosevelt, to run Operation Ajax. The plan, drawn up by
the British and the Americans, was to bribe the street gangs of Tehran to create chaos, and then
install an army general, General Zahedi, as prime minister.

Ocean currents can power the world, say scientists

2008-11-29, The Telegraph (One of the U.K.'s leading newspapers)
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/energy/renewableenergy/3535012/Ocean-current...
A revolutionary device that can harness energy from slow-moving rivers and ocean currents could
provide enough power for the entire world, scientists claim. The technology can generate electricity
in water flowing at a rate of less than one knot - about one mile an hour - meaning it could operate
on most waterways and sea beds around the globe. Existing technologies which use water power,
relying on the action of waves, tides or faster currents created by dams, are far more limited in
where they can be used, and also cause greater obstructions when they are built in rivers or the
sea. Turbines and water mills need an average current of five or six knots to operate efficiently,
while most of the earth's currents are slower than three knots. The new device, which has been
inspired by the way fish swim, consists of a system of cylinders positioned [horizontally] to the
water flow and attached to springs. As water flows past, the cylinder creates vortices, which push
and pull the cylinder up and down. The mechanical energy in the vibrations is then converted into
electricity. The scientists behind the technology, which has been developed in research
funded by the US government, say ... the technology would require up to 50 times less
ocean acreage than wave power generation. The system, conceived by scientists at the
University of Michigan, is called Vivace, or "vortex-induced vibrations for aquatic clean energy".
Note: For lots more on new energy technology developments, click here.

Aptera's 3-wheeler looks as if it could soar

2008-04-16, San Francisco Chronicle (San Francisco's leading newspaper)
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/04/15/HOP1103V8S.DTL
An airplane-inspired car that costs $10,000 less than a basic Volvo and gets 300 miles per gallon?
Not quite yet, but San Diego robot-builder Steve Fambro may be onto something with the Aptera
("wingless" in Greek) vehicle. Fambro was inspired to build the vehicle when his wife deemed a kit
airplane he was building was too dangerous. The vehicle pictured was designed by Jason Hill and

his firm "11" for Fambro. The three-wheeled, 1,500-pound prototype has 2 1/2 seats, and when the
vehicle goes into production in October, Fambro expects that it will have an acceleration rate of
zero to 60 mph in 11 seconds (a second slower than the Prius) and retail for less than $30,000.
The Aptera will come in two versions: an all-electric that is expected to go 120 miles on a
charge and a hybrid that will have a 600-mile range on a full charge and full tank. Unlike
other three-wheeled cars that are technically motorcycles (thus skirting a lot of safety criteria), the
Aptera's airplane-wide wheel base makes it stable. The fiberglass shell is reinforced with steel and
aluminum, and there will be air bags in the seat belts. What's not to like, unless, of course, you're
the passenger in the half seat.
Note: For a fascinating video clip of this car on a local ABC news affiliate, click here. Why aren't
other major media picking up this exciting story?

Berkeley going solar - city pays up front, recoups over 20 years

2007-10-26, San Francisco Chronicle (San Francisco's leading newspaper)
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2007/10/26/MNAIT0DQO.DTL
Berkeley [Cal.] is set to become the first city in the nation to help thousands of its residents
generate solar power without having to put money up front - attempting to surmount one of the
biggest hurdles for people who don't have enough cash to go green. The City Council will vote
Nov. 6 on a plan for the city to finance the cost of solar panels for property owners who agree to
pay it back with a 20-year assessment on their property. Over two decades, the taxes would be the
same or less than what property owners would save on their electric bills, officials say. "This plan
could be our most important contribution to fighting global warming," Mayor Tom Bates
said. "We've already seen interest from all over the U.S. People really think this plan can
go." The idea is sparking interest from city and state leaders who are mindful of California's goals
to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 25 percent by 2020. Officials in San Francisco, Santa
Cruz, Santa Monica and several state agencies have contacted Berkeley about the details of its
plan. "If this works, we'd want to look at this for other cities statewide," said Ken Alex, California
deputy attorney general. "We think it's a very creative way to eliminate the barriers to getting solar
panels, and it's fantastic that Berkeley's going ahead with this." This is how Berkeley's program
would work: A property owner would hire a city-approved solar installer, who would determine the
best solar system for the property, depending on energy use. Most residential solar panel systems
in the city cost from $15,000 to $20,000. The city would pay the contractor for the system and its
installation ... and would add an assessment to the property owner's tax bill to pay for the system.
The property owner would save money on monthly Pacific Gas & Electric bill because electricity
generated by the solar panels would partly replace electricity delivered by the utility.
Note: For many other innovative ideas to develop cheap, renewable energy sources, click here.

Danish Island Is Energy Self-Sufficient

2007-03-08, CBS News

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/03/08/eveningnews/main2549273.shtml
It's a two-hour ferry ride to the Danish island of Samso. To visit Samso is to see the future. Samso
is an area about 40 square miles long with a permanent population of about 4,000 all of them
living a green dream. Take farmer Erik Andersen. His tractor runs on oil from rape seed, which he
grows. His hot water and power come from his solar panels or wind turbines. There's not a fossil
fuel in sight. "It's a very good feeling because the island is a renewable energy island," Anderson
says. Ten years ago, Andersen and the people of Samso accepted a challenge from
Denmark's government: Could they run their farms; could they power their businesses;
could they lead their lives in an entirely energy self-sufficient and carbon-neutral way? Now
they have the answer. They can. "Because it's a good idea for the environment," Andersen
explains. To harness the wind, of which they have plenty, they built wind turbines. To provide heat,
they burn locally grown straw in central plants that produce super hot water and pump it through
underground pipes into peoples' homes. It's not only more efficient than running individual
furnaces, it's carbon neutral. The net greenhouse gas emissions from these plants? Zero. It's a
system that just recycles itself, says Jens Peter Nielson with the Samso Energy Authority. Even
after a freezing cold night, the days short and cloudy, the solar-heated hot water is still hot. The
Samso scheme has become so successful that the island has installed a string of turbines offshore
to make surplus power to sell to the mainland.
Note: For further inspiring examples of developments in new energy technologies, click here.

Home Hydrogen Fueling Station

2007-01-26, CNN
http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2007/biz2/0701/gallery.8greentechs/index.html
What could be greener than a hydrogen car in your driveway? Try a solar-powered hydrogen
fueling station in your garage. Australian scientists have developed a prototype of such a device.
It's about the size of a filing cabinet and runs on electricity generated by rooftop solar panels. The
first version is expected to produce enough hydrogen to give your runabout a range of
some 100 miles without emitting a molecule of planet-warming greenhouse gas. Road trips
are out of the question, but it's enough juice for running errands or powering fleets of delivery
trucks. Tests of the home fueling system began early this year with commercial trials two years off.

Nonlethal weapons touted for use on citizens

2006-09-12, MSNBC/Associated Press
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14806772/
Nonlethal weapons such as high-power microwave devices should be used on American
citizens in crowd-control situations before being used on the battlefield, the Air Force
secretary said Tuesday. The object is basically public relations. Domestic use would make it
easier to avoid questions from others about possible safety considerations, said Secretary Michael

Wynne. "If we're not willing to use it here against our fellow citizens, then we should not be willing
to use it in a wartime situation," said Wynne. Nonlethal weapons generally can weaken people if
they are hit with the beam. Some of the weapons can emit short, intense energy pulses that also
can be effective in disabling some electronic devices.
Note: The government has been developing potentially lethal "non-lethal weapons" for decades,
as evidenced by released FOIA government documents. Don't miss our excellent summary on this
critical topic available at http://www.WantToKnow.info/mindcontrol10pg#nonlethal and the in-depth
Washington
Post
article
on
psychological
manipulations
available
at
http://www.WantToKnow.info/060123psyops.

UCLA Engineers Pioneer Affordable Alternative Energy Resource

2005-10-10, UCLA News/ABC News
http://www.newsroom.ucla.edu/page.asp?RelNum=6518
Solar Energy Cells Made of Everyday Plastic. In research published today in Nature Materials
magazine, [several researchers] showcase their work on an innovative new plastic (or
polymer) solar cell they hope eventually can be produced at a mere 10 percent to 20
percent of the current cost of traditional cells, making the technology more widely available.
The price for quality traditional solar modules typically is around three to four times more
expensive than fossil fuel. Independent tests on the UCLA solar cell already have received high
marks. The nation's only authoritative certification organization for solar technology, the National
Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), located in Golden, Colo., has helped the UCLA team
ensure the accuracy of their efficiency numbers. The plastic solar cell is still a few years away from
being available to consumers, but the UCLA team is working diligently to get it to market.
Note: Why is it that ABC was the only one of the mainstream media to pick up this important
article, and even ABC's report appears to belittle the development as much as it gives an
optimistic outlook. And why isn't the government pouring funding into this most worthy project?

Magnetic energy? Perhaps

2005-09-07, San Francisco Chronicle (San Francisco's leading newspaper)
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/09/07/BUG9NEJD3L1.DTL
Goldes, 73, is chief executive of a small company called Magnetic Power Inc., which has spent
years researching ways to, yes, generate power using magnets. Within a few months, he says, he
might just have a breakthrough to report that could revolutionize where people get fuel. "All we
know is that we're seeing more energy output than input. Does Goldes realize what's he's saying -that he's perhaps discovered a clean, inexhaustible energy source? "That's exactly what it appears
to be," he answered. What Goldes believes he's done is produce power from what physicists call
zero-point energy. In simple terms, zero-point energy results from the infinitesimal motion of
molecules even when seemingly at rest. Normally, I dismiss such pie-in-the-sky pronouncements.

But Goldes isn't so easy to shrug off. That's because he's also come up with technology called the
UltraConductor. The research was funded in part by the Department of Defense, which invested
$600,000 in the project. A handful of other companies worldwide are believed also to be
pursuing zero-point energy via magnetic systems. One of them, InterStellar Technologies,
is run by a former scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena. According to
Aviation Week & Space Technology magazine, the Pentagon and at least two large
aerospace companies are actively researching zero-point energy as a means of propulsion.

Maxing Your Mileage

2005-08-16, Fox News Chicago
http://www.foxchicago.com/_ezpost/data/23255.shtml
Denny Klein has just patented his process of converting H2O to HHO, producing a gas that
combines the atomic power of hydrogen with the chemical stability of water. "It turns right back to
water; in fact, you can see the H2O running off the sheet metal." Klein originally designed his
water-burning engine for cutting metal. He thought his invention could replace acetylene in welding
factories. "No other gas will do this." Then one day as he drove to his laboratory, he thought of
another way to burn his HHO gas. "On a 100-mile trip, we use about four ounces of water."
Klein says his prototype 1994 Ford Escort can travel exclusively on water -- though he
currently has it rigged to run as a water and gasoline hybrid. "Simply speaking, our plan is to
end our dependence on fossil fuels." Pete Domeneci is helping Klein take his hydrogen technology
patents from a two-room office to consumer markets around the world. The duo is already in
negotiations with one U.S. automaker and the U.S. government. Members of Congress recently
invited Denny Klein to Washington to demonstrate his technology and his company is currently
developing a Hummer for the U.S. military that can run on both water and gasoline. So far, his
water-powered engines have passed all performance safety inspections.
Note: Why didn't this get major media coverage? To see the amazing three-minute Fox News
report, click here. To visit the website describing this invention, click here.

Nanotechnology could turn rooftops into a sea of power-generating

stations
2005-07-11, San Francisco Chronicle (San Francisco's leading newspaper)
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/07/11/BUG7IDL1AF1.DTL
Both inventors and investors are betting that flexible sheets of tiny solar cells used to harness the
sun's strength will ultimately provide a cheaper, more efficient source of energy than the current
smorgasbord of alternative and fossil fuels. Nanosys and Nanosolar in Palo Alto -- along with
Konarka in Lowell, Mass. -- say their research will result in thin rolls of highly efficient lightcollecting plastics spread across rooftops or built into building materials. These rolls, the
companies say, will be able to provide energy for prices as low as the electricity currently provided
by utilities, which averages $1 per watt. The companies also say that the printed rolls of solar cells

would be lighter, more resilient and flexible than silicon photovoltaics. Solar energy could furnish
much of the nation's electricity if available residential and commercial rooftops were fully
utilized. According to the Energy Foundation, using available rooftop space could provide 710,000
megawatts across the United States, whose current electrical capacity is 950,000 megawatts.
Atluru of Draper Fisher Jurvetson [explains] "Our view is that government can cause big problems,
and it is the entrepreneurs who will make the big changes." Current cost of solar energy, per watt:
$4-$5. Average cost of energy from traditional fossil fuel sources, per watt: $1. Estimated cost of
energy from nanotech solar panels, per watt: $2. Total energy-generating capacity of the United
States: 950,000 megawatts. Potential total rooftop solar energy capacity in the United States: 710,
000 megawatts.

Solar Companies Value Consumer Data That Utilities Ignore at Their

Peril
2013-11-21, Bloomberg Businessweek
http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-11-21/solar-companies-value-consume...
The same rooftop solar providers that are threatening utility revenues are more than just occupying
customer roofstheyre inside the home, monitoring usage trends and adapting the systems to
meet both the homeowners needs and their own bottom lines. SolarCity, Sunrun, SunPower, and
Locus Energy are amassing billions of points of data in smart home systems that consumers love
and that baffle utilities, many of which have no incentive to help consumers manage their power
usage more efficiently. While utilities have installed millions of smart meters in homes, they havent
made use of the data to engage consumers the same way solar providers have, says Neil Strother,
a smart-grid analyst. Utilities are more focused on cutting their own costs than in helping
consumers become more efficient, he says. They arent motivated to reduce demand.
The solar systems, meanwhile, collect real-time data on hundreds of thousands of homes and
businesses across the country that utilities could use to more efficiently and reliably manage their
power grids. Nat Kreamer, chief executive officer of Clean Power Finance, says some utilities dont
see the potential benefits of using smart meters to engage with consumers to improve their service
or reduce their utility bills. I asked an executive at one top 10 utility what he was hoping to
get from smart meters, and he basically said just to eliminate the meter readers, Kraemer
says.
Note: For more on new energy developments, see the deeply revealing reports from reliable major
media sources available here.

Solar Impulse aims to push innovation on the ground

2013-07-15, CBS News
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-35040_162-57593684/solar-impulse-aims-to-push-inn...

Hangar 19 at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport is host to one unique airplane: the
Solar Impulse. The sun-powered plane made history by becoming the first aircraft to fly across
America day and night without fuel. The Solar Impulse finished its two-month journey from NASA's
Moffett Field in Mountain View, Calif. to JFK airport on July 6, where it is currently parked. The
aircraft is powered by 11,628 solar cells, has an average flying speed of about 43 miles (70
kilometers) per hour and its maximum altitude is about 27,900 feet. Although its wingspan rivals a
747, the actual body of the plane is a lot smaller, with a cockpit that can only fit one person. The
groundbreaking trip may seem too slow to be practical, but chairman and pilot Bertrand Piccard
thinks there is a bigger picture behind the project. "We believe if we can demonstrate this in the
air, where it is the most difficult to do, people will understand that they can also use the
same technologies for their daily lives," Piccard [said]. Piccard shared piloting the plane with
the company's co-founder and CEO Andre Borschberg. The two flew in 24-hour shifts across
America, and made stopovers in Phoenix, Dallas-Fort Worth, St. Louis, Cincinnati and Dulles.
Some of the key advances used on the Solar Impulse include carbon fiber sheets that weigh 0.8
ounces per 11 square feet, solar cells that are about the thickness of a human hair and batteries
with a high energy density. While the technologies are impressive, the creators emphasize
that they didn't re-invent the wheel. They believe that pieces of the puzzle already exist, but
needs to be put together in a different way.
Note: For a treasure trove of great news articles which will inspire you to make a difference, click
here.

Web Comic Helps Fuel Donations to Tesla's NY Lab

2012-08-26, ABC News/Associated Press
http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/web-comic-helps-fuel-donations-teslas-ny-l...
A jolt of support from a popular Web cartoonist has re-energized a decades-long effort to restore a
decrepit, 110-year-old laboratory once used by Nikola Tesla, a visionary scientist who was a rival
of Thomas Edison and imagined a world of free electricity. In little more than a week, tens of
thousands of donors from more than 100 countries have kicked [in] more than $1 million ...
to pay for the restoration of Nikola Tesla's Wardenclyffe laboratory, located about 65 miles
east of New York City. "Enormously, overwhelmingly, astounding," is how Jane Alcorn,
president of the Tesla Science Center at Wardenclyffe [described] the project's newfound
fortune. This summer Alcorn learned that Matthew Inman, a cartoonist who runs theoatmeal.com,
posted a tribute to the scientist titled "Why Nicola Tesla is the Greatest Geek Who Ever Lived."
Supporters of the Long Island effort reached out to Inman, a 27-year-old who lives in Seattle, and
he and Alcorn began speaking. Last week, he posted a request for donations on IndieGoGo, a
fundraising website, and the response was nearly instantaneous. Tesla amassed hundreds of
patents for his discoveries over his lifetime. Among his most notable accomplishments are his
work in developing alternating current and other research in the creation of wireless
communication and radio. He conducted experiments with wireless electricity and erected a 187foot tower that Alcorn said was to be the centerpiece of a worldwide communications and energy
system. But after he lost funding for the project, it was torn down in 1917.

Note: Tesla, whose incredible achievements have largely been removed from history books, is
having a great resurgence in interest. For more on this most intriguing inventor, click here. For
deeply revealing reports from reliable major media sources on new energy inventions, click here.

Spill Bound BP, Feds Together

2010-08-21, ABC News/Associated Press
http://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory?id=11451806
For months, the U.S. government talked with a boot-on-the-neck toughness about BP, with the
president wondering aloud about whose butt to kick. But privately, it worked hand-in-hand with the
oil giant to cap the runaway Gulf well and chose to effectively be the company's banker -- allowing
future drilling revenues to potentially be used as collateral for a victim compensation fund. Now,
with a new round of investigative hearings set to begin [today] on BP's home turf and the disaster
largely off the front pages, there's worry BP PLC could get a slap on the wrist from its behind-thescenes partner. That could trickle down to states hurt by the spill and hoping for large fines
because they may share in the pie. In the past few weeks, public messages from BP and the
government have been almost in lockstep. The government even released a report
criticized by academic researchers and some lawmakers as too rosy asserting that much
of the oil released into the Gulf is gone, playing into BP's message that its unprecedented
response effort is working. Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., said Thursday that White House support
for the oil report shows the administration's "pre-occupation with the public relations of the oil spill
has superseded the realities on the ground."
Note: For lots more from major media sources on corporate and government corruption, click here
and here.

New Reactor Uses Sunlight to Turn Water and Carbon Dioxide Into Fuel
2009-11-23, Popular Science
http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2009-11/co2-recycler-uses-sunlight-turn...
Scientists at Sandia National Labs, seeking a means to create cheap and abundant hydrogen to
power a hydrogen economy, realized they could use the same technology to "reverse-combust"
CO2 back into fuel. Researchers still have to improve the efficiency of the system, but they
recently demonstrated a working prototype of their "Sunshine to Petrol" machine that
converts waste CO2 to carbon monoxide, and then syngas, consuming nothing but solar
energy. The device, boasting the simple title Counter-Rotating-Ring Receiver Reactor
Recuperator (we'll go with "CR5") sets off a thermo-chemical reaction by exposing an iron-rich
composite to concentrated solar heat. The composite sheds an oxygen molecule when heated and
gets one back as it cools, and therein lies the eureka. The cylindrical metal CR5 is divided into hot
and cold chambers. Solar energy heats the hot chamber to a scorching 2,700 degrees, hot enough

to force the iron oxide composite to lose oxygen atoms. The composite is then thrust into the cool
chamber, which is filled with carbon dioxide. As it cools, the iron oxide snatches back its lost
oxygen atoms, leaving behind carbon monoxide.
Note: For many inspiring reports on promising new energy developments, click here.

'Magnetic electricity' discovered

2009-10-14, BBC News
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8307804.stm
Researchers have discovered a magnetic equivalent to electricity: single magnetic charges
that can behave and interact like electrical ones. The work is the first to make use of the
magnetic monopoles that exist in special crystals known as spin ice. Writing in Nature
journal, a team showed that monopoles gather to form a "magnetic current" like electricity. The
phenomenon, dubbed "magnetricity", could be used in magnetic storage or in computing. Magnetic
monopoles were first predicted to exist over a century ago, as a perfect analogue to electric
charges. In September this year, two research groups independently reported the existence of
monopoles - "particles" which carry an overall magnetic charge. But they exist only in the spin ice
crystals. These crystals are made up of pyramids of charged atoms, or ions, arranged in such a
way that when cooled to exceptionally low temperatures, the materials show tiny, discrete packets
of magnetic charge. Now one of those teams has gone on to show that these "quasi-particles" of
magnetic charge can move together, forming a magnetic current just like the electric current
formed by moving electrons. The team ... showed that when the spin ice was placed in a magnetic
field, the monopoles piled up on one side - just like electrons would pile up when placed in an
electric field.

Solar Industry: No Breakthroughs Needed

2009-08-03, MIT Technology Review
http://www.technologyreview.com/energy/23108
The federal government is behind the times when it comes to making decisions about advancing
the solar industry, according to several solar-industry experts. This has led, they argue, to a
misplaced emphasis on research into futuristic new technologies, rather than support for scaling
up existing ones. That was the prevailing opinion at a symposium last week put together by the
National Academies in Washington, DC, on the topic of scaling up the solar industry. The meeting
was attended by numerous experts from the photovoltaic industry and academia. And many
complained that the emphasis on finding new technologies is misplaced. "This is such a fastmoving field," said Ken Zweibel, director of the Solar Institute at George Washington University.
"To some degree, we're fighting the last war. We're answering the questions from 5, 10, 15
years ago in a world where things have really changed." Industry experts at the Washington
symposium argued that new technologies will take decades to come to market, judging from how
long commercialization of other solar technologies has taken. Meanwhile, says Zweibel,

conventional technologies "have made the kind of progress that we were hoping futuristic
technologies could make." For example, researchers have sought to bring the cost of solar power
to under $1 per watt, and as of the first quarter of this year one company, First Solar, has done
this. These cost reductions have made solar power cheaper than the natural-gas-powered plants
used to produce extra electricity to meet demand on hot summer days.
Note: Interesting that MIT has reported this story, but none of the major media picked it up. Solar
energy will very likely be cheaper than oil-generated energy in under 10 years. For more on the
current state of solar, click here.

Portugal opens pioneer commercial wave power plant

2008-09-23, Reuters
http://www.reuters.com/article/marketsNews/idUSLN48037420080923
The world's first commercial power plant converting the energy of sea waves into electricity [has]
started working off Portugal's coast ... in a project that should be expanded nearly 10-fold over the
next few years. Three articulated steel "sea-snakes" moored to the seabed three miles off
Portugal's northern coast, each about the length of a nuclear submarine, generate a total of 2.25
megawatts, enough to supply 1,500 households with electricity. "It's logged into the national
grid, which makes it the world's first commercial wave power project," said Anthony
Kennaway, a spokesman for Babcock and Brown investment firm which runs the Agucadoura
project in northern Portugal. "We hope that in 15 years wave power will be where wind is now,
that is extremely competitive. Portugal could be for wave power what Denmark was for
wind," Kennaway said. Renewable energy, including water dams, accounts for 40 percent of
power consumption in Portugal. Some experts say wave energy could meet up to 20 percent of the
country's needs in the future. A total of 25 semi-submerged "sea-snakes" should be installed in the
next few years, boosting the ... capacity to 21 MW, Kennaway said. The machines, each 140
meters (yards) long and 3.5 meters in diameter, are positioned head-on towards the waves so that
its sections move with the waves. Each joint ... contains a hydraulic pump, which pumps highpressure liquid through motors that in their turn drive power generators. The energy is then
transmitted to a substation on shore via subsea cables.
Note: For lots more on new energy inventions from reliable sources, click here.

Intel gets into the wireless electricity game

2008-08-22, Scientific American
http://www.sciam.com/blog/60-second-science/post.cfm?id=intel-gets-into-the-w...
Are we closing in on laptops that can recharge without those annoying power cords? Yesterday
Intel, the world's largest chip manufacturer, demonstrated a form of wireless energy
transfer by lighting a 60-watt bulb from a power source three feet away, in an effect they
referred to as WREL (wireless resonant energy link). If the trick sounds familiar, that's because

researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) reported the same thing last
year under the moniker WiTricity. Two years ago, MIT researcher Marin Soljacic figured out a way
to transmit electricity via the magnetic field surrounding a charged loop of wire. A similar loop wired
up to a light bulb or another electrical device would draw power from that magnetic fieldno wires
attached. Soljacic and his colleagues reported a year later in Science they could transfer energy to
a 60-watt bulb with 50 percent efficiency from six feet away and 90 percent efficiency from three
feet. Intel announced they had achieved 75 percent efficiency from two to three feet away. An Intel
researcher contacted the MIT group with some technical questions after the study came out, says
Andre Kurs, an MIT PhD candidate and first author on the Science paper.
Note: Yet no mention is made of the fact that genius inventor Nikola Tesla may have developed
wireless electricity over a century ago. Click here for information on this. Some claim Tesla was
largely written out of history books because he threatened the establishment with the possibility of
nearly free electricity for all people. For more on this, click here.

Deals With Iraq Are Set to Bring Oil Giants Back

2008-06-19, New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/19/world/middleeast/19iraq.html?partner=rssuse...
Four Western oil companies are in the final stages of negotiations this month on contracts that will
return them to Iraq, 36 years after losing their oil concessions to nationalization as Saddam
Hussein rose to power. Exxon Mobil, Shell, Total and BP the original partners in the Iraq
Petroleum Company along with Chevron and a number of smaller oil companies, are in talks
with Iraqs Oil Ministry for no-bid contracts to service Iraqs largest fields. The deals, expected to
be announced on June 30, will lay the foundation for the first commercial work for the major
companies in Iraq since the American invasion, and open a new and potentially lucrative country
for their operations. The no-bid contracts are unusual for the industry, and the offers prevailed over
others by more than 40 companies, including companies in Russia, China and India. The contracts
[would] give the companies an advantage in bidding on future contracts. There was suspicion
among many in the Arab world and among parts of the American public that the United
States had gone to war in Iraq precisely to secure the oil wealth these contracts seek to
extract. The Bush administration has said that the war was necessary to combat terrorism.
Sensitive to the appearance that they were profiting from the war and already under pressure
because of record high oil prices, senior officials of two of the companies, speaking only on the
condition that they not be identified, said they were helping Iraq rebuild its decrepit oil industry.
Note: For many revealing reports from reliable sources on the real reasons behind the war in Iraq,
click here.

Israel backs Palo Alto man's electric car plan

2008-06-17, San Francisco Chronicle (San Francisco's leading newspaper)
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/06/17/MN1F112F1P.DTL

Shai Agassi, a Silicon Valley entrepreneur, pledges that he can beat the spiraling cost of gasoline
with the world's first mass-produced electric car. In January, Israel's government endorsed the
Palo Alto businessman's ambitious joint venture between his startup company - Project Better
Place - and Renault-Nissan. Agassi says he raised $200 million to get the $500 million dollar
project, which will include a network of charging and battery-exchange stations by 2010, off the
ground. Project Better Place also has signed an agreement with Denmark to begin a similar
operation by 2011. In Denmark, a pioneer in developing wind power, batteries are expected to be
recharged using wind-powered turbines. Agassi is banking on his electric-powered sedan
revolutionizing life on the roads, cleaning up the environment and reducing dependence on
oil. The cars are expected to have a range of up to 140 miles per charge and a top speed of
68 mph - the speed limit in Israel. Last month, he invited reporters to test-drive a prototype that
looks a lot like the Renault Megane, a four-door sedan. The car is noticeably quiet and has no
exhaust pipe, an electric socket in place of a gas cap and a dashboard gauge that measures the
charge of the vehicle's 450-pound lithium-ion battery. In the United States, Hawaii Gov. Linda
Lingle has said she is interested in her state becoming the first to embrace the electric-car
network. Mayor Gavin Newsom also has reportedly expressed interest in making San Francisco
the first U.S. metropolis to place electric cars on city roads.
Note: For reports of many exciting breakthroughs in energy development and automotive design,
click here.

Scientists unlock frozen natural gas

2008-04-16, Toronto Star
http://www.thestar.com/sciencetech/article/415215
A remote drilling rig high in the Mackenzie Delta has become the site of a breakthrough that could
one day revolutionize the world's energy supply. For the first time, Canadian and Japanese
researchers have managed to efficiently produce a constant stream of natural gas from ice-like
gas hydrates that, worldwide, dwarf all known fossil fuel deposits combined. "We were able to
sustain flow," said Scott Dallimore, the Geological Survey of Canada researcher in charge of the
remote Mallik drilling program. "It worked." For a decade now, Dallimore and scientists from a halfdozen other countries have been returning to a site on Richards Island on the very northwestern
tip of the Northwest Territories to study methane gas hydrates. A hydrate is created when a
molecule of gas in this case, methane or natural gas is trapped by high pressures and low
temperatures inside a cage of water molecules. The result is almost but not quite ice. It's more
like a dry, white slush suffusing the sand and gravel 1,000 metres beneath the Mallik rig. Heat or
unsqueeze the hydrate and gas is released. Hold a core sample to your ear and it hisses. More
significant is the fact that gas hydrates concentrate 164 times the energy of the same amount of
natural gas. And gas hydrate fields are found in abundance under the coastal waters of every
continent. Calculations suggest there's more energy in gas hydrates than in coal, oil and
conventional gas combined. Last month, the Mallik team became the first to use that method to get

a steady, consistent flow. "That went really well," said Dallimore. "We definitely demonstrated
that these hydrates are responsive enough that you can sustain flow. We were able to take
conventional technologies, modify them, and produce. That's a big step forward."
Note: For lots more information on new energy developments, click here.

'Eco-towns' target doubled by PM

2007-09-24, BBC
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/7010888.stm
Gordon Brown has promised to double the number of "eco-towns" to be built across the
UK from five to ten. The prime minister told the Labour conference in Bournemouth that a
positive response to the project had encouraged him to expand it. This showed "imagination", he
said, adding that eco-towns would help the government meet housebuilding targets. In May, Mr
Brown promised [that] communities of up to 100,000 low-carbon and carbon-neutral homes would
be built. Mr Brown told the Labour conference: "For the first time in nearly half a century we
will show the imagination to build new towns - eco-towns with low and zero-carbon homes.
And today, because of the responses we have received, we are announcing that instead of just
five new eco-towns we will now aim for ten - building thousands of new homes in every region of
the country." This would help boost housebuilding to 240,000 homes a year, he said. The eco-town
idea was the first major policy announcement made by Mr Brown as he began his campaign to
succeed Tony Blair as prime minister earlier this year. Constructed on old industrial sites, they will
be powered by locally generated energy from sustainable sources. The government said that, with
a month to go until the deadline, there had been about 30 expressions of interest in building ecotowns from councils, developers and others.

Practical Fusion, or Just a Bubble?

2007-02-27, New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/27/science/27fusion.html
A few small companies and maverick university laboratories, including ... one at U.C.L.A. run by
Seth Putterman, a professor of physics, are pursuing quixotic solutions for future energy, trying to
tap the power of the Sun hot nuclear fusion in devices that fit on a tabletop. Dr. Puttermans
approach is to use sound waves, called sonofusion or bubble fusion, to expand and collapse tiny
bubbles, generating ultrahot temperatures. At temperatures hot enough, atoms can literally fuse
and release even more energy than when they split in nuclear fission, now used in nuclear power
plants and weapons. Furthermore, fusion is clean in that it does not produce long-lived nuclear
waste. Dr. Putterman has not achieved fusion in his experiments. He and other scientists form a
small but devoted cadre interested in turning small-scale desktop fusion into usable systems.
Although success is far away, the principles seem sound. Achieving nuclear fusion, even in a
desktop device, is not particularly difficult. But building a fusion reactor that generates more energy
than it consumes is far more challenging. Impulse Devices, a small company in the small town of

Grass Valley, Calif., is exploring the same sound-driven fusion as Dr. Putterman, pushing forward
with venture capital financing. Its president, Ross Tessien, concedes that Impulse is a high-risk
investment, but the potential payoffs would be many. You solve the worlds pollution
problems, Mr. Tessien said. You eliminate the need for wars. You eliminate scarcity of
fuel. And it happens to be a very valuable market. So from a commercial point of view,
theres every incentive. From a moral point of view, theres every incentive. And its fun and
its exciting work.
Note: To read about a wide array of revolutionary energy technologies, click here.

Oil refiners' golden age of profits

2006-04-27, San Francisco Chronicle (San Francisco's leading newspaper)
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/04/27/MNG52IG4LV1.DTL
High crude oil prices aren't the only reason you're paying $3.15 for a gallon of regular. For
America's giant gasoline refiners...this is a golden age. By California state estimates, refinery profit
margins have more than doubled in 2006, though that figure doesn't take into account some key
expenses. Meanwhile, oil prices have risen by 14 percent. Oil industry critics hunting for proof
of price gouging point to refineries' expanding profit margins as evidence. Critics say the
companies deliberately closed many U.S. refineries years ago as a way to drive up their
margins. The country now has 144 refineries, down from 324 in 1981. "The refining business
used to be pretty lousy, but they took very aggressive actions to correct that," said Tyson Slocum,
director of the energy program at the Public Citizen watchdog group. "They're choosing not to build
new refineries because it's not in their economic interest." Exact profit margins for the industry are
difficult to track, because the companies involved don't reveal financial details. The California
Energy Commission publishes a loose weekly estimate, measuring the difference between what
the state's 21 refineries pay for crude oil and what they charge for their products. Since the start of
the year, that figure has jumped 130 percent, from 30 cents for each gallon of finished gasoline to
69 cents last week. During the same time, the price refiners pay for crude oil has increased 14
percent.

The Oil Sands Of Alberta

2006-01-22, CBS News
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/01/20/60minutes/main1225184.shtml
Theres an oil boom going on right now. Not in Saudi Arabia or Kuwait or any of those places,
but...in Alberta, Canada. The oilmen up there are...digging up dirt -- dirt that is saturated with oil.
Theyre called oil sands, and if youve never heard of them then youre in for a big surprise
because the reserves are so vast in the province of Alberta that they will help solve
Americas energy needs for the next century. Within a few years, the oil sands are likely to
become more important to the United States than all the oil that comes to us from Saudi Arabia.
There are 175 billion barrels of proven oil reserves here. Thats second to Saudi Arabias 260

billion but its only what companies can get with todays technology. The estimate of how many
more barrels of oil are buried deeper underground is staggering. "We know theres much, much
more there. The total estimates could be two trillion or even higher," says Clive Mather, Shell's
Canada chief. "This is a very, very big resource." Very big? Thats eight times the amount of
reserves in Saudi Arabia.
Note: For those who fear oil shortages and an energy crisis, here's yet another example of huge,
untapped
energy
reserves.
For
many
other,
cleaner
options,
see
http://www.WantToKnow.info/newenergyinformation

Forecaster leaves job to pursue weather theories

2005-09-23, Idaho State Journal
http://www.journalnet.com/articles/2005/09/23/news/local/news05.txt
Scott Stevens is...the face of the weather at KPVI News Channel 6. The Pocatello native made his
final Channel 6 forecast Thursday night, leaving a job he's held for nine years in order to pursue
his weather theories on a full-time basis. Since Katrina, Stevens has been in newspapers across
the country. On Wednesday, Stevens was interviewed by Fox News firebrand Bill O'Reilly. Stevens
said he received 30 requests to do radio interviews on Thursday alone. Although the theories
espoused by Stevens - scalar weapons, global dimming - are definitely on the scientific
fringe today, there are thousands of Web sites that mention such phenomena. "The Soviets
boasted of their geoengineering capabilities; these impressive accomplishments must be
taken at face value simply because we are observing weather events that simply have never
occurred before, never!" Stevens wrote on his Web site. To learn more about Stevens and his
thoughts on manipulated weather, check out his Web site at www.weatherwars.info, or go to
www.journalnet.com/articles/2005/03/06/opinion/opinion04.txt.

Cold-war device used to cause Katrina?

2005-09-20, USA Today/Associated Press
http://www.usatoday.com/weather/climate/2005-09-20-wacky-weatherman_x.htm
An Idaho weatherman says Japan's Yakuza mafia used a Russian-made electromagnetic
generator to cause Hurricane Katrina in a bid to avenge itself for the Hiroshima atom bomb
attack. Meteorologist Scott Stevens, a nine-year veteran of KPVI-TV in Pocatello, said he was
struggling to forecast weather patterns starting in 1998 when he discovered the theory on the
Internet. It's now detailed on Stevens' website, www.weatherwars.info. Stevens...says a littleknown oversight in physical laws makes it possible to create and control storms -- especially if
you're armed with the Cold War-era weapon said to have been made by the Russians in 1976.
Stevens' bosses at KPVI-TV say their employee can think and say what he wants as long as he
keeps the station out of the debate and acknowledges that his views are his own opinion. Bill
Fouch, KPVI's general manager, said. "He's very knowledgeable about weather, and he's very
popular."

Note: Former U.S. Secretary of Defense William S. Cohen in a 1997 news briefing stated: "Others
are engaging even in an eco-type of terrorism whereby they can alter the climate, set off
earthquakes, volcanoes remotely through the use of electromagnetic waves." To verify this quote
on the U.S. Department of Defense website, click here. If terrorist organizations have the capability
to set off earthquakes and other major natural disasters, do you think huge military research
laboratories might have some of the same capabilities? For more, click here and here.

Freezing gas prices

2005-05-25, NBC Oklahoma City
http://www.kfor.com/Global/story.asp?s=3390503
There is a man who fills up his tank once every two months. One tank of gas, literally, lasts him
two months. He is freezing the price of gas by freezing something else. David Hutchison is a
Cryogenics expert. He built this Cryo-Process himself. A few years ago he began an experiment
on his hybrid Honda, freezing the engine components. The results were a fuel-efficiency dream. A
hybrid Honda typically gets really great gas mileage anyway, around 50 miles to the gallon,
but David Hutchison's cryogenically tempered engine has been known to get close to 120
miles a gallon. Racers have picked up on David's trick of cryogenically freezing car parts. It is
now widely accepted among NASCAR and Indy-car racers.
Note: Why isn't this front-page headlines with rapid development for use by us all?

100 MPG Car Heralded by London Times in 2002 - Where is it now?

2004-12-02, WantToKnow.info/London Times
http://www.WantToKnow.info/carmileage
Note: The Toyota Eco Spirit was the talk of the fuel economy car industry in 2002. At over 100
MPG and with the lowest exhaust emissions and a very reasonable sticker price, the Eco
Spirit's debut was widely anticipated (see London Times article). Now, over two years later,
what happened to it? If you do an Internet search, you will find that Toyota decided not to be move
forward with it. Why in these times of soaring oil prices would they not rush this car into mass
production?

Midwest Oil fined for selling gas too cheaply

2006-02-24, Star Tribune (Leading newspaper of Minneapolis-St. Paul)
http://www.startribune.com/535/story/267143.html
The Minnesota Commerce Department on Thursday announced plans to fine a gas station
chain $140,000 for repeatedly selling gas below the state's legal minimum price. The fine
against Midwest Oil of Minnesota is twice as large as any imposed on a company since 2001,
when the state established a formula based on wholesale prices, fees and taxes to determine a

daily floor for gas prices. The price law was intended to prevent large oil companies from driving
smaller competitors out of business, but some critics argue it fails to protect consumers. According
to the Commerce Department, the Midwest-owned stations in Anoka, Oakdale and Albert Lea sold
gas below the minimum price on 293 days in 2005. Kevin Murphy, deputy commissioner of the
department, called the violations "willful, continuing, and egregious and warrant a substantial
penalty."

Zenn and the art of small, electric vehicles

2008-08-15, MSNBC/Forbes Autos
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26140663
It might sound surprising, but all-electric vehicles are already on American roads. They just haven't
quite made it to the highway yet. A growing cottage industry of Neighborhood Electric Vehicle
[NEV] manufacturers is spurring the development of cars like the Zenn, which has reached a state
of vehicular enlightenment so advanced it doesn't even need a tail pipe. "We saw this car in May of
'06, and all of us were just freaking out: 'Finally, a car!'" said Steve Mayeda, sales manager at
Seattle-based MC Electric Vehicles, which sells 30 percent of Zenn's U.S. inventory, in addition to
electric vehicles made by Columbia, Canadian EV, E-Ride and Miles. "Zenn was the first
neighborhood electric car that actually looked and felt and drove like a real car. Everything
else before that was either a converted golf cart or a car that was built from the ground up."
NEVs are silent, have no tailpipe emissions (or tailpipes, for that matter) and plug into electrical
outlets like vacuum cleaners. They come in two varieties: Low-Speed Electric Vehicles, which have
a top speed of about 25 miles per hour and are restricted to roads where the speed limit is 35
miles per hour or less; and Medium-Speed Electric Vehicles, which reach 35 mph and are allowed
on roads with a posted speed of up to 45 mph. They're exempt from federal safety regulations that
mandate impact-absorbing bumpers and airbags. But to be street legal, NEVs must have threepoint seat belts, windshields with wipers, headlights, brake lights, rearview mirrors and turn
signals.
Note: Note: For a fun, six-minute video demonstration of the Zenn, click here.

Dealer ... says tactics used by Shell are unfair to operators

2007-05-10, San Francisco Chronicle (San Francisco's leading newspaper)
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2007/05/10/MNGUKPOGKJ1.DTL
At Bob Oyster's Shell station ... putting the price way up over $4 a gallon isn't about making a
profit. It's about making a statement to a multinational corporation. After Shell forced him to pay
higher prices for gas in San Francisco and jacked up his rent, Oyster says, he decided to fight
back. Far from making a huge profit, Oyster is going out of business. He has operated the Shell
station at Sixth and Harrison for 22 years, but he's walking away from it at the end of the month.
"I'm getting nothing for the station,'' he says. At a time when the oil companies are posting
record profits, the little guys are struggling to stay in business. And many, like Oyster, are

giving up the fight. "The dealer can no longer be competitive,'' says Dennis DeCota,
executive director of the California Service Station and Automotive Repair Association.
"The companies are squeezing these guys out. It's just wrong.'' Oyster says his rent has gone up
exponentially. Fifteen years ago it was $1,000 a month. Then it went to $6,000, then $8,000. This
year Shell came back with a demand of $13,000. DeCota and Oyster see [a] sinister motive: If the
dealers like them leave, a company like Shell can run its stations with its own employees and set
its own pump prices. "That way they really are controlling it from the well head to the gas pump,''
says DeCota. While the price per gallon gets all the attention, Oyster says the little secret of
independent dealers is that, like movie theater operators, they make their profit on the extras -snacks, drinks and other items.
Note: When the big oil boys supposedly believe in the "trickle down" theory, why are they not
sharing any of their huge profits with their dealers? And why is there so little reporting on the
arbitrary raising of gas prices?

Fastest Train in the World Hits France

2007-04-03, ABC News
http://abcnews.go.com/International/story?id=3004116
France's famous high-speed train, the TGV, broke its 17-year-old world speed record today
when it hit a top speed of 357.2 mph. Another French train held the previous rail train record, set
in 1990, of 320.2 mph. Normal TGV trains have a cruising speed of 186 mph. Japan holds the
absolute speed record for a train, with its magnetically levitated Maglev train that floats over a
guideway on a magnetic field without ever touching the track. The Maglev set a record of 361 mph
in 2003.
Note: A CNN report states that the fastest train in the U.S. is the Acela, with a top speed of 150
mph. The same report notes "the top speed for most passenger trains outside the Northeast
Corridor ... is 79 mph." Another CNN article comments "Japan's Shinkansen trains, introduced just
before the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, regularly hit 186 mph." Why are American trains so backward
compared to the rest of the world? Could it have anything to do with oil? For more, click here.

Exxon Mobil Posts New Record for Profit

2005-10-27, ABC/Associated Press
http://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory?id=1255549
Exxon Mobil Corp. had a quarter for the record books. The world's largest publicly traded oil
company said Thursday high oil and natural-gas prices helped its third-quarter profit surge
almost 75 percent to $9.92 billion, the largest quarterly profit for a U.S. company ever, and it
was the first to ring up more than $100 billion in quarterly sales. The hurricanes slashed

Exxon Mobil's U.S. production volumes by 50,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day, down nearly 5
percent year-over-year, costing the company $45 million before taxes. The company said total
daily production slipped to 2.45 million barrels of oil equivalent from 2.51 million barrels.
Note: Isn't it amazing that though oil production fell, and though we all are paying much higher gas
prices, Exxon Mobil earned the largest profits ever in the same quarter as Hurricane Katrina?
Wouldn't it be nice if during a national catastrophe the oil companies were willing to drop their
prices and suffer a little with the rest of us?

Scientists Create Very First Solar Battery that Stores its Own Power
2014-10-03, Science World Report
http://www.scienceworldreport.com/articles/17672/20141003/scientists-create-v...
Scientists may have created the very first solar battery. Researchers have succeeded in combining
a battery and a solar cell into one hybrid device, which could be huge in terms of renewable
energy capture and storage. "The state of the art is to use a solar panel to capture the light, and
then use a cheap battery to store the energy," said Yiying Wu, one of the researchers, in a news
release. "We've integrated both functions into one device. Any time you can do that, you reduce
cost." The key to the new device is a mesh solar panel, which allows air to enter the battery.
There's also a special process for transferring electrons between the solar panel and the battery
electrode; inside the device, light and oxygen enable different parts of the chemical reactions that
charge the battery. "Basically, it's a breathing battery," said Wu. "It breathes in air when it
discharges, and breathes out when it charges." The mesh solar panel forms the first electrode.
Beneath the mesh is a thin sheet of porous carbon, which acts as the second electrode, and a
lithium plate, which acts as the third electrode. Between the electrodes are layers of electrolyte to
carry electrons back and forth. During charging, light hits the mesh solar panel and creates
electrons. Then inside the battery, electrons are involved in the chemical decomposition of lithium
peroxide into lithium ions and oxygen. The oxygen is released into the air, and the lithium ions are
stored in the battery as lithium metal after capturing the electrons. The findings could be huge in
terms of creating sustainable energy for powering a variety of devices. Currently, the
researchers are continuing to move forward in improving the efficiency of the battery and
the amount of power the panel can absorb and convert. The findings are published in the
journal Nature.
Note: For astounding major media articles on new energy inventions which have gotten very little
press, explore this webpage. Explore a treasure trove of concise summaries of incredibly inspiring
news articles which will inspire you to make a difference.

Revolution in use of resources in order to meet demand

2014-08-16, San Francisco Chronicle (SF's leading newspaper)
http://www.sfgate.com/business/article/Revolution-in-use-of-resources-in-orde...

For years, pundits have warned that the world's soaring population ... will usher in an age of
scarcity. We already have a hard time supplying 7 billion people with food, with energy, with water.
What happens when we hit 9 billion, the Earth's projected population in 2050? Stefan Heck and
Matt Rogers say the resources are there - and the way we use them is about to undergo radical
change. In their new book, Resource Revolution, they argue that information technology and
advanced materials science, combined with new business models, will enable companies
and societies to do far more with far less. It will be, they claim, a jump in productivity and
efficiency greater than anything seen before. Heck, who teaches resource economics at
Stanford University, and Rogers, a director of the McKinsey & Co. consulting firm, spoke with The
Chronicle. Q: So current forecasts call for the world to add 2 billion people by 2050. Do we have
the resources to give them a decent standard of living? Rogers: Take an example California faces
right now - water. If you look at the next 20 years, we need to double the economic output for every
unit of water we use. The good news is, in agriculture, we have a set of technologies where we
can get much higher yields with the water that's available. Q: How about energy? Rogers: This
resource revolution affects both how we produce and consume energy. With the dramatic
increases in fuel economy we're seeing, from electrification and hybrids but also improvements in
the internal combustion energy, you see an ability to improve the use of energy.
Note: For more on this, see concise summaries of deeply revealing energy news articles from
reliable major media sources.

Space Engine Breaks Laws of Physics?

2014-08-05, Popular Mechanics
http://www.popularmechanics.com/how-to/blog/pmam-impossible-space-engine-2482607
NASA has tested a microwave thruster that seemingly violates the law of conservation of
momentum. Originally reported by Wired, the technology bounces microwaves around to create
thrust. British engineer Roger Shawyer designed the original and dubbed it the Emdrive. If the
Emdrive actually works, it could be a game changer in the spacecraft business because it
doesn't require propellant. Propellant is heavy, and once a spacecraft runs out of it, it loses the
ability to change direction. Space historian Amy Shira Teitel makes an interesting point on the
website Motherboard: "If a spacecraft, say a deep space probe like New Horizons, which is less
than a year from its encounter with Pluto, didnt need propellant, that extra weight and space could
be devoted to scientific instruments, larger solar arrays, or a larger power source." Last year, a
Chinese team made an Emdrive and reported that they had created enough thrust to move a small
satellite. NASA spent eight days testing an Emdrive that was built by Guido Fetta, an inventor
based out of the Philadelphia metropolitan area. The lab detected a thrust of 30-50 microNewtons,
about 1/20 of what the Chinese team measured. On a side note, the NASA lab doing the testing is
the same one that is trying to develop the Alcubierre warp drive, another pie-in-the-sky idea. We'll
know more once NASA publishes everything (right now, only the abstract is available) and outside
experts weigh in on the experiment and data.

Note: For more along these lines, see a related summary about NASA's attempts to make a ship
that travels through space without propellant, and read more about new energy technology.

Fracking is depleting water supplies in America's driest areas, report

shows
2014-02-05, The Guardian (One of the UK's leading newspapers)
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/feb/05/fracking-water-america-dro...
America's oil and gas rush is depleting water supplies in the driest and most drought-prone areas
of the country, from Texas to California, new research has found. Of the nearly 40,000 oil and gas
wells drilled since 2011, three-quarters were located in areas where water is scarce, and 55%
were in areas experiencing drought, the report by the Ceres investor network found. Fracking
those wells used 97bn gallons of water, raising new concerns about unforeseen costs of America's
energy rush. "Hydraulic fracturing is increasing competitive pressures for water in some of
the country's most water-stressed and drought-ridden regions," said Mindy Lubber,
president of the Ceres green investors' network. Without new tougher regulations on water
use, she warned industry could be on a "collision course" with other water users. "It's a
wake-up call," said Prof James Famiglietti, a hydrologist at the University of California, Irvine. "[I]t
is time to have a conversation about what impacts there are, and do our best to try to minimise any
damage." It can take millions of gallons of fresh water to frack a single well, and much of the
drilling is tightly concentrated in areas where water is in chronically short supply, or where there
have been multi-year droughts. Half of the 97bn gallons of water was used to frack wells in Texas,
which has experienced severe drought for years. "Shale producers are having significant impacts
at the county level, especially in smaller rural counties with limited water infrastructure capacity,"
the report said.
Note: For more on corporate corruption, see the deeply revealing reports from reliable major
media sources available here.

Solar industry job growth jumped 20% in 2013

2014-01-27, San Francisco Chronicle (SF's leading newspaper)
http://www.sfgate.com/business/article/Solar-industry-job-growth-jumped-20-in...
Job growth in 2013 stayed sluggish for much of the American economy. But for solar companies, it
was a banner year. Employment in the U.S. solar industry jumped 20 percent in 2013 to hit
142,698. The number of solar jobs across the country has grown 53 percent since 2010. Last
year, the industry added 56 U.S. jobs per day, on average. "That growth is putting people back to
work and helping local economies," said Andrea Luecke, executive director of the Solar
Foundation. Her research and advocacy group has issued its National Solar Jobs Census every
year since 2010. Nearly half of all U.S. solar workers counted in the most recent survey install
systems, rather than make the equipment. Installation employed 69,658 people across the country
last year, up from 57,177 in 2012. Solar manufacturing, in contrast, employed 29,851 people in the

United States, a slight increase from 29,742 the previous year. In 2012, California had 43,700 solar
jobs, 37 percent of the nationwide total. The Golden State is the nation's largest solar market, and
many of the country's biggest solar companies - including SolarCity, SunPower and Sunrun - call it
home. The survey found that the average installer earned about $20 per hour in 2013.
Note: For more on exciting energy developments, see the deeply revealing reports from reliable
major media sources available here. For a treasure trove of great news articles which will inspire
you to make a difference, click here.

Santa Clara, Stanford compete in Solar Decathlon

2013-09-07, San Francisco Chronicle (SF's leading newspaper)
http://www.sfgate.com/business/article/Santa-Clara-Stanford-compete-in-Solar-...
Designed by students, the small blue house wedged onto a corner of the Santa Clara University
campus generates all the electricity it needs. And it needs very little. Solar cells blanket most of the
roof. A separate solar array heats water. Pipes in the ceiling circulate cold water to keep the house
cool. A mobile phone app controls the lights and windows. Dubbed Radiant House, the building is
the university's entry in this year's Solar Decathlon, an international student competition to create
energy-efficient houses that run their systems and appliances on sunlight. To win, the houses
can't just be a collection of technologies. They have to feel inviting and livable. Judges
grade them on comfort and curb appeal in addition to innovation. This year's decathlon
culminates next month in Orange County, when 20 university teams present their homes to
judges drawn from the fields of architecture, development and renewable energy. First held
in 2002, the Solar Decathlon runs in two-year cycles, giving teams enough time to design, finance
and build their creations. This year, students from two Bay Area schools - Santa Clara and
Stanford University - will compete against teams from as far afield as Austria and the Czech
Republic. The contest rules require that the houses can't be larger than 1,000 square feet and
must produce at least as much energy as they consume over the course of a week. Solar panels
donated by Bosch Solar Energy coat the central room's tilted roof and can generate up to 7.14
kilowatts of electricity, more than a typical home array. The panels rest on a new type of rack,
made by startup company Sunplanter, that is integrated into the structure of the roof.
Note: For a treasure trove of great news articles which will inspire you to make a difference, click
here.

U.S. has energy trade surplus with China

2013-03-06, San Francisco Chronicle (SF's leading newspaper)
http://www.sfgate.com/business/article/U-S-has-energy-trade-surplus-with-Chin...
American clean-energy companies racked up a $1.6 billion trade surplus with China in 2011. The
report from the Pew Charitable Trusts contradicts the widely held belief that China has overtaken
U.S. leadership in clean technologies. According to Pew's research, the U.S. solar industry held a

$913 million trade surplus with China in 2011. American wind companies boasted a $146 million
surplus. And U.S. "energy smart technologies" - a catch-all category Pew used to survey makers
of advanced batteries, light-emitting diodes and electric cars - scored a $571 million trade surplus
with China. China exports to the United States items that lend themselves to mass production,
such as solar cells and modules. U.S. companies sell to China items that require advanced
engineering, such as electronic control systems and manufacturing equipment. The United States
also sells more specialized materials used in clean-tech products, such as polysilicon for solar
cells and fiberglass for wind turbine blades. Competition among clean-tech companies in
China and the United States has strained relations between the two countries. American
authorities have slapped import tariffs on Chinese solar panels, and the Chinese
government has threatened to retaliate. And yet the Chinese and American clean-tech
industries are deeply intertwined, according to the Pew report. In 2011, the latest year data
were available, trade in alternative energy technologies between the two countries reached $8.5
billion.
Note: For deeply revealing reports from reliable major media sources on energy development,
click here.

Solar, wind power get Pentagon boost

2012-08-06, San Francisco Chronicle (San Francisco's leading newspaper)
http://www.sfgate.com/business/article/Solar-wind-power-get-Pentagon-boost-37...
The U.S. Defense Department will encourage companies to build solar power plants and
wind farms on 16 million acres of open land surrounding military bases, making each base
less dependent on the nation's aging electricity grid. The plan ... will help the military cut its
$4 billion annual energy bill and help insulate bases from blackouts. A study the Defense
Department released this year found that the lands surrounding four military installations in
Southern California alone could generate seven gigawatts of solar energy, equivalent to the output
of seven nuclear reactors. But the plan will not focus solely on the desert Southwest. Federal
officials also will study the possibility of creating offshore wind farms near military bases along the
country's coasts. Solar, wind, geothermal and biomass facilities developed near military bases will
be used primarily to power those facilities. But the projects will be big enough that the private
companies that finance and build them will be able to sell some excess energy to other users.
Note: For reports from reliable major media sources on energy developments, click here.

Google gets license to operate driverless cars in Nevada

2012-05-07, CNN
http://edition.cnn.com/2012/05/07/tech/nevada-driveless-car/index.html

Nevada [has become] the first [state] to approve a license for "autonomous vehicles" -- in other
words, cars that cruise, twist and turn without the need for a driver -- on its roads. The license goes
to Google. Engineer and Google X founder Sebastian Thrun said that the self-driving vehicle
project aims "to help prevent traffic accidents, free up people's time and reduce carbon emissions
by fundamentally changing car use." He noted that the "automated cars use video cameras,
radio sensors and a laser range finder to 'see' other traffic, as well as detailed maps ... to
navigate the road ahead." There is no driver needed, though one is typically in the front
seat ready to take control if need be. Earlier this spring, Google said it had "safely
completed over 200,000 miles of computer-led driving." Nevada issued a special license after
demonstrations on state freeways, state highways, in Carson City neighborhoods and on Las
Vegas' landmark Las Vegas Strip, the state's Department of Motor Vehicles said in a news release.
All such cars on the road are "test" vehicles for now, though the state signaled it intends to be "at
the forefront of autonomous vehicle development."
Note: For reports from major media sources on new automotive and energy inventions, click here.

Global Automakers to Demo EV Fast Charging at EVS26

2012-05-03, MarketWatch/PR Newswire
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/global-automakers-to-demo-ev-fast-charging-a...
Global automakers from the United States and Germany will demonstrate fast-charging
technology that will enable the recharging of most electrified vehicles with compatible
systems in as little as 15-20 minutes. Audi, BMW, Chrysler, Daimler, Ford, General Motors,
Porsche and Volkswagen have agreed to support a harmonized single-port fast charging approach
- called DC-fast charging with a Combined Charging System - for use on electric vehicles in
Europe and the United States. Live charging demonstrations [were] conducted during the Electric
Vehicle Symposium 26 (EVS26) May 6-9. The combined charging system integrates one-phase
AC-charging, fast three-phase AC-charging, DC-charging at home and ultra-fast DC-charging at
public stations into one vehicle inlet. This will allow customers to charge at most existing charging
stations regardless of power source and may speed more affordable adoption of a standardized
infrastructure. The International Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) has chosen the Combined
Charging System as the fast-charging methodology for a standard. The standard is to be officially
published this summer. ACEA, the European association of vehicle manufacturers has also
selected the Combined Charging System as its AC/DC-charging interface for all new vehicle types
in Europe beginning in 2017.
Note: How sad that an Internet search turned up no major media reporting this important and
inspiring news. For lots more from reliable sources on new developments in automotive and
alternative energy technologies, click here.

Livermore Lab - perception versus reality

2011-06-28, San Francisco Chronicle (San Francisco's leading newspaper)

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/06/28/EDRD1K37RR.DTL
Look at the Department of Energy's 2012 budget request for the Livermore Lab and it becomes
apparent that PR has an inverse relationship to budget. Some 89 percent of the funds are for
nuclear weapons activities. Yet, more than 89 percent of the press releases showcase
programs like renewable energy and science that receive less than 3 percent of the
spending. This has caused many to believe that Livermore Lab is converting from nuclear
weapons to civilian science. A major consequence of the chasm between public perception and
where the money actually goes is that science at Livermore continues to exist on the margins underfunded, understaffed and at the mercy of the 800-pound gorilla of the nuclear weapons
budget. Consider the many benefits of transitioning Livermore from nuclear-weapons design to a
"green lab," focused on nonpolluting energy development, climate research, basic sciences,
nonproliferation and environmental cleanup. Livermore Lab is uniquely qualified to contribute in
these areas. The lab already employs the right mix of physicists, other scientists, engineers,
materials specialists, and support personnel for these undertakings.
Note: To learn more about how the public is being massively deceived around war and weapons
spending, read what a top U.S. general had to say about this at this link.

For Those Near, the Miserable Hum of Clean Energy

2010-10-06, New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/06/business/energy-environment/06noise.html
Like nearly all of the residents on this island in Penobscot Bay, Art Lindgren and his wife, Cheryl,
celebrated the arrival of three giant wind turbines late last year. That was before they were turned
on. In the first 10 minutes, our jaws dropped to the ground, Mr. Lindgren said. Nobody in the
area could believe it. They were so loud. Now, the Lindgrens, along with a dozen or so neighbors
living less than a mile from the $15 million wind facility here, say the industrial whoosh-and-whoop
of the 123-foot blades is making life in this otherwise tranquil corner of the island unbearable. They
are among a ... growing number of families and homeowners across the country who say they
have learned the hard way that wind power ... is not without emissions of its own. Lawsuits and
complaints about turbine noise, vibrations and subsequent lost property value have [been brought]
in Illinois, Texas, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Massachusetts, among other states. The quality of
life that we came here for was quiet, Mrs. Lindgren said. You dont live in a place where you have
to take an hour-and-15-minute ferry ride to live next to an industrial park. And thats where we are
right now. The wind industry has long been dogged by ... complaints about turbines,
[including] that they have direct physiological impacts like rapid heart beat, nausea and
blurred vision caused by the ultra-low-frequency sound and vibrations from the machines.
Note: National Wind Watch is a clearinghouse for information on industrial wind energy. The
Society for Wind Vigilance is an international group of physicians, engineers and other
professionals who are promoting guidelines for appropriate siting of industrial wind turbines and
independent third-party research to mitigate risks to public health.

Dearth of financing stalls inventor of 110-mpg engine

2010-05-28, Toledo Blade (Toledo's leading newspaper)
http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100528/BUSINESS07/5280334
A year ago, hundreds of people flocked to a 100,000-square-foot former factory building in
Wauseon's industrial area where a Napoleon, Ohio, inventor promised to begin building engines
that would travel more than 110 miles on a gallon of E85 gasoline. But time and the economy have
not been kind to Doug Pelmear's plan to revolutionize the American automobile. The factory today
is largely dark and empty, Mr. Pelmear's dreams of putting northwest Ohioans back to work
are still constrained within two file drawers full of job applications, and his hopes of massproducing his HP2g engine have fallen victim to a lack of funding. "We can't get the banks
to look at us," Mr. Pelmear said yesterday. Mr. Pelmear said he hasn't sought money from more
traditional capital sources such as investors, selling stock or bonded indebtedness, because such
sources would likely cost him control of HP2g LLC - something he's unwilling to provide. A
partnership Mr. Pelmear forged with Revenge Designs Inc., a Decatur, Ind. specialty carmaker that
had planned to use his engine in its upcoming "Verde" supercar, dissolved this spring.
Note: For a treasure trove of exciting reports on new automotive and new energy technologies,
click here.

On different wavelengths over EMFs

2010-02-15, Los Angeles Times
http://www.latimes.com/features/health/la-he-electromagnetic15-2010feb15,0,33...
Three years ago, at the age of 48, Camilla Rees had to leave her apartment in downtown San
Francisco. Not because of the rent, she says, but because of the radiation. Her personal radiation
meter -- yes, such things exist -- spiked after a lawyer couple moved in next door. Rees says she
quickly lost her ability to think clearly. "I was unfocused, as if I had suddenly come down
with ADHD. I would wake up dizzy in the morning. I'd collapse to the floor. I had to leave to
escape that nightmare." Rees asked the neighbors if they had installed a new Wi-Fi router, and
sure enough they had, on the wall near Rees' bed. Since then, Rees, a former investment banker,
has been on a crusade against low-level electromagnetic fields, or EMFs, of all types, including the
microwave radiation that flows from cellphones and cellphone towers. She co-wrote the 2009 book
Public Health SOS: The Shadow Side of the Wireless Revolution, one of many recent books to
warn against the dangers of EMFs, and founded the website electromagnetichealth.org.
Note: For many key reports from major media sources on health issues, click here.

One quarter of US grain crops fed to cars - not people, new figures
show
2010-01-22, The Guardian (One of the UK's leading newspapers)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/jan/22/quarter-us-grain-biofuels-food

One-quarter of all the maize and other grain crops grown in the US now ends up as biofuel in cars
rather than being used to feed people, according to new analysis which suggests that the biofuel
revolution launched by former President George Bush in 2007 is impacting on world food supplies.
The 2009 figures from the US Department of Agriculture shows ethanol production rising to record
levels driven by farm subsidies and laws which require vehicles to use increasing amounts of
biofuels. "The grain grown to produce fuel in the US [in 2009] was enough to feed 330
million people for one year at average world consumption levels," said Lester Brown, the
director of the Earth Policy Institute, a Washington thinktank ithat conducted the analysis.
According to Brown, the growing demand for US ethanol derived from grains helped to push world
grain prices to record highs between late 2006 and 2008. In 2008, the Guardian revealed a secret
World Bank report that concluded that the drive for biofuels by American and European
governments had pushed up food prices by 75%, in stark contrast to US claims that prices had
risen only 2-3% as a result. Since then, the number of hungry people in the world has increased to
over 1 billion people, according to the UN's World Food programme.

Jay Leno gets rare Chrysler, author gets plug for book
2009-08-03, Detroit News
http://detnews.com/article/20090803/OPINION03/908030315/Jay-Leno-gets-rare-Ch...
If not for the Finnish American Reporter, Steve Lehto would never have eaten barbecued chicken
in Jay Leno's garage after taking a ride in a car that sounds like a vacuum cleaner. Also, Lehto
wouldn't have finally found an agent for his book [Chrysler's Turbine Car: The Rise and Fall of
Detroit's Coolest Creation] about the Chrysler Turbine. The Chrysler Turbine was essentially a
stylish, bronze-colored, four-seat sedan with a jet engine. It could run on gasoline,
kerosene, or just about anything else, including Chanel No. 5 and tequila. Of the 55 that
Chrysler produced, none were sold to the public, and all but nine were destroyed when the
experiment ended. A collector in Indiana owns one. Museums have five. Chrysler had three -and now one of them is [Jay] Leno's. "He offered to let me drive it if I was ever in town," Lehto
says, "which I just happened to be, as soon as I could get tickets." Yelps and cheers from
bystanders as they cruised the streets of Burbank. Cuisine from a grill in one of Leno's garages.
Another ride in a steam-powered 1907 White. More yelps and cheers. Also, an offer from Leno. If
it'll help sell the book, he'll write a [foreword]. It does help; a New York agent has agreed to shop it
around. Lehto is still in car-buff heaven. "I was 3 feet across from Jay Leno," he marvels, "having
lunch."
Note: This amazing engine could run on vegetable oil and more. Why didn't it get more publicity?
For lots more fascinating information on the engine, click here. For why it never got developed,
click here.

Can the Military Find the Answer to Alternative Energy?

2009-07-23, BusinessWeek magazine

http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/09_31/b4141032537895.htm
The big drive to create a viable alternative-energy future by Detroit, multinationals such
as IBM and BP, and Silicon Valley startups is well-known. But there's another serious
player in this sphere: the U.S. military, and especially DARPA [the Defense Advanced
Research Projects Agency]. Created at the height of the Cold War to bolster U.S. military
technology following the Soviet Union's Sputnik satellite launch, the agency has a long history of
innovation. Most famously, DARPA's researchers first linked together computers at four locations
in the early 1960s to form the ARPANET, a computer network for researchers that was the core of
what eventually grew into the Internet. Other breakthroughs have helped lead to the commercial
development of semiconductors, GPS, and UNIX, the widely used computer operating system.
Can DARPA now score another double success by changing how both the military and civilian
worlds consume and produce energy? DARPA's first goal is always to magnify the might of the
U.S. armed forces. That's why Arlington (Va.)-based DARPA is devoting an estimated $100 million
of its $3 billion annual budget to alternative energy. DARPA describes itself as an incubator of
long-shot technologies too risky for almost anyone else to take on. The agency operates by issuing
challenges to companies that are so tough they are called "DARPA-hard." Typically, DARPA
requires contractors to come up with solutions that are orders of magnitude superior to current
technology. In addition to spurring the development of palm-size fuel cells, DARPA has contracted
with companies to miniaturize solar cells that would supplant the need for generators.

Bid to classify cloud formation

2009-06-02, BBC News
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/somerset/8077787.stm
A cloudspotter from Somerset believes he has identified a new type of cloud. Gavin Pretor-Pinney,
from Somerton, who also founded the Cloud Appreciation Society, wants recognition for what he
has named the asperatus cloud. He said: "It looks quite violent - as if you are looking up from
underneath the turbulent surface of the sea." Weather forecaster Michael Fish told BBC Radio 4's
Today programme he thinks it is caused by a mixing of two air masses or the bottom of a storm
cloud. Mr Pretor-Pinney, who wrote the Cloudspotter's Guide ... asked his cousin - who is a Latin
teacher - for a word that means choppy or turbulent that is used to describe the sea to name the
cloud after. "Asperatus comes from the Latin verb aspero meaning 'to roughen up' or 'agitate'," he
said. "It was used by the poet Virgil to describe the surface of a choppy sea." Mr Fish said he was
"quite amazed" by pictures showing clouds fitting Mr Pretor-Pinney's asperatus
description. There has been no change to the classifications of clouds since 1953 and
maybe this should be considered now. I can offer two explanations - they are either the mixing
of two air masses - very warm humid air and and very cold dry air and it is like oil and water - it
doesn't mix. These clouds could be formed at the boundary of these two air masses. Or ... they
could be the turbulent underbelly of one of the huge thunder clouds." Mr Pretor-Pinney said the
pictures were sent in by cloud society members from all over the world and some of them said
there was no storm activity or heavy precipitation in the area at the time.

Note: How strange that a new type of cloud is now appearing. What changes could be causing this
new formation? For more photos of these most unusual new clouds, click here. Or visit the Cloud
Appreciation Society, founded by Mr. Pretor-Pinney.

New virus-built battery could power cars, electronic devices

2009-04-02, MIT News
http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2009/virus-battery-0402.html
For the first time, MIT researchers have shown they can genetically engineer viruses to build both
the positively and negatively charged ends of a lithium-ion battery. The new virus-produced
batteries have the same energy capacity and power performance as state-of-the-art
rechargeable batteries being considered to power plug-in hybrid cars, and they could also
be used to power a range of personal electronic devices, said Angela Belcher, the MIT
materials scientist who led the research team. The new batteries ... could be manufactured with a
cheap and environmentally benign process: The synthesis takes place at and below room
temperature and requires no harmful organic solvents, and the materials that go into the battery
are non-toxic. In a traditional lithium-ion battery, lithium ions flow between a negatively charged
anode, usually graphite, and the positively charged cathode, usually cobalt oxide or lithium iron
phosphate. Three years ago, an MIT team led by Belcher reported that it had engineered viruses
that could build an anode by coating themselves with cobalt oxide and gold and self-assembling to
form a nanowire. In the latest work, the team focused on building a highly powerful cathode to pair
up with the anode. Cathodes are more difficult to build than anodes because they must be highly
conducting to be a fast electrode. Most candidate materials for cathodes are highly insulating (nonconductive). To achieve that, the researchers ... genetically engineered viruses that first coat
themselves with iron phosphate, then grab hold of carbon nanotubes to create a network of highly
conductive material.
Note: For many reports from major media sources on promising new energy technologies, click
here.

Electric car for the masses to be made in Southern California

2008-04-22, Los Angeles Times
http://www.latimes.com/news/science/environment/la-fi-think22apr22,1,4269330....
Norwegian automaker Think Global said Monday it planned to sell low-priced electric cars to the
masses and will introduce its first models in the U.S. by the end of next year. The battery-powered
Think City will be able to travel up to 110 miles on a single charge, with a top speed of about 65
mph, the company said. It will be priced below $25,000. Oslo-based Think said venture capital
firms RockPort Capital Partners and Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield & Byers had made investments to
fund its entry into the U.S. under the auspices of Think North America. "This is not a toy," said
Wilber James, RockPort managing partner. "This is a serious car that we expect to sell." Although
technology for electric cars has been advancing -- and consumer interest has been rising amid

growing concern over gasoline prices and greenhouse gases -- few vehicles have come to market.
Last month, San Carlos, Calif.-based Tesla Motors began production of its Roadster, an electric
vehicle that costs $100,000. The Think City "is a mass-market vehicle," said Kleiner managing
partner Ray Lane, dismissing comparisons to the Roadster. Tesla's car is being produced in
relatively small numbers, with roughly 300 expected by the end of this year. "Our desire is to be
selling 30-40-50,000 of these cars in a couple of years." Think Chief Executive Jan-Olaf Willums
said the company would bring test vehicles to the U.S. in the coming months. The Think City runs
on sodium batteries, but future versions could use lithium ion batteries, Willums said. The Think
City, a two-seater that can be fitted with two additional seats for children, has a mostly
plastic exterior and is 95% recyclable. Willums said a convertible was in development.
"Women want to buy it immediately," he said.
Note: For many exciting reports on new auto and energy developments from major media
sources, click here.

2008 Tata Nano Is the $2500 Car That Might Change the World
2008-01-10, Popular Mechanics
http://www.popularmechanics.com/automotive/new_cars/4244226.html
Fireworks blossomed on giant video screens, the 2001: A Space Odyssey theme reached its
brassy peak, and the worlds most affordable carthe $2500 Tata Nanorolled out onto the
stage. Ratan Tata, chairman of the Tata Group, parked and got out as hundreds of camera flashes
speckled the darkened convention hall. Here at the 2008 AutoExpo in India, the Nanos debut was
about much more than a car. The Nano, many tradeshow attendees seemed to believe, would
transform the country and then, maybe, the world. The Nano looked underwhelming, [like] a golf
cart crossed with a jelly bean. Its journey onto the stage and into history was powered by a 2cylinder, 33-hp engine, and the spec sheet is best given as what the car has not: no air
conditioning, no radio, no power steering, no sun visors. But it carries four people, gets 50 mpg,
and costs less than a trendy motor scooter. The Nano is no solution to the traffic problem in big
[Indian] cities; a prominent Indian environmentalist called the prospect of these ultra-affordable
vehicles flooding the roads a nightmare. But the Nano represents both national pride about
Indias ingenuity and the promise that the benefits of middle-class life will reach more people.
What can you get for $2500 in the U.S.? a young man ... asked. You cant carry your family for
$2500 in a [new] car. But in India we have done this. His friend, Rajesh Relia, agreed. He makes
6000 rupees a month, about $150. He doesnt own a car, and carries his family of four,
dangerously and cumbersomely, on a motor scooter. The Nano is a car he can actually afford,
and he said he will buy one as soon as it becomes available in late 2008. This is my
dream, he said, beaming toward the stage. I am very happy today.

How this 12inch miracle tube could halve heating bills

2007-09-15, Daily Mail (U.K.)

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/technology/technology.html?in_...
It sounds too good to be true - not to mention the fact that it violates almost every known law of
physics. But British scientists claim they have invented a revolutionary device that seems to
'create' energy from virtually nothing. Their so-called thermal energy cell could soon be fitted into
ordinary homes, halving domestic heating bills and making a major contribution towards cutting
carbon emissions. Even the makers of the device are at a loss to explain exactly how it works - but
sceptical independent scientists carried out their own tests and discovered that the 12in x
2in tube really does produce far more heat energy than the electrical energy put in. The
device seems to break the fundamental physical law that energy cannot be created from
nothing - but researchers believe it taps into a previously unrecognised source of energy, stored
at a sub-atomic level within the hydrogen atoms in water. The system - developed by scientists at
a firm called Ecowatts [a holding of Gardner Watts] - involves passing an electrical current through
a mixture of water, potassium carbonate [potash] and a secret liquid catalyst, based on chrome.
This creates a reaction that releases an incredible amount of energy compared to that put in. If the
reaction takes place in a unit surrounded by water, the liquid heats up, which could form the basis
for a household heating system. If the technology can be developed on a domestic scale, it means
consumers will need much less energy for heating and hot water - creating smaller bills and fewer
greenhouse gases. The device has taken ten years of painstaking work by a small team at
Ecowatts' ... laboratory, and bosses predict a household version of their device will be ready to go
on sale within the next 18 months.
Note: For an abundance of reliable reports on amazing new energy developments, click here.

Have you driven a Fjord lately?

2007-07-31, Business 2.0 magazine
http://money.cnn.com/magazines/business2/business2_archive/2007/08/01/1001388...
Three pinstriped London investors stand outside an electric car factory in the green fields of the
Norwegian countryside, waiting their turns to test-drive a stylish two-seater called the Think City.
But first, Think CEO Jan-Olaf Willums takes the wheel. [He] turns the ignition, and the stub-nosed
coupe silently rolls toward an open stretch of pavement. Suddenly he punches the pedal, and the
car takes off like a shot, the AC motor instantaneously transferring power to the wheels. The only
sound is the squealing of tires as Willums throws the little car into a tight turn and barrels back
toward his startled guests. Did someone kill the electric car? You wouldn't know it on this bright
May morning in Scandinavia, where the idea of a mass-produced battery-powered vehicle is being
resurrected and actual cars are scheduled to begin rolling off the production line by year's end.
Shuttling between Oslo and California, Willums has raised $78 million from Silicon Valley and
European investors captivated by [his] vision of a carbon-neutral urban car. Willums's pitch is this:
He's not just selling an electric car; he's upending a century-old automotive paradigm, aiming to
change the way cars are made, sold, owned, and driven. Taking a cue from Dell, the company
will sell cars online, built to order. It will forgo showrooms and seed the market through carsharing services like Zipcar. Every car will be Internet-and Wi-Fi-enabled, becoming,

according to Willums, a rolling computer that can communicate wirelessly with its driver,
other Think owners, and the power grid. "The timing is right. We are on a path now toward
electric cars, and there is no going back." says Ed Kjaer, an electric vehicle veteran who runs the
EV program for Southern California Edison.
Note: To read about the mysterious disappearing Toyota Eco Spirit, a proven car design capable
of achieving 100 mpg, click here.

Richard Branson's Empire Keeps Growing

2007-07-29, CBS News
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/07/26/sunday/main3099983.shtml
Richard Branson is always reaching for something, whether it's setting records in stratospheric
balloon flights or racing across the Atlantic pursuits that have nearly killed him, more than once.
But Branson has never done things the conventional way. He is usually striving for something just
beyond his grasp and, win or lose, he always comes up smiling. But his latest venture may be
his most audacious. On July 18 his and Nelson Mandela's shared birthday they announced
the formation of a Council of Elders, a group of seasoned world leaders who literally will try to
solve the world's problems. "You only live once," he said. "You might as well throw yourself into life
and enjoy it." These days, at age 57, Branson's preoccupations seem to have more to do with
saving the world than conquering it. Being in the airline and train business, Branson says he
has helped contribute to environmental degradation. But now he hopes to help repair the
world. "For a while, I hoped the skeptics were right. But I read a lot, and met a lot of
scientists, and realized the world had a real problem," Branson said. He is offering a $25
million prize for anyone who comes up with an invention that can rid the atmosphere of carbon
gases, and he has pledged to spend all the profits from his airlines that's $3 billion or so to
develop earth-friendly alternative fuels. "What we're hoping to do is actually come up with an
alternative fuel that will shake the very foundations of the oil companies and shake the foundations
of the coal companies because if we dont shake their foundations, the world could potentially
be doomed. I certainly don't feel chosen, but I feel extremely grateful," he said. "I feel I'm in a
position where I can make a difference, and I'm not going to waste that position I find myself in."

Farewell, wires? Power beamed through air

2007-06-07, MSNBC
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19098305
Power cables and even batteries might become a thing of the past using a new technique that can
transmit power wirelessly. Scientists lit a 60-watt light bulb from a power source 7 feet (2 meters)
away with their new technique, with no physical connection between the source and the appliance.
The researchers have dubbed their concept "WiTricity," as in "wireless electricity." MIT physicist
Marin Soljacic began thinking years ago about how to transmit power wirelessly so his cell phone
could recharge without ever being plugged in. Scientists have pursued wireless power

transmission for years notably, eccentric genius Nikola Tesla, who devoted much energy toward
it roughly a century ago. Soljacic and his colleagues devised WiTricity based off the notion of
resonance. One well-known example of resonance can be seen when an opera singer hits the
right note to cause a champagne glass to resonate and shatter. Two objects resonating at the
same frequency tend to exchange energy efficiently, while interacting weakly with objects
not resonating at the same frequency. Instead of sound, the MIT physicists focused on
magnetic fields. Most common materials interact only very weakly with magnetic fields, so little
power would get wasted on unintended targets. In their latest work, the scientists designed two
copper coils roughly 20 inches (50 centimeters) in diameter that were specially designed to
resonate together. One was attached to the power source, the other to a light bulb. The practical
demonstration of their earlier theoretical work managed to power the light bulb even when
obstacles blocked direct line of sight between the source and device.
Note: For more on Nikola Tesla's amazing inventions from a century ago, and how they were
suppressed, click here. For lots of additional information on new energy sources and inventions,
click here.

World's First Air-Powered Car: Zero Emissions by Next Summer

2007-06-01, Popular Mechanics
http://www.popularmechanics.com/automotive/new_cars/4217016.html
Indias largest automaker is set to start producing the worlds first commercial air-powered vehicle.
The Air Car, developed by ex-Formula One engineer Guy Ngre for Luxembourg-based MDI, uses
compressed air, as opposed to the gas-and-oxygen explosions of internal-combustion models, to
push its engines pistons. Some 6000 zero-emissions Air Cars are scheduled to hit Indian streets
in August of 2008. Barring any last-minute design changes on the way to production, the Air Car
should be surprisingly practical. The $12,700 CityCAT, one of a handful of planned Air Car models,
can hit 68 mph and has a range of 125 miles. It will take only a few minutes for the CityCAT to
refuel at gas stations equipped with custom air compressor units; MDI says it should cost around
$2 to fill the cars carbon-fiber tanks with 340 liters of air at 4350 psi. Drivers also will be able to
plug into the electrical grid and use the cars built-in compressor to refill the tanks in about 4 hours.
Of course, the Air Car will likely never hit American shores, especially considering its all-glue
construction. But that doesnt mean the major automakers can write it off as a bizarre Indian
experiment MDI has signed deals to bring its design to 12 more countries, including Germany,
Israel and South Africa.
Note: For a cornucopia of exciting articles on new automobile designs and energy inventions, click
here.

Iceland the First Country to Try Abandoning Gasoline

2006-01-18, ABC News
http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/story?id=1518556

Iceland wants to make a full conversion and plans to modify its cars, buses and trucks to run on
renewable energy -- with no dependence on oil. Iceland has already started by turning water into
fuel -- hydrogen fuel. Here's how it works: Electrodes split the water into hydrogen and oxygen
molecules. Hydrogen electrons pass through a conductor that creates the current to power an
electric engine. Hydrogen fuel now costs two to three times as much as gasoline, but gets
up to three times the mileage of gas, making the overall cost about the same. As an added
benefit, there are no carbon emissions -- only water vapor. By the middle of this century, all
Icelanders will be required to run their cars only on hydrogen fuel, meaning no more gasoline.
Icelanders say they're committed to showing the world that by making fuel from water, it is possible
to kick the oil habit.
Note: This is mind-blowing information! Why isn't this amazing news of economical, nonpolluting energy sources making top headlines? A video clip of the above ABC News story is
available on the ABC website at the link above. A friend of mine invented a similar device only to
have it ruthlessly suppressed. For lots more on all this, click here.

Quantum Trickery: Testing Einstein's Strangest Theory

2005-12-27, New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/27/science/27eins.html?ex=1293339600&en=caf5d8...
The idea that measuring the properties of one particle could instantaneously change the properties
of another one (or a whole bunch) far away is strange to say the least. The team that pulled off the
beryllium feat...hailed it as another step toward computers that would use quantum magic to
perform calculations. But it also served as another demonstration of how weird the world
really is according to the rules, known as quantum mechanics. Nary a week goes by that
does not bring news of another feat of quantum trickery once only dreamed of in thought
experiments: particles (or at least all their properties) being teleported across the room in a
microscopic version of Star Trek beaming; electrical "cat" currents that circle a loop in opposite
directions at the same time; more and more particles farther and farther apart bound together in
Einstein's spooky embrace now known as "entanglement." At the University of California, Santa
Barbara, researchers are planning an experiment in which a small mirror will be in two places at
once. Anton Zeilinger of the University of Vienna said that he thought, "The world is not as
real as we think.
Note: Consider also that top secret projects are generally at least 10 years in advance of anything
reported in the news or scientific magazines. We can only imagine what these projects might be
doing.

Stockton Engineer Creates Energy Saving Device

2006-12-13, CBS News, Stockton Affiliate
http://cbs13.com/local/local_story_347191740.html

Chuck Larue may be the man who drastically cuts your electricity bill. For fourteen years,
Chuck and his partner have quietly been inventing a little micro controller called the "Plug Power
Saver." He claims it works on all electric motors from your air conditioner to refrigerators, washing
machines to whole house fans. He rigged a one-third horsepower motor to show us the savings.
Without the controller, It's drawing 171 to 180 watts." Plug in the Power Saver and, It's trying to
find the most optimum levels of power consumption. It actually has a microprocessor in here."
After a few seconds, the motor is running strong but using half the electricity. And if you know
anything about electricity, you know this motor running normally should be warm to the touch, it
isnt. That seems to show no extra electricity is being lost as heat. John Lander: This looks already
to sell. Chuck Larue: Yeah it is, it's ready to go. John Lander: How much? Chuck Larue: $49.95.
So you'd pay for the Power Saver in under a year. Chuck says he has 10,000 of these devices
headed here from a manufacturing plant in Korea. Now all he has to do is find a retailer willing to
sell it. Chuck says he has tried to interest the Governor and the utilities commission to sponsor his
invention, but no one has called him back.

France wins battle to host experimental fusion reactor

2005-06-29, Boston Globe/Los Angeles Times
http://www.boston.com/news/world/asia/articles/2005/06/29/france_wins_battle_...
In a bid to harness what backers say could be a nearly limitless source of clean electric power, an
international consortium chose France yesterday as the site for an experimental fusion reactor that
will aim to replicate how the sun creates energy. The planned $13 billion project is one of the most
prestigious and expensive international scientific efforts ever launched. French President Jacques
Chirac said in a statement. "[This] unprecedented scientific and technological challenge ... opens
great hopes for providing humanity with an energy that has no impact on the environment and is
practically inexhaustible." The reactor's main fuel, deuterium, also known as heavy hydrogen, can
be obtained from water. The project's website states that Lake Geneva alone contains
enough deuterium to meet global energy needs for several thousand years. Existing nuclear
reactors use fission, or the splitting of large atoms, to produce power, a process that leaves waste
that remains highly radioactive for hundreds of thousands of years. Fusion reactors, by contrast,
would produce minimal waste that would be radioactive for a much shorter period. If the project is
successful, long-term plans call for a demonstration fusion power plant to be built in the 2030s and
the first commercial fusion plant to be built in midcentury.

These men think they're about to change the world

2006-08-25, The Guardian (One of the U.K.'s leading newspapers)
http://environment.guardian.co.uk/energy/story/0,,1858172,00.html
These dynamic and personable businessmen from Dublin insist that they have found a way of
producing free, clean and limitless energy out of thin air. So, as they prepare to demonstrate this
wonder of science to me...I feel all the excitement of Christmas Day. There is a test rig with wheels
and cogs and four magnets meticulously aligned so as to create the maximum tension between

their fields and one other magnet fixed to a point opposite. A motor rotates the wheel bearing
the magnets and a computer takes 28,000 measurements a second. And when it is all over,
the computer tells us that almost three times the amount of energy has come out of the
system as went in. In fact, this piece of equipment is 285% efficient. "We couldn't believe it at
first, either," says McCarthy, chief executive of the company. "We wanted to improve the
performance of the wind generators...so we experimented with certain generator configurations
and then one day one of our guys...came in and said: 'We have a problem. We appear to be
getting out more than we're putting in.'" That was three years ago. Since then, McCarthy says, the
company has spent 2.7m developing the technology. Until their claims have been assessed by
the jury, McCarthy says they won't be accepting any investor offers. So if this is a hoax, it would
appear not to be a money-making scheme. The Economist ad alone cost 75,000. "We expected
stick, and we're getting it already. We've had a lot of abusive emails and telephone calls -people
telling us to watch our backs"
Note: To understand how this is possible, see http://www.WantToKnow.info/newenergysources

Scientists flock to test 'free energy' discovery

2006-08-20, The Observer (one of the U.K.'s leading newspapers)
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,,1854305,00.html
A man who claims to have developed a free energy technology which could power everything from
mobile phones to cars has received more than 400 applications from scientists to test it. Sean
McCarthy says that no one was more sceptical than he when Steorn, his small hi-tech firm
in Dublin, hit upon a way of generating clean, free and constant energy from the interaction
of magnetic fields. 'It wasn't so much a Eureka moment as a get-back-in-there-and-check-yourinstruments moment, although in far more colourful language,' said McCarthy. But when he
attempted to share his findings, he says, scientists either put the phone down on him or refused to
endorse him publicly in case they damaged their academic reputations. So last week he took out a
full-page advert in the Economist magazine, challenging the scientific community to examine his
technology. McCarthy claims it provides five times the amount of energy a mobile phone battery
generates for the same size, and does not have to be recharged. Within 36 hours of his advert
appearing he had been contacted by 420 scientists in Europe, America and Australia, and a further
4,606 people had registered to receive the results.

Steorn and free energy: the plot thickens

2006-08-19, Houston Chronicle Science Blog
http://blogs.chron.com/sciguy/archives/2006/08/steorn_and_free_1.html
Steorn has now posted a slick, five-minute video that features interviews with company
CEO Sean McCarthy as well as the company's marketing director. For more background, see
our earlier discussion. The video's slick, and not too heavy on scientific detail. But it's worth
checking out. It does begin to explain the company's motivations for choosing to issue a challenge

in the Economist. McCarthy: "The first roadblock is science. With the academic community, it might
take five to seven years before being able to get to a consensus position. As a business, that
makes absolutely no sense." The video explains that a "quiet" campaign was plan A. The direct
marketing approach currently being taken is Plan B. McCarthy: "The claim does rail against so
much thinking from ordinary people. We have to fight public opinion, we have to fight the scientific
community and we have to fight the energy industry. We couldn't pick a worse battleground."
Note: For lots more on the many who have developed similar discoveries and how they have been
either bought out or shut down, click here.

Electric cars lighting up again

2006-07-31, USA Today
http://www.usatoday.com/money/autos/2006-07-26-electric-cars-usat_x.htm
Several small, independent automakers are juicing up electric cars. Among the companies trying
to lead the charge: Tesla. Tesla Motors...is taking orders for a $100,000 electric high-performance
sports car...billed as capable of a Ferrari-like zero to 60 mph in four seconds. The car was
designed in California but will be built by Lotus in Great Britain. Its sophisticated lithium-ion battery
will allow a range of 250 miles on a single charge and a top speed of 130 mph.
Wrightspeed...hopes to produce its own, $100,000 high-performance car within two years. It will
have about a 200-mile range. Ian Wright, who heads Wrightspeed...says the new breed of electric
cars could have three times the energy efficiency of gas-electric hybrids. "You can build something
that's seriously fast and a lot of fun to drive." Zap. At the other end of the performance
spectrum...Zap last month started selling a three-wheel electric "city car" imported from China that
it says is capable of a top speed of 40 mph. Priced at $9,000, the Xebra has a range of about 40
miles. Tomberlin Group...plans to sell three versions of electric cars. Prices will range from $5,000
for E-Merge E-2 to $8,000 for the four-seat Anvil. The electric revival comes as...Who Killed the
Electric Car? has started playing in theaters. The movie alleges that big automakers, oil
companies and the government sank promising electric-car technology. The film singles out
General Motors for...having created a futuristic electric car that became a Hollywood envirodarling. When leases ran out, GM collected its Saturn EV1s and sent them to the crusher.
Note: I've heard that Who Killed the Electric Car? is an excellent, revealing film. For lots more on
why car mileage has not significantly increased since the days of the Model T (which got 25 miles
to the gallon), see http://www.WantToKnow.info/050711carmileageaveragempg

Bush energy plan whacks conservation

2006-05-31, Christian Science Monitor
http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0531/p02s01-uspo.html

A few years ago a little-known US Energy Department program helped produce a design
technology for lightweight cars and trucks that in 2004 alone saved the nation 122 million barrels of
oil, or about $9 billion. So, with energy prices spiking and President Bush pushing for more energy
research, the ITP would seem a natural candidate for more funding. In fact, its budget is set to get
chopped by a third from its 2005 level. It's one of more than a dozen energy-efficiency efforts that
the Energy Department plans to trim or eliminate in a $115 million cost-saving move. If Congress
accepts the Energy Department's proposed 2007 budget, it will cut $152 million - some 16
percent - from this year's budget for energy-efficiency programs. Adjusting for inflation, it
would mean the US government would spend 30 percent less on energy efficiency next year than
it did in 2002. One energy-efficiency program on the chopping block...helps improve the fuel
efficiency of heavy-duty trucks, one of the nation's biggest oil consumers. That program is "zeroed
out" in the 2007 budget request. The same fate awaits the $4.5 million Building Codes
Implementation Grants program. It helps states adopt more energy-efficient requirements for new
buildings, the nation's largest consumer of electricity and natural gas. The $8 million Clean Cities
program has helped clean-fuel technologies, like buses that run on compressed natural gas, get to
market. But it's slated for a $2.8 million cut.
Note: To better understand why this is happening: http://www.WantToKnow.info/newenergysources

Solar and Wind Energy Start to Win on Price vs. Conventional Fuels
2014-11-23, New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/24/business/energy-environment/solar-and-wind-...
For the solar and wind industries in the United States, it has been a long-held dream: to produce
energy at a cost equal to conventional sources like coal and natural gas. That day appears to be
dawning. In some markets renewable generation is now cheaper than coal or natural gas.
Utility executives say the trend has accelerated this year, with several companies signing
contracts, known as power purchase agreements, for solar or wind at prices below that of natural
gas, especially in the Great Plains and Southwest, where wind and sunlight are abundant. Those
prices were made possible by generous subsidies that could soon diminish or expire, but recent
analyses show that even without those subsidies, alternative energies can often compete with
traditional sources. According to a study by the investment banking firm Lazard, the cost of
utility-scale solar energy is as low as 5.6 cents a kilowatt-hour, and wind is as low as 1.4
cents. In comparison, natural gas comes at 6.1 cents a kilowatt-hour on the low end and
coal at 6.6 cents. Without subsidies, the firms analysis shows, solar costs about 7.2 cents a
kilowatt-hour at the low end, with wind at 3.7 cents. It is really quite notable, when compared to
where we were just five years ago, to see the decline in the cost of these technologies, said
Jonathan Mir, a managing director at Lazard, which has been comparing the economics of power
generation technologies since 2008.
Note: For more along these lines, see concise summaries of energy news articles from reliable
major media sources. To learn about new energy technologies, see the excellent, reliable
resources provided in our New Energy Information Center.

United marks nation's first biofuel-powered commercial flight

2011-11-08, Chicago Tribune
http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-biz-1108-united-airlines-biofuel-pl...
Continental Airlines Flight 1403 made history when it landed at O'Hare International Airport
on Monday, becoming the first revenue passenger trip in the U.S. powered by biofuel. The
Boeing 737-800 ... burned a "green jet fuel'' derived partially from genetically modified algae
that feeds off plant waste and produces oil. In completing the Continental flight from Houston,
parent company United Continental Holdings Inc. thus won by a scant two days the competition to
launch the first biofuel-powered air service in the U.S. Alaska Airlines is scheduled to begin 75passenger flights along with its sister airline, Horizon Air, that will take place over the next few
weeks using a biofuel blend made from recycled cooking oil. Alaska Airlines officials said the 20
percent biofuel blend its planes will use will reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 10 percent. More
U.S. airlines are expected to join the effort to fly more cleanly and eventually more economically
than the use of traditional, petroleum-based Jet-A fuel allows, based on a crude oil price of $100
a barrel or higher, experts said.
Note: For many inspiring reports on new energy developments from major media sources, click
here.

Scientists explore how the humble leaf could power the planet
2009-08-11, The Guardian (One of the U.K.'s leading newspapers)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/aug/11/artificial-leaf-energy
It is one of evolution's crowning achievements - a mini green power station and organic factory
combined and the source of almost all of the energy that fuels every living thing on the planet. Now
scientists developing the next generation of clean power sources are working out how to copy, and
ultimately improve upon, the humble leaf. The intricate chemistry involved in photosynthesis, the
process where plants use sunlight to convert water and carbon dioxide into sugar, is the most
effective solar energy conversion process on Earth. And researchers believe that mimicking parts
of it could be the ticket to a limitless supply of clean power. The untapped potential for using the
sun's rays is huge. All human activity for a whole year could be powered by the energy
contained in the sunlight hitting the Earth in just one hour. Harnessing even a small amount
of this to make electricity or useful fuels could satisfy the world's increasing need for
energy, predicted to double by 2050, without further endangering the climate. Most solar
power systems use silicon wafers to generate electricity directly. But although costs are coming
down, these are still too expensive in many cases when compared with fossil fuels such as coal,
oil and gas. Scientists are keen to develop more efficient and cheaper alternatives sources of
energy. At Imperial College London, researchers have embarked on a 1m project to study, and
eventually mimic, photosynthesis. Part of a project called the "artificial leaf", involves working out

exactly how leaves use sunlight to make useful molecules. The team then plans to build artificial
systems that can do the same to generate clean fuels such as hydrogen and methanol. These
would then be used in fuel cells to make electricity or directly to power super-clean vehicles..
Note: For more reports from reliable sources on exciting new energy developments, click here.

Forget gas, batteries pee is new power source

2009-07-09, MSNBC
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31805166/ns/technology_and_science-innovation
Urine-powered cars, homes and personal electronic devices could be available in six months with
new technology developed by scientists from Ohio University. Using a nickel-based electrode, the
scientists can create large amounts of cheap hydrogen from urine that could be burned or used in
fuel cells. "One cow can provide enough energy to supply hot water for 19 houses," said
Gerardine Botte, a professor at Ohio University developing the technology. "Soldiers in the
field could carry their own fuel." Pee power is based on hydrogen, the most common element in
the universe but one that has resisted efforts to produce, store, transport and use economically.
Storing pure hydrogen gas requires high pressure and low temperature. Chemically binding
hydrogen to other elements, like oxygen to create water, makes it easier to store and transport, but
releasing the hydrogen when it's needed usually requires financially prohibitive amounts of
electricity. By attaching hydrogen to another element, nitrogen, Botte and her colleagues realized
that they can store hydrogen without the exotic environmental conditions, and then release it with
less electricity, 0.037 Volts instead of the 1.23 Volts needed for water. Stick a special nickel
electrode into a pool of urine, apply an electrical current, and hydrogen gas is released. A fuel cell,
urine-powered vehicle could theoretically travel 90 miles per gallon. A refrigerator-sized unit could
produce one kilowatt of energy for about $5,000, although this price is a rough estimate, says
Botte. "The waste products from say a chicken farm could be used to produce the energy needed
to run the farm," said John Stickney, a chemist and professor at the University of Georgia.
Note: For many exciting reports from reliable sources on new energy technologies, click here.

Cheap solar at night? MIT may have answer

2008-07-31, Boston Globe
http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2008/08/01/cheap_solar_at_night_mit_m...
MIT researchers say they have discovered a way to use solar energy cheaply even after the sun
goes down, which could make it a mainstream source of power within the next decade. Solar
energy has been expensive and inefficient to use after dark, said Daniel Nocera, 51, the Henry
Dreyfus professor of energy and professor of chemistry at MIT. But in an article published in the
July 31 issue of the journal Science, Nocera and other Massachusetts Institute of Technology
researchers say they have found a simple, inexpensive process for storing solar energy. "How the
heck are you going to build an economy or a business only if the sun is shining?" said

Nocera, the senior author. "What you really need to do is when the sun is shining, figure out
how to store some of that energy so you can unleash it when the sun isn't shining." Nocera
and the other researchers based their work on a compound made from cobalt and phosphate, both
readily available. When the sun is out, electricity from solar panels can be fed to the compound in
water, causing the water to split into hydrogen and oxygen. The elements create a chemical fuel
that can be recombined to create energy later, when the sun is not shining. The discovery breaks
"the connection between energy and fossil fuels because my energy is coming from water," said
Nocera, "unleashing the solar energy, not in real time, but when you want to." The researchers
said the findings open the door for large-scale use of solar energy around the clock - not right
away but within 10 years.
Note: For a treasure trove of reports on new energy inventions with great potential, click here.

Congress votes to stop filling oil reserve

2008-05-14, San Francisco Chronicle (San Francisco's leading newspaper)
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/05/14/MN0810LU7S.DTL
The House and Senate voted overwhelmingly ... to temporarily stop filling the Strategic Petroleum
Reserve, a response to public anger over rising oil prices as the average price of regular unleaded
gasoline nationwide hit a new high of $3.73 per gallon. The legislation would halt shipments for the
rest of the year of roughly 70,000 barrels a day into the reserve, a system of four underground salt
domes on the Gulf Coast run by the Energy Department. The reserve currently holds about 702
million barrels of oil, an amount equal to two months of U.S. imports. The government pays the
market price for the light crude oil it stores in the reserve. Congress created the reserve two years
after the 1973 Arab oil embargo as a way to prevent supply disruptions. Kevin Book, senior energy
analyst for Friedman, Billings, Ramsey & Co., noted that in the hour after the Senate passed the
measure nearly unanimously the price of crude oil jumped by a dollar. Book said, "70,000
barrels is a rounding error. It is not material in an 85.7 million barrel per day market." Book
added that it will take much more significant action ... for the markets to take notice. The Senate,
by a 56-42 vote, defeated a Republican measure ... that would have opened Alaska's Arctic
National Wildlife Refuge to drilling and allowed states to drill off their shores.

Meet The First Car Powered By Air

2006-10-28, CBS News
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/10/28/tech/main2135518.shtml
At their factory in southern France, father-and-son team Guy and Cyril Negre insist air power is no
joke. Plain old air compressed in the tank, they say, cheap and non-polluting. Sound too good to
be true? Says Cyril, It's a real car. The other thing is it's a very zero emission car. You won't
pollute, there won't be emission. You have a very economical car. A car, says the Negres,
that will cost just $2 for every 120 miles. The Negres have a long love affair with cars. Guy
designed a Formula One race car engine. Cyril worked at Bugati. The technology for their car, they

say, is relatively simple and safe. When you compress the air...inside of the tank, this is like
compressing a spring, and then the tank gives you back the energy of the air when it expands,
says Cyril. Compressed air in a carbon-fiber tank, something like scuba divers use, drives the
pistons and turns the crankshaft. There is no combustion and no gasoline. That's why there's no
pollution. You fill it up at an air compressor. It may sound far-fetched, but at his labs on the campus
of UCLA, professor Su-Chin Chow is also exploring the power of air. The Negres say after years of
delays...they have solved their technical problems. Another year, they say, and they'll be ready for
large scale production, with a top speed of 55 miles-an-hour.

Big Oil's enormous profits ignite suspicion of gouging

2006-07-28, Denver Post
http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_4105814
As motorists continue to pay more at the gas pump, two of the nation's largest oil companies on
Thursday reported second-quarter profits of nearly $18 billion. The huge profits come at a time
when refiners are marking up wholesale gas prices to levels seen during the weeks after Hurricane
Katrina, reigniting concerns about the possibility of price gouging. Exxon Mobil Corp. said
Thursday that its second-quarter profits increased 36 percent to $10.36 billion, the second-largest
quarterly profit ever for a U.S. publicly traded company. Royal Dutch Shell, which operates 155
gas stations in Colorado, reported earnings of $7.32 billion, up 40 percent from a year ago.
Including earnings from BP and ConocoPhillips, which reported earlier this week, four of the
nation's five largest oil companies netted more than $30 billion in profit during the second quarter.
National gross profit margins for refiners have hovered around $21 a barrel this week, compared
with about $12 a barrel a year ago. Amid outcry from lawmakers about its profits, the oil industry
this week paid for advertisements in 14 newspapers - including The Denver Post, The New York
Times and The Washington Post - that insist oil companies' earnings are not exorbitant. The
national average price of regular unleaded gasoline is $3 a gallon this week, according to
AAA. The price would be about $2.60 a gallon, factoring in taxes and transportation and
other costs, if the refiners' gross profit margin had remained at the same levels from a year
ago.
Note: At the bottom of this article is an excellent, revealing graph showing the extent of profit
margins for oil refiners since January 2005. Very few other major media have been willing to show
the hard data in this article.

The next X-Prize: How about a 250 m.p.g. car?

2006-05-07, USA Today/Christian Science Monitor
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2006-05-07-x-prize-competition_x.htm
The challenge: Build the world's most fuel-efficient production car -- one that gets maybe 250 miles
per gallon and causes little or no pollution. The payoff: prize money from the group that awarded
$10 million for the world's first private spaceflight two years ago. "Ford's Model T got 25 miles

per gallon, and today a Ford Explorer gets 18 miles per gallon," says Peter Diamandis, XPrize Foundation chairman. "We believe the time is ripe for a fundamental change in what
we drive -- and we believe an X-Prize in this area can drive a substantial change." U.S. agencies
procure new technology mostly through contracts with universities and companies. Taxpayers
typically pay, whether or not companies or researchers actually succeed. But government interest
in prizes began to grow after 1996, when the $10 million Ansari X-Prize was announced for a
privately financed craft to fly into space. That means inspiring the likes of Felix Kramer, a California
Internet entrepreneur who hopes to partner with a big auto company to create a high-mileage car.
That's what his CalCars team did in September 2004, when it developed the prototype of a Toyota
Prius with an electric cord. The extra reliance on electric power gives the "Prius-plus" better than
80 miles per gallon.
Note: In 2002, the London Times reported on a new Toyota that got over 100 mpg which was due
to hit the market. Yet the car mysteriously disappeared: http://www.WantToKnow.info/carmileage.
For an abundance of information on suppression of new energy technologies:
http://www.WantToKnow.info/newenergyinformation

"Double Crystal Fusion" Could Pave the Way for Portable Device
2006-02-13, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
http://news.rpi.edu/update.do?artcenterkey=1358&setappvar=page(1)
Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have developed a tabletop accelerator that
produces nuclear fusion at room temperature, providing confirmation of an earlier
experiment conducted at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). The device, which
uses two opposing crystals to generate a powerful electric field, could potentially lead to a
portable, battery-operated neutron generator for a variety of applications, from non-destructive
testing to detecting explosives and scanning luggage at airports. The device is essentially a
tabletop particle accelerator. At its heart are two opposing pyroelectric crystals that create a
strong electric field when heated or cooled. The device is filled with deuterium gas a more
massive cousin of hydrogen with an extra neutron in its nucleus. The electric field rips electrons
from the gas, creating deuterium ions and accelerating them into a deuterium target on one of the
crystals. When the particles smash into the target, neutrons are emitted, which is the telltale sign
that nuclear fusion has occurred. The new study also verified the fundamental physics behind the
original experiment. This suggests that pyroelectric crystals are in fact a viable means of producing
nuclear fusion, and that commercial applications may be closer than originally thought.
Note: Why was this fascinating news not reported in the major media? For more, see our New
Energy Information Center at http://www.WantToKnow.info/newenergyinformation

Iceland's hydrogen buses zip toward oil-free economy

2005-01-14, Detroit News (Detroit's leading newspaper)
http://www.detnews.com/2005/autosinsider/0501/14/autos-60181.htm

Hydrogen, tested in buses from Amsterdam to Vancouver ... is a clean power that promises to
break dependence on oil and gas -- at least in Iceland. With almost unlimited geothermal
energy sizzling beneath its surface, Iceland has an official goal of making the country oilfree by shifting cars, buses, trucks and ships over to hydrogen by about 2050. About 70
percent of Iceland's energy needs ... are already met by geothermal or hydro-electric power. Only
the transport sector is still hooked on polluting oil and gas. The world's first hydrogen filling station,
run by Shell, opened in Reykjavik in April 2003. Hydrogen bus projects have also been launched in
cities including Barcelona, Chicago, Hamburg, London, Madrid, Stockholm, Beijing and Perth,
Australia. The efficiency of the hydrogen fuel cells will decide if the ventures take off into the wider
car market. "The idea is that the buses should be twice as efficient as an internal combustion
engine," said Jon Bjorn Skulason, general manager of Icelandic New Energy Ltd. Greater engine
efficiency would compensate for the inefficiency of producing hydrogen. Iceland's buses, made by
DaimlerChrysler, cost about 1.25 million euros ($1.67 million) each, or three to four times more
than a diesel-powered bus, Skulason said. It takes about 6-10 minutes to refill a hydrogen bus,
giving a range of 240 miles. [A] Reykjavik bus driver said diesel and hydrogen buses were similar
to drive. "But the hydrogen bus is less noisy."

Blame the feds for fuel economy figures that don't match real world
2004-05-19, WantToKnow.info/Detroit News
http://www.WantToKnow.info/040519fueleconomymonitors
Honda Motor Co. and Toyota Motor Co. are probably wishing theyd never put those fun fuel
economy monitors in their gasoline-electric hybrid vehicles. The displays are causing angst
among some owners who arent getting the miles-per-gallon performance posted on their window
sticker. Frustrated consumers are asking dealerships to fix their vehicles. Pete Blackshaw of
Cincinnati is chronicling his dismay publicly in his own Internet blog. He says Honda is ignoring his
claim that hes never gotten more than 33 mpg in his Civic Hybrid. The combined city/highway
rating from the cars window sticker is 47.

Japan's Shinkansen Bullet Train Turns 50

2014-10-01, ABC News/Associated Press
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/japans-shinkansen-bullet-train-...
Zipping cross-country in a super-high speed train has become commonplace in many countries
these days, but it was unheard of when Japan launched its bullet train between Tokyo and Osaka
50 years ago Wednesday. The Shinkansen, as it's called in Japan, gave a boost to train travel in
Europe and Asia at a time when the rise of the automobile and the airplane threatened to eclipse
it. The first bullet train, with its almost cute bulbous round nose, traveled from Tokyo to Osaka in
four hours, shaving two and a half hours off the 513-kilometer (319-mile) journey. The latest model,
with a space-age-like elongated nose, takes just two hours and 25 minutes. The first Shinkansen
had a maximum speed of 210 kilometers (130 miles) per hour. The fastest trains previously, in
Europe, could reach 160 kph. Today's bullet trains, in Japan and elsewhere, have reached and in

some cases exceeded 300 kph (186 mph). By average speed, China has the fastest train in the
world, averaging 284 kph. Turkey last year became the ninth country to operate a train at an
average speed of 200 kph. South Korea and Taiwan also operate high-speed systems in Asia. The
fastest train in the U.S., Amtrak's Acela Express, averages 169 kph (105 mph) on a short
stretch between Baltimore and Wilmington, Delaware. Shanghai launched a German-built
maglev train in 2004 on a 30-kilometer route between the city and the airport. It can hit 430
kph (267 mph). A Japanese maglev train in development has topped 500 kph (310 mph) in tests.
Note: Gas and oil interests have lobbied hard to keep Americans wedded to their cars and stop
the development of high-speed trains. For more on this, see this excellent article and concise
summaries of deeply revealing news articles on suppressed energy inventions from reliable major
media sources.

Refusing to be Muzzled by LA Auto Show, AFS Trinity Pulls 150 MPG

SUV out of Show
2008-11-07, MarketWatch (A Wall Street Journal Digital Network Website)
http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/Refusing-Muzzled-LA-Auto-Show/story.asp...
AFS Trinity Power Corporation today announced it pulled its 150 MPG plug-in hybrid SUV
prototypes out of the LA Auto Show but will independently exhibit and demonstrate the super fuelefficient vehicles on their own elsewhere in downtown LA during the show. The company's
decision followed actions by the LA Auto Show to muzzle AFS Trinity from highlighting the
150 miles per gallon fuel economy of its XH150 prototype vehicles. "The suppression by the
automakers of information about technologies such as this raises serious questions about the
judgment, vision, intentions and capabilities of the leadership of these companies," said Edward
W. Furia, Chairman and CEO of AFS Trinity. "Such conduct by the automakers, who are currently
seeking tens of billions of taxpayer dollars, ostensibly to develop fuel efficient vehicle technologies,
is evidence they are reluctant to embrace solutions they didn't invent." First shown at the North
American International Auto Show (NAIAS) in Detroit in January, 2008, two XH150 prototypes
have toured the country for the last ten months and received positive reactions from the American
public, national media, public officials, governors, ... members of Congress as well as automotive
fleet managers and engineers in Austin, Salt Lake City, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Seattle,
Livermore and Sacramento. Furia explained that, when AFS Trinity sought exhibition space on the
main floor of the LA Auto Show, the only space that show management offered was the Kentia Hall
basement.
Note: The LA Auto Show is "owned" by the Greater Los Angeles New Car Dealers Association,
which, in turn, is closely associated with the major auto makers in Detroit. For lots more exciting
developments in automotive and new energy technologies from reliable, verifiable sources, click
here.

Senators Try to Limit Fuel-Efficiency Rules

2007-06-14, Washington Post

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/13/AR20070613022...
Allies of the U.S. auto industry stepped up a campaign yesterday to soften strict vehicle fuelefficiency mandates in proposed energy legislation before the Senate, even as momentum for the
tougher measures continued to build. Auto lobbyists said they were encountering stiff resistance
on Capitol Hill. They said they felt like the industry was being punished for what one called the
"sins of the past" -- successfully beating back attempts to make major changes to the nation's
vehicle mileage laws. Yesterday, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) defended the current bill, arguing
that it would provide flexibility for automakers. "There are all kinds of dire warnings," Feinstein
said. "The fact of matter is that Detroit has done nothing about mileage efficiency for the
past 20 years, and the time has come."
Note: It is also worth noting that Congress itself has done nothing to mandate higher fuel efficiency
in cars over the last twenty years. For a highly revealing article showing that while other industries
have had many major breakthroughs and huge technological advances over the decades,
automobile makers for some strange reason have been unable to improve car mileage since the
days of the Model T, click here.

Russia suspects US plans to monopolise fuel from moon

2007-05-02, Sydney Morning Herald (Australia's leading newspaper)
http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/russia-suspects-us-plans-to-monopolise-fuel-...
Mankind's second race for the moon has taken on a distinctly Cold War feel, with the Russian
space agency accusing its old rival NASA of rejecting a proposal for joint lunar exploration. The
charge comes amid suspicion in Moscow that the US is seeking to deny Russia access to
an isotope in abundance under the moon's surface that many believe could replace fossil
fuels and even end the threat of global warming. A new era of international co-operation in
space supposedly dawned after the US, Russia and other powers declared their intention to send
humans to the moon for the first time since 1972. But while NASA has lobbied for support from
Britain and the European Space Agency, Russia says its offers have been rebuffed. While the
Americans have been either coy or dismissive on the subject, Russia openly says the main
purpose of its lunar program is the industrial extraction of helium-3. Some scientists say helium-3
could be the answer to the world's energy woes. As helium-3 is non-polluting and effective in tiny
quantities, many countries are taking it very seriously. Germany, India and China, which will launch
a lunar probe to research extraction techniques in September, are all studying ways to mine the
isotope. "Whoever conquers the moon first will be the first to benefit," said Ouyang Ziyuan, the
chief scientist of China's lunar program. Many in Moscow's space program believe Washington's
agenda is driven by a desire to monopolise helium-3 mining. The plot, says Erik Galimov, of the
Russian Academy of Sciences, would "enable the US to establish its control of the energy market
20 years from now and put the rest of the world on its knees as hydrocarbons run out".

Silicon Valley Takes On Detroit

2006-07-22, CBS News
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/07/22/eveningnews/main1826843.shtml
At a glittering Los Angeles party, an ambitious new car maker declared the electric car alive and
well. The Tesla Roadster, which can go from 0 to 60 mph in 4 seconds doesn't come from Detroit,
but from high tech Silicon Valley aiming to do what Detroit couldn't -- make a commercially
successful car that doesn't burn gas. "Electric cars don't have to be little, pathetic commuter cars,"
says Martin Eberhard, CEO of Tesla Motors. "They can be quick and they can be desirable."
Eberhard made millions in the computer industry, then convinced other high tech investors like
Elon Musk, the founder of PayPal, to put in big money. Musk expects huge rewards if Silicon
Valley can break Detroit's grip on the U.S. auto industry. "It's batteries, it's drive electronics, it's
electric motors," says Musk. "Those are skills that are present in Silicon Valley and not present in
Detroit." There's a quick charger for the Tesla's lithium batteries but the car can be plugged
in anywhere. It'll go 250 miles on a single charge -- at a cost the company says, of just 1
cent a mile. Tesla expects to quickly sell its first 100 cars for $100,000 each. But, don't give up.
The company also has plans for a car for the rest of us. Tesla promises a less expensive four-door
family car within three years. For now, however, it's the rich and famous who are getting a charge
out of this electric car, such as Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who tried out the car and had two
words to say: "Very Nice."
Note: Don't be surprised if this technology inexplicably disappears as so many others have, like
the once heralded 100 MPG Toyota Eco Spirit back in 2002. For lots more reliable information on
the
suppression
of
new
energy
inventions,
see
http://www.WantToKnow.info/newenergyinformation.

Top oil firms expected to report huge earnings

2006-04-25, MSNBC/Associated Press
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/12484314/
The countrys three largest oil and gas companies are expected to report combined first-quarter
profits this week in excess of $16 billion, a 19 percent surge from last year. Elected officials are
scrambling for ways to assuage angry consumers and businesses. President Bush on Tuesday
gave the Environmental Protection Agency the authority to temporarily waive regional clean-fuel
regulations to promote greater gasoline-supply flexibility, but members of Congress have other
ideas. Some are renewing calls for a windfall profits tax and some want federal regulators to
investigate industry consolidation. Still others are threatening hearings and expressing outrage at
how the industry invests cautiously in new refining capacity yet rewards its executives lavishly. The
combined earnings expected from ConocoPhillips, Exxon Mobil Corp. and Chevron Corp.
will be 14 times greater than the combined first-quarter profits of Google Inc., Apple
Computer Inc. and Oracle Corp. Analysts say full-year profits for the oil majors are likely to
surpass the record-setting earnings of 2005, when Exxon reported a $36.13 billion profit -- the
highest ever for a U.S. company.

The Hutchison Effect: The Race to Zero Point

2006-04-16, New Energy Video
http://stream.osen.org/aag/Hutchison_RaceToZeroPoint.wmv
The above link is not a news article, but rather a fascinating 12-minute video demonstrating
inspiring new energy technologies. I have seen the longer, full video, which is one of the best
videos available covering this exciting field. For more on the full video, see
http://www.WantToKnow.info/resources#free. For an excellent two-page summary of the new
energy field, see http://www.WantToKnow.info/newenergysources.
Note: The Guardian also had an article on this amazing technology last year. See the link below:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,,1481009,00.html

Big Oil's Big Windfall

2006-03-28, New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/28/opinion/28tue1.html?ex=1301202000&en=c70b43...
A public already groaning under huge deficits does not need more red ink. An oil industry already
rolling in record profits does not need more tax breaks. But both are sure to happen unless some
way can be found to claw back from a decade's worth of Congressional and administrative
blunders, aggressive lobbying and industry greed. According to a detailed account in Monday's
Times...oil companies stand to gain a minimum of $7 billion and as much as $28 billion over
the next five years under an obscure provision in last year's giant energy bill that allows
companies to avoid paying royalties on oil and gas produced in the Gulf of Mexico. The
provision received almost no Congressional debate, in part because Congress was lazy and in
part because the provision was misleadingly advertised as cost-free. A court decision in 2003
effectively doubled the amount of oil and gas exempted from royalties. Then the Bush
administration offered special exemptions for "deep gas" producers, drilling more than 15,000 feet
below the sea bottom. Then came the 2005 energy bill, which essentially locked in the old
incentives for five more years.

Military examines 'beaming up' data, people

2005-08-29, San Francisco Chronicle (San Francisco's leading newspaper)
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2005/08/29/MNGA0EENPC1.DTL
The military has a long history of funding research into topics that seem straight out of science
fiction, even occultism. These range from "psychic" spying to "antimatter"-propelled aircraft and
rockets to strange new types of superbombs. In recent years, many physicists have become
excited about a phenomenon called "quantum teleportation," which works only with infinitesimally
tiny particles. Davis, who has a doctorate in astrophysics from the University of Arizona, has
worked on NASA robotic missions. His 79-page Air Force study seriously explored a series of

possibilities, ranging from "Star Trek"-style travel to transportation via so-called wormholes in the
fabric of space to psychic travel through solid walls. Davis expressed great enthusiasm for
research allegedly conducted by Chinese scientists who, he says, have conducted
"psychic" experiments in which humans used mental powers to teleport matter through
solid walls. He claims their research shows "gifted children were able to cause the apparent
teleportation of small objects" (radio micro-transmitters, photosensitive paper, mechanical
watches, horseflies, other insects, etc.). If the Chinese experiments are valid and could be
repeated by American scientists, Davis told The Chronicle in a phone interview Thursday, then, in
principle, the military might some day develop a way to teleport soldiers and weapons.

Novel approach to concentrating sunlight could cut solar panel costs

2006-04-25, Technology Review
http://www.technologyreview.com/read_article.aspx?id=16736&ch=biztech
The main limitation of solar power right now is cost, because the crystalline silicon used to make
most solar photovoltaic (PV) cells is very expensive. One approach to overcoming this cost factor
is to concentrate light from the sun using mirrors or lenses. But traditional light concentrators are
bulky and unattractive. Now Prism Solar Technologies...has developed a proof-of-concept
solar module that uses holograms to concentrate light, possibly cutting the cost of solar
modules by as much as 75 percent, making them competitive with electricity generated
from fossil fuels. The panels, says Rick Lewandowski, the company's president and CEO, are a
"more elegant solution" to traditional concentrators, and can be installed on rooftops -- or even
incorporated into windows and glass doors. A layer of holograms...directs light into a layer of glass
where it continues to reflect off the inside surface of the glass until it finds its way to one of the
strips of PV silicon. Reducing the PV material needed could bring down costs from about $4 per
watt to $1.50 for crystalline silicon panels. The company is expecting to...start manufacturing its
first-generation modules by the end of the year, selling them at about $2.40 per watt. CEO
Lewandowski says the holographic modules will cost about $1.50 per watt in a few years, using
their second-generation technology. At that price, they'll start to compete with fossil fuel-generated
electricity, which now costs almost three times less than conventional solar electricity.

Renewable Energy Faces Funding Cuts

2006-09-15, CBS News/Christian Science Monitor
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/09/15/tech/main2013856.shtml
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is quitting the hydropower and geothermal power research
business -- if Congress will let it. Declaring them "mature technologies" that need no further
funding, the Bush administration in its FY 2007 budget request eliminates hydropower and
geothermal research. "What we do well is research and funding of new, novel technologies," says
Craig Stevens, chief spokesman for the DOE. "I'm just astonished the department would zero out
these very small existing budgets for geothermal and hydro," says V. John White, executive
director of the Center for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Technologies. "These are very

important resources for our energy future that could replace the need for a lot of coal-fired power
plants." Indeed, the costs of lost opportunities from dropping such research could be enormous in
the long run. Geothermal holds vast potential -- at least 30,000 megawatts of identified resources
developable by 2050. Meanwhile, the more than 5,400 potential "small hydro" power projects could
produce about 20,000 megawatts of power, a DOE study in January found. And most would
require no new dams at all, shunting a portion of a small river's flow to one side to make electricity.
Others would add turbines to dams that don't have them yet. Together, high-tech hydropower and
geothermal resources could contribute at least enough power to replace more than 100 mediumsize coal-fired power plants with emissions-free electricity.

Peat grows as new fuel source

2006-12-26, Detroit News
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061226/BIZ04/612260366/10...
Turning corn into fuel is all the rage these days as America attempts to reduce its oil dependency.
But a team of Metro Detroit researchers has identified a potentially cheaper and more Earthfriendly fuel source: peat, that half-rotted vegetation that covers a considerable chunk of Michigan.
The scientists, from University of Detroit Mercy and Wayne State University, are working to
develop what they call "pethanol" to run small, fuel-cell-powered vehicles such as golf carts and
riding mowers. Because peat forms naturally and requires no fertilization, it's a benefit over corn,
the researchers say. "Corn's biggest problem is that you only get one crop a year," said John
Shewchun, an adjunct chemistry and engineering professor at Wayne State. "Peat is dirt cheap (to
harvest), and with it you've got something that is easily replenished." In lab tests, the pethanol
has also powered a fuel cell without the use of hydrogen, which eliminates the need for
hydrogen storage tanks in fuel-cell vehicles. Benvenuto, principal investigator on the project,
said if peat works as a fuel, the researchers will look at duplicating its success with other hearty
native Michigan plants. He said the answer is likely not one plant, but a variety of sources. "None
of the three of us think this will solve America's energy dependence," Benvenuto said. "But it will
help."

Powered by the sun's rays

2006-08-22, Sacramento Bee (leading newspaper of the capital city of California)
http://www.sacbee.com/content/news/story/14304274p-15182191c.html
Sacramento's Solar Cookers International, will take the global stage Friday in Florence, Italy. The
nongovernmental organization, which is dedicated to saving the world with solar power, will receive
an award from the World Renewable Energy Congress. The secret of the group's success is
the "CooKit," a 3-by-4-foot piece of cardboard lined with aluminum foil that harnesses the
sun's rays to cook food and pasteurize water. About 90,000 "CooKits" are heating up in Africa,
where they are being manufactured and sold for $8 or $9. The group has helped introduce
500,000 solar cookers to 25 nations where people spend half their $1-a-day wages to buy firewood
to cook their meals, said Bob Metcalf, a microbiologist who co-founded the group in 1987. Solar

cookers allow them to spend that money on food instead of firewood, said Metcalf, who teaches at
California State University, Sacramento. Metcalf says he hopes the award will get him 30 minutes
with Bill Gates or some other investor to spread the gospel of the CooKit, which could be used by
"2.5 billion people today" who rely on wood, charcoal or animal dung to cook meals. Metcalf also
invented the Water Pasteurization Indicator -- a reusable sealed test tube with wax that melts
when food or water has been pasteurized at 149 degrees Fahrenheit. "It takes about 90 minutes in
the sun," he said. For more information, go to www.solarcookers.org.
Note: For how to easily help several families a year pull out of poverty in third world countries, see
http://www.WantToKnow.info/051023microcredit

Engineers Create Vehicle that Travels from Vancouver to Halifax on a

Gallon of Gas
2006-06-20, PHYSORG.COM
http://www.physorg.com/news70040977.html
A team of engineering students from The University of British Columbia has built a vehicle
so efficient that it could travel from Vancouver to Halifax on a gallon of gasoline. The
futuristic-looking, single-occupancy vehicle won top prize at a recent international competition,
marking the UBC team's fourth win in as many years. The Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE)
Supermileage Competition took place June 9 in Marshall, Michigan. Forty teams from Canada, the
U.S. and India competed in designing and building the most fuel-efficient vehicle. 'We achieved
this level of efficiency by optimizing many aspects of the vehicle design, including: aerodynamics,
light-weight construction, a small displacement engine (54 cc), and conservative driving habits,'
says Team Captain Kevin Li. The UBC design...achieved 3,145 miles per US gallon.
Supermileage...is an annual student competition that challenges students to design, build, and
drive a single person vehicle (powered solely by a gasoline engine) to achieve the best fuel
mileage possible. The vehicle must be powered by only an internal combustion engine, with no
assistance from electric motors or human propulsion.
Note: Why don't we see articles like this in the mainstream media? Even if this vehicle is ultra
lightweight and has a top speed of only 30 mph, why can't we design heavier, faster cars which get
just
10%
of
what
this
car
got?
For
answers
to
this
question,
see
http://www.WantToKnow.info/050711carmileageaveragempg

Saudis warn of shortfalls as oil hits $61

2005-07-06, Financial Times
http://news.ft.com/cms/s/e0cdc282-ee47-11d9-98e5-00000e2511c8.html
Oil prices hit new record highs above $61 a barrel on Thursday, driven by short-term supply fears
as the first hurricane of the season threatened crude production and refinery operations in the Gulf
of Mexico. But private warnings also point to a worsening long-term outlook, with Saudi

officials saying that the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries will be unable to
meet projected western demand in 10 to 15 years. Senior Saudi energy officials have privately
warned US and European counterparts that Opec would have an extremely difficult time meeting
that demand. Saudi Arabia calculates there is a 4.5m b/d gap between what the world needs and
what the kingdom can provide.

Kissinger warns of energy conflict

2005-06-02, MSNBC
http://news.moneycentral.msn.com/provider/providerarticle.asp?Feed=FT&Date=20...
Henry Kissinger, former US secretary of state, on Wednesday warned that the global battle for
control of energy resources could become the modern equivalent of the 19th century "great game"
the conflict between the UK and Tsarist Russia for supremacy in central Asia. "The great game is
developing again," he told a meeting of the US-India Business Council. "The amount of energy is
finite, up to now in relation to demand, and competition for access to energy can become the life
and death for many societies. It would be ironic if the direction of pipelines and locations become
the modern equivalent of the colonial disputes of the 19th century." The two nuclear superpowers,
the US and Soviet Union, navigated the cold war because they made "the same calculations", Mr
Kissinger said. "When nuclear weapons spread to 30 or 40 countries and each conducts a
calculation, with less experience and different value systems, we will have a world of
permanent imminent catastrophe."
Note: Here is one of the key power players, openly promoting their plan: keep people polarized
and in a state of perpetual fear (you must believe the world is in a state of permanent imminent
catastrophe). For an excellent summary of the plans of the power elite and what we can do about
it, click here.

Hydrogen Fuel Cell Company Starts Small

2006-07-24, ABC/Associated Press
http://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory?id=2224856
It's a dream that's been pursued for years: Mass-producing affordable hydrogen-powered cars that
spew just clean water from their tailpipes. So Shanghai's Horizon Fuel Cell Technologies decided
to start small. Really small. This month, it will begin sales of a tiny hydrogen fuel-cell car,
complete with its own miniature solar-powered refueling station. The toy is a step toward
introducing the technology to the public and making it commercially viable. Though prototype
hydrogen cars exist, they're far from practical or affordable. Horizon's H-Racer and fueling station
solve those problems on a very small scale. The price: $80 for the set. The toy's fuel cell, like
those envisioned for real cars, relies on an electrochemical reaction...that powers the gadget's
electric motor. The only byproducts are electricity, heat and water. The fuel is supplied by its alarm
clock-sized refueling station. A small electric current, generated by the solar cells, extracts
hydrogen from water. With the flip of a switch, the car takes off and runs for 4 minutes on a full

tank. At Horizon's headquarters...Wankewycz and former Eastman Chemical Co. colleague

George Gu demonstrated prototypes of a hydrogen-powered electric bicycle and a golf caddy they
are converting from lead acid batteries to hydrogen power. "We're working on the smaller things
until the infrastructure is ready," he says. On the Net: Horizon Fuel Cell Technologies:
http://www.horizonfuelcell.com
Note: If governments and car companies poured millions into researching this technology, rapid
progress could be made. For why this cutting-edge company is located in Shanghai and why they
have only $3 million to work with, take a look at http://www.WantToKnow.info/newenergysources

Mystery Robot Said to Solve Crimes, Find Mines in Chile

2006-05-23, National Geographic
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/05/060522-robots.html
Manuel Salinas, a 39-year-old inventor, claims he has built a machine that has extraordinary
capabilities for finding buried objects. And now that university lab tests seem to confirm that his
robot works, mining and oil corporations are flooding him with business plans. How this machine
functions is still an "industrial secret," Salinas said. But ask him for proof that it works and he'll
hand you a pile of press clippings on the device, called Geo-Radar or Arturito (a play on the name
of Star Wars robot R2-D2). In September 2005 Salinas announced that he had found gold and
buried treasure on the Juan Fernndez Islands...off the coast of Chile. Recently, Salinas asked a
Chilean university to study the machine and put the questions surrounding it to rest. In early May
the results came in, and the Geo-Radar jumped back into local headlines. University
investigators announced laboratory and field tests indicating that the Geo-Radar
technology is capable of quickly finding copper deposits, petroleum, and gold bullion at
depths of up to 600 feet (283 meters). "This reduces the time of exploration from three months to
one day," said engineering professor Ricardo Neira Navarro at a press conference in Santiago, the
national capital. "I built this machine to find buried antipersonnel mines," explained Salinas. When
he finished building the machine in 2004 and ran field tests, Salinas says, the machine surprised
him with its abilities to find water, petroleum, and buried metals.

Battery power as good as gas?

2006-03-06, Toronto Star (one of Canada's leading newspapers)
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Articl...
A much-shrouded idea could give portable power a real charge, for a change -- and change, well,
everything. Imagine the day when cellphones charge up in seconds, laptop batteries never
degrade, and electric cars have the same power, driving range and purchase price as their gaspowered cousins. Such a battery -- a superbattery -- doesn't exist today, but a tiny company out of
Austin, Texas, is getting remarkably close, and the possibilities have caught the attention of the
U.S. army, the former vice-chairman of Dell Computer, and one of the most respected venture
capital firms in North America. Among EEStor's claims is that its "electrical energy storage

unit" could pack nearly 10 times the energy punch of a lead-acid battery of similar weight
and, under mass production, would cost half as much. It also says its technology more
than doubles the energy density of lithium-ion batteries in most portable computer and
mobile gadgets today, but could be produced at one-eighth the cost. The company...is weeks
away from seeking independent verification of the product's performance. Adding more intrigue to
the story is the fact that Colin Powell, the former U.S. secretary of state, joined Kleiner Perkins last
summer as a strategic partner.

A Rising Wave Of Tidal Power

2006-11-04, CBS News/Associated Press
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/11/04/business/main2153298.shtml
In the quest for oil-free power, a handful of small companies are staking claims on the boundless
energy of the rising and ebbing sea. The technology that would draw energy from ocean tides...is
largely untested, but several newly-minted companies are reserving tracts of water from Alaska's
Cook Inlet to Manhattan's East River in the belief that such sites could become profitable sources
of electricity. The site that is furthest along in testing lies in New York's East River, between
Manhattan and Queens, where Verdant Power plans to install two underwater turbines this month.
If all goes well, New York-based Verdant could have up to 300 turbines in the river by 2008. The
turbines would produce as much as 10 megawatts of power, or enough electricity for 8,000 homes.
With 12,380 miles of coastline, the U.S. may seem like a wide-open frontier for the fledgling
industry, but experts say interest will focus on only a few. Government and the private sector in
Europe, Canada and Asia have moved faster than their U.S. counterparts to support tidal
energy research. As of June 2006, there were small facilities in Russia, Nova Scotia and China,
as well as a 30-year-old plant in France, according to a report by EPRI. Tidal power proponents
liken the technology to little wind turbines on steroids. Water's greater density means fewer and
smaller turbines are needed to produce the same amount of electricity as wind turbines. Wave
energy technology is less advanced than tidal and will need more government subsidies...however,
the number of good wave sites far exceeds that of tidal. But a few companies are working
aggressively to usher wave power into the energy industry.
Note:
To
understand
why
the
http://www.WantToKnow.info/newenergysources.

U.S.

is

moving

slowly,

see

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