Archive for December 14th, 2012

Policy Shifts Signal Growth Ahead for Advanced Biofuels

Posted by Forbes: None Given on December 14th, 2012
Forbes: This has been a tough year for the U.S. biofuels industry: drought curtailed corn starch ethanol production and investment in the industry shrank to its lowest level in nearly a decade. Headed into 2013, though, industry momentum appears to be regaining steam. Led by advanced biofuels, the potential for expanding biofuels production has improved dramatically as Washington offers clarity on key policy issues. Last week, in a vote on partisan lines, the U.S. Senate extended support for the military’s...
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Mississippi River faces shipping closure as water levels drop

Posted by Grist: Suzanne Goldenberg on December 14th, 2012
Grist: The Mississippi as seen from Ed Drager`s tug boat is a river in retreat: A giant beached barge is stranded where the water dropped, with sand bars springing into view. The floating barge office where the tug boat captain reports for duty is tilted like a funhouse. One side now rests on the exposed shore. "I`ve never seen the river this low," Drager said. "It`s weird." The worst drought in half a century has brought water levels in the Mississippi close to historic lows and could shut down all...
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Area Burned By U.S. Wildfires Expected To Double by 2050

Posted by Climate Central: Andrew Freedman on December 14th, 2012
Climate Central: Warmer and drier conditions in coming decades will likely cause the burned area from wildfires in the U.S. to double in size by 2050, according to new research based on satellite observations and computer modeling experiments. The research, which was first presented at the annual meeting of the American Geophysical Union in San Francisco on Dec. 4, provides insight into both recent wildfire trends and the sharp increase in dryness -- and therefore wildfire susceptibility -- in certain regions of...
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Climate change taken seriously by insurance industry, study says

Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on December 14th, 2012
LA Times: Paying out billions of dollars here and billions of dollars there has made the global insurance industry a believer in climate change, according to a new study that shows insurance companies are staunch advocates for reducing carbon emissions and minimizing the risk posed by increasingly severe weather events. "Climate change stands as a stress test for insurance, the world's largest industry with U.S. $4.6 trillion in revenues, 7% of the global economy,' writes Evan Mills, a scientist at the...
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Netherlands: New peatland bacteria feed on greenhouse gas and excess fertilizer

Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on December 14th, 2012
ScienceDaily: Researchers from Radboud University Nijmegen and B-WARE Research Centre have discovered new methane-consuming bacteria in the soil beneath the Brunssummerheide peatland reserve in Limburg, the Netherlands. Although the bacteria may be the result of environmental pollution, they are now consuming the harmful greenhouse gas. In the middle of the Brunssummerheide heathland reserve is a unique sloping peatland site with a great diversity of flora and fauna, such as the rare Bog Asphodel and the protected...
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Montana governor: Oil and gas boom could fund clean energy

Posted by Reuters: Patrick Rucker on December 14th, 2012
Reuters: Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer, who been an advocate of the recent oil and gas boom that could upend U.S. energy policy, says he will keep spreading his message when he leaves office. Schweitzer, whose tenure as governor will end next month due to state term limits, said the wave of drilling across his state could be a model of how to eliminate the nation's dependence on foreign fuel - if lawmakers would just get out of the way. "Those SOBs out there," he said. "They got $60 mouths and $2...
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Extreme weather more persuasive on climate change than scientists

Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on December 14th, 2012
Guardian: As one of the Marx brothers famously said: who do you believe, me or your own eyes? Climate sceptics, it turns out, are much more likely to believe direct evidence of a changing climate in the form of extreme weather events than they do scientists, when it comes to global warming. A poll released on Friday by the Associated Press-GfK found rising concern about climate change among Americans in general, with 80% citing it as a serious problem for the US, up from 73% in 2009. Belief and worry...
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