In The News

Could Compost Piles Someday Heat a Home?

Kenneth Sturtz June 28, 2011
Organic waste is part of everyone’s garbage, and a group of high school students in upstate New York have set out to study if compost piles could someday heat homes. In that part of the world average low mid-winter temperatures dip below -10 degrees Celsius. Bacteria and microorganisms break down organic materials and produce heat as a byproduct. The students studied three industrial-sized...

Eurasian Geopolitics Face Astana Earthquake

Pepe Escobar June 16, 2011
While the Middle East captures the most focus, Central Asia also offers strategic energy supplies. The South Yolotan gas field in Turkmenistan, for example, is the world’s second largest, reports Pepe Escobar in an opinion essay for Al Jazeera. Russia and China could be gambling that cooperation could be better than conflict at securing those supplies, and envision Central Asia re-emerging as a...

Worst Ever Carbon Emissions Leave Climate on the Brink

Fiona Harvey May 31, 2011
Record levels of greenhouse-gas emissions for 2010, as estimated by the International Energy Agency, could dash hopes of controlling climate change, reports Fiona Harvey for the Guardian. The IEA also notes that global recession did little to dent reliance on fossil fuels. Governments, by allowing emissions to rise, cannot hope to prevent average global temperature rising by more than 2 degrees...

After the Fukushima Disaster

Richard Weitz May 26, 2011
The world has more than 400 nuclear reactors in 29 nations, with 64 more under construction. Disaster rather than industry growth exposes the need for industry review and regulation updates, suggests a YaleGlobal series. The accident at the Fukushima power plant in Japan revealed that global emergency-response and safety standards currently in place may be inadequate for aging reactors,...

Thein Sein Tackles Chinese Navy Issue

Wai Moe May 26, 2011
Energy helps China maintain manufacturing prowess, steady employment and political stability. During a visit to China, Burma President Thein Sein will discuss the Chinese Navy’s use of Burmese ports, reports Wai Moe for the Irawaddy. China seeks permission to use ports rather than establish a permanent naval base, reports an anonymous source, aiming to patrol the Indian Ocean, protecting oil and...

The Morning After Fukushima

Nina Netzer May 24, 2011
Repercussions of nuclear accidents are not easily contained within borders, as demonstrated after an earthquake-tsunami damaged reactors at the Fukushima power plant. Explosions spewed radioactivity into the air, and Japan soon dumped more than 11,000 metric tons of radioactive-tainted water into the sea. A YaleGlobal series analyzes the pressing need for international energy planning, policy and...

Carbon Confusion

Emilie Filou May 18, 2011
Despite the uncertainty surrounding the Kyoto Protocol’s Clean Development Mechanism, African nations and businesses anticipate global attitudes to swing against carbon emissions. Since Africa produces about 4 percent of annual global CO2 emissions, its mitigation potential is therefore negligible, reports Emilie Filou for This is Africa Online. Yet South Africa, the globe’s 13th largest emitter...