alternative fuels – News Stories About alternative fuels - Page 2

As Oil Costs Bubble, Alternative Heating Gets Hot

Aug 13, 2008 9:35 AM CDT

As Oil Costs Bubble, Alternative Heating Gets Hot

With home heating oil prices rising, natural gas looks like a better deal

(Newser) - Northeasterners expecting the price of heating oil to hit $4.35 a gallon are creating an avalanche of new business for heating and cooling contractors as they increasingly look to convert from oil heat to natural gas, reports the Wall Street Journal. A conversion to natural gas heat can cost...

Let Innovators
Light Way Out
of Energy Crisis

OPINION

Jul 27, 2008 9:28 AM CDT

Let Innovators Light Way Out of Energy Crisis

Washington should learn from entrepreneurs

(Newser) - As oil-addicted America looks to its energy future, the nation would be wise to follow in the footsteps of two innovators offering straightforward solutions to the crisis, writes Thomas L. Friedman in the New York Times. “The Jewish Henry Ford” has a plan to turn Israel on to electric...

Gas From Garbage
Finally Gets Momentum

Jul 24, 2008 9:18 AM CDT

Gas From Garbage Finally Gets Momentum

From sawdust to agricultural waste, scientists drive toward new fuels

(Newser) - After decades of dreaming, schemes to turn waste into fuel are finally getting traction in the US, with some 28 plants in the works and a handful even up and running, the New York Times reports. They consume everything from wood chips to garbage, as once-prohibitively expensive processes become competitive...

Admit It:
Carter Was
100% Right

OPINION

Jul 15, 2008 4:41 PM CDT

Admit It: Carter Was 100% Right

Energy conservation sounds like a pretty good idea about now

(Newser) - “Misunderstood, mocked and maligned” though he was, Jimmy Carter was exactly right about our energy problems and their solutions, Joseph Wheelan writes in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Way back in 1979, "Carter outlined a program for achieving energy independence." In 2008, "It turns out that Carter was...

New Engine
Could Rev
Green Flight

Jun 26, 2008 10:20 AM CDT

New Engine Could Rev Green Flight

Less fuel, emissions, and noise

(Newser) - In what is being hailed as the most exciting development in commercial aviation technology in years, Pratt & Whitney has developed a revolutionary jet engine that burns up to 15% less fuel and cuts carbon emissions by 1,500 tons per plane per year. The engine, which is also quieter...

To Fix US Energy Policy, Start Over

OPINION

Jun 10, 2008 6:28 PM CDT

To Fix US Energy Policy, Start Over

Activist argues for multipronged strategy on climate change

(Newser) - The US must overhaul its environmental strategy, alternative-energy advocate Denis Hayes writes in Yale Environment 360, and here's how:

Cap carbon at its source—coal mines, oil fields, pipelines—not where it leaves the atmosphere.
Promote renewable energy and buy photovoltaic devices in bulk to drive prices down.

Fill 'Er Up—
In Your Own Back Yard

Apr 27, 2008 1:56 PM CDT

Fill 'Er Up— In Your Own Back Yard

Distiller could home-brew ethanol for as little as $1 a gallon

(Newser) - Backyard brew may soon ease the pain at the gas pump if two entrepreneurs pushing a home ethanol system have their way, reports the New York Times. E-Fuel Corporation's device is roughly the size of a stackable washer-dryer and will sell for about $10,000. Using sugar or feedstock and...

A Plane That Runs on Hydrogen

Apr 4, 2008 3:28 PM CDT

A Plane That Runs on Hydrogen

Boeing's manned flight successful, put passenger-aircraft application still far off

(Newser) - Boeing has successfully tested the world’s first manned, hydrogen-powered plane, the BBC reports, with one executive calling the three flights in Spain “a historical technological success.” The propeller-driven two-seater runs on a hydrogen fuel cell that emits only heat and water. Boeing engineers say they doubt the...

Brits Debate Eco-Wisdom
of Biofuels

Jan 20, 2008 11:03 AM CST

Brits Debate Eco-Wisdom of Biofuels

Oil substitute may destroy rainforests, increase food prices

(Newser) - Biofuels may actually exacerbate the environmental problems they were meant to allay, reports the Observer, and a UK Parliamentary committee has released a report examining the possible effects. Using fuel made from crops like tallow and rapeseed may actually worsen greenhouse gas emissions, kill rainforests, and drive up food prices...

GM Road-Tests Hydrogen Fuel

Oct 20, 2007 11:29 AM CDT

GM Road-Tests Hydrogen Fuel

(Newser) - GM is lending vehicles powered by hydrogen fuel cells to drivers in LA and New York to see if the alternative technology works in the real world, the LA Times reports. In the largest such road test of its kind, GM will loan more than 100 of its expensive Chevy...