alternative energy news stories on Newser

Latest Global Warming Culprit: Wind Farms

Mark Russell — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 04:18:05 CDT

From the damned-if-you-do department: A new study has found that wind farms, those environmentally friendly sources of clean, renewable energy, could be contributing to global warming, reports the Telegraph . The problem is that the giant propellers cause the air to circulate more. That means that during the night warmer air...

Energy Companies Warming Up to Burning Ice

Mark Russell — Sun, 25 Mar 2012 15:11:06 CDT

Could flammable ice be the next big energy boom? The ice in this case is not regular H2O, of course, but methane hydrate, a frozen form of methane gas and water that occurs naturally in undersea ice. Experts think there could be more than 43,000 trillion cubic feet of...

Obama Slams ... Rutherford B. Hayes

Matt Cantor — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 14:17:05 CDT

President Obama has never shied away from attacking his Republican predecessors, but this time he's really going back a ways. Obama roasted our 19th president, Rutherford B. Hayes, for his "backward" thinking, Politico reports. "President Rutherford B. Hayes reportedly said about the telephone: 'It’s a great invention, but who would...

Geothermal Hope: Pump Water Into Volcano, Turn It Into Power

Sat, 14 Jan 2012 13:12:13 CST

Geothermal energy developers plan to pump 24 million gallons of water into the side of a dormant volcano in central Oregon this summer to demonstrate new technology they hope will give a boost to a green energy sector that has yet to live up to its promise. They hope the...

Apple Files Patent for Hydrogen-Powered Phones

Kevin Spak — Mon, 26 Dec 2011 10:37:05 CST

Apple is working on a new way to power its fleet of consumer electronics: Hydrogen fuel cells. Apple has applied for two patents that cover using the fuel cells on portable electronics like iPhones, iPads, and MacBooks, which it boasts could make those products smaller, lighter, and able to run...

Alaska Airlines Begins Biofuel Flights

Kevin Spak — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 14:25:05 CST

Alaska Airlines’ first biofuel-powered flights took off yesterday, kicking off an expensive trial program designed to improve the airline’s environmental footprint. Passengers on the first two flights—which were to DC and Portland, respectively—received a “Welcome to Greener Skies” flier explaining the program, the Anchorage Daily News reports. The...

Solyndra Almost Scored Navy Deal

Matt Cantor — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 10:02:02 CDT

Solar-energy firm Solyndra was one of three companies picked for a $1 million Navy pilot program for new technologies—but the Navy cut ties to the firm the day before Solyndra declared bankruptcy. A top investor in Solyndra, RockPort Capital, also sits on the Pentagon's emerging technology panel. When a...

Bill Clinton's 14 Ways to Create Jobs

Matt Cantor — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 13:57:05 CDT

If unemployment seems like an insurmountable problem, never fear: Bill Clinton is here, and he has solutions—14 of them, which he’ll bring next week to the first US-focused meeting of the Clinton Global Initiative. Among the highlights of his jobs blueprint, as shared with Newsweek : Make it easier to...

Scientists Building 'Star' on Earth

Kevin Spak — Sun, 21 Nov 2010 13:06:06 CST

A series of key experiments over the past few weeks have brought scientists closer to the holy grail of energy production—a working fusion reactor, or, in layman’s terms “a miniature star on Earth.” The National Ignition Facility in Livermore, Calif., thinks it can deliver on that lofty promise as...