biofuels

In U.S. policy, the past year was dominated by discussions of energy and climate change issues, at least in the earth sciences realm. In the first year of his administration, President Barack Obama focused on his top campaign priorities — but between discussions of healthcare reform, trying to rejuvenate the economy and setting up his cabinet, he still found time to discuss the sciences.

Can the Department of Defense solve the world's energy crisis one jet at a time?

It’s hard to think of a humbler organism than algae, or a less-likely prospect to become savior of our energy future. “Algae fuel” does not conjure up images of power, big business or high-tech gadgetry; it suggests a modest picture of a murky pond covered by a greasy, greenish film. But unassuming algae, some researchers think, have the potential to become the ultimate in “green” fuel, powering everything from cars to jets — and perhaps putting an end to one of the more bitter battles in the biofuels industry: the “food versus fuel” debate over how best to use arable lands.

HOUSTON – Perhaps it’s because the Geological Society of America’s annual meeting is being held in conjunction with the Soil Science Society of America, the American Society of Agronomy and the Crop Science Society of America, or perhaps it’s because it has been a much-discussed topic this year, but biofuels are big at this meeting.

Black carbon — fine particles of soot in the atmosphere produced from the burning of fossil fuels or biomass — has been known to be a health hazard for decades, a major contributor to the thick hazes of pollution hovering over cities around the world.