On March 1, 2011, the Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) announced its plans to postpone the upcoming deadline for mandatory reporting of greenhouse gas (“GHG”) emissions, which is currently scheduled for the end of this month. EPA has not set a revised deadline, though the agency reported that it “is in the process of finalizing a…

Butanol may be used as a fuel in an internal combustion engine. Because its longer hydrocarbon chain causes it to be fairly non-polar, it is more similar to gasoline than it is to ethanol. Butanol has been demonstrated to work in vehicles designed for use with gasoline without modification. University of California, Berkeley, chemists have…

Imagine a landscape in front of you as barren and endless as your eye can see. And then imagine that your task is to cross it, on foot, through eye stinging dust storms, unbearable heat and a body willing you to stop with every step. Welcome to the Sahara! Welcome to your “marathon of the…

The World Bank has offered Tanzania an alternative to stop a major road project across the Serengeti national park that conservationists say threatens one of Africa’s biggest wildlife spectacles. Conservation groups say the government’s planned highway through the northern edge of the Serengeti would hinder the annual migration of some 2 million wildebeest. The World…

In another twist of the Belo Monte Dam saga, a Brazilian judge has ordered that work be suspended on the massive construction project. About one month ago, construction of the dam had been approved by the Brazilian environmental agency, IBAMA. The federal judge, Ronaldo Desterro, said that IBAMA had granted approval for the Belo Monte…

Critics are often quick to point out that car companies are somewhat disingenuous when they use the phrase “zero emissions vehicle” when promoting their all-electric offerings. The term “elsewhere emissions vehicle” has been suggested as a more accurate description, on the basis that many electric vehicles (EVs) get their juice from coal-fired power stations…

Almost 600 million years ago, before the rapid evolution of life forms known as the Cambrian explosion, a community of seaweeds and worm-like animals lived in a quiet deep-water niche near what is now Lantian, a small village in south China. Then they simply died, leaving some 3,000 nearly pristine fossils preserved between beds of…

China, the world’s biggest greenhouse gas emitter, wants rich nations to vow bigger cuts to emissions as part of a new international deal on fighting global warming, Beijing’s top climate negotiator said on Tuesday. The negotiator, Xie Zhenhua, said he expects “arduous” wrangling about that and other issues facing governments seeking to settle on the…