Country’s targets for incorporating biofuel elements into traditional fuel could result in large quantities of agricultural products being diverted from food use....More
It’s a discomforting thought, but by inadvertently purchasing the wrong materials for your processes you may be opening up your facility to potential noncompliance fines, shutdowns, and other complications without even knowing it. A seemingly safe material could turn out to be a Trojan horse, costing you far more than you expect....More
Italy's environment minister warned Sunday in an interview against suspending operations at a giant steel plant, even though it might be a dangerous polluter.
"When we talk about suspending production, we must take responsibility" for possibly boosting rival steel makers in Europe and China, Environment Minister Corrado Clini told the Italian daily Corriere della Sera....More
There are almost as many definitions of “sustainability” as there are shades of green.
One thing that energy and supply chain experts can agree on, however, is that sustainability is one of the most significant issues facing businesses today....More
CEO Henry Juszkiewicz: ‘We felt compelled to settle as the costs of proving our case at trial would have cost millions of dollars and taken a very long time to resolve.’...More
An Italian court Tuesday ordered the country's biggest steel plant to clean up its act but did not call for closure despite fears that chemicals spewed by the unit were behind the high cancer rates in the region.
One of Europe's biggest steel factories, the ILVA plant had become the scene of a fierce stand-off between those who want it closed and thousands of families that depend on it at a time of worsening economic crisis....More
JACKSON HOLE, WY -- U.S. energy producers could begin exporting liquefied natural gas within the next five years as they seek ways to combat falling natural gas prices, said energy specialist Loren Scott, president of Loren C. Scott & Associates, at an economic summit Friday in Jackson Hole, Wyo....More
Specialty chemical company Celanese Corp. (IW 500/152) announced a joint venture Thursday with Indonesian state-owned energy company Pertamina to develop synthetic fuel ethanol from coal.
The companies will use Celanese’s TCX technology, which converts hydrocarbon feedstocks, such as coal and natural gas, into ethanol....More
Siemens said Thursday it has won a contract to supply 300 wind turbines to Danish group DONG Energy which will be installed in wind power plants off the British coast.
Siemens (IW 1000/26) said that the two companies signed "a framework agreement for the supply of a total of 300 wind turbines with a capacity of 1,800 megawatts (MW)."...More
I follow energy tycoon T. Boone Pickens on Twitter. During certain scheduled times, followers can ask Pickens questions using the hashtag #AskBoone.
Here are some of his responses to questions on various topics posted today:
On the Keystone Pipeline: “We are stupid if we don't do the Keystone Pipeline. Extremely important to our country.”...More
Naturally occurring underground pathways may increase the risk of well water pollution from fracking, a process used to release natural gas from the ground, U.S. scientists said on Monday.
While the latest study by Duke University researchers does not find evidence that methane found in some samples of drinking water was directly caused by fracking, it raises concern about the ease with which deep ground elements can infiltrate shallow wells....More
Naturally occurring underground pathways may increase the risk of well water pollution from fracking, a process used to release natural gas from the ground, U.S. scientists said on Monday.
While the latest study by Duke University researchers does not find evidence that methane found in some samples of drinking water was directly caused by fracking, it raises concern about the ease with which deep ground elements can infiltrate shallow wells....More
While local authorities sought to downplay the significance of the shutdown, it is the latest in a string of incidents to highlight the increasing environmental and health costs of rampant economic development across China....More
The U.S. Congress overcame months of division to pass a massive transportation bill Friday that secures a two-year extension of highway funding, and prevented a doubling of student loan interest rates....More
BMW AG and Toyota Motor Corp. have agreed to extend their recently established collaboration and work together on new technologies such as fuel cells.
At a joint news conference in BMW's home city of Munich, BMW CEO Norbert Reithofer and Toyota President Akio Toyoda announced the signing of a memorandum of understanding "aimed at long-term strategic collaboration in four fields."...More
Brazil's state-owned energy giant Petrobras (IW 1000/19) said Monday it will produce 2.02 million barrels of oil equivalent per day (boe/d) this year, somewhat less than last year, because of the spill at a field run by U.S. firm Chevron (IW 500/2)....More
Dialogue introducing new forecasting study on what the economy might look like in 2025 with a manufacturing resurgence. Video from the Aspen Institute....More
Manufacturing makes America strong. It makes families and communities strong. It provides national security. It gives us energy security. And for the 12 million men and women who work in manufacturing, it gives us pride....More
Christopher Barnatt of ExplainingComputers.com demonstrates how Big Data is transforming the business and industrial worlds and enabling new technologies and new breakthroughs that will help manufacturers work more efficiently than ever before....More
Beyond an initial novelty, 3D Printing could have a game-changing impact on consumer culture, copyright and patent law, and even the very concept of scarcity on which our economy is based....More
Christopher Barnatt of ExplainingTheFuture.com illustrates the inner workings of additive manufacturing machines and provides some real-life examples of how 3-D printing technology could dramatically change the manufacturing and retail industries as we know them today....More
Engineers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab break down the engineering and design challenges they faced during the Curiosity rover's complicated landing near the Martian equator on Aug. 5, 2012....More
