Arctic stronghold of world’s seeds flooded after permafrost melts
It was designed as an impregnable deep-freeze to protect the world’s most precious seeds from any global disaster and ensure humanity’s food supply forever.
Archive for year: 2017
Tackling air pollution in China
A recent study estimates that about 1.6 million people in China die each year — roughly 4,000 a day — from heart, lung, and stroke disorders due to poor air quality.
Fracking crew shortage may push oil’s biggest bubble to 2018
Shale explorers pushing to expand oil production are struggling to find enough fracking crews after thousands of workers were dismissed during the crude rout.
U.S. gasoline demand weak but expected to strengthen this summer
U.S. gasoline demand has been weaker than expected this year, but a growing economy and relatively cheap pump prices have the energy industry expecting record demand again this summer driving season, which should help drain the global oil glut.
Tesla factory workers reveal pain, injury and stress: ‘Everything feels like the future but us’
When Tesla bought a decommissioned car factory in Fremont, California, Elon Musk transformed the old-fashioned, unionized plant into a much-vaunted “factory of the future”, where giant robots named after X-Men shape and fold sheets of metal inside a gleaming white mecca of advanced manufacturing.
A look at the gas stations of tomorrow
The gas station is in for a major overhaul. The world’s big oil companies have all sorts of potential changes on the drawing board, including new fuel options, restaurants and shops, and package-delivery services.
New app lets users see how close they are to an oil or gas well
Across the U.S. more than 15 million people live within a mile of an oil or gas well – and a new app is making it easier for those people to know exactly where those wells are located within their neighborhoods.
Electric vehicles continue strong growth during first quarter 2017 in California
The market share of electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids kept increasing steadily in California during the first quarter of 2017. On the other hand, the market share of hybrids, excluding plug-ins, has been declining since 2013 and continues to do so in the current calendar year.
Trump’s plan to slash renewables 70 percent
Congress is probably not going to grant such deep cuts, but the numbers are nonetheless important, for two reasons.
Australian oil well leaked into ocean for months, but spill kept secret
The spill was never made public by the regulator and details about the well, its whereabouts and operator remain secret.
