Tag: Technology

One Planet, Too Many People?

by | 3.7.2012 at 2:05pm
Mumbai, India. (Photo: Deepak Gupta)

Can we manage the needs of 9 billion people for water, food and energy without depleting our resources and ruining the environment? “The solutions,” says Tim Fox, “are all within the capability of existing technology.”

China’s Decade Plan for Water

by | 10.24.2011 at 10:47am | 2 Comments
The Three Gorges Dam

For the first time, China’s No. 1 central document outlining the government’s priorities for the coming year focuses on the construction of water resources acknowledging its importance as a “strategic resource” and its necessity to the economy.

What are the Keystone XL Pipeline Risks to Water Resources?

by | 10.10.2011 at 9:20am | 6 Comments
The existing Keystone pipeline, vulnerable to flooding at river crossings.  Source: North American Pipelines

One of the issues most passionately discussed now in the media and blogosphere is the KeystoneXL Pipeline proposal, to allow Canadian oil and gas company TransCanada to build a pipeline to transfer tar sands oil from Alberta to Texas. So what are the arguments?

Carbon Capture & Storage Project Stalls

by | 9.27.2011 at 9:58am
Carbon sequestration unit at mountaineer Plant near New Haven, WV

In June, American Electric Power suspended its work on the world’s largest test of carbon capture and storage at a power plant in West Virginia, citing lack of regulatory certainty. At the successful conclusion of a two year validation phase, American Electric Power is indefinitely delaying the next step, commercial scale demonstration. The U.S. Department [...]

Water, Oil, Food – A Crisis for Saudi Arabia and the World

by | 9.14.2011 at 9:30am | 2 Comments
drywell

A water crisis is unfolding in Saudi Arabia that could have profound implications for both the Saudi people and for the rest of the world.

Safety Be Dammed: High-Risk Dams on the Rise

by | 9.9.2011 at 9:30am
Teton Dam, in Southeastern Idaho, collapsed on May 5, 1976, killing 14 people. Photo courtesy U.S. Bureau of Reclamation

In the still hours just before midnight on March 12, 1928, thousands of people slumbered in the handful of agricultural communities nestled along the Santa Clara River in Ventura County, California. Tony Harnischfeger and his family slept quietly in a small house at the foot of the St. Francis Dam, a 195-foot high concrete gravity [...]

Western Water Woes – Is Big Infrastructure the Way to Go?

by | 9.6.2011 at 9:45am | 1 Comment
Pat Mulroy, general manager of the Southern Nevada Water Authority, has a grand plan.  Photo: Las Vegas Sun

Guest Blog by Michael Clark Pat Mulroy, the general manager of the Southern Nevada Water Authority, spoke on July 20 at a US Chamber of Commerce conference, as part of its Invest in Water Initiative, and proposed a bold idea: build a pipeline to divert Mississippi River flood waters to the West. This, she said, [...]

Walking the Tightrope of Groundwater Management

by | 8.29.2011 at 11:39am
USGS image, 2005.

As climate changes and supplying water becomes more challenging, one company says it has a better management strategy.

Cooling the Former Frontier: Using Water to Save Energy

by | 7.25.2011 at 10:00am
Rooftop air conditioning units cool 80 percent of commercial buildings in the U.S. 2009. Photo by P199 via WikiCommons

AC units have become more efficient over the years, but energy consumption during hot summer months can increase significantly, boosting both the amount of money spent on electricity and the volume of greenhouse gasses emitted in the energy production process.

Yes, We Can Afford to Remove Carbon from Air

by | 6.28.2011 at 3:15pm | 4 Comments
Los_Angeles_Pollution

Recently, the American Physical Society (APS) released a report on the direct capture of carbon dioxide from air. The report concludes that air capture could be a powerful tool for mopping up carbon dioxide emissions that otherwise would escape to the air, for providing carbon dioxide for synthetic liquid fuels in the transportation sector, and [...]