http://www.physorg.com/ en-us Physorg.com internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. Four international bodies on Wednesday called on governments and car makers to halve global vehicle emissions by 2050 as the auto industry insisted it was serious about producing greener vehicles. http://www.physorg.com/news155413701.html Technology Wed, 04 Mar 2009 18:28:47 EST news155413701 Cellulosic biofuels offer similar, if not lower, costs and very large reductions in greenhouse gas emissions compared to petroleum-derived fuels. That's one of the key take-home messages from a series of expert papers on "The Role of Biomass in America's Energy Future (RBAEF)" in a special issue of Biofuels, Bioproducts and Biorefining. http://www.physorg.com/news155383636.html Biology Wed, 04 Mar 2009 10:08:04 EST news155383636 To avoid creating greenhouse gases, it makes more sense using today's technology to leave land unfarmed in conservation reserves than to plow it up for corn to make biofuel, according to a comprehensive Duke University-led study. http://www.physorg.com/news155229840.html Space & Earth Mon, 02 Mar 2009 15:26:07 EST news155229840 At a national scientific meeting last week where biofuels - principally ethanol - were uniformly trashed as an environmental train wreck, one bright, carbon-free light gleamed in our energy future: the sun. http://www.physorg.com/news154771020.html Technology Wed, 25 Feb 2009 07:58:13 EST news154771020 A new study by scientists updating some of the findings of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) 2001 Third Assessment Report finds that even a lower level of increase in average global temperatures due to greenhouse gas emissions could cause significant problems in five key areas of global concern. http://www.physorg.com/news154632699.html Space & Earth Mon, 23 Feb 2009 17:32:07 EST news154632699 Severe fires in Indonesia - responsible for some of the worst air quality conditions worldwide - are linked not only to drought, but also to changes in land use and population density, according to a new study in Nature Geoscience led by Robert Field of the University of Toronto. http://www.physorg.com/news154540375.html Space & Earth Sun, 22 Feb 2009 15:53:38 EST news154540375 (PhysOrg.com) -- Interactive maps that detail carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuel combustion are now available on the popular Google Earth platform. The maps, funded by NASA and the U.S. Department of Energy through the joint North American Carbon Program, can display fossil fuel emissions by the hour, geographic region, and fuel type. http://www.physorg.com/news154287061.html Space & Earth Thu, 19 Feb 2009 17:31:26 EST news154287061 Where others see simply manure, Danny Kluthe smells money. Long before President Barack Obama promised the country that "we will harness the sun and the winds and the soil," Kluthe already had yoked the power of pig poop. http://www.physorg.com/news154015656.html Technology Mon, 16 Feb 2009 14:08:44 EST news154015656 A Georgia Tech City and Regional Planning study on climate change, published February 10, 2009 online by Environmental Science and Technology, shows that "smart growth" combined with the use of hybrid vehicle technology could reduce cities' carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions - the principal driver of global warming - significantly by 2050. http://www.physorg.com/news153579075.html Space & Earth Wed, 11 Feb 2009 12:51:53 EST news153579075 By controlling emissions of fossil fuels we may be able to greatly delay the start of the next ice age, new research from the Niels Bohr Institute at University of Copenhagen concludes. The results have been published in the scientific magazine, Geophysical Research Letters. http://www.physorg.com/news153556935.html Space & Earth Wed, 11 Feb 2009 06:45:00 EST news153556935 The first comprehensive analysis of air emissions associated with natural gas and oil production in the Barnett Shale area finds that emissions can be a significant contributor to Dallas-Fort Worth smog formation, comparable to the combined emissions from all Metroplex cars and trucks. http://www.physorg.com/news153514020.html Space & Earth Tue, 10 Feb 2009 18:47:41 EST news153514020 For the first time, farmers have data that tracks at the county level on-site and off-site energy use and carbon dioxide emissions associated with growing crops in the United States. http://www.physorg.com/news153415661.html Space & Earth Mon, 09 Feb 2009 15:28:45 EST news153415661 (PhysOrg.com) -- Shopping locally may not be as good for the environment as having food delivered, according to new research by the University of Exeter (UK). Published in the journal Food Policy, the study shows that, on average, lower carbon emissions result from delivering a vegetable box than making a trip to a local farm shop. http://www.physorg.com/news152795735.html Other Sciences Mon, 02 Feb 2009 11:17:29 EST news152795735 (PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists at the University of Liverpool have found that heating from carbon dioxide will increase five-fold over the next millennia. http://www.physorg.com/news152463327.html Space & Earth Thu, 29 Jan 2009 14:56:21 EST news152463327 (PhysOrg.com) -- U.S. automakers must achieve an eightfold reduction in automobile-related carbon emissions to help stabilize the amount of heat-trapping carbon dioxide gas in the atmosphere by 2050, according to University of Michigan researchers. http://www.physorg.com/news152384664.html Space & Earth Wed, 28 Jan 2009 17:04:56 EST news152384664 With a new occupant in the White House, California could soon start enforcing its 2002 law that requires a sharp reduction in vehicle emissions. http://www.physorg.com/news151934834.html Space & Earth Fri, 23 Jan 2009 12:07:39 EST news151934834 Street lighting provides a simple, low cost means of stemming the global epidemic of road traffic death and injury. Low income countries should consider installing more lights, and high income countries should think carefully before turning any off to reduce carbon emissions, is the advice from a new Cochrane Review. http://www.physorg.com/news151737429.html Other Sciences Wed, 21 Jan 2009 05:17:39 EST news151737429 Publications ranging from the journal Science to Time magazine have blasted biofuels for significantly contributing to greenhouse gas emissions, calling into question the environmental benefits of making fuel from plant material. But a new analysis by Michigan State University scientists says these dire predictions are based on a set of assumptions that may not be correct. http://www.physorg.com/news151257863.html Space & Earth Thu, 15 Jan 2009 16:04:23 EST news151257863 (PhysOrg.com) -- Every time we get into our car, turn the key and drive somewhere, we burn gasoline, a fossil fuel derived from crude oil. The burning of the organic materials in fossil fuels produces energy and releases carbon dioxide and other compounds into Earth's atmosphere. Greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide trap heat in our atmosphere, warming it and disturbing Earth's climate. http://www.physorg.com/news151166361.html Space & Earth Wed, 14 Jan 2009 14:39:21 EST news151166361 The National Institute of Standards and Technology has developed a method to accelerate stability testing of biodiesel fuel made from soybeans and also identified additives that enhance stability at high temperatures. The results, described in a new paper,* could help overcome a key barrier to practical use of biofuels. http://www.physorg.com/news151088426.html Chemistry Tue, 13 Jan 2009 17:00:26 EST news151088426 University of Oklahoma researchers believe newer, more environmentally friendly fuels produced from biomass could create alternative energy solutions and alleviate dependence on foreign oil without requiring changes to current fuel infrastructure systems. According to Lance Lobban, director of the School of Chemical, Biological and Materials Engineering, the development of "green" fuels is an important part of the world's, and Oklahoma's, energy future. http://www.physorg.com/news151082899.html Chemistry Tue, 13 Jan 2009 15:28:19 EST news151082899 (PhysOrg.com) -- The rise in sea level since the last ice age has prevented us from feeling the full impact of man-made global warming. The sea level rise has resulted in more harmful greenhouse gases being absorbed by the seas. So argue Bangor University scientists in the latest issue of Geophysical Research Letters (23/12/08), an influential US scientific journal publishing scientific advances that are likely to have immediate influence on the research of other investigators. http://www.physorg.com/news151075775.html Space & Earth Tue, 13 Jan 2009 13:29:35 EST news151075775 As relentlessly bad as the news about global warming seems to be, with ice at the poles melting faster than scientists had predicted and world temperatures rising higher than expected, there was at least a reservoir of hope stored here in Canada's vast forests. http://www.physorg.com/news151006202.html Space & Earth Mon, 12 Jan 2009 18:10:02 EST news151006202 A new way to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and tackle climate change had been unveiled by leading economists. http://www.physorg.com/news150446777.html Space & Earth Tue, 06 Jan 2009 06:46:17 EST news150446777 Eaton Corporation is using IBM modeling software to develop series hydraulic hybrid systems. Replacing a vehicle`s conventional drive train and transmission, the series hydraulic hybrid (SHH) system promises dramatic fuel savings and environmental benefits. The system uses hydraulic pumps and storage tanks to capture and store energy, similar to what is done with electric motors and batteries in a hybrid electric vehicle. http://www.physorg.com/news149349584.html Technology Wed, 24 Dec 2008 13:59:44 EST news149349584 Contrary to earlier projections, few developing countries will be able to afford more efficient technologies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the next few decades, new research concludes. The study, by researchers at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) and the University of Colorado, warns that continuing economic and technological disparities will make it more difficult than anticipated to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and it underscores the challenges that poorer nations face in trying to adapt to global warming. http://www.physorg.com/news148051272.html Space & Earth Tue, 09 Dec 2008 13:21:12 EST news148051272 Animal feeding operations are an important emission source of air pollutants including methane and carbon dioxide -known greenhouse gases. Recent inventories suggest that animal manure makes a significant contribution to global methane emissions. As a consequence, greenhouse gas emissions can potentially become a limiting factor in the development and sustainability of animal production and technologies are needed to mitigate pollutant gas emissions. Oil spray has been used as a mitigation technique to reduce pollution from animal buildings. However, little is known about its effect on greenhouse gas emissions. http://www.physorg.com/news147959093.html Space & Earth Mon, 08 Dec 2008 11:44:53 EST news147959093 Construction of new coal-fired power plants in the United States is in danger of coming to a standstill, partly due to the high cost of the requirement - whether existing or anticipated - to capture all emissions of carbon dioxide, an important greenhouse gas. But an MIT analysis suggests an intermediate step that could get construction moving again, allowing the nation to fend off growing electricity shortages using our most-abundant, least-expensive fuel while also reducing emissions. http://www.physorg.com/news146144305.html Technology Mon, 17 Nov 2008 11:38:25 EST news146144305 Researchers at MIT's Center for Energy and Environmental Policy Research have produced a report concerning key design issues of proposed "cap-and-trade" programs that are under consideration in the United States as a way of curbing greenhouse gas emissions. The first contribution of the three-part study found that, based on an examination of the European Union's system and of similar U.S. programs for other emissions, such a program can indeed be effective in reducing emissions without having a significant economic impact. http://www.physorg.com/news145800764.html Space & Earth Thu, 13 Nov 2008 12:12:44 EST news145800764 In submitted testimony to the British Parliament, climate scientist Ken Caldeira of the Carnegie Institution said that while steep cuts in carbon emissions are essential to stabilizing global climate, there also needs to be a backup plan. Geoengineering solutions such as injecting dust into the atmosphere are risky, but may become necessary if emissions cuts are insufficient to stave off catastrophic warming. He urged that research into the pros and cons of geoengineering be made a high priority. http://www.physorg.com/news145288568.html Space & Earth Fri, 07 Nov 2008 13:56:08 EST news145288568