Energy

What Do Low Oil Prices Mean For Unconventional Extraction Methods?

6:38pm August 31, 2015

NPR's Robert Siegel interviews Barbara R. Shook, senior reporter-at-large at the Energy Intelligence Group, about how low oil prices need to go to make "unconventional oil" extraction too expensive.

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An aerial view of Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s tsunami-crippled Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant, on March 11.

Particles From The Edge Of Space Shine A Light On Fukushima

1:59pm August 27, 2015

by Geoff Brumfiel

Researchers have been using muons to take a peek inside the nuclear reactors in Japan that melted down in 2011. The results could aid the continuing cleanup operations.

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A thermoelectric PowerCard like this one can be used to convert waste heat into an electric power source, Alphabet Energy says.

Science

A Lot Of Heat Is Wasted, So Why Not Convert It Into Power?

8:08pm August 25, 2015

by Joe Palca

What if there were a way to take the waste heat that spews from car tailpipes or power plant chimneys and turn it into electricity? An entrepreneur says something called thermoelectrics is the key.

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Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange on Friday. The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 531 points, or more than 3 percent.

A Brutal Week For Investors; Will There Be More Zigs Than Zags?

6:21pm August 21, 2015

by Marilyn Geewax

Stock investors have to decide if the August downturn is just part of a normal zigzag pattern in any bull market, or the start of a bear market that could last for years.

EPA Announces New Regulations On Methane Emissions

1:25pm August 19, 2015

by Jeff Brady

The Environmental Protection Agency is aiming to cut methane emissions by 40 to 45 percent over the next 10 years. The new regulations are expected to regulate emissions from the oil and gas industry.

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Papal Encyclical On Climate Change Puts Coal Country Catholics In Tough Spot

7:48pm August 17, 2015

by Aaron Schrank

Pope Francis' encyclical on the environment is getting a thorough reading in Wyoming, which is the country's top coal-producing state. The letter presents a moral framework for approaching issues such as global climate change, but it's a difficult subject for Catholics in coal country.

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Closure Of BP Refinery Sends Gasoline Prices Soaring In The Midwest

6:39pm August 14, 2015

by Jeff Brady

Gasoline prices in the Midwest are up sharply even as oil prices head down. The problem is unscheduled repairs at a big BP refinery in Indiana.

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"Physics tells you what you can and can't do. If you know the physics anything else is possible." — Taylor Wilson

What Does It Take To Produce Nuclear Fusion — In Your Garage?

9:48am August 14, 2015

by NPR/TED Staff

Taylor Wilson is a self-taught nuclear physicist who sees every obstacle as a challenge. He describes how — at age 14 — he built a working nuclear fusion reactor in his garage.

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EPA Evaluates Impact Of Wastewater Spill In Colorado

2:28pm August 11, 2015

by Grace Hood

An estimated 3 million gallons of orange fluid that spilled from the Gold King Mine in Colorado has traveled from the Animas River in Colorado to the San Juan River in New Mexico.

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Environment

Around The Bend Of The Rio Grande, A Proposed Pipeline Stirs Turmoil

5:37pm August 07, 2015

by Travis Bubenik

Oil and gas are part of the Texas' DNA. But a proposal to build a natural gas pipeline in far West Texas has roiled residents and galvanized deep community opposition.

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