B P is expanding its dominant oil and gas operations in the Gulf of Mexico and dropping anchor off Brazil with a $7 billion deal to buy exploration rights from Devon Energy. BP has bought into the Brazilian oil rush with a $7bn (4.65bn) deal that will boost the group's potential reserves by about 2bn barrels of oil. S.-based Devon Energy Corp. DVN-N is deepening its commitment to the resurgent oil sands sector, bringing its operating know-how to a joint venture with giant BP PLC BP-N to develop the British multinational's long-dormant Kirby project. (Read More...)

U N Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has asked the world's science academies to review work of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). In making the announcement, Ban Ki-moon stressed that despite the errors in the last assessment (2007's 4th Assessment), nothing has arisen that damages the robust body of climate science that indicates man-caused climate change is occurring. Ban joined IPCC Chairman Rajendra Pachauri at a news conference calling for the review to ensure the transparency, accuracy and objectivity of the latest findings. (Read More...)

M EMC Electronics Materials Inc said Thursday that its solar power subsidiary SunEdison has received final approval from the Italian government to build Europe's largest solar power plant near Rovigo in northeastern Italy. The 72-megawatt plant is to begin generating power in the second half of the year and be fully operational by the end of the year. Europe's most powerful solar power plant is set to start operations in Italy later this year, the US company building the installation on an area as large as 120 football pitches said on Thursday. (Read More...)

T he Atlantic bluefin tuna is considered a delicacy from Osaka to Omaha ; at Tokyo's venerable Tsukiji fish market, a single giant blue tuna can fetch up to $100,000 in auction. But the sheer popularity of the fish among consumers of sushi and sashimi has caused populations of the bluefin tuna to plummet, with its total numbers down more than 80% since 1970. There has been protest in Japan over a proposed ban on international trade in Atlantic bluefin tuna, a day after the European Union agreed to back the plan. (Read More...)

C limate change is pushing some bird species "towards extinction," US Interior Secretary Ken Salazar warned Thursday as a new report on the threats facing North American birds was released. Birds that rely on oceans and live on coastlines are more vulnerable to climate change than birds found in any other habitats in America, according to a report released Thursday by federal biologists and other researchers. U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar joined scientists and conservation organizers at an Austin news conference to release the study, "The State of the Birds: 2010 Report on Climate Change". (Read More...)

R ecycled glass jars filled with fresh country air is the focus of a new campaign by Britain's National Trust designed to encourage people to spend more time outdoors while promoting their free open house weekend from March 20th to 21st, 2010. The air, which was collected from seaside and rural areas around the UK, comes in several scents, including the seaside smell of Townend, and the lakeside aroma of Windermere in Cumbria. The fresh air has been captured in recycled glass jars from rural and coastal locations including Lake Windermere in Cumbria, Stourhead in Wiltshire and Box Hill, Surrey. (Read More...)

P ower Energy, U.S. Renewable Energy Group, and American Nevada Group announced Thursday a joint project to build a mega-factory in Nevada for producing wind turbines. The factory will produce and assemble advanced wind energy turbines for supplying wind projects in North and South America, producing an estimated 1,110-megawatts worth of turbines per year. The 320,000-square-foot facility when completed will ultimately employ over 1,000 people, in addition to the temporary jobs its development and construction will immediately create. (Read More...)

J apan's coastguard on Friday arrested an anti-whaling activist from New Zealand who boarded a whaling vessel in the Antarctic following clashes between hunters and environmentalists, a spokesman said. Media helicopters hovered overhead as a flotilla of ships sailed into Tokyo Bay and Pete Bethune of the hardline Sea Shepherd Conservation Society was brought ashore after being held on board for the four-week trip. Peter Bethune, a member of the U.S.-based Sea Shepherd activist group, is accused of jumping aboard the whaling vessel from a Jet Ski on Feb. 15 in Antarctic seas, where Japan was conducting its annual whale hunt. (Read More...)

G erman industrial conglomerate Siemens AG is consolidating production of gas turbines for electric utilities in North Carolina to position itself for an expected boom in electricity demand in the Southeast and around the world. A subsidiary of the Munich-based company, Siemens Energy Inc., said Thursday it plans to invest $135 million to build a new manufacturing plant for 60-Hertz gas turbines in Charlotte. G erman industrial powerhouse Siemens AG is closing a gas turbine manufacturing plant in Hamilton, Ont., a move that will eliminate 550 factory jobs in the province. (Read More...)

S lated to shutter on April 1, leaving upwards of 4,700 locals jobless, the facility was one of the biggest industrial employers in the southern Bay Area. But today, stealthy electric vehicle company Aurica Motors says it might have a plan to keep the plant's doors open - as a new manufacturing facility for its Aurica E-Car. A company that, if it gets its way, will turn the soon-to-be-closed NUMMI plant in Fremont, CA into a huge production facility for electric vehicles. (Read More...)

I n the world of science, there's a long tradition of naming units of measurement to honor the person most responsible for the discovery and adoption of the scientific principle in question. The 83-year-old Berkeley resident is known as the "godfather" of energy efficiency and served on the California Energy Commission from 2000 to January this year. The 54 scientists from 26 institutions around the world propose using the name "Rosenfeld" to define electricity savings of 3 billion kilowatt-hours per year -- the amount needed to replace the annual generation of a 500 megawatt coal-fired power plant. (Read More...)

O pponents of uranium mining in Southside Virginia and the people who want to end a state moratorium on mining the fuel for nuclear power plants have one more difference of opinion: the size of the deposit. Iranian diplomats are reported to have quit the capital of the rickety West African state of Niger following a military coup that toppled President Mamadou Tandja. Tandja had been courted by Tehran, which sought his country's large uranium deposits for its controversial nuclear program, says Intelligence Online, a French Web site that covers intelligence matters.

T his side-effect was recognised after thousands of affected children were born to mothers who had been prescribed the drug for morning sickness. Research in the journal Science reveals that thalidomide binds to and renders inactive the protein cereblon, which is very important in limb formation. Half a century later, scientists are still not sure exactly how the drug does so much damage, which includes shortened arms and legs, ear deformities, and malformations in the digestive system. (Read More...)

F rance will push the Group of 20 countries to impose a tax on financial transactions to raise billions of dollars to help developing nations fight climate change, President Nicolas Sarkozy said Thursday. French President Nicolas Sarkozy on Thursday demanded reforms of the United Nations and urged negotiations under a small group of countries to accelerate efforts to fight climate change. Sarkozy, opening a one-day conference on deforestation, stood by the UN, saying there was "no alternative strategy" to a forum that gave all nations, rich and poor, a voice in a global arena. (Read More...)

U tilities around the world are still struggling to understand and implement new technology needed to make electrical grids cleaner and more efficient. Only 8 percent of them worldwide have finished rolling out smart meters and other equipment under the banner of "Smart Grid," according to new survey data collected by Microsoft. You have heard us talk about smart grids a fair amount in the past few months here at EarthTechling. (Read More...)

W hat's more, within five years fully 50 percent of the U.S. corn crop is expected to wind up as biofuels. In early February, the president threw his weight behind new and existing initiatives to boost ethanol production from both food and nonfood sources, including supporting Congressional mandates that would triple biofuel production to 36 billion gallons by 2022. A Purdue University study suggests the increased use of corn ethanol might boost the Earth's greenhouse gas emissions. (Read More...)

N ew forecasts suggest the European Union will exceed its target of getting 20 percent of its energy from renewable sources in 2020, the European Commission said Thursday. The latest national projections submitted by governments to the EU executive suggest the 27-nation bloc could reach an overall renewable share of 20.3 percent by the end of the decade. "These forecasts show that member states take renewable energy very seriously and are really dedicated to pushing their domestic production," EU Energy Commissioner Guenther Oettinger said. (Read More...)

T ransonic Combustion, a California startup claims it has a super efficient fuel injection system that can increase gas mileage by 50 to 75 percent. One key question is the impact the high pressures and temperatures will have on how long the engine lasts, Rocke says. We all know that automakers are feverishly developing hybrid vehicles in an attempt to reduce our dependency on gasoline. (Read More...)

A growing number of Americans, nearly half the country, think global warming worries are exaggerated and more people doubt that scientific warnings of severe environmental fallout will ever occur, according to a new Gallup poll. The new doubts come as President Barack Obama pressures Congress to produce legislation significantly cutting smokestack emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases blamed for climate change problems. Public belief in climate science has seen a precipitous slide in the US, according to new polling that suggests fewer Americans are concerned about the threat posed by global warming. (Read More...)

A BU DHABI, United Arab Emirates, March 11 (UPI) -- Saudi Arabia announced plans to develop the supergiant Manifa oil field, its largest offshore oil development ever, officials said. Mohammed al-Abdulkarim, the manager of the Manifa project for Saudi Aramco, told delegates at an energy conference in Abu Dhabi that development plans were "on time and on budget," the Emirati newspaper The National reports. Saudi Arabia is pressing ahead with the biggest offshore oil development in its history, despite having about 4 million barrels per day (bpd) of idle crude production capacity. (Read More...)

F reightliner Custom Chassis Corporation (FCCC) continues its legacy of engineering alternative-power products for the commercial vehicle industry with the introduction of its highly anticipated plug-in all-electric walk-in van (WIV) chassis. The new chassis model is the only one domestically engineered and the first in the industry to be completely all-electric (includes HVAC system) in North America. Over the past year, Enova and Freightliner have been testing a 120 kilowatt all-electric drive system with several chassis platforms, but now they are ready to accelerate plans to serve corporate fleets. (Read More...)

T hat knife edge is off course climate change, something which is expected to push the limits of our agricultural systems' adaptability to the limits. Barely two years after it opened, a unique Arctic "doomsday" stockpile of all the world's crop seeds has reached the half-million species mark, the foundation that oversees it said Thursday. A mold-resistant wild bean from Costa Rica, a vulnerable strawberry from a bear-infested part of Russia's Kuril islands and a host of American soybeans are among the latest additions to the Svalbard Global Seed Vault.

S olazyme, a renewable oil and bioproducts company, has inked a research and development deal with Unilever to develop an algae-based oil that can be used in its soaps and other personal care products. Unilever also pledged last year to exclusively use palm oil certified by the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil for its beauty products by 2015. "Algal oil provides important benefits in personal care applications," explained Jonathan Wolfson, CEO of Solazyme. (Read More...)

T he U.S. Senate voted 62 to 36 Wednesday to pass a tax extension bill (H.R. 4213) that includes a key $1 biodiesel tax credit. Although biodiesel received a tremendous boost under the new renewable fuel standard (RFS2), without a tax credit, the industry could not compete on price with petroleum-based diesel. Two weeks ago, we wrote that U.S. Biodiesel producers were up the creek without a paddle (see The State of U.S. Biodiesel) The U.S. Congress just threw them a life vest. (Read More...)

S cientists have discovered why some chickens appear to be gynandromorphic-male on one side of the body and female on the other. According to Lindsey Barske and Blanche Capel of Duke University Medical center, who responded to a study from the Roslin Institute at the University of Edinburgh, "In birds, gender determination occurs in cells across the entire body, not just in the gonads". But now these chickens are shedding important new light on how birds, and perhaps reptiles, develop.

I f you look closely at the HMK 561 Ultralight Motorbike, you may notice that it has no spokes, chains or pedals. Now you're probably thinking, as I am, without all that stuff, a bicycle is just a fancy night stand. Designed by Ralf Kittmann, the HMK 561 Ultralight Motorbike contains electrical properties that basically power all of the bike's movements. (Read More...)

T he prospect of a $3.75 billion World Bank loan to support the Medupi Supercritical coal plant in South Africa has raised questions about the future of development assistance in a warming world. The coal plant, part of the national South African utility Eskom's program to expand generation capacity, is expected to provide 4,800 MW of electricity. On Friday, March 5th, the World Bank convened a multi-stakeholder consultation in Washington, DC as part of a review of their Energy Strategy. (Read More...)

T he Environmental Protection Agency estimated recently that the United States emitted about 6,946 million tons of carbon dioxide-equivalent greenhouse gases in 2008. Global carbon dioxide emissions are generally measured based on production - if a good is produced in country X, then the associated emissions are blamed on that country. And because of limited manufacturing, some European countries actually have among the highest net outsourcing of emissions. (Read More...)