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SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: electricity

electricity stories: 58 news summaries

1 - 20 of 58 Stories | 1 2 3 Next >>

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ANALYSIS

Buffett's Railroad Buy
Is a (Smart) Bet on Coal

Growth in US economy will boost electricity demand

Nov 3, 09 5:56 PM CST
(Newser) - Berkshire Hathaway’s acquisition of railroad operator Burlington North Santa Fe is really a "huge bet" by Warren Buffett on the coal industry, writes Steve Gelsi . Burlington hauls more coal than anything else, and the material accounted for a quarter of its third-quarter revenue. Buffett already is heavily invested... More »

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coal • Warren Buffett • electricity • Berkshire Hathaway • railroad • Burlington Northern Santa Fe

 Obama Tags $3.4B 
 for Smart Energy Grid 

Plan will create tens of thousands of jobs and cheaper electricity

Oct 27, 09 10:04 AM CDT
(Newser) - President Obama will roll out a plan to use $3.4 billion in stimulus funds to modernize the nation’s electrical grid today. The “smart grid” spending will go to private contractors, utilities, and municipal governments in grants of between $400,000 and $2 million. The administration expects $4.... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Iraq • power grid • electricity • renewable energy • job creation • Obama administration • President Obama • stimulus funds

 New Google Mirrors 
 May Cut Solar Power Costs 

Would focus sun's energy to produce heat, steam

Sep 10, 09 10:23 AM CDT
(Newser) - Google is working on new mirrors to make solar thermal power significantly cheaper, Reuters reports. If it works, the technology could reduce the cost of building a plant to draw power from the sun by 25% or more. “We've been looking at very unusual materials for the mirrors both... More »

MORE ABOUT:
energy • Google • electricity • solar power • energy costs • Bill Weihl

(Newser) - If you missed out on cashing in on that clunker in your driveway, your next chance may be no farther than the kitchen, USA Today reports. Stimulus funds that will give consumers rebates as high as $200 for replacing old, inefficient appliances with newer models are due to start flowing... More »

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recycling • electricity • washers • clothes dryers • kitchen • utilities • refrigerator • home appliances • Cash for Clunkers • freezer • stimulus funds • women's issues

(Newser) - Electricity prices across America have nosedived amid an almost unprecedented fall in demand, the Wall Street Journal reports. Market prices are down up to 40% from the historic highs of last year, and are on course to keep plummeting. The lower prices aren't always seen by consumers immediately because of... More »

MORE ABOUT:
energy prices • recession • electricity • power plant • utilities

 Korea Roadway Recharges Cars 


May 18, 09 2:31 PM CDT
(Newser) - South Korean scientists are working on road technology that allows electric vehicles to continually recharge while driving, Reuters reports. Inductive charging, used with watertight electric toothbrushes, requires no contact between power source and appliance. For vehicles, electric strips would be embedded in the road at intervals, and a magnetic field... More »

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South Korea • roadways • battery • electricity • electric cars • automobile • inductive recharging • toothbrush

(Newser) - It may sound like a B-grade espionage thriller, but foreign cyberspies have infiltrated the US electrical grid and stand ready to wreak havoc at the right moment, the Wall Street Journal reports. The foreign hackers—from China, Russia, and elsewhere—have left behind software programs that could theoretically allow them... More »

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China • Russia • espionage • electricity • Department of Homeland Security • spying

(Newser) - Clean coal is a myth, and the companies selling it “have their heads stuck in the mine,” Thomas Kostigen writes on MarketWatch. Although Americans generate close to 50% of their energy from coal, the technology is so yesterday—and the industry is not poised to move forward. It... More »

MORE ABOUT:
energy • environment • alternative energy • coal • energy industry • electricity • coal power • clean coal

(Newser) - Scientists have developed electricity-generating fibers that can be embedded in clothing and other materials and draw power from the smallest of movements, LiveScience reports. The zinc oxide nanowires are as small as 1/5,000th the width of a human hair and produce energy when they vibrate, even from blood flowing... More »

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technology • electricity • nanotechnology • DARPA • consumer electronics • scientific research • zinc oxide • military applications

ANALYSIS

Plans for Clean Energy Get Dirty in Transmission

Firms use green hype to build power lines that could carry electricity from coal

Mar 23, 09 3:54 PM CDT
(Newser) - Plans to green the US power supply are in full swing, with the Obama administration working toward the goal of doubling the current supply of alternative energy over the next 3 years. But, some complain, power companies are using the popularity of green power to push through a needless—but... More »

MORE ABOUT:
alternative energy • coal • electricity • renewable energy • solar power • wind power • turbines • transmission

 Power Returns 
 to Kabul, but 
 Bribes Persist 

Deal boosts electricity access, business in struggling Afghan capital

Feb 11, 09 5:33 AM CST
(Newser) - For the first time since the fall of the Taliban, the glow of light hangs over Kabul late into the night, GlobalPost reports. An energy deal with Uzbekistan is bringing unprecedented access to electricity to the Afghan capital, where most neighborhoods only had power for about four hours every second... More »

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Afghanistan • Kabul • power • electricity • Uzbekistan

93-Year-Old Left to Freeze Leaves $500K to Hospital 

Estate may be worth more than $500K

Feb 5, 09 10:03 AM CST
(Newser) - The 93-year-old Michigan man who froze to death last month after his electricity was cut off was a World War II medic who left his estate—possibly more than $500,000—to a local hospital, CNN reports. Despite the savings, Martin Schur was $1,000 behind on his utility bill.... More »

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elderly • Michigan • will • electricity • hypothermia • recession depression • Martin Schur

Ky. Deploys National Guard for Ice Storm Relief

400,000 people still without power

Feb 1, 09 3:45 PM CST
(Newser) - Kentucky has deployed 4,600 of its National Guard troops to go door-to-door in what the state's governor is calling "the biggest natural disaster that this state has ever experienced in modern history.” At least seven—and as many as 21—people may have died as a result... More »

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National Guard • Kentucky • electricity • death • power outage • ice storm • disaster

 Brits Hunt for Oldest Bulb 


Jan 31, 09 6:12 PM CST
(Newser) - The UK’s Royal Society of Chemistry has offered a $700 prize for the lucky Briton who turns up with the oldest working light bulb in the nation, the Telegraph reports. The society hopes the search will produce a bulb even older than the current world record holder—a... More »

MORE ABOUT:
England • electricity • Britain • light bulbs • Thomas Edison • Royal Society • Joseph Swan

(Newser) - In the search for renewable energy, Europe and the US are turning to one of the earth’s most abundant resources—the tides, Bloomberg reports. Technology developed three decades ago to turn tidal energy into electricity in developing countries is finally finding traction in the West. The largest grid-connected turbine,... More »

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environment • power grid • ocean • electricity • green energy • turbines • tides

Elderly Man Freezes to Death Over Unpaid Bill 

Mich. neighbor finds 93-year-old in house after city cut power

Jan 27, 09 8:19 AM CST
(Newser) - A 93-year-old Michigan man who failed to pay his electricity bill froze to death in his home after the city cut his power supply, the Bay City Times reports. Marvin Schur suffered what a pathologist called "a slow painful death" from hypothermia several days after city workers installed a... More »

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elderly • Michigan • electricity • bill • hypothermia • recession depression

 Silver Bits Boost Solar Power 

Particles allow cells to absorb more light, researchers say

Jan 9, 09 2:45 PM CST
(Newser) - Scientists believe they’ve found a way to make less expensive, more efficient solar cells: Just add silver, the Economist reports. Standard cells, which rely on a thick layer of pricey silicon, are costly. Problem is, thinner cells absorb less red light, reducing electricity output by 20%. Sprinkling a few... More »

MORE ABOUT:
energy • alternative energy • electricity • solar power • solar cells • scientific breakthroughs • silver

Geothermal Energy Hopes Are Booming

Subterranean rocks could supply 10%
of power by 2050

Dec 31, 08 9:15 PM CST
(Newser) - Hot rocks beneath the Earth's surface hold much promise for the nation's energy needs, but it's going to take big money to make the science work, the Christian Science Monitor reports. With $1 billion investment over the next 15 years, experts say geothermal power could provide 10% of the nation's... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Google • alternative energy • fossil fuel • electricity • President Obama • geothermal energy • Enhanced Geothermal Systems

(Newser) - Mice started a fire in a Toronto animal shelter that killed 100 cats and three dogs, the Telegraph reports. The rodents likely sparked the blaze by chewing through electrical wires. Canadians nationwide have been donating money and offering temporary homes and meals for the few animal survivors. “People... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Canada • mice • electricity • Toronto • fire • cat • animal shelters

OPINION

Infrastructure Revitalization Is Right and Right

A conservative argues for investing in water, energy, transport

Dec 8, 08 12:12 PM CST
(Newser) - Conservatives who fear that investing in the nation’s infrastructure goes against core Reaganite values need to get over it. Our aging energy, water, and transportation systems are in dire need of corporate dollars and ingenuity, but “the private sector alone cannot handle the job—and the states are... More »

MORE ABOUT:
economics • electricity • Reagan Revolution • investment • transportation • infrastructure • Treasury Department • drinking water • conservative base

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