Archived material from historical editions of The Generator
by John Pickrell The Earth exploded into the nuclear age on 16 July 1945.On that day, the US tested a completely new type of weapon in the New Mexico desert. Crafted from a tennis-ball-sized plutonium sphere, the Trinity bomb produced an explosion equivalent to 20,000 tonnes of TNT. Sixty years on, tens of thousands of Continue Reading →
By Greg Mitchell April 12, 2007 For the entire war in Iraq, the press has been kept largely in the dark concerning the number of civilians killed by our forces, and what happened in the aftemath. Now several hundred files posted online reveal some of the true horror while raising questions about lack of compensation. Continue Reading →
Researchers at Colorado State University and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service have completed an analysis of greenhouse gas emissions from biofuel production. Study results revealed that when compared with the life cycle of gasoline and diesel, ethanol and biodiesel from corn and soybean rotations reduced greenhouse gas emission by nearly 40 percent, reed canarygrass by 85 percent, and switchgrass and hybrid poplar by 115 percent.
"Although fossil fuel inputs are required to produce and process biofuels, hybrid poplar and switchgrass converted to ethanol compensate for these emissions and actually remove greenhouse gasses from the atmosphere when the benefits of co-products are included. Greenhouse gas savings from biomass gasification for electricity generation are even greater."
— Stephen Del Grosso, USDA scientist and NREL researcher
Hybrid poplar and switchgrass were found to offset the largest amounts of fossil fuels and therefore reduced emissions the most out of the studied crops.
RenewableEnergyAccess.com
On Tuesday, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) established the nation’s first comprehensive Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) program, which increases the use of alternative fuels and modernizes Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards for cars. The RFS program requires major American refiners, blenders, and importers to use a minimum volume of renewable fuel each year between 2007 and 2012.
"As a part of the President’s "20 in 10" energy security plan, we need Congress to give the Secretary of Transportation the authority to reform the current passenger car fuel economy standard."
— Nicole R. Nason, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Administrator
The minimum level or "standard" which is determined as a percentage of the total volume of fuel a company produces or imports, will increase every year. For 2007, 4.02 percent of all the fuel sold or dispensed to U.S. motorists will have to come from renewable sources, roughly 4.7 billion gallons.
Dear NPA Supporter,
We don’t normally ask for your support that often, but this is important. Please read the email below and act if you are able to. Please circulate.
Regards, Andrew Cox, NPA Executive Officer
______________________
Help ensure that landmark changes made this month to NSW Ministerial arrangements are not reversed. These changes gave the Environment Minister long sought-after independent oversight of vegetation, water, marine parks and catchment management.
NPA believes that there is growing opposition to the changes. The changes could be undone at any time.
Please send an URGENT fax seeking to preserve the recent changes to NSW Premier Morris Iemma, Copy to Minister for Climate Change, Environment and Water, Phil Koperberg.
Malcolm Turnbull’s advocacy of dams for the Clarence and Tweed Rivers, before a thorough environmental analysis, hopelessly compromises his portfolio, Greens Leader Bob Brown said in Hobart today. "The job of environment minister, a priori, is to defend the nation’s environment but here the minister is sacrificing it to pre-election big-dam water politics. Like Liberal Continue Reading →