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Escalating conflict in Syria spells trouble for Turkish oil pipelines
Lucy Wallwork Natural ResourcesSince World War II, Turkey has become increasingly important ally to the West, and energy is at the heart of the alliance. The Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline has carried Azerbaijani oil across Turkish territory into Europe since 2005, and the Trans-Anatolian pipeline (TANAP) is due to start piping gas from the Turkish-Georgian border to the Turkish-Greek border in 2018. Both are key nodes in Europe's strategic Southern Corridor vision to break Russia's chokehold on European gas supplies.
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Lessons in waste management from Sweden
Piyush Bakshi Waste Management & EnvironmentalWhat is the one country in the world actually imports garbage from its neighbors? Sweden. Why? Because its waste management system is so efficient that less than 5 percent of the nation's waste enters landfills. Less than 1 percent of household waste reaches landfills.
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EPA Clean Power Plan not as radical as it appears
Stefanie Heerwig Natural ResourcesThe Aug. 3 announcement of the EPA Clean Power Plan was not only met with surprise, but also huge opposition. Being in some respect stricter than previous targets, the plan could set an example for other countries at the UN Climate Change Conference beginning in November in Paris. However, it may also fail in its implementation right from the start.
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The ever-expanding road ahead in wind energy applications
Don Rosato EngineeringWind energy provides significant growth opportunities for composite plastic materials. The global market for composite materials in wind turbine production is projected to reach $4.7 billion by the end of 2015. Carbon fiber and other advanced composites are expected to play an increasing role in wind blade production, owing to the expansion of offshore installations and the adoption of larger-scale turbines that call for stiffer and lighter materials.
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Road trips are up this summer thanks to cheap gas rates
Bambi Majumdar Travel, Hospitality & Event ManagementIt seems that this is the summer of road trips with gas prices at their lowest point in six years. Prices are roughly a buck cheaper per gallon than in 2014, which means that an average American household will spend about $700 less for gas in 2015 than last year. In total, Americans are going to save about $65 billion on gas this year.
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What can Nicaragua’s new Gran Canal do for global LNG trade?
Lucy Wallwork Natural ResourcesWhen it opened to great fanfare in 1914, the Panama Canal revolutionized the global trade of oil, raw materials and manufactured goods by allowing ships to cross between the Atlantic and the Pacific without navigating round the "sailors' graveyard" of Cape Horn.
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Plastics technology revitalizing wind energy trends
Don Rosato EngineeringIn wind energy, the trend is to create larger and lighter blades to capture more wind and lower rotational inertia. New technology is being developed to build enormous turbine blades, while also eliminating the need for molds and the transportation problems typical with large blades.
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Is fracking really a waste of water?
Stefanie Heerwig Natural ResourcesOne of the critiques against hydraulic fracturing (or fracking as it is commonly called) is that the process uses millions of gallons of water per well, far too much for arid areas like Dimmit County in Texas.
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What to make of the EPA’s fracking report?
Lucy Wallwork Natural ResourcesThe U.S. fracking lobby had all of its birthdays at once earlier this month when the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released a draft of a 1000-page report that throws into doubt the contribution of fracking practices to groundwater contamination in states like North Dakota and Pennsylvania. The headline of the report, several years in the making, is that fracking has "not led to widespread, systematic impacts to drinking water resources." This is the latest contribution in a series of highly politicized and heavily contested reports on the impact of the chemicals injected into fracking wells on public health.
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Afghanistan must fall out of love with a natural resource-led future
Stefanie Heerwig Natural ResourcesNot so long ago, Afghanistan's economic future was closely bound to the idea that despite all the political turmoil, terrorism and insecurity, it had untold natural resources under its soil that would bring in the money needed to create a viable economy and fund the government. But as prestige projects have stalled, many experts now feel the potential was overstated to begin with, and there seems little prospect of a steady flow of income anytime soon.
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