The Associated Press: New Energy Uses for Asphalt
The Associated Press reports on a Dutch company taking a new approach with asphalt, pulling heat from the source and putting it to use in homes and offices.

Solar energy collected from a 200-yard stretch of road and a small parking lot helps heat a 70-unit four-story apartment building in the northern village of Avenhorn. An industrial park of some 160,000 square feet in the nearby city of Hoorn is kept warm in winter with the help of heat stored during the summer from 36,000 square feet of pavement. The runways of a Dutch air force base in the south supply heat for its hangar.

Wired.com reports on the Democratic presidential candidates’ views on climate change as documented by the journal Science.

What do the would-be Presidents say about science? The journal Science just released its rundown of the most prominent candidates’ positions. None of the campaigns gave Science direct access to the candidates, though that may be a good thing: when it comes to details, advisers are probably the best sources of information. Below is a quick synopsis of the leading Democrats’ positions; the Republicans are here, and expect a future post on less-prominent candidates excluded by Science.

Barack Obama. The freshman senator from Illinois promises to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 80% by 2050 and spend $150 billion on biofuels. He’s supported embryonic stem cell research and increased funding for avian influenza programs. He also wants to double federal spending on basic research, expand internet access and spend $18 billion on science-related education initiatives. However, he’d take money from NASA programs to pay for this. Like Hillary Clinton and John Edwards, he promises to end political interference with science; unlike them, scientists applaud him for already doing this in his work as a community activist, state legislator and freshman Senator. But in that credit, some find reason for concern: will his ideals hold up on the national stage?

Wired.com Full article »

One of the world’s top climate scientists called for an end to building new coal-fired power plants in the United States because of their huge role in spewing out greenhouse gases that contribute to global warming.

With global warming becoming an increasingly important topic many top scientists are speaking out against coal power plants.

Together we can make a difference for our planet. This video shows a few simple steps anyone can do to cut back on the amount of energy used and the amount of pollution emitted.

1. Drive less often; walk when you can or take the bus.
2. Use fluorescent light bulbs; turn off light when you leave the room
3. Try using an environmentally friendly fuel like biodiesel
4. Keep your thermostat at 68 degrees
5. Contact your congressional representative and let them know you care about the environment

I don’t claim to understand how things work in Washington, but this one is pretty much a no-brainer. By not extending tax credits for renewable energy, our elected leaders are ignoring the desires of up to 90% of Americans who wish to get the renewable energy industry launched.

Pelosi and Reid are just about to do the stupidest thing imaginable: pull the rug out from underneath the blossoming renewable energy economy at the time when we need it most.

(Start reaching for your phone…)

Just as every single magazine in the country is giving the energy crisis more press than Paris Hilton, and just as renewable energy is becoming the entrepreneurial equivalent of the internet revolution and just as the news about climate change is getting weirder and scarier every time we open the freakin’ paper, our crazy-assed Democratic leaders are completely dropping the ball, and you gotta call Capitol Hill right now and tell them to get their head’s straight fast.

As Adam Browning of Vote Solar put it “Thursday morning, Senator Reid and Speaker Pelosi decided to drop the renewable energy standard out of the energy bill and drop the tax title. No tax title means no extension of the investment tax credit for solar, and no extention of the production tax credit for wind. Let’s see…nothing for solar, plus nothing for wind, hmmm, add no renewable energy standard, carry the zero…yep, that adds up to precisely nothing for renewable energy.

Got that? Congressional leadership is moving an energy bill with nothing in it for renewable energy. Dropping the biggest pro-solar provision this country has ever seen, just when the industry is gaining momentum and making an impact.”

Pelosi’s offices number is 202- 225-4965
Reid’s office’s number is 202-224-3542

Read more at Huffingtonpost.com

See also: Energy Bill 2007 Could Give Renewables the Green Light — or a Lump of Coal (Energy Priorities)