South Korea Pitches New Energy Idea By Evan Ramstad April 16, 2008; Page A10 SEOUL, South Korea — South Korea’s president and economic leaders, on a scheduled visit to the U.S. starting Wednesday, plan to add a new twist to their pitch for business and investment: the country’s desire to become an energy producer. South [...]

A new joint project has been launched between the MIT Energy Initiative and the Fraunhofer Institute. The Fraunhofer Institute is a German R&D organization, the two organizations will be attempt to develop an commercialize sustainable energy systems. The new institute, which is a project of the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative, will be named the MIT-Fraunhofer Institute [...]

Americans spent less on consumer goods in March due to rising fuel and food costs. Gasoline prices rose 11 percent since this time last year. Across the board consumr spending has dipped; housing, auto sales, and large appliances have all been effected. Recession fears have increased and the rising gasoline prices have been blamed for [...]

The British Nuclear Decommissioning Authority received proposals from over 30 interested parties for land to develop nuclear sites. These sites would be developed for nuclear power stations. “Over 30 companies have expressed an interest in our assets. We think this is a very robust number,” a spokesman said. (Source: Reuters)

Environmental groups are against a plan for new coal fired plants in the towns of Bay City and Midland, Michigan. The new plants would operate for 50 years. Environmental groups don’t want such a commitment for such an old technology. Environmental groups want to use renewable energy rather than using coal. They think that the [...]

The University of Pittsburgh created a Center for Energy. The center will study new energy technologies, including renewable energy and clean coal technologies. The center will include 40 faculty members with different areas of expertise. (Source: Pittsburgh Business Times)

Bush prepares global warming initiative By Stephen Dinan – President Bush is poised to change course and announce as early as this week that he wants Congress to pass a bill to combat global warming, and will lay out principles for what that should include. Specifics of the policy are still being fiercely debated, but [...]

Memorandum DATE: April 13, 2008 TO: Interested Parties. FROM: William Koetzle, Ph.D. Senior Vice President of Public Policy RE: House Committee on Energy and Commerce, majority staff paper on: Climate Change Legislation Design, Appropriate Roles for Different Levels of Government. —————————————————————————————————————- The most recent Climate Change Design White Paper aims to: “[Sort] out the appropriate [...]

The Energy Department projects that the average price for a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline will reach $3.60 per gallon in June. This will surely put a dent into many family’s summer travel plans. The costs will be nearly one dollar higher than last summer’s prices. (Source: Portland Business Times)

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown wrote a letter to fellow G8 leaders voicing his concerns about higher food prices due to the rush towards the manufacturing of biofuels. He fears that replacing petroleum with biofuels is disrupting the global demand for food. Mr Brown wrote: “There is growing consensus that we need urgently to examine [...]