PUERTO RICO: Cleaner Energy Sources Prove Divisive

As Puerto Rico seeks to lower soaring utility rates while simultaneously shifting toward cleaner energy sources, it faces grassroots opposition to two major projects even though at least one is 100-percent renewable.

Money Is All That’s Green in Biodiesel

The only green in biodiesel fuel is the money producers make from it, new research has revealed.

U.S.: Obama Rejects Giant Keystone Pipeline Scheme

In a decision fraught with political risk, U.S. President Barack Obama Wednesday rejected the permit for the proposed giant Keystone XL pipeline project, insisting that his administration needed more time to determine whether it served the national interest.

JAPAN: Pushing Nuclear Exports After Fukushima

Japan plans to boost civilian nuclear exports even as it tries to appease its population angered at radiation leaks from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, crippled by an earthquake and tsunami on Mar. 11, last year.

Saudi Arabia and Iran Spar over Oil Embargo

Saudi Arabia will make up for any shortfall in world oil supply caused by sanctions against Iran, the country's oil minister has said, despite warnings from Iran that such a move would provoke unspecified "consequences".

NIGERIA: Corruption Fuels Public Anger

As a nationwide strike and protests against the lifting of the fuel subsidy paralysed Nigeria for the third day in a row Wednesday, analysts say the billions of dollars a year lost to corruption in the oil industry could have been used to leave the subsidy in place.

Rio+20: The Moment When Everything Changed?

Humanity is driving Earth's climate and ecosystems towards dangerous tipping points, requiring radical new forms of international cooperation and governance, experts say.

CLIMATE CHANGE: Clean, Efficient Wood Stoves Good for People and the Planet

In his quest to make the most efficient possible use of energy generated through wood combustion, Salvadoran René Núñez developed a simple but highly efficient wood stove that produces no smoke and reduces greenhouse gas emissions by 95 percent.

TAIWAN: Poll Will Decide Nuclear Plant’s Fate

Voters in Taiwan’s upcoming presidential and national legislative elections will also decide the fate of a bitterly controversial 9.3 billion dollar nuclear power plant.

Shale Gas Turns the Tables on Petroleum Powers

Countries that have always depended on imported oil and gas, like Chile, Paraguay, Poland or Ukraine, and especially heavy consumers such as the United States and China, could become self-sufficient in natural gas in the near future and even start exporting it.

The Oil That Comes in from the Cold

Thanks to soaring oil prices and new technology, oil producers in the hot sands of Arabia, the torrid Niger delta or the humid plains of the Orinoco are facing new competition from rivals in the frozen North.

BANGLADESH: Lighting up on Solar Power

The sun never shone brighter on rural Bangladesh with low power solar systems transforming the lives of tens of millions of marginalised rural people who are unconnected to the national grid.

ARGENTINA: Local Biogas Initiatives Open Virtuous Circle

A growing number of municipalities in Argentina are joining a movement aimed at tackling the problem of waste disposal while producing clean, inexpensive energy.

Collateral Damage From Fukushima Hits Europe

Several leading European electricity providers and nuclear power plant constructors now count as part of the collateral damage caused by the tsunami that destroyed the Japanese nuclear power plant of Fukushima last March.

U.S. Limits Mercury Pollution as Big Coal Retreats

Environmental advocates praised a recent new rule limiting pollution of mercury and other air toxins announced by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, one of several new air pollution standards set under the Barack Obama administration.

JAPAN: Mothers Rise Against Nuclear Power

Japan’s nuclear power industry, which once ignored opposition, now finds its existence threatened by women angered by official opaqueness on radiation from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant after it was struck by an earthquake- driven tsunami on Mar. 11.

Green Tech Drives Search for Rare Earths in Argentina

Argentina could meet part of the rising world demand for "rare earth" metals, required for a variety of green technologies, advanced electronic devices and medical diagnostic equipment. The challenge lies in mining them in a sustainable fashion.

CASPIAN BASIN: As Energy Prices Head North, Democratisation Goes South

Quiz: Over the next three months, three former Soviet republics will hold elections – Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Russia. Whose official outcome will most closely resemble the truth?

Op-Ed: Facing Peak Oil and Peak Gas: In Search of the Lesser Evil

The U.S. oil geologist Marion King Hubbert predicted, already in 1956, that the global production of oil will reach its all-time high roughly when we have used one half of the world's oil reserves. This is because geologists tend to find the biggest fields first, and because oil wells become tired during the production phase. The more is taken out, the more difficult it gets to bring the remaining oil to the surface.

INDIA: Seeking Aid For Low Carbon Growth

After pushing for financing adaptation at the just-concluded United Nations climate talks at Durban, India is hitting every button for aid in executing its low-carbon growth plans.

JAMAICA: Waking Up to Urgency of a National Climate Policy

As increasingly extreme and erratic weather driven by the earth's changing climate exacts a heavy toll on Jamaica's population, economy and infrastructure, a consensus has emerged among scientists and policy makers here that adaptation measures must include hazard mitigation.