Energy & Fuel

"The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has rejected a controversial land trade that would have allowed oil and gas drilling in part of a national wildlife refuge in Alaska."

"A type of fuel once used in Japanese aircraft during World War II is slowly making its way again toward the market, and its backers say that it will work better in automobiles than ethanol."

"For years, the stumbling block for making renewable energy practical and dependable has been how to store electricity for days when the sun isn't shining and the wind isn't blowing. But new technologies suggest this goal may finally be within reach."

"The U.S. Justice Department has asked the Supreme Court to overturn a legal decision between the Interior Department and Anadarko Petroleum Corp (APC.N) that, if allowed to stand, could cost the government billions of dollars in lost oil royalties from energy companies."

"The oil giant Exxon Mobil, whose chief executive once mocked alternative energy by referring to ethanol as “moonshine,” is about to venture into biofuels."

The debate over the giant climate-change and energy bill now before Congress has set off a fight between Eastern and Midwestern politicians over transmission lines and solar and wind energy. Many of the best wind sites are in the Midwest, far from the electric load in populous East Coast cities.

"When the United States' top energy and commerce officials arrive in China on Tuesday, they will land in the middle of a building storm over China's protectionist tactics to become the world's leader in renewable energy."

This spring's run-up in oil prices is hard to explain on the basis of market fundamentals. It seems to be the result of speculation in the commodity markets.