Energy & Fuel

"Biofuel and farm groups objected to the U.S. EPA's revisions to the National Renewable Fuel Standard today at a public hearing in Washington."

"A Canadian service station today became the first in the world to sell gasoline blended with biofuel made from wheat straw."

"In the future, keeping your gas tank full could make disputes over water in the American West a lot worse. It's because energy companies hope to develop the oil shale industry. Getting oil from shale requires lots of water, and the richest oil shale deposits happen to be in the dry state of Colorado."

"Google Inc is closing in on its goal of producing renewable energy at a price cheaper than coal, the company's so-called green energy czar, the engineer in charge of the project, said on Tuesday."

"A U.S. clean-energy boom could force the nation to shed its addiction to foreign oil, only to develop a dependence on imported minerals and metals."

The House passed a bill that would give some $4 billion in vouchers to owners of gas-guzzlers who trade them in for more efficient cars. It would boost car sales.

"The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee approved expanded oil and gas leasing today in the eastern Gulf of Mexico in a bipartisan vote that would upend a 2006 compromise with Florida senators that provided their state at least a 125-mile buffer in most areas until mid-2022."

Jon Wellinghoff, the new chairman of FERC, will have enormous influence in a time when the United States' energy future is at a crossroads.

"Seawater algae -- a cousin to pond scum -- may someday become a significant source of fuel for military jets and airliners...."

As bankrupt General Motors fights for survival, the company is ambivalent about trading in its love for gas-guzzling muscle cars for gas-sippers or the plug-in Chevy Volt.