Realtors hope $25B foreclosure settlement will spark housing revival

Vermont says no fracking way

Published: May 24, 2012
Tags: fracking, Stodder

If the much-hyped dream of U.S. energy independence must involve hydraulic fracturing (also known as fracking) to extract natural gas from shale deposits deep underneath the surface of the earth, the State of Vermont wants no part of it.

Natural gas vehicles face chicken-and-egg syndrome

Published: May 9, 2012
Tags: hybrid, natural gas, Stodder

While the push is under way in some states to provide roadside battery charging for the thousands of electric cars on the highways, another alternative, the natural-gas-powered vehicle, mostly sits idle.

Viral ‘wind map’ aims to promote alternative energy

Published: April 12, 2012
Tags: Stodder, wind, wind farm

Two media artists moonlighting from Google’s “Big Picture” visualization lab have created a “wind map” to show where, when and how powerfully the wind blows, in real time, all over the lower 48 states.

Study: Fracking doesn’t pose groundwater risks

Published: April 3, 2012
Tags: fracking, groundwater, Stodder

In a possible foreshadowing of long-awaited findings by the Environmental Protection Agency, the Energy Institute at the University of Texas at Austin has found “no direct link to reports of groundwater contamination” from the controversial natural gas extraction method known as fracking.