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Oct 2, 2013

Fracking Wastewater Radioactive and Contaminated, Study Finds

Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, extracts oil and gas from deep underground by injecting water into the ground and breaking the rocks in which the valuable hydrocarbons are trapped. But it also produces wastewater high in certain contaminants — and which may be radioactive. In a study published today (Oct. 2)...

Oct 7, 2013

Americans Deserve a Better Fracking Debate (Op-Ed)

Gretchen Goldman is an analyst in the Center for Science and Democracy at the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS). Goldman holds a PhD inenvironmental engineering and her current work looks at political and corporate interference in science policy. She contributed this article to LiveScience's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights. Last...

Dec 17, 2013

States Take National Lead in Regulating Fracking (Op-Ed)

Chris Busch is director of research and Veery Maxwell is director of communications, both at Energy Innovation: Policy and Technology. They contributed this article to LiveScience's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights. In the absence of additional federal action to regulate hydraulic fracturing (fracking), states have increasingly adopted policies to govern...

Jan 16, 2014

Nearly 6,000 Natural Gas Leaks Found in Washington, D.C.

Aging pipelines under the streets of Washington, D.C., are to blame for nearly 6,000 natural gas leaks, including 12 that could have caused dangerous explosions, a new study finds. Researchers from Duke University and Boston University mapped 1,500 road miles (2,400 kilometers) of underground infrastructure that delivers fuel to power...

Jan 21, 2014

Straw Could Power Jets

Straw is often thought of as a fuel for horses, but if a French research project pans out, passenger jets could soon fuel up with biofuels derived from this agricultural byproduct. The ProBio3 project began last July with financing from a French economic stimulus program. The effort aims to use...

Feb 6, 2014

Gallery: Futuristic Metal 'Exosuit' for Divers

Into the Deep (Image credit: Nuytco Research Ltd.)Nuytco Research Ltd., a Canadian technology firm, developed a hard metal dive suit, dubbed Exosuit, that enables users to work at depths down to 1,000 feet (305 meters), without needing to spend time in a decompression chamber after they return to the surface....

Feb 7, 2014

Why Would Royal Dutch Shell Abandon the Arctic? (Video)

Joss Fong is a video producer and science journalist living in New York. She contributed this article to Live Science's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights. Geologists estimate that the Arctic holds more than 20 percent of the planet's oil and gas resources. Alaska's waters alone may contain 24 billion barrels...

Feb 27, 2014

Pockets of Oil from Exxon Valdez Spill Persist Along Alaskan Coast

Small pockets of oil from the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill still persist in pockets along Alaska's coasts, hidden by rocks that have kept the elements from breaking down the crude oil, scientists reported yesterday (Feb. 27). The Exxon Valdez spill was the largest oil spill in U.S. history until...

Mar 21, 2014

OPEC Oil Embargo, 40 Years Later: Has Anything Changed?

Forty years ago this month, the entire world breathed a heavy sigh of relief — though that sigh, and the reason for it, are largely forgotten today. In March 1974, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), made up primarily of Arab nations, decided to end a six-month embargo...

Mar 24, 2014

In Photos: Exxon Valdez Oil Spill

Exxon Valdez (Image credit: NOAA)The Exxon Valdez tanker ran aground on Bligh Reef in Alaska on March 24, 1989, releasing nearly 11 million gallons of crude oil into Prince William Sound. It was the worst oil spill in U.S. history until the 2011 Deepwater Horizon spill in the Gulf of...

Apr 20, 2014

Russia, Ukraine, and Europe are Tied by Gas Dependency

This article was originally published at The Conversation. The publication contributed the article to Live Science's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights. The German energy giant RWE has begun to “reverse flow” supplies of gas from Europe back to Ukraine via Poland, a process first arranged in 2012, with an agreement...

May 15, 2014

Ruptured Pipeline Spews 10,000 Gallons of Oil in Los Angeles

More than 10,000 gallons of crude oil is gushing into the streets of a Los Angeles neighborhood, after a pipeline ruptured early this morning (May 15). The oil — knee-deep in some places — is spreading over an area stretching roughly half a square mile (1.3 square kilometers), reported the...

May 22, 2014

Gazprom's Well-Matched Marriage with China has been a Long Time in the Making (Op-Ed)

This article was originally published at The Conversation. The publication contributed the article to Live Science's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights. After ten years of negotiations, Russia’s Gazprom and the China National Petroleum Company (CNPC) have announced they have signed a 30-year gas contract. Russia will from the end of...

Jun 26, 2014

A Coal Town Turnaround (Op-Ed)

Rocky Kistner is a communications associate for the NRDC. This Op-Ed originally appeared as an article in OnEarth magazine. Kistner contributed this article to Live Science's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights. In West Virginia's largest newspaper this week, journalist Ken Ward Jr., a veteran chronicler of the coalfields, spotlighted poll...

Jul 10, 2014

Natural Gas? Cows Toot Out Most Methane

A new snapshot of U.S. methane emissions in 2004 shows livestock — primarily cattle and pigs — were the country's worst gas emitters at the time. The study also found that livestock expelled 40 percent more methane than had been estimated by the Environmental Protection Agency, a result in agreement...