Planting trees to cut carbon is good science but there are risks,

Trees are still the only proven and quantifiable method to take carbon from the atmosphere.

If trees were viewed as engineering technology, and they came out of a factory, then we would embrace them and plant them with speed.
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SALISBURY, North Carolina: If the fortunes of Power Curbers were tied solely to business in the United States, these would be grim days at its factory on the fringes of this North Carolina hill town. This small, family-owned company engineers and makes machines that turn cement into curbs, and with the U.S. construction industry in distress, domestic sales are expected to drop at least 10 percent this year.

But fortunately for Power Curbers, and indeed for the U.S. economy, the company has transcended geography. Aided by the falling dollar, which makes American goods cheaper on world markets, Power Curbers, like thousands of other businesses in the United States, is tapping rapid growth abroad to compensate for sluggish sales at home.

An underground fire that has consumed more than 12.43 million tons of coal in northwest China has finally been extinguished after more than 50 years.

The Coalfield Fire Fighting Project Office of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region announced the fire in the Terak field was finally out, saving an estimated 651 million tons of coal from burning.

Officials and engineers will closely monitor the coal seam for several years and submit a final report in 2009 to regional and national authorities, said Cai Zhongyong, deputy head of the office.

The fire, covering 923,500 square meters, was fueled by coal more than 100 meters underground. It released more than 70,000 tons of toxic gas, including sulfur dioxide and carbon monoxide each year since it started in the early 1950s, Cai said.

An similar attempt to extinguish this fire was unsuccessful in Aug 2000

Coal fires are also common in underground mines in the US ,  and are difficult to extinguish. The term coal fire refers to a burning or smoldering coal seam, coal storage pile or coal waste pile. The adsorption of oxygen at the outer and inner surface of coal and resulting oxidation is an exothermic reaction. This leads to an increase in temperature within the coal accumulation. If the temperature exceeds approximately 80°C the coal can ignite and start to burn. This process, referred to as “spontaneous combustion”, is the most common cause for coal fires of large extent.

Aiming to turn trees into new energy sources , engineers and scientists are using a controversial genetic engineering process to change the composition of the wood. A major goal is to reduce the amount of lignin, a chemical compound that interferes with efforts to turn the tree’s cellulose into biofuels like ethanol.

The latest statistics show they’re definitely getting heavier — no, not Americans, their cars. Automobiles driven in the United States packed on 125 pounds from 1968 through 2001, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, and that’s just the estimate of the pork heaped on by new safety equipment.

Realizing the need to slim down, engineers have started rolling out concept cars that explore the potential of lighter-weight vehicles to save on gasoline while still protecting drivers in the event of a crash. The Environmental Protection Agency says that a 10 percent reduction in car weight yields a 7 percent reduction in fuel consumption.

DETROIT - Motor Trend Magazine has named the new Cadillac CTS its 2008 car of the year, saying it is proof that Detroit can engineer a world-class sedan.

The award, to be announced Tuesday, is significant because it shows the world that Detroit is back in the car business after years of focusing on sport utility vehicles and trucks, said magazine Editor-in-Chief Angus MacKenzie.

The car’s appearance, fit and finish, quality of materials and performance rival that of its German and Japanese competitors, MacKenzie said.

Silicon electronics are a staple of the computing industry, but researchers are now exploring other techniques to deliver powerful computers.
A quantum computer is a theoretical device that would make use of the properties of quantum mechanics, the realm of physics and engineering that deals with energy and matter at atomic scales.

WOODSIDE has boosted the prospects of engineers developing the $30 billion Browse liquefied natural gas joint venture after signing a long-term sales contract with Taiwan's CPC Corp which could be worth $35 billion to $45 billion.

In a key terms agreement, which has yet to be converted into a final sales agreement, CPC has agreed to buy 2 million to 3 million tonnes of LNG a year for 15 to 20 years.

CPC had publicly flagged the possibility of a deal soon after Woodside signed a very similar agreement with China's PetroChina in September.

Although a seemingly minor incident, the escape by miners from a mine in Ballerat (Australia) this morning (3.30 am local time - Nov 19th) drew critical comment from the local union organiser.

The mining rescue brought back memories of recent major rescues at Crandall Canyon Mine , USA and Beaconsfield , Australia mine sites.

Safety is always a major concern to miners and the mining industry in Western Australia has recently hailed the safety practices at the Kanowna Belle gold mine near Kalgoorlie after 54 workers trapped underground were rescued.

A truck caught fire in the shaft of the mine.  The fire was quickly put out but the area filled with smoke but workers then followed practiced safety procedures and shut themselves in specially designed refuges.

Unfortunately a recent incident in a Chinese mine did not have a similar outcome and experts slammed safety procedures at the mine

SINGAPORE: Oil briefly rose above 99 US dollars a barrel for the first time Wednesday as the greenback's fall drove demand for dollar-denominated crude, dealers said.

The jump during early Asian trading hours pushed the price within striking distance of the psychologically crucial 100-dollar level. Dealers said tight global supplies were also helping fuel the spike.

New York's main contract, light sweet crude for January delivery, pulled back from a new intraday high of 99.29 dollars but was still 94 cents up at 98.97 from a record finish of 98.03 on Tuesday.

Big British energy users , including manufacturers and transport groups, are so concerned by the threat of rising electricity prices that they are considering investing in new nuclear power stations, The Times has learnt.

British Energy, the nuclear generator that operates the UK’s existing nuclear fleet, is expected to disclose the identity of at least one potential partner in January, but sources familiar with the talks have revealed that some of the would-be partners are from outside the energy industry and the financial sector.

Twenty-five years after the compact disc was launched, there is something of a buzz about the format it was supposed to replace – the humble vinyl disc . Sales of 7in vinyl singles have risen fivefold since 2001, according to the BPI, the record industry’s trade body, buoyed by trendy bands issuing collectable vinyl products and the continued high prices of CD singles, a nonsense in the era of the download.