Replies to post #162136 on Tornado Alley (PROG)

[StephanieVanbryce]

On Our Radar: Billions Needed for Texas Water Projects



By THE NEW YORK TIMES December 16, 2011, 1:22 pm

A Texas agency reports that the state should spend $53 billion to cope with its water needs over the next half-century, building infrastructure like new reservoirs, dams and wells, but warns that droughts may prevent the state from keeping up with demand. It is also unclear how the state would come up with the money. [The Associated Press] [ http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D9RL5TDG0.htm ]

Germany produced more energy from renewable sources than from nuclear power or natural gas this year, the nation’s utility association says. Nuclear power sank to 17.4 percent from 22.4 percent of the mix after Chancellor Angela Merkel shuttered the country’s eight oldest reactors in March. [Bloomberg News]
[ http://www.businessweek.com/news/2011-12-16/germany-s-renewable-output-beats-nuclear-hard-coal-in-power-mix.html ]

The emissions released by sugar-cane burning prior to its harvesting for ethanol have been sharply underestimated, raising questions about how sustainable such biofuels really are, researchers report. [PhysOrg.com] [ http://www.physorg.com/news/2011-12-air-pollution-results-sugarcane-ethanol.html ]

The director of the National Park Service creates a set of conditions that park superintendents must meet if they want to ban plastic water bottles, like studying potential revenue losses by concessionaires. [The New York Times] [ http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/16/us/park-service-relents-on-plastic-bottle-ban.html?ref=felicitybarringer ]


http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/12/16/on-our-radar-billions-needed-for-texas-water-projects/