For decades, scientists have been trying to find ways to mass-produce algae as a source of fuel for vehicles, but financial and environmental roadblocks have gotten in the way. The solution may be inside giant tubes at the University of Texas.
Energy
In-depth reporting on oil, gas, renewable power, and policies shaping the future of energy in Texas from The Texas Tribune.
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Energy
How is a Grid Smart? New Project Aims to Find Out
An Austin smart-grid project known as Pecan Street is continuing its roll-out with an announcement on Friday that a handful of major companies, including Whirlpool, Best Buy and Chevrolet, will test new-age products on the grid.
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Energy
Hearings Begin on Controversial Canada-Texas Oil Pipeline
As the U.S. State Department convenes hearings in Texas this week on the proposed Keystone XL pipeline, which would bring tar sands crude from Canada to Texas, environmentalists are revving up their opposition.
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Energy
Draft Water Plan: Texas “Will Not Have Enough”
The Texas Water Development Board’s just-released 295-page report says that if Texas does not spend tens of billions more on water infrastructure, a drought as bad as that of the 1950s could cost Texans $116 billion per year by 2060.
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Energy
Donna Nelson: The TT Interview
The chairwoman of the Public Utility Commission on how close Texas came to rolling blackouts this summer, what consumers can expect to pay as wind-power transmission expands, and how the historic drought affects the reliability of the power grid.
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Energy
Liveblog: Energy and Environment at The Texas Tribune Festival
We’ll be liveblogging throughout the weekend from the Texas Tribune Festival’s energy and environment track — which includes panels on the coming crisis over water, big oil and national security, and whether green energy is an oxymoron.
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Energy
Katharine Hayhoe: The TT Interview
The Texas Tech climate scientist and author of A Climate for Change: Global Warming Facts for Faith-Based Decisions on why why working in Texas, a state full of both prominent climate skeptics and extreme weather, is an “opportunity.”
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Energy
LCRA Approves Emergency Drought Plan, Which Will Hurt Farmers
At a board meeting on Wednesday, the Lower Colorado River Authority approved an emergency plan that could cut off water supplies to downriver rice farmers entirely next year if the drought worsens.
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Energy
Texas Schools Feeling Effects of Drought, Fires
The drought and extreme heat are taking their toll on school districts across Texas. Costly problems include cracks in building foundations, increased maintenance costs and loss of vegetation.
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Energy
Drought Could Pose Power Plant Problems
If the drought continues well into next spring and summer, the electric grid could lose “potentially several thousand megawatts,” according to an ERCOT official. That’s roughly equivalent to several coal plants.