Texas fracking company fined record $4.15 million by Penn. regulators
Pittsburgh (UPI) Sep 22, 2014 -
Regulators with the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection have fined oil and gas company Range Resources $4.15 million for environmental violations related to its fracking operations in the Marcellus shale.
It's the largest fine for fracking issued in the state of Pennsylvania - a state rich in the shale deposits coveted by hydraulic fracturing companies.
Range Res ...
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Jack Ma of Alibaba becomes China's richest person
Shanghai (AFP) Sept 23, 2014 -
The largest stock offer in history has made Jack Ma, founder of e-commerce giant Alibaba, China's richest person with a fortune of $25 billion, an annual wealth ranking in the world's second largest economy showed Tuesday.
"It has been an amazing year for China's best tycoons despite the jitters about the Chinese economy," said China-based luxury magazine publisher Hurun Report in its annual ...
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Tecta America Begins New Solar Projects At Bedrosians Tile
Fort Washington PA (SPX) Sep 23, 2014 -
Tecta Solar is pleased to announce the commencement of solar photovoltaic (PV) projects located at Bedrosians Tile's distribution and showroom facilities in Anaheim, Calif. The PV arrays are 730 kW and 109 kW respectively and are expected to be fully operational before 2015.
The systems are projected to have a combined output of 1,312,413 kWh in the first year of operation and will meet ap ...
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Japan business delegation visits China amid thaw hopes
Tokyo (AFP) Sept 22, 2014 -
A large business delegation left Japan Monday for China with hopes of being granted an audience with President Xi Jinping as the two countries take baby steps towards patching up tattered relations.
More than 200 senior executives - the largest number on record - headed for Beijing on an annual visit that dates back to 1975, an official with Japan-China Economic Association told AFP.
R ...
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China manufacturing gauge picks up in September: HSBC
Beijing (AFP) Sept 23, 2014 -
China's manufacturing sector saw a surprise pick-up in September, a closely watched survey showed Tuesday, but economists warned a slowdown in the key property sector was an ongoing risk to growth.
HSBC's preliminary purchasing managers index (PMI) hit a two-month high of 50.5, better than a final reading of 50.2 in August and providing some respite as indicators point to a slowdown in world ...
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Ditching coal a massive step to climate goal: experts
Paris (AFP) Sept 22, 2014 -
Phasing out coal as an electricity source by 2050 would bring the world 0.5 degrees Celsius closer to the UN's targeted cap for climate warming, an analysis said on the eve of Tuesday's UN climate summit.
Instead of warming of 3.7 C (6.7 degrees Fahrenheit) by 2100 projected on current trends, replacing coal for power generation with cleaner renewables would yield global average temperatures ...
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Sungevity and ABC Carpet to Bring Solar Solutions to the Home
Oakland CA (SPX) Sep 23, 2014 -
Sungevity has announced a new partnership with iconic New York City design destination, ABC Carpet and Home.
The partnership not only provides ABC's community with an easy and affordable solution to installing solar power in the home but also supports the greater mission to educate today's conscious consumers with sustainable design, while minimizing their collective environmental footprin ...
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Oil-rich MENA not ready to tackle threat from climate change
Washington (UPI) Sep 22, 2014 -
Countries in the Middle East and North Africa have done little as a whole to address the threats from climate change, the American Security Project said Monday.
International delegates gather Tuesday in New York City for a climate change summit hosted by U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. The summit comes on the heels of a report from the World Meteorological Organization that said the ...
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A more efficient, lightweight and low-cost organic solar cell
Amherst MA (SPX) Sep 23, 2014 -
For decades, polymer scientists and synthetic chemists working to improve the power conversion efficiency of organic solar cells were hampered by the inherent drawbacks of commonly used metal electrodes, including their instability and susceptibility to oxidation.
Now for the first time, researchers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst have developed a more efficient, easily processa ...
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Nissan to make luxury cars in new China joint venture
Beijing (AFP) Sept 22, 2014 -
Japanese carmaker Nissan said Monday that it has formed a new joint venture with its Chinese partner Dongfeng to produce Infiniti luxury cars in the world's largest auto market.
The partnership between Nissan Motor Co. and Dongfeng Motor Corp. aims to raise annual sales of Nissan's luxury brand to 100,000 cars by 2018, more than half of which are to be locally produced, according to a statem ...
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OECD backs Japan tax hike, more easy money
Tokyo (AFP) Sept 22, 2014 -
Japan should raise sales taxes again next year despite wobbles in the economy caused by the first rise, and the central bank should cushion the blow with more easy money, the OECD said Monday.
The Bank of Japan must do more "beyond 2015" to support the world's number three economy, said Rintaro Tamaki, deputy secretary general of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OE ...
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Basra oil wealth a reconstruction tool for Iraq
Basra, Iraq (UPI) Sep 22, 2014 -
Iraq is relying on Basra, the economic capital, to put the country on the road to recovery on the back of oil wealth, the oil minister said.
Iraqi Oil Minister Adil Abd al-Mahdi visited oil and natural gas installations in southern Iraq, saying there'd be a rise in production levels that would benefit the people of Iraq. Describing Basra as the economic capital of the country, the minis ...
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Less gas coming from Russia through Ukraine, Slovakia says
Bratislava, Slovakia (UPI) Sep 22, 2014 -
An energy company in Slovakia said it recorded a drop in the amount of Russian natural gas headed its way through the Soviet-era transit network in Ukraine.
A spokesperson from the gas importer known by its Slovakian initials SPP said there's been a steady drop in gas coming through Ukrainian territory.
"On Sunday, SPP recorded a 10 percent decrease in Russian gas supply," the sp ...
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Britain's blockbuster nuclear deal to get EU nod
Brussels (AFP) Sept 22, 2014 -
The EU will recommend approval of Britain's ambitious plan to build its first nuclear plant in a generation, with backing from French and Chinese energy giants, after ruling that it met state aid rules, a spokesman said Monday.
The Hinkley Point project, to be built by France's EDF for $26 billion, is one of the world's most ambitious nuclear deals and is seen as a key boost to an industry b ...
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UChicago-Argonne National Lab team improves solar-cell efficiency
Chicago IL (SPX) Sep 23, 2014 -
New light has been shed on solar power generation using devices made with polymers, thanks to a collaboration between scientists in the University of Chicago's chemistry department, the Institute for Molecular Engineering, and Argonne National Laboratory.
Researchers identified a new polymer - a type of large molecule that forms plastics and other familiar materials - which improved the ef ...
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Chemical bond between a superheavy element and a carbon atom established
Mainz, Germany (SPX) Sep 23, 2014 -
An international collaboration led by research groups from Mainz and Darmstadt has achieved the synthesis of a new class of chemical compounds for superheavy elements at the RIKEN Nishina Center for Accelerator-based Research (RNC) in Japan. For the first time, a chemical bond was established between a superheavy element - seaborgium (element 106) in the present study - and a carbon atom.
...
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Uncovering the forbidden side of molecules
Basel, Switzerland (SPX) Sep 23, 2014 -
Researchers at the University of Basel in Switzerland have succeeded in observing the "forbidden" infrared spectrum of a charged molecule for the first time.
These extremely weak spectra offer perspectives for extremely precise measurements of molecular properties and may also contribute to the development of molecular clocks and quantum technology.
The results were published in the ...
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Penn research helps uncover mechanism behind solid-solid phase transitions
University Park PA (SPX) Sep 23, 2014 -
Two solids made of the same elements but with different geometric arrangements of the atoms, or crystal phases, can produce materials with different properties. Coal and diamond offer a spectacular example of this effect.
While it is well known that one crystal phase can transform into another under the right circumstances, the mechanisms that facilitate solid-to-solid transitions are stil ...
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New 'star' shaped molecule breakthrough
Manchester, UK (SPX) Sep 23, 2014 -
Scientists at The University of Manchester have generated a new star-shaped molecule made up of interlocking rings, which is the most complex of its kind ever created.
Known as a 'Star of David' molecule, scientists have been trying to create one for over a quarter of a century and the team's findings are published in the journal Nature Chemistry.
Consisting of two molecular triangle ...
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Magnetic fields make the excitons go 'round
Boston MA (SPX) Sep 23, 2014 -
A major limitation in the performance of solar cells happens within the photovoltaic material itself: When photons strike the molecules of a solar cell, they transfer their energy, producing quasi-particles called excitons - an energized state of molecules. That energized state can hop from one molecule to the next until it's transferred to electrons in a wire, which can light up a bulb or turn ...
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Tropical storm Fung-Wong lashes Taiwan, killing one
Taipei (AFP) Sept 21, 2014 -
Tropical storm Fung-Wong on Sunday pounded Taiwan with torrential downpours and powerful winds, killing one person and forcing the cancellation of dozens of flights and ferry services.
A 50-year-old drowned near his home in Peinan, a township in southeastern Taitung county, the Central Emergency Operation Center said, while another man in the county was injured by falling rocks.
The def ...
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Tibetan man self-immolates in China: reports
Beijing (AFP) Sept 22, 2014 -
A Tibetan man has burned himself to death in northwest China, overseas media and a campaign group reported on Monday, the latest in a string of self-immolation protests in recent years against Beijing's control.
Student Lhamo Tashi died after setting himself on fire in front of a police station in Hezuo county, a Tibetan-populated area of Gansu province, the Britain-based Free Tibet group sa ...
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Expats defend paradise in hurricane-hit Mexico
Cabo San Lucas, Mexico (AFP) Sept 23, 2014 -
Armed with nothing more than an air horn and walkie-talkie, US retiree Antonio Lucero helps fellow expats protect their piece of paradise from thieves after Hurricane Odile crushed Mexico's Los Cabos beach resorts.
Lucero is among thousands of foreigners, mostly Americans and some Canadians, who have made the sun-soaked southern tip of Baja California peninsula their home, while luxury hotel ...
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Iceland volcano leaking lots of lava, growing island nation
Vatnajã¶Kull, Iceland (UPI) Sep 22, 2014 -
Iceland's Bardarbunga volcano is a prolific producer of lava, and thanks to its impressive magmatic output, the island nation is growing.
The activity within the Bardarbunga volcanic system is due to the fact that two massive tectonic plates, the Eurasian Plate and the North American Plate, are drifting apart. As they move away from each other, magma underneath Barbarbunga is rising up ...
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Obama readies climate change push at UN summit
Washington (AFP) Sept 22, 2014 -
President Barack Obama will seek to galvanize international support in the fight against climate change on Tuesday when he addresses the United Nations, with time running out on his hopes of leaving a lasting environmental legacy.
Obama has warned that failure to act on climate change would be a "betrayal" of future generations, but faced with a Congress reluctant to even limit greenhouse ga ...
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