The Kayenta Mine, operated by the Peabody-Southwest Coal Company.
Credit: Doc Searls/Flickr

Peabody Energy, the world’s largest coal producer, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy Wednesday, the latest casualty in an industry that has been shaken by the recent shale gas boom, climate change policy and economics that greatly disfavor coal production. (emphasis added)

In a statement, Peabody Energy said that it will operate as usual as it reorganizes and sells its Colorado and New Mexico mining operations. The bankruptcy filing does not affect the company’s Australian mines.

The St. Louis-based company said it is optimistic that coal demand will rebound as natural gas prices rise and “scores” of new coal-fired power plants are built across the globe, mainly in developing countries.

Burning coal for electrical power is the most significant single source of greenhouse gases driving climate change. Industry observers say the future is likely to bring a less rosy scenario for coal and possibly for Peabody Energy as climate policies clamping down on emissions take hold.

Several […]

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The Bank of America logo is seen at their offices at Canary Wharf financial district in London, Britain, March 3, 2016.
Credit: Reuters/Reinhard Krause

U.S. regulators failed five big banks on Wednesday, including JP Morgan and Wells Fargo, on their plans for a bankruptcy that would not rely on taxpayer money, giving them until Oct. 1 to make amends or risk sanctions.

The move officially starts a long regulatory chain that could end with breaking up the banks. Nearly a decade after the financial crisis, it underscored how the debate about banks being “too big to fail” continues to rage in Washington and exasperate on Wall Street.

Wednesday’s announcement was the first time the two major banking regulators, the Federal Reserve and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, issued joint determinations flunking banks’ plans, commonly called “living wills.”

If the five, which also included Bank of America Corp (BAC.N), State Street Corp […]

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Credit: ORNL

According to the scientists, the system has achieved 90 per cent efficiency and functions at three times the rate of the plug-in systems commonly used for electric vehicles today. For the demonstration, the single-converter system was integrated into an electric Toyota RAV4 equipped with an additional 10-kilowatt hour battery. Energy was transferred from a transmitting plate in the ground to a receiving plate in the vehicle’s front end. This was in turn transferred to the battery via a controller.

“We have made tremendous progress from the lab proof-of-concept experiments a few years ago,” said Madhu Chinthavali, ORNL Power Electronics Team lead.

“We have set a path forward that started with solid engineering, design, scale-up and integration into several Toyota vehicles. We now have a technology that is moving closer to being ready for the market.”

The next steps of the project will aim for the target of 50-kilowatt wireless charging, which would match the power levels of commercially available plug-in quick chargers. Wireless charging on a par with conventional plug-in […]

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A Yemeni woman walks with donkeys carrying water gerry cans in Yemen’s volatile province of Marib.
Credit: Ali Owidha/Reuters

Secret conversations between American diplomats show how a growing water crisis in the Middle East destabilized the region, helping spark civil wars in Syria and Yemen, and how those water shortages are spreading to the United States.

Classified U.S. cables reviewed by Reveal from The Center for Investigative Reporting show a mounting concern by global political and business leaders that water shortages could spark unrest across the world, with dire consequences.

Many of the cables read like diary entries from an apocalyptic sci-fi novel.

“Water shortages have led desperate people to take desperate measures with equally desperate consequences,” according to a 2009 cable sent by U.S. Ambassador Stephen Seche in Yemen as water riots erupted across the country.

On Sept. 22 of that year, Seche sent a stark message to the U.S. State Department in Washington relaying […]

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