Political Ecology

Emission problems associated with the use of fossil fuels have led to numerous research works on the use of renewable fuels. The aim of this study is to evaluate the effects of blends containing croton oil (CRO), 1-butanol (BU), and diesel (D2) on the engine performance, combustion, and emission characteristics. Samples investigated were 20% CRO−80% [...]

Standardized Incidence Ratio (SIR) for all cancer for the entire period was 1.02 (95% CI 0.97–1.08). The occurrence of leukemia, lymphoma, and cancer in the central nervous system was slightly lower than expected for the entire period. SIR for lung cancer was 1.37 (95% CI 1.10–1.69), and SIR for liver cancer was 1.50 (0.82–2.53). VOC [...]

In a largely unexpected and welcome move, BP has revised its contracts to remove restrictions on discussing or publishing any data collected on their dime for up to 3 years. And with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration relaxing its own restrictions on publishing assessment data, scientists are hopeful that the so-called Natural Resource Damage [...]

Now that the gusher that spewed oil for 85 days into the Gulf of Mexico has stopped, scientists are wondering where it all went. A federal report released last week should have begun to answer that question. Instead, political spin and media hype transformed the scientists’ message even before it was released. According to one [...]

Present work deals with the development of butanol−diesel−biodiesel blends to substitute for petrodiesel. These blends were tested for physical stability and various fuel properties conforming to ASTM standards. Subsequently engine performance and emission tests were conducted with each blend. Observations revealed the blends to be thermally and physically stable, and they showed good resemblance to [...]

The main objective of this paper is to find the optimum operating condition to upgrade the EFB-derived pyrolysis oil (bio-oil) to liquid fuel, mainly gasoline using Taguchi Method. From the analysis that has been done, it is found that the optimum operating condition for heterogeneous catalytic cracking process is at 400 °C, 15 min of [...]

The Deepwater Horizon oil spill has led to the use of >1 M gallons of oil spill dispersants, which are mixtures of surfactants and solvents. Because of this large scale use there is a critical need to understand the potential for toxicity of the currently used dispersant and potential alternatives, especially given the limited toxicity [...]