Despite the incessant media repetition that the economic situation is getting better, there is growing evidence that the economy is in fact growing worse. Where all this leaves oil prices is not yet clear.

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The UK-based electricity group said merger talks with GDF Suez foundered because the companies were unable to agree terms

UK Coal is investigating an approach that could address the group's exposure to the volatile performance of its deep mines through a merger

Crude oil futures slumped Tuesday, trading in a tight range before settling ahead of weak weekly inventory data.

MEMC Electronic Materials says it is building the largest solar plant in the world, in Italy.

MEMC Electronic Materials says it is building the largest solar plant in the world, in Italy.

Chevron, the US' second biggest oil company, said it will cut a further 2,000 positions in its refining and marketing division as it reduces its global downstream workforce by 3,900 employees or about 20 per cent over two years

-Are we really going to let ourselves be duped into this solar panel rip-off?
-Solar panels are not fashion accessories
-There is no 'green treachery' in questioning this solar panel rip-off
I accept George Monbiot's £100 solar PV bet

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NEW YORK (TheStreet) - - Jim Cramer recently trimmed his position in Chevron, but explains why he'd jump back in under $70.

The April crude contract recently dipped 15 cents to $81.72 a barrel, paring its losses since the price approached $80 earlier in the session.

Chevron Corp. says it will cut 2,000 jobs this year and will continue reducing its work force through 2011.

Hoku Scientific makes progress toward completing its problematic polysilicon plant.

SunPower expects to complete two 1-megawatt solar plants in Italy before year-end, as the race to make Italy the next solar boom market heats up.

-Green fuels cause more harm than fossil fuels, according to report
-Chemists create biofuel from plant waste
-Seeking a More 'Poplar' Biofuel

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Tuesday's UK results round-up: the Chilean copper miner used its annual results to reassure investors that its operations had not been seriously affected by the earthquake

-A March Round-up of What’s Happening out in the World of Transition
-Transition on ‘One Planet’ on BBC World Service
-Transition Sunshine Coast delivers EDAP
-“Genuine resilience results from expanding the human footprint”. Discuss

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First Solar sells the majority of the energy to be generated from a planned 550 MW solar project to Pacific Gas & Electric.

-Public safety means more than just cops
-Dominican Authorities Approve Container Cities For Haiti Housing Relief
-Detroit homes sell for $1 amid mortgage and car industry crisis
-Digital designer shows what future towns could look like

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Even more useful than the books or activities, though, is the principle behind libraries, that we and our neighbours can pool our resources and hold things in common that all of us occasionally need. Most of the Western World, however, adopted this principle for books and then stopped, never extending it to other obvious areas of life.

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A popular idea at the moment to address climate change is biochar - essentially taking organic materials, charring them, and burying them in the soil.  As the Wikipedia explains:

Biochar is charcoal created by pyrolysis of biomass, and differs from charcoal only in the sense that its primary use is not for fuel, but for biosequestration or atmospheric carbon capture and storage.[1] Charcoal is a stable solid rich in carbon content, and thus, can be used to lock carbon in the soil. Biochar is of increasing interest because of concerns about climate change caused by emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) and other greenhouse gases (GHG).

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