Cars are Germany’s principal employment generator. Come 2050, it could be the solar industry. Germany's Wuppertal Institute for Climate for Greenpeace and the Club of Rome says that if the right political push is given from now onwards, more than 580,000 jobs in concentrated solar power (CSP) could be created worldwide by the middle of this century. 
In the recent edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers reported their findings concerning dust accumulation in the mountains. According to the researchers, increasing dust in mountain areas are disrupting snowmelt.
The co-authors of the study were Chris Landry, director of the Center for Snow and Avalanche Studies in Silverton, Colorado and Heidi Steltzer, a researcher scientists at Colorado State University. The set up an experiment using test plots in the San Juan Mountains in Colorado. Some of the test plots were left to accumulate snow and dust naturally, some had additional dust placed on the snow and others had the dust removed.
The researchers concluded that the increasing dust cover is altering the snowmelt timing. The increased dust is attributed to increased human activity in the desert and due to global warming. Global warming has caused some areas to become drier and therefore they contribute more dust.


The United States recently announced the first ever licenses for offshore wind farms. Five different leases were given to four different companies last week. The wind energy development would occur offshore of New Jersey and Delaware. The farms would be placed along the Outer Continental Shelf.
Unfortunately, until this point there have been no wind farms built in the United States. There have been numerous proposals of such farms, but none have been built as of yet. These leases are allowing for companies to attain information to determine the future of wind farms in particular areas. Meteorological towers will be placed in the proposed areas, anywhere from 6-18 miles offshore.
The companies given leases were: Bluewater Wind New Jersey; Bluewater Wind Delaware; Fishermen’s Energy of New Jersey; and Deepwater Wind (granted two leases). The entirety of the information attained from the meteorological towers will be used by the Interior Department’s Minerals Management Service in order to determine the placement of the wind farms.

Some are hoping that the biofuel of the future will be jatropha. Jatropha is a leafy tree which is essentially a wild plant. The plant grows in warmer climates, making it a more difficult biofuel sell in the United States.
Jatropha trees, which are already grown in India and Africa, coast about $6 each. In addition, the trees are capable of producing about two gallons of oil each once they reach maturity. Approximately 400 of the trees would be able to be grown per acre.
One of the problems will jatropha is the fact that it can only be used with diesel engines. This, however, does not dissuade everyone. The fuel has already been used in biofuel test flights for Air New Zealand and Continental Airlines. In addition, the fuel is being considered by the oil company BP, who is partnering with projects in India and Africa.
