New student exchange to Germany explores resilient, sustainable crop traits
New program helps students learn how crop research advances happen through international cooperation.
Energy
New guides from Extension: Food, water, energy; apples and pumpkins
Free guides help farmers, food importers, and metro agricultural stakeholders.
Nitrogen-fixing genes could help grow more food using fewer resources
Scientists have transferred a collection of genes into plant-colonizing bacteria that let them draw nitrogen from the air and turn it into ammonia, a natural fertilizer.
Scientists discover new method to harness energy
WSU professor is part of a team that has unraveled the mechanism of a process that could lead to more efficient energy production.
WSU Extension’s National Energy Summit is April 7-10 in Seattle
Everett, Wash. — Join Extension professionals and renewable energy advocates at the National Extension Energy Summit, April 7 to 10 in Seattle. Learn about sustainable and renewable energy, home and farm energy efficiency and biomass energy programs. Speakers include KC Golden, senior policy advisor at Northwest-based Climate Solutions; Heidi VanGenderen, Director of Public Engagement in […]
Harvesting energy from sunlight
What if there were a two-for-one sale on kilowatts? Your power bill would be cut in half — not a bad result for your monthly budget. Energy drives everything we produce and consume, and global energy consumption continues to grow year after year. The two-for-one image came to mind as I talked with Professor Jeanne […]
A New Source of Natural Gas
The name “natural gas” might be a puzzle. After all, how could there be such a thing as unnatural gas? The reason we call natural gas what we do has to do with history. There was a day that people made burnable gas by heating coal. The gases that came off the coal were piped […]
The Bridge Fuel
To a geologist like me, it was most notable by its absence in the political campaigns that lurched to their conclusions in November. I’m talking about an energy plan with real teeth, one that addresses everything from national security to the cost of energy to greenhouse warming of the planet.
WSU Center to Contribute Mechanical Harvesting Expertise for University of Hawai’i Biofuel Project
PROSSER, Wash.—The Washington State University Center for Precision and Automated Agricultural Systems will team up with University of Hawai’i at Mānoa and others to modify existing sugarcane harvesting techniques and systems to handle tropical grass crops for biofuel.
Heat Long Puzzled Science
Hot enough for you? I’ve been thinking about heat lately, and not just because of the nation’s mostly torrid weather. We all can easily verify that hot air rises – when you change a light bulb near the ceiling of your living room, you find the air up there is warmer than it is near […]