In the late 1800’s, a man was looking for a material with the ability to withstand intense heat. He took filaments of bamboo and baked them at a very high temperature in a controlled atmosphere. Through this process, called pyrolysis, the bamboo filaments became fire resistant and able to withstand extreme heat. The man’s name was Thomas Edison, and he was searching for the filament needed to create the incandescent lightbulb.Fast forward 120 years or so, and chances are you own something that utilizes nearly the same technology: a tennis racket, a bicycle, or for the younger crowd, a car hood or spoiler. I am talking about carbon fiber.

Last week, Indonesia’s Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources, Purnomo Yusgiantoro, announced that his nation would not renew its OPEC membership.

With Earth Day creating a lot of buzz about green energy and technology, people are desperately looking for a cheap and effective way to produce green energy. Byron King has a theory that the more expensive dirty energy resources get, the cheaper green energy will look by comparison.

I live in Pittsburgh, and grew up here, as well. Both figuratively and literally, Pittsburgh is built on coal. Coal is the remains of ancient plant life, buried within the rock record.