Now for some good news.
Copper smelting is an expensive business due to its energy input requirements (not helped by the #GasIndustry #ExportRort and the inflated price of domestic gas supplies — such as they are. But that’s another story). This story showcases #Australian #Research (grossely underfunded !) and a new #Copper production process.
“A modular approach. In February, Banksia Minerals, which is commercialising the technology, was awarded $5 million in federal government funding through the Australian Renewable Energy Agency to develop the technology into a pilot plant expected in 2028. Banksia Minerals managing director Leigh Staines said, if successful, people could see multiple plants across the region.”
Read more about this exciting new way to ‘smelt’ copper which might save our domestic smelters from oblivion.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-03-17/cheaper-and-cleaner-copper-technology-potential-mount-isa/106450892
Earth System Science Data: Building a dataset of offshore oil and gas extraction platforms from satellite data (2017–2023). “In this work, we use satellite data and the Google Earth Engine (GEE) platform to construct a new database of OOGPs for six major offshore oil and gas basins in the world between 2017 and 2023.”
https://rbfirehose.com/2026/02/06/earth-system-science-data-building-a-dataset-of-offshore-oil-and-gas-extraction-platforms-from-satellite-data-2017-2023/
Earth System Science Data: Building a dataset of offshore oil and gas extraction platforms from satellite data (2017–2023). “In this work, we use satellite data and the Google Earth Engine (G…
What a #fracking-waste dispute says about #Ohio’s #energy double standard
Ohio is letting the #oil and #gasindustry put more #toxicwaste underground despite community concerns — even as the state defers to local opponents of #cleanenergy.

Ohio is letting the oil and gas industry put more toxic fracking waste underground despite local community concerns — even as the state defers to local opponents when it comes to clean energy. We explore Ohio's open double standard on local control.
Eurpn&Eurasian energy & internatl secur via MITPoliSci, GVAGrad, umichpolisci, HarrimanInst &c. | Fellow NATOCanada, WICIWaterloo, Strategy_Int | Also @timesca.com | See https://www.linkedin.com/in/robertmcutler/ & http://linktr.ee/RobertMCutler for more
Railroad Commission of Texas: RRC Records Digitization Fast Approaching 100 Million Files. “The Railroad Commission of Texas continues to make great strides in digitizing oil and gas records as the agency improves both transparency and efficiency in its daily functions. With more than 89.4 million records now digitized – up by more than six million since last October – the RRC is fast […]