Rochester Institute of Technology and the County of Monroe, New York have created a research partnership to assess the performance of the County’s fleet of E85 flex-fuel vehicles. E85 is comprised of 85% ethanol and 15% gasoline and is considered a major alternative energy option for American automobiles.

Clean Technology Investor to Provide Indispensable News and Data On Alternative Energy Trends, Investments and Companies

General Motors, VeraSun Energy and Enterprise Rent-A-Car Bring Home-Grown, Renewable Fuel to D.C. Motorists

The Organization of American States has opened its 37th general assembly to address concerns over energy supplies and the need to develop alternative forms of energy. In Panama City, VOA's Brian Wagner reports that U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon attended the opening session to pledge the support of the world body.

In the mostly desert nation of Mali, environmentalists and government officials are concerned about the increasing amount of wood used, largely for cooking, in the capital, Bamako. If the trend is not reversed, the government predicts Mali will be consuming more than it can supply within the next three years, accelerating the advancement of the Sahara desert.

This past week and continuing across the Internet and mainstream media, the hazards to birds and bats at industrial wind farms are finally being recognized, questioned, studied and exposed.

It's the new climate change dilemma: finding alternatives for oil and gas without doing more harm than good. In the rush to develop biofuels, forests are burned in Asia to clear land for palm oil, and swaths of the Amazon are stripped of diverse vegetation for soya and sugar plantations for ethanol.

The latest in clean alternative-energy resources and the promise for transportation will be the focus of the California Clean Innovation 2007 (CACI) conference to be held Friday, May 11, on the campus of the California Institute of Technology. The conference is open to the public by registration.

Brazil defended its ethanol agreement with the United States despite efforts by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez to undermine the deal using his country's vast reserves of oil and natural gas.

ConocoPhillips, the fifth largest oil company in the world, is taking steps to address the problem of global warming, the first major US oil company to do so. As VOA's Greg Flakus reports from Houston, the company is implementing programs to develop alternative fuels and to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases.

The leaders of Cuba and Venezuela, are criticizing President Bush's recent call to increase biofuel production, because of what they say is the potential impact on food supplies beyond U.S. borders. VOA's Brian Wagner in Miami looks at how the drive for biofuels is changing agriculture in several countries that have embraced the trend, sometimes for the better, sometimes not.

President George Bush is to meet his Brazilian counterpart, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Saturday at Camp David for talks on global trade issues and a recent bilateral deal on biofuels. VOA's Brian Wagner reports that experts say the new energy agreement may be a key step in renewing U.S.-Brazil ties.