Shell

Shell is filling cable channels with commercials for GTL, or gas-to-liquids, and someone asked me about it, so here's your answer:

GTL is a type of liquid fuel produced from natural gas. It isn't classic liquefied natural gas, which is natural gas cooled to the point where it turns into a fluid. Instead, methane from underground is cracked by catalysts and heat, turned into synthetic gases, and then transformed into a liquid similar to diesel. The process resembles the coal-to-liquid Fischer-Tropsch process devised in the 1920s.

Shell already makes token amounts of GTL in a plant in Indonesia; … Read more

Recent concerns over "greenwashing" probably had nothing to do with it, but Fujitsu has apparently decided to skip the ever-popular bamboo in its version of the wooden laptop. Instead the Japanese company has gone with cedar, the lumber known around the world for saunas and mothballs.

Bearing the inspired name of "WoodShell," Fujitsu's laptop was displayed at the Salone Internazionale Del Mobile furniture exhibition in Milan, according to Gizmodo. There are no details on specs, however, or whether it responds to Pledge. We'll take a wild guess that this is a novelty item more … Read more

Sony has always been all about style (hence the name of its e-tail site). And even though it's been thoroughly trounced by the iPod, it's determined to keep the Walkman off the walker before it's too late, even in its smallest forms.

This is not to say, of course, that it's always successful--quite the opposite, actually. So for those who suffer from occasional lapses in aesthetic judgment, or just change their minds a lot, Sony is offering a version of its E Series MP3 stick players on the Japanese market that can be customized with swappable shells, … Read more

Jeroen van der Veer, the CEO of oil giant Royal Dutch Shell, sees easy oil coming to an end and a potential worldwide "scramble" to mitigate climate change.

Van der Veer outlined to potential scenarios for energy usage and extraction over the coming century in a speech published Friday on the company's Web site.

Regardless of whether countries "scramble" or take in a more orderly approach to adopting low-carbon fuels and renewable energies, getting oil and gasoline will not be as easy as it once was, he said.

"We are experiencing a step-change in … Read more

Things are looking up for lowly sea algae.

Fuels giant Royal Dutch Shell and HR Biopetroleum on Wednesday announced the creation of a joint venture called Cellana to make biodiesel from algae in Hawaii.

The plans call for growing algae in ponds of seawater using strains of algae that are native to Hawaii. It will be placed near other industrial sites that produce algae for the pharmaceutical and nutrition industries.

Cellana said that algae can produce 15 times more oil per hectare than rape, palm soya, or jatropha plants.

Algae growth also has been proposed as a way to absorb … Read more

Imagine a work space with three monitors standing side by side, each displaying a different work environment. E-mail and IM are pulled up on one monitor, Word processing is open on a second, and a spreadsheet graces the third. Now imagine the cursor flitting effortlessly between the screens, clicking, copying, and pasting from one to the other. One keyboard sits on the desk, and just one mouse.

This is no multimonitor setup; each screen here is controlled by its own computer. It isn't remote access software, either, since the controlling console is linked to the satellite computer. It's Multiplicity, and minus one rather large and glaring kink, it's pretty close to a multitasker's dreamware.… Read more

As we were just noting in our usual cranky way, iPod cases are becoming the Starbucks of consumer electronics--a new one comes out seemingly every day, whether we need it or not (usually the latter). But what about its older and bulkier sibling, the MacBook?

As with many senior family members, the Apple laptop arguably needs more help in the injury-prevention department while the spry iPod goes on its merry way jogging or clubbing. Poor MacBook.

Luckily, RhinoSkin has come to the elder's rescue with a hard case to protect the laptop through the harsh winter months. MobilitySite … Read more