IEEE Spectrum: Engineers Attack Mt. Everest's 12-Ton Poop Problem

Efforts to beautify what’s frequently called “the world’s highest garbage dump” have been under way for more than a decade, with mixed results. Spent oxygen canisters, empty beer bottles, and tattered tents recovered from the mountain can often be reused or recycled, but human waste is a messier problem. Each year, porters haul down some 12,000 kilograms of poop from base camps at Everest and the nearby Pumori, Lhotse and Nuptse mountains. Getting the material off the mountain is one thing; however, properly disposing of it is another.

A team of volunteer engineers might be just what Nepal needs. Members of the Mt. Everest Biogas Project, as it’s called, say they have a potential fix: a specially designed biogas reactor that can transform Gorak Shep’s fetid trenches into energy.

PV Magazine: SEIA Rejects Call for ITC Phase-Down

A report from Stanford Graduate School of Business has called for the solar Investment Tax Credit (ITC) to be phased down, to see it reduced gradually to 2024. SEIA has rejected the report, saying that it fails to take into account the “100-year history of preferential tax treatment enjoyed by fossil fuels.”

Forbes: Meet the Big Oil CEO Who Backs A Global Tax On Carbon

Last year Eldar Saetre took over as CEO of Statoil, the Norwegian oil giant. As Statoil’s former CFO, and a 35-year veteran of the company, Saetre, 59, has slipped comfortably into the role vacated by Helge Lund, who left to become CEO of BG Group, which is being acquired by Royal Dutch Shell.

Though based in Oslo, Saetre is in the U.S. this week for the first time since becoming CEO. In addition to giving a speech today at the IHS-Ceraweek conference in Houston, he sat down with Forbes on Monday for a half-hour conversation about his thoughts and objectives at this historic time for the industry. In short, he says, he is focusing Statoil on cutting costs, maintaining flexibility and taxing carbon.

Wired: LED Bulbs Are Now Two for $5 -- Officially Too Cheap to Ignore

If you're among the holdouts who cling to their incandescent light bulbs like plastic eggs on Easter morning, you may want to loosen that grip. A new 60-watt equivalent LED bulb from Philips could be what finally convinces you to upgrade your lamps with a tiny dose of the future.

There are more capable and longer-lasting LEDs than the new Philips LED A16 bulbs, but you won’t find any that are cheaper. A single bulb, rated for 10 years, will set you back $4.97 once they go on sale in May at Home Depot.

New York Times: Congress Passes Bipartisan Bill to Improve Energy Efficiency

Congress on Tuesday passed a bill focused on improving energy efficiency in buildings and water heaters, a move celebrated by both parties for breaking longstanding partisan gridlock.

The bill, which President Obama is expected to sign into law this week, is a modest one. But its authors, Senator Rob Portman, Republican of Ohio, and Senator Jeanne Shaheen, Democrat of New Hampshire, who had worked together for years on more ambitious energy-saving legislation, called it a significant victory.