Technology Briefs — July 6 - July 10
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The Latest Headlines:
- Michigan Enacts Biodiesel, Ethanol Tax Breaks
- Saudis, Chevron Testing Method to Extract More Oil
- S.C. Using High-Tech Radar to Catch Speeders
- Saudis, Chevron Testing Method to Extract More Oil
Michigan Enacts Biodiesel, Ethanol Tax Breaks
Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm (D) signed into law Friday legislation lowering the state’s tax on biodiesel to 12 cents from 15 cents a gallon, and the tax on ethanol blends to 12 cents from 19 cents, the Associated Press reported.Granholm also signed a bill that offers grants to gas station owners who want to sell biodiesel and ethanol-blended fuel, AP said.
The Michigan House approved both bills in March. (Click here for previous coverage.) Transport Topics
Saudis, Chevron Testing Method to Extract More Oil
Saudi Arabia is exploring technologies to unlock its hard-to-tap reserves of heavy crude oil, the Wall Street Journal reported Monday.The efforts could boost the world’s largest oil producer’s output to even higher than its easier-to-pump light crude, the paper said in a front-page story.
Earlier this year, U.S. oil firm Chevron ran field tests that inject stem into sludge-like heavy wells in Saudi Arabia, and the company plans more tests after positive initial results, the Journal said.
Crude oil prices have more than tripled since 1992 and prices reached an all-time closing-price high last Wednesday, finishing the day on the New York Mercantile Exchange at $75.19 a barrel. (Click here for previous coverage.) Transport Topics
S.C. Using High-Tech Radar to Catch Speeders
South Carolina state police have received a federal grant for new technologies to help catch speeders, even on highways divided by a concrete wall or cable median barriers, the Associated Press reported.The state’s Highway Patrol plans to buy about 80 new devices, including seven special radars equipped with a beam so narrow it can calculate a vehicle’s speed from 1,000 feet away, AP said.
The money is coming from a $127,250 grant from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
Most of the radars are dual-antenna, enabling troopers to clock vehicles in front and behind them, AP reported. Transport Topics
