The week in CleanTech: some seasonal relief from skyrocketing crude oil prices; a climate change mystery is resolved; and a teenager figures out how to break down plastic bags in just three months.

Oil prices drop back below $130 in London and New York: High gasoline prices seem to be doing what no amount of lecturing or common sense could accomplish — lower demand for oil. Despite a brief spike on reports of escalating violence against Nigerian petroleum facilities, the price of crude finally turned downward Tuesday, closing below $130 a barrel in American and European markets. That could bring some short-term relief to drivers, who have been staggered by record gasoline prices since January. The price for a gallon of gas is hovering near $4 in the United States, though prices traditionally decline following the Memorial day holiday. (Telegraph.co.uk)  Originally posted Wednesday, 28 May

KAB and Brazilian Partners To Introduce “Verified Sustainable Ethanol”: Brazil has been under fire in recent months over concerns about the environmental sustainability of its ethanol industry. But a new partnership with the Swedish company SEKAB may help blunt some of that criticism. SEKAB says it is assisting Brazil in developing certification guidelines for sustainable ethanol. The program will define standards for ethanol production from land management to distribution. (Green Car Congress)  Originally posted Tuesday, 27 May

Apparent Problem With Global Warming Climate Models Resolved: A nagging difficulty with global warming models has been a discrepancy between predicted upper atmosphere temperatures in the tropics and what scientists have actually been able to measure. Now a pair of Yale scientists have developed a more accurate method of measuring temperatures aloft than using thermometers. Robert J. Allen and Steven C. Sherwood arrived at the idea of observing changes in upper atmosphere winds, then calculating the temperatures which would be required to produce those changes. Using the new methodology, the pair estimates that 10 km temperatures have risen approximately 0.65 degrees Celsius per decade since 1970 — right in line with what the best climate models predict. (Science Daily)  Originally posted Saturday, 31 May

Making Renewable, Carbon-Neutral Oil - From Algae: A California energy startup says they’ve developed a process to produce a light sweet crude oil that’s chemically identical to petroleum — but is made from green algae. Sapphire Energy’s approach is different from most algae biofuel projects, which attempt to create kerosene or diesel substitutes directly. By synthesizing “green crude,” Sapphire is able to produce any product which can be refined from conventional oil. The company hopes to be turning out 10,000 barrels a day within five years. Sapphire has already raised $50 million in venture capital, and is backed by a consortium of universities and the Department of Energy’s Joint Genome Project. (WIRED)  Originally posted Friday, 30 May

Scientific breakthrough decomposes plastic bags in 3 months!: A 16-year-old’s science fair project may have the answer to those millions of plastic bags sitting around in clogged landfills. Daniel Burd has designed a system which breaks down buried bags in about 90 days. Burd isolated plastic-hungry bacteria to get the job done. Bags exposed to the bug were 43 percent decomposed after only six weeks, with no harmful by-products. (Inhabitat)  Originally posted Thursday, 29 May

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