Power problems continue in California and New York.

Senate Bill Would Open Gas and Oil Fields in Gulf

Senate Republicans have agreed on legislation that would open four times as much of the Gulf of Mexico to oil and gas drilling as the Bush administration was seeking, and a vote on the bill is expected next week.

Refineries: The Achilles' heel of US oil industry

Iranian army chief: Arab states should cut oil supply to Israel

Oil wealth causes angst for Norway

The Saudi Arabia of the north is struggling to work out what to do with the $1billion it earns each week. Should new reserves be left untapped or its citizens made even richer?

Oil spawns new wave of newly rich in Venezuela

Amazon rainforest 'could become a desert'

The vast Amazon rainforest is on the brink of being turned into desert, with catastrophic consequences for the world's climate, alarming research suggests. And the process, which would be irreversible, could begin as early as next year.

Studies by the blue-chip Woods Hole Research Centre, carried out in Amazonia, have concluded that the forest cannot withstand more than two consecutive years of drought without breaking down.

Shanghai company starts small with hydrogen-powered car

Technology aims to convert solar energy on large scale

Promising approach may make sun-fed power competitive with fossil fuels for the first time, experts say