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Sentinel Peak Resources, which took over the roughly 1.1-acre site in December, now believes that affordable housing is the “best beneficial use” for the land [...] Neighborhood leaders said they were interested in closing and re-purposing the site, but are awaiting more details. They stressed that regardless of any plans, they still want the city to pursue their concerns about violations at the site, which Sentinel Peak Resources has so far brushed off. — Los Angeles Times
According to the L.A. Times, “No official plan has been drafted and details are scant, but [L.A. City Council President Herb] Wesson said he was ‘unbelievably excited’ about the idea, arguing it could pave the way to convert other local drilling sites.”But converting the site — which is... View full entry
Now, after more than five flush years, oil prices are in a prolonged slump, the flow of workers has reversed [...] But Williston believes it can build something more enduring. [...]
The city used its newfound wealth to build a $70-million high school, a $68-million recreation center, and new water and sewer systems. It renovated Main Street and created a city position for someone to write parking tickets. Highways have been widened, and an airport is under development.
— latimes.com
Related stories in the Archinect news:A supermall grows in fracking countryEPA study finds no evidence that fracking has lead to polluted drinking waterNorth Dakota is desperate to find workers View full entry
For every barrel of oil Chevron produces in its Kern River oil field, another 10 barrels of salty wastewater come up with it. So Chevron is selling about 500,000 barrels of water per day...back to...the local water district that delivers water to farmers within a seven-mile slice of Kern County...But it’s a risky dance; over time, high sodium can change the properties of the soil, making it impermeable, unable to take in any more water...Eventually, the soil becomes barren. — Newsweek
Have an idea for how to address the drought with design? Submit your ideas to the Dry Futures competition! View full entry
There are more than 3,000 active oil and gas wells in Los Angeles County. Almost 4,680 new wells were drilled in 2012 across the state, bringing the total number to 210,000, according to the Division of Oil, Gas and Geothermal Resources of the California Department of Conservation [...] Oil industry officials argue that drilling in California provides many economic benefits, and they downplay any potential health hazards. — LA Daily News
If you want to explore the wells yourself, take a look at this map by the California Department of Conservation (via CurbedLA). View full entry
Your assignment is to come up with an idea so revolutionary that it could be considered an important advance in industrial design.
Students at Rice University in Houston accomplished that with plans for a floating city that is being considered by one of the world's largest oil companies. Last year, the students won the inaugural Odebrecht Award for a radical design of man-made floating islands where as many as 25,000 oil workers and their families could live.
— npr.org
Previously featured in our Student Works and Screen/Print series, "The Petropolis of Tomorrow" proposes a new style of floating company towns to aid Brazil in offshore oil findings. NPR now reports that the project has surpassed its academic role to be considered by Petrobas, a Brazilian... View full entry
Abu Dhabi, the most oil-rich of the United Arab Emirates, is now home to the world's single-largest concentrated solar power plant.
The 100-megawatt Shams 1 plant cost an estimated $750 million and is expected to provide electricity to 20,000 homes, according to the BBC.
Why, you might ask?
Bloomberg says the less oil Abu Dhabi uses for local consumption, the more it can export.
— npr.org
