Sorry Dino, Oil Comes From Rock

Abiogenic Petroleum Origin

The abiogenic hypothesis argues that petroleum was formed from deep carbon deposits, perhaps dating to the formation of the Earth. Supporters of the abiogenic hypothesis suggest that a great deal more petroleum exists on Earth than commonly thought, and that petroleum may originate from carbon-bearing fluids that migrate upward from the mantle. The presence of methane on Saturn's moon Titan and in the atmospheres of Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune is cited[1] as evidence of the formation of hydrocarbons without biology.[2]


The linked article in Wikipedia has perhaps the most balanced review of this topic. But beware, there is a lot of wack-job opinion masquerading as fact on this topic.

New Energy Efficient Technologies, Lexus or Corolla?

For decades there has been talk about how photovoltaics could explode onto the mainstream market once they crossed the performance and efficiency coefficient. Once their efficiency, or output power v. input power of sunlight, overtakes the levels of energy put into manufacturing them, we are headed into positive territory for more widespread applications. This, of course, assumes that one of the main impediments to  general applications is first cost. So the problem is being approached from two directions: getting first costs down and increasing lifecycle efficiency. See the article on Archinect: New Energy Efficient Technologies - Lexus or Corolla?