A growing number of industries turning their eyes to the vast real estate in the U.S.' deep offshore waters — a region that may soon become a busy, crowded place. But balancing commercial and environmental interests in those waters may require regulatory oversight that does not yet exist.

Energy, climate change mitigation and healthcare reform grabbed most of the U.S. policy headlines in 2009. But a few other policy gems  — for example, human spaceflight, renewable energy projects on public lands, mining reform and natural hazards — have started coalescing in Congress. EARTH contributor Corina Cerovski-Darriau outlines some of the less high-profile topics we can expect to see debated in 2010.

Smart grid technology aims to make America's electrical system cleaner, more efficient and more reliable.

Vessels that desalinate and store potable water could become a mobile, environmentally-friendly way to speedily distribute water to regions struck by a natural disaster, infrastructure failure or terrorist attack.

With global energy demand rising and fossil fuel supplies increasingly politicized and insecure, the biofuels genie is out of the bottle and here to stay. Now it is just a question of how fast — and in what ways — the industry will grow.

Unassuming algae could be the ultimate in “green” fuel, powering everything from cars to jets. But if it's going to compete with oil and gas, algae can't stay in the backyard — commercialization will require investment in molecular genetics research, algal physiology and engineering.

Giant retailer Wal-Mart is looking to get greener, starting with a new plan to use wind power to supply 15 percent of its energy needs.

In an effort to save dwindling state dollars, prisons across the U.S. are going green, by composting waste, growing their own vegetables and recycling shoe scraps.

It started with a reporter's question: Are you driving a hybrid yet? For a geologist who wants both to save the world and to save money, it was time to decide.

Don’t think you’re wasting energy? Think again, says filmmaker and one-man energy crusader Jeff Barrie. In the fervently anti-coal and pro-renewable "Kilowatt Ours," Barrie and his camera explain how flipping a light switch could destroy West Virginia mountain-tops.

When food exporters like the U.S. and Europe switch to growing biofuels, developing countries that rely on that food are in trouble. But with biofuels now big business — especially for transportation — researchers are struggling to find solutions.

The House of Representatives passed the $700 billion bailout bill Friday; the bill includes legislation to extend long-disputed tax credits for renewable energy industries.

Now both Obama and McCain have their science platforms up at sciencedebate2008. And bills on offshore drilling and renewable energy tax credits are working their way through Congress. UPDATE: The House bill passed; Senate bill still pending as of Wednesday.

The Solar Taxi may look unimpressive, but it has already motored more than halfway around the world — powered only by the sun.

Humpbacks, with their massive, knobby-edged, aerodynamic flippers, are the most maneuverable of whales. And hydrodynamic engineers are now aping their flippers' shapes to produce highly efficient turbine blades.