The brand new state-of-the-art Terminal 5 just opened at Heathrow Airport and it has been quite exciting indeed. 15,000-20,000 pieces of luggage are lost, many flights have been canceled while other flights have taken off without any luggage. This could prove problematic for passengers going on skiing holidays as well as, well, most anyone else who wants to change clothes after arriving at their destination.

And they did test it, for six months, in fact. Such a spectacular crash-and-burn will no doubt be studied in detail by other airports desperate to not do the same when they open new terminals.

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Almost all biofuels used today cause more greenhouse gas emissions than conventional fuels if the full emissions costs of producing these “green” fuels are taken into account, two studies being published Thursday have concluded.

Destruction of habitat to grow biofuel is a primary reason. Also, using cropland to grown biofuel means less food is grown, something especially of concern in developing countries.

However, some biofuel is not so destructive. This includes biofuel produced from algae, leftovers from agriculture and food processing, and methane from landfills.

If Craig Venter is right, all the above becomes a moot point because new organisms with synthetic genes will be able to create enormous amounts of biofuel from, are you ready, CO2.

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“I won’t let them block change any more.” Sounds populist to me. A gutsy move.

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Vulture funds are buying SoCal land at 15 cents on the dollar, planning to hold 3-5 years, then sell at a profit.

A savvy real estate investor friend in L.A., after years of not finding anything to buy because prices were so high, is just now starting to maybe buy a few houses in the San Fernando Valley for, say, $390,000 that were $650,000 eighteen months ago. (These homes are bank-owned or foreclosures and there are so many of them they are driving all prices down.)

He is also a buy-and-hold investor with a multi-year time frame. When real estate finally bottoms out, it will be because people like him started buying. When you think about it, a vulture fund is about the same as a long-term value investor - buying cheap, holding for years, then selling for a gain.

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From EcoGeek comes news of a new wind turbine design from FloDesign. It’s smaller, more durable, safer, and produces up to four times more power. Their video explains how it works.

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