What's New on the 'Net:

What's New on the 'Net:

Energy on the Web

Robert D. Duval and Rebecca Barrett-Duval

The previous issue of "What's New on the 'Net" dealt with environmental issues. This issue examines what some view as the opposite end of the spectrum, energy. Energy consumption and environmental protection are often posited as direct competitors in the policy arena. However, many of the sites listed here contest this point of view. We do not take sides in this debate. Instead, it is our intent to point readers to the many sources of information concerning energy issues that are available on the Web.

Organizing this article presents some interesting problems that get to the heart of the energy/ environment debate. Because energy is a major sector of both the national and West Virginia economies, and given the national interest in reducing our reliance on foreign energy sources, we need to include sites that provide information about energy production. Producers generally want their products to be used, while environmentalists generally want the consumption of energy kept to a minimum because energy consumption often produces a variety of detrimental environmental consequences. Producers are naturally interested in seeing relatively high prices, while consumers are naturally interested in seeing relatively low prices. As a result, energy is a complex policy issue, and few of us are able to approach it from only one perspective or position. West Virginia's historical reliance on coal and gas production as a major component of our economy makes it even more complex for us to determine appropriate policy positions. The resolution of energy policy questions requires a balanced approach that can only be obtained by having a well-informed public, and well-informed policymakers. The Web provides much of the information needed to attain that balance.

We start with the national, international and West Virginia state agencies that administer energy related programs. Then, we provide a brief tour through several types of energy resources. As we have done in the past, we begin with the national government's agencies. The U.S. Department of Energy is the obvious place to begin.

U.S. Department of Energy

http://www.doe.gov/

Secretary of Energy - Bill Richardson

http://www.doe.gov/glance/secbio.htm

There are many Department of Energy programs that are of great interest to the broad range of energy policy. Most of these programs are umbrella agencies or bureaus with many relevant pages. For the energy information consumer, the Department of Energy has made a vast array of information available.

U.S. Department of Energy Programs

Chief Information Officer

http://cio.doe.gov/

DOE Yucca Mountain Project

http://www.ymp.gov/

National Nuclear Security Administration

http://www.nnsa.doe.gov/

Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management

http://www.rw.doe.gov/homejava/homejava.htm

Office of Congressional and Intergovernmental Affairs

http://www.ci.doe.gov/

Office of Economic Impact and Diversity

http://www.hr.doe.gov/ed/index.html

Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy

http://www.eren.doe.gov/

Office of Defense Programs

http://www.dp.doe.gov/dp_web/

Energy Information Administration

http://www.eia.doe.gov/

Office of Environmental Management

http://www.em.doe.gov/

Office of Environment, Safety, and Health

http://www.eh.doe.gov/portal/

Office of Fissile Materials Disposition

http://twilight.saic.com/md/

Office of Fossil Energy

http://www.fe.doe.gov/

Office of the General Counsel

http://www.gc.doe.gov/

Office of Hearings and Appeals

http://www.oha.doe.gov/

Office of Independent Oversight & Performance Assurance

http://tis.eh.doe.gov/iopa

Office of Inspector General

http://www.ig.doe.gov/

Office of International Affairs

http://www.osti.gov/international/

Office of Management and Administration

http://www.hr.doe.gov/

Office of Nuclear Energy, Science, and Technology

http://www.NE.doe.gov/

Office of Public Affairs (DOE News and Information)

http://www.doe.gov/news.htm

Office of Policy

http://www.policy.energy.gov/

Office of Science

http://www.science.doe.gov/

Office of the Secretary of Energy Advisory Board

http://www.hr.doe.gov/seab/

Office of Security and Emergency Operations

http://www.so.doe.gov/

Office of Worker and Community Transition

http://www.wct.doe.gov/

Note that the Department of Energy covers all aspects of energy: consumption, production, alternative sources, nuclear, and even defense and national security issues. Its role in energy is clearly comprehensive.

Also, within the Department of Energy is FERC, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. This independent agency is charged with the regulation of the transmission and the wholesale sale of oil, gas and electricity, as well as hydroelectric power projects. It is the chief regulatory authority in the Department of Energy.

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

http://www.ferc.fed.us/

Electric

http://www.ferc.fed.us/electric/electrc2.htm

Gas

http://www.ferc.fed.us/gas/gas2.htm

HydroPower

http://www.ferc.fed.us/hydro/hydro2.htm

Oil

http://www.ferc.fed.us/oil/oil2.htm

Another Department of Energy regulatory entity, although somewhat obscure, as its name might suggest, is the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board. It regulates the Department of Energy's defense facilities for the manufacture of nuclear weapons and reactor fuel.

Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board

http://dr.tis.doe.gov/dnfsb/default.asp

DOE Representative to the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board

http://dr.tis.doe.gov/default.asp

Certainly one of the areas of the Department of Energy that receives the most public attention is its support of the research laboratory. The Department of Energy funds over twenty of these major research organizations. Many of these labs provide and support research in diverse areas of scientific interest. They are an exceptionally important part of the Department of Energy research program, and warrant extensive examination by the energy researcher.

Department of Energy Laboratories

Ames Laboratory

http://www.external.ameslab.gov/

Argonne National Laboratory

http://www.anl.gov/

Bettis Atomic Power Laboratory

http://www.bettis.gov/

Brookhaven National Laboratory

http://www.bnl.gov/bnl.html

Environmental Measurement Laboratory

http://www.eml.Department of Energy.gov/

Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (Fermilab)

http://www.fnal.gov/

Idaho National Engineering Laboratory

http://www.inel.gov/

Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory

http://www.iss.external.lmco.com/kapl/index.htm

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

http://www.lbl.gov/

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

http://www.llnl.gov/

Los Alamos National Laboratory Directory

http://www.lanl.gov/worldview/

National Energy Technology Laboratory

http://www.fetc.Department of Energy.gov/

National Renewable Energy Laboratory

http://www.nrel.gov/

New Brunswick Laboratory

http://www.nbl.Department of Energy.gov/

Oak Ridge National Laboratory

http://www.ornl.gov/

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

http://www.pnl.gov/

Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory

http://www.pppl.gov/

Sandia National Laboratory

http://www.sandia.gov/Main.html

Stanford Linear Accelerator Center

http://www.slac.stanford.edu/

Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility

http://www.jlab.org/

The Stanford Linear Accelerator Center deserves special mention. It was the first U.S. web site. SLAC Physicist Paul Kunz brought word of the World Wide Web's existence back to the United States in September, 1991, when he returned from a meeting at CERN where Tim Berners-Lee had developed the Web. It has grown a bit in the past nine years.

In addition to the National Laboratories, there are some additional special purpose facilities that the Department of Energy maintains that warrant mention. These sites are rather diverse in their missions, but many of them have featured prominently in the energy-environments debates of the last decade or so.

Fernald Environmental Management Project

http://www.fernald.gov/

Grand Junction Projects Office (GJPO)

http://www.Department of Energygjpo.com/

Hanford Site

http://www.hanford.gov/

Kansas City Plant (AlliedSignal Inc.)

http://www.os.kcp.com/

Mound Plant

http://www.Department of Energy-md.gov/

National Petroleum Technology Office (NPTO)

http://www.npto.Department of Energy.gov/

Naval Petroleum/Shale Reserves

http://www.FE.Department of Energy.gov/nposr/

Nevada Test Site

http://www.nv.Department of Energy.gov/

Oak Ridge Operations' Environmental Management Program

http://www.oakridge.Department of Energy.gov/em/

Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education

http://www.orau.gov/orise.htm

Office of River Protection

http://www.hanford.gov/orp/index.html

Pantex

http://www.pantex.com/

Rocky Flats Environmental Technology Site

http://www.rfets.gov/

Savannah River Site (Westinghouse)

http://www.srs.gov/

Strategic Petroleum Reserve

http://www.FE.Department of Energy.gov/spr/spr.html

Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP)

http://www.wipp.carlsbad.nm.us/wipp.htm

Y-12 Plant

http://www.y12.Department of Energy.gov/lmes/y12.html

Yucca Mountain Site Characterization Project

http://www.ymp.gov/

There are several fossil energy programs at the Department of Energy that are of particular interest in West Virginia.

Advanced Turbine Systems

http://www.fe.Department of Energy.gov/coal_power/ats/ats_sum.html

Carbon Sequestrationhttp://www.fe.Department of Energy.gov/coal_power/sequestration/index.html

Fluidized Bed Combustion

http://www.fe.Department of Energy.gov/coal_power/fbc/pfb_sum.html

Hybrid Fuel Cell Turbine Systems

http://www.fe.Department of Energy.gov/coal_power/hybrid_sum.html

Indirectly Fired Cycle

http://www.fe.Department of Energy.gov/coal_power/pcc/ifc_sum.html

Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle

http://www.fe.Department of Energy.gov/coal_power/igcc/igcc_sum.html

Low-Emission Boiler Systems

http://www.fe.Department of Energy.gov/coal_power/pcc/lebs_sum.html

We need to especially note that the National Energy Technology Laboratory, located in Pittsburgh and Morgantown, is a major Department of Energy research facility. It was formerly the Federal Energy Technology Center.

National Energy Technology Laboratory

http://www.fetc.Department of Energy.gov/

Photo of Morgantown location

http://www.fetc.Department of Energy.gov/welcome/mgn_aerial.html

Of course, although the Department of Energy has primary charge in this area, it is not the only national government agency with an interest in energy. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), charged with protecting the environment, has many programs that regulate the combustion (consumption) of energy. The EPA's role in protecting air quality has direct bearing on energy consumption. Because we covered the environment in the last issue, we do not repeat those web sites here. However, the EPA has a program that is specifically aimed at reducing energy consumption. In fact, the computer monitor you are using to browse these web sites may well carry the Energy Star icon on it, indicating that it complies with EPA's requirements for energy efficient computer monitors.

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

http://www.epa.gov/

Energy Star Program

http://www.epa.gov/energystar.html

There are several other national government agencies that play a regulatory role in energy. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission, for example, is charged with the responsibility to protect public health and safety by regulating the nuclear industry.

U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission

http://www.nrc.gov/

News & Information

http://www.nrc.gov/OPA/

Nuclear Materials

http://www.nrc.gov/NRC/nucmat.html

Nuclear Reactors

http://www.nrc.gov/NRC/reactors.html

Radioactive Waste

http://www.nrc.gov/NRC/radwaste.html

Radiation Protection and Emergency Response

http://www.nrc.gov/NRC/radprotect.html

Along with its natural resource conservation role, the U.S. Department of the Interior has significant energy and energy production-related Web sites.

Department of Interior

http://www.doi.gov

Abandoned Mine Lands

http://www.blm.gov/narsc/aml/

Bureau of Land Management

http://www.blm.gov/

Bureau of Reclamation

http://www.usbr.gov/main/index.html

Minerals Management Services

http://www.mms.gov/

Offshore Minerals Management

http://www.mms.gov/offshore/

Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement

http://www.osmre.gov/osm.htm

Reclamation of Abandoned Mine Lands

http://www.osmre.gov/osmaml.htm

Regulation of Active Coal Mining and Reclamation

http://www.osmre.gov/osmaml.htm

Royalty Management

http://www.rmp.mms.gov/

Technology Development and Transfer

http://www.osmre.gov/tech.htm

U.S. Geological Survey

http://www.usgs.gov/

There are also a few offices within the Department of Commerce that specialize in energy news, the energy sector, and international trade.

Department of Commerce

http://www.doc.gov

BISNIS - Energy Sector Industry Reports

http://www.bisnis.doc.gov/bisnis/isa/isa-energy.htm

Energy Division

http://www.ita.doc.gov/td/energy/index.html

International Trade Administration

http://www.ita.doc.gov

Lastly, the National Science Foundation has several branches which support research in areas of the basic sciences that have direct bearing on the energy sciences.

The National Science Foundation

http://www.nsf.gov/

Geosciences

http://www.nsf.gov/home/geo/start.htm

Math and the Physical Sciences

http://www.nsf.gov/home/mps/start.htm

The most striking aspect of the list of national government agencies provided is how this just scratches the surface of the number of national agencies, offices, and programs that provide policy and information on energy issues.

International Governmental Agencies

There are many international agencies that have sites concerning energy-related issues on the Web, albeit not as many that have sites concerning environmental issues. The United Nations is the place to begin, with several international conventions and programs which have influenced environmental policy all the way to the local level.

United Nations

UN Environment Programme

http://www.unep.ch/

International Atomic Energy Agency

http://www.iaea.org/worldatom/

Board of Governors

http://www.iaea.org/worldatom/About/bg.shtml

General Conference

http://www.iaea.org/worldatom/About/gc.shtml

European nations, given their level of economic development, also have extensive energy programs in their international organizations, most notably, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, or, as they spell it, the

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development

http://www.oecd.org/

Eastern Europe

http://www.nea.fr/html/nea/ceec.html

Joint Projects

http://www.nea.fr/html/jointproj/

Nuclear Development

http://www.nea.fr/html/ndd/

Nuclear Energy Agency

http://www.nea.fr/

Nuclear Law

http://www.nea.fr/html/law/

Nuclear Safety

http://www.nea.fr/html/nsd/

Nuclear Science

http://www.nea.fr/html/science/

Radiation Protection

http://www.nea.fr/html/rp/

Radioactive Waste Management

http://www.nea.fr/html/rwm/

The developed nations are not the only nations with energy Web sites. Probably the most influential energy organization in the latter part of the 20^th century is OPEC, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries. Certainly no energy organization has exerted as much influence as this amalgam of developing nations with rich oil reserves.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries

http://www.opec.org/

Most individual nations also have energy and energy research programs. However, it is beyond the scope of this article to delve into cross-national energy information and energy policy.

West Virginia State Agencies

As a major energy producing state, West Virginia has substantial interest in energy issues. Several state agencies have a role in regulating the industries and the environment that they operate in. Indeed, much of the interest in the energy sector is through environmental regulation focused upon the state's coal, oil, and gas industries.

West Virginia Division of Environmental Protection

http://www.dep.state.wv.us/

The Office of Abandoned Mine Lands & Reclamation

http://www.dep.state.wv.us/aml/index.html

Office of Mining and Reclamation

http://www.dep.state.wv.us/mr/index.html

The West Virginia Division of Environmental Protection is not the only agency that regulates portions of the energy sector. Other sites of note in West Virginia include:

West Virginia Public Service Commission

http://www.state.wv.us/psc/

Utilities Division

http://www.state.wv.us/psc/div/util.htm

Utilities Operating in West Virginia (Search)

http://www.state.wv.us/psc/div/util.htm

West Virginia Bureau of Commerce

West Virginia Office of Miners' Health Safety and Training

http://www.state.wv.us/mhst/

West Virginia Geological & Economic Survey

http://www.wvgs.wvnet.edu/

West Virginia Geology

http://www.wvgs.wvnet.edu/www/geology/geology.htm

History of West Virginia Mineral Industries - Coal

http://www.wvgs.wvnet.edu/www/geology/geoldvco.htm

History of West Virginia Mineral Industries - Oil and Gas

http://www.wvgs.wvnet.edu/www/geology/geoldvog.htm

Geostatistics and Petroleum Geology

http://www.wvgs.wvnet.edu/www/geostat/geostat.htm

In addition to the state agencies, there are also several sites at West Virginia University that are of interest. Most notable is the National Research Center for Coal and Energy.

West Virginia University National Research Center for Coal and Energy

http://www.nrcce.wvu.edu/

National Centers

Combustion Byproducts Recycling Consortiumhttp://cbrc.nrcce.wvu.edu/

National Alternative Fuels Training Consortium

http://naftp.nrcce.wvu.edu/

National Mine Land Reclamation Center

http://www.nrcce.wvu.edu/nmlrc/index.htm

Petroleum Technology Transfer Council

http://karl.nrcce.wvu.edu/

West Virginia University Electric Industry Research Group

http://www.nrcce.wvu.edu/special/electricity/index.htm

West Virginia University also has the College of Engineering and Mineral Resources.

West Virginia University College of Engineering and Mineral Resources

http://www.cemr.wvu.edu/index1.html

Longwall Mining and Ground Control Research Center

http://www.wvu.edu/~minengin/text/longctr.htm

Mining Engineering

http://www.cemr.wvu.edu/~wwwmine/

Mining Extension Servicehttp://www.cemr.wvu.edu/wwwext/whatismining.html

Petroleum and Natural Gas Engineering

http://www.cemr.wvu.edu/~wwwpnge/

Lastly, because of its local interest and its place in the current legal news spotlight, several of the state agency pages point to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's pages on mountaintop removal. This issue has taken center stage in West Virginia environmental concerns.

U.S. EPA Region 3 Mountaintop Removal

http://www.epa.gov/region3/mtntop/

U.S. EPA Region 3 Mountaintop Removal Bulletins

http://www.epa.gov/region3/mtntop/bulletins.htm

U.S. EPA Region 3 Mountaintop Removal Work Plans

http://www.epa.gov/region3/mtntop/workplans.htm

Data Services

There are several sources of data on energy consumption, production, and transmission on the Web.

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission - Energy Information Online

http://www.ferc.fed.us/online/online2.htm

Electric Utility Data

http://www.ferc.fed.us/electric/Form_1_viewer.htm

Gas Pipeline Data

http://www.ferc.fed.us/online/gas/gpd_data.htm

CIESIN (Center for Earth Science Information Network)

http://www.ciesin.org/

Socio-Economic Application Data Center

http://sedac.ciesin.org/cgi-bin/charlotte

The West Virginia Division of Environmental Protection Databases are also quite useful.

Office of Mining and Reclamation - Mining Permits

http://www.dep.state.wv.us:2112/omr_permit.html

Oil & Gas Production Database

http://www.dep.state.wv.us:2112/og.html

WVDEP Spatial Data and Metadata Interface

http://www.dep.state.wv.us/metadata/

WVDEP - USGS Coal Quality Database for West Virginia

http://www.dep.state.wv.us/permit/mr/c_qual_1.html

Energy Related Organizations and Commercial Sites

There are many, energy-related organizations and commercial sites on the Web. Given the size of the energy sector, this comes as no surprise. Because we can not cover them all, we have included a selected list of relevant organizations and corporations that are of interest here in West Virginia. We have, without doubt, omitted many sites of interest. We will be happy to include others in the Web page version of this article as they are brought to our attention.

Electric Power

Allegheny Power

http://www.alleghenypower.com/

American Electric Power

http://www.aep.com/

American Public Power Association

http://www.appanet.org/

Edison Electric Institute

http://www.eei.org/

Electric Power Research Institute

http://www.epri.com/

Energy Central

http://www.energycentral.com/

Touchstone Energy

http://www.touchstoneenergy.com/

Fossil Fuels

American Geological Institute

http://www.agiweb.org/

Appalachian Geological Society

http://www.geocities.com/CapeCanaveral/6948/index.htm

Oil

American Petroleum Institute

http://www.api.org/

BPAmoco

http://www.bpamoco.com/

Chevron

http://www.chevron.com/index.html

Conoco

http://www.conoco.com/

ExxonMobil

http://www.exxon.com/

National Petroleum Council

http://www.npc.org/

Oil.com

http://www.oil.com/

OilOnline

http://www.oilonline.com/

Oil World

http://oilworld.com/

Petroleum Spot Market Prices from Oil World

http://oilworld.com/1cashpet.htm#allcrude

Petroleum Technology Transfer Council

http://www.pttc.org/home.html

Phillips

http://www.phillips66.com/

Shell

http://www.countonshell.com

Society of Petroleum Engineers

http://www.spe.org/

Texaco

http://www.texaco.com

Gas

American Gas Association

http://www.aga.com/

Columbia Gas

http://www.columbiagaspamd.com/

Consolidated Natural gas

http://www.cng.com/Welcome.html

Dominion Resources, Inc.

http://www.dom.com/

Hope Gas

http://www.cng.com/hope/Welcome.html

Interstate Natural Gas Association of America

http://www.ingaa.org/

Natural Gas Information and Educational Resources

http://www.naturalgas.org/

Natural Gas Supply Association

http://www.ngsa.org/

Natural Gas Vehicles (from Consolidated Natural gas)

http://www.cng.com/corp/ngv/html/ngv.htm

Coal

Anker Coal Group

http://www.ankercoal.com/

Arch Coal

http://www.archcoal.com/

Coal (WorldNews.com)

http://www.coaltrade.com/

Coal - The WWW Virtual Library

http://www.isr.gov.au/resources/coal_vl/co_usa.html

Coalinfo.com

http://www.coalinfo.com

Consol Energy

http://www.consolcoal.com/

CSX Coal Facilities Directory

http://www.csxt.com/com/coal/fac/origins_s.htm

Peabody Coal

http://www.peabodygroup.com/

World Coal Institute

http://www.wci-coal.com/pages/framemaster.htm

Nuclear

American Nuclear Society

http://www.ans.org

Nuclear Energy Institute

http://www.nei.org/

Nuclear Information and Resource Service

http://www.nirs.org/

Energy Efficiency, Conservation, and Consumer Interest Sites

Alliance to Save Energy

http://www.ase.org/

American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy

http://www.aceee.org/index.html

American Nuclear Society

http://www.ans.org/

Critical Mass Energy Project

http://www.citizen.org/cmep/

Electricity Consumers Resource Council

http://www.elcon.org/

Energy Efficiency Builders Association

http://www.eeba.org/

World Energy Efficiency Association

http://www.weea.org/

Alternative Fuels/Renewable Energy

General

Center for Renewable Energy and Sustainable Technology

http://solstice.crest.org/common/crestinfo.shtml

Global Energy Marketplace

http://gem.crest.org/

Solstice

http://solstice.crest.org/index.shtml

Solar

American Solar Energy Society

http://www.ases.org/

International Solar Energy Society

http://www.ises.org/

Solar Energy Network

http://www.solarenergy.com/

Solar Energy Research and Education Foundation

http://www.seref.org/intro.html

Wind

American Wind Energy Association

http://www.awea.org/

Wind Energy Resources

http://www.igc.org/energy/wind.html

Geothermal

Geothermal Resources Council

http://www.geothermal.org/

Geothermal Resource Information Clearinghouse

http://rredc.nrel.gov/geothermal/

Geothermal Education Office

http://geothermal.marin.org/index.html

International Geothermal Association

http://www.demon.co.uk/geosci/igahome.html

Virginia Tech Geothermal Data

http://rglsun1.geol.vt.edu/

Ethanol and Bio-mass

American Bioenergy Association

http://www.biomass.org/

American Coalition for Ethanol

http://www.ethanol.org/

Arkenol

http://www.arkenol.com/

Clean Fuels Foundation

http://www.cleanfuels.org/

Governor's Ethanol Coalition

http://www.ethanol-gec.org/

Renewable Fuels Association

http://www.ethanol-gec.org/

Many of these sites have links to extensive lists of other relevant sites. The web-like qualities of the World Wide Web are very evident in looking at energy sources. There are many ways of reaching the information you seek.

There are also some West Virginia Organizations that are energy specific:

Independent Oil and Gas Association of West Virginia

http://www.iogawv.com/

The West Virginia Coal Association

http://www.wvcoal.com/index.html

West Virginia Coal Reserves

http://www.wvcoal.com/reserves.htm

Distribution of West Virginia Coal

http://www.wvcoal.com/distribution.htm

The West Virginia Oil and Natural Gas Association

http://www.wvonga.com/

West Virginia Mining and Reclamation Association

http://www.wvmra.com/

There are even sites concerning genealogy and the mining industry in West Virginia.

West Virginia Coal Mines: A WVGenWeb Special Project

http://www.rootsweb.com/~wvcoal/

Professional Associations

Like many other policy arenas, the principle types of actors and professions involved in the energy industries have formed professional organizations. A few of the more relevant are listed here.

American Association of Drilling Engineers

http://www.aade.org/

American Association of Petroleum Geologists

http://www.aapg.org/indexns.shtml

American Boiler Manufacturers Association

http://www.abma.com/

American National Standards Institute

http://www.ansi.org/

American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers

http://www.ashrae.org/

American Society of Mechanical Engineers

http://www.asme.org/

American Society for Testing and Materials

http://www.astm.org/

Drilling Engineering Association

http://www.dea.main.com/main.htm

International Association of Drilling Contractors

http://www.ipaa.org/index.html

No list of professional organizations for energy is complete without mentioning the

United Mine Workers of America

http://www.umwa.org/homepage.shtml

Other Guides to Energy Resources

If these sites are not sufficient, then there are several other guides to energy that you can search through. A few of the more extensive are:

About.com > Energy Industry

http://energyindustry.about.com/industry/energyindustry/

Energy.com

http://www.energy.com/

Ebid

http://www.energy.com/eBid/default.asp

Yahoo! Environment and Nature

http://dir.yahoo.com/Society_and_Culture/Environment_and_Nature

Needless to say, there are a lot of energy-related sites on the Web. The sites provided here are simply first glances at a very substantial world of energy information.

The next issue of "What's New on the 'Net" in the West Virginia Public Affairs Reporter will look at a somewhat different area of the Web: e-commerce. The Web has become the newest frontier for the entrepreneur and sites for commercial activity abound. This is also where the Web is making much of its news these days. E-commerce presents interesting policy issues for state and local governments. We will examine the Web as an extension of the marketplace. If you have, or know of, sites concerning e-commerce that you would like to have listed, please let us know.

Robert D. Duval bduval@wvu.edu

Rebecca Barrett-Duval rduval@wvu.edu

_____________

Robert D. Duval is an Associate Professor of Political Science at West Virginia University. Rebecca Barrett-Duval is a social research consultant based in Morgantown. In addition, they serve as Resident Faculty Leaders at West Virginia University.