At a Virginia Tech agricultural research center here, in this small town west of Fredericksburg, the switchgrass plot is an unruly, waving thicket of seven-foot-tall green stalks. Bluestem, Indian grass and western wheatgrass all typically grow alongside switchgrass on native prairies, and in fields set aside in the Conservation Reserve Program. For another, switchgrass requires little of the irrigation and fertilizer necessary to grow corn, a prima donna among crops. Plenty has changed...

Citing statistics from the Energy Information Administration, the known reserves for crude oil will last for 32 years; natural gas, 72 years; coal, 252 years; uranium, 72 years; and fusion (if tremendous scientific and engineering obstacles are overcome), 100-1000 years. Citing statistics from the Energy Information Administration, the known reserves for crude oil will last for 32 years; natural gas, 72 years; coal, 252 years; uranium, 72 years; and fusion (if tremendous scientific and...

At a Virginia Tech agricultural research center here, in this small town west of Fredericksburg, the switchgrass plot is an unruly, waving thicket of seven-foot-tall green stalks. For another, switchgrass requires little of the irrigation and fertilizer necessary to grow corn, a prima donna among crops. Researchers across the country think that switchgrass could help supplant corn as a source for the fast-growing ethanol industry. But it only looks neglected: This is one of the center s...

For the aging farmer on the hillside, the motions of planting are rote, timeless, almost mechanical, yet as human as the need to lay down roots, to experiment, to multiply. His thick hands never stop moving, even as he segues from grumbling about the government to chuckling at his own saucy jokes to fumbling through the names of his 22 children. Perched on the steep slope of his field, Jesus Garcia grips the sweat-shined shaft of his planting pole, called a barreton, and drives its rusty...

The commission receives complaints - such as Foot's - from the public, or initiates its own investigation, such as the recent hearings on the banking industry. Last week, trade & industry minister Mandisi Mpahlwa vowed in parliament to overhaul the competition laws, giving the authorities greater muscle to nail industries involved in price-fixing. It even seemed there would be a fairytale ending when the tribunal ruled in favour of Foot, stating that Sasol was interfering with natural...