By design, blockchain resists regulatory oversight, but maritime regulators still need to understand the technological potential of a trail of records that payment and other applications can be built upon and keep an eye on how the industry adopts this, shipping and tech experts argue.

Global energy investment fell by 12 percent in 2016, the second consecutive year of decline, as increased spending on energy efficiency and electricity networks was more than offset by a continued drop in upstream oil and gas spending, according to the International Energy Agency's annual World Energy Investment report.

Companies that source coconut oil from the Philippines and Indonesia - the world's two largest producers and exporters of coconut-based products - face several challenges: little or no economies of scale, lack of financing and training resources, and a rigid supply chain all serve to increase the farmers' dependence on middlemen and perpetuates inefficient and unsustainable agricultural practices.

The Renewable Fuel Standard, or RFS, was developed during my tenure as Energy Secretary and has helped diversify America's fuel supplies. The credit program EPA created to ensure RFS compliance, due to changes in the oil industry, now merely serves to subsidize global oil companies and gasoline retail chains at the expense of independent American refiners and small fuel retailers.

Transit agencies across the country are shouldering higher infrastructure costs that strain budgets and make the systems more expensive overall than their overseas counterparts - and "Buy America" is a likely driver of those expenses, a right-leaning think tank says.