First turbine up

First turbine up
By Stan Gorton
Tuesday, 15 February 2005

THE cliff tops at Cathedral Rocks have taken on a new profile with the first massive 60-metre-tall turbines being erected in recent days.

…

The 66-megawatt wind farm is a joint-venture project between Australian company Hydro Tasmania, which produces 60 per cent of the nation’s renewable energy, and Spanish company EHN, which has built 80 wind farms producing 2200 megawatts across the world.

The 33-turbine Cathedral Rock Wind Farm is expected to generate enough electricity to service 33,000 homes, many more than the 5000 houses in the city of Port Lincoln.

Port Lincoln Times

City sniffs a rate rise as factory costs go up rapidly

City sniffs a rate rise as factory costs go up rapidly
Larry Elliott, economics editor
Tuesday February 15, 2005

Sterling rose sharply on the foreign exchanges yesterday as the City reacted to surging fuel and raw material costs for Britain’s manufacturers by shortening the odds on an increase in base rates over the coming months.

At the start of a week that will give the markets a clearer view of the inflation outlook for the economy, yesterday’s data showed that the 40% jump in the price of crude over the past 12 months had left industry’s basic costs rising at their fastest rate in four and a half years.

The Guardian

Blair set to press nuclear button

Blair set to press nuclear button
By Michael Harrison

15 February 2005

Tony Blair is preparing to commit the country to the biggest nuclear power programme since the 1960s if he wins the forthcoming general election.

The Prime Minister is expected to use a third term in office to pave the way for the construction of up to 10 new nuclear stations in an attempt to ensure that Britain plays its full part in tackling global warming by cutting carbon emissions.

The Independent

Peak Oil: Time to Get Serious

Peak Oil: Time to Get Serious
By Bill Henderson
Al-Jazeerah, February 14, 2005

…

Peak oil is real. Virtually everybody agrees that oil is a finite resource. But, of course, few see the apocalypse described above – this worst case prediction from one of those willing to look eyes wide open at peak oil and die off.

…

Isn’t time to get serious about peak oil and global warming? About navigating The Bottleneck? About imminent global societal collapse?

aljazeerah.info

The Three Faces of Inflation

We are heading towards the terminal and final stage of this price revolution that began in the 20th century. In the final stages of price revolutions there are greater imbalances, which create greater instabilities. “Prices surge and decline in swings of increasing amplitude. Markets of many kinds—capital markets, commodity markets, labor markets—become dangerously unstable. Production […]

(Don’t) Cry Me A River!

Gas shortage hampers tissue production

Production at tissue products giant Kimberly-Clark’s south-east South Australian mill has been significantly disrupted because of a gas shortage.

Origin Energy’s local Katnook field is running dry and it has told 11 major companies in the region to ration their use.

Kimberly-Clark is the biggest user of gas from the Katnook field and its Millicent mill manager Ross Nugent says it has come as a shock.

“The pressure had dropped and that’s the first we knew about the pending problems and Origin asked us to curtail our activity in response to the reducing pressure,” Mr Nugent said.

“We took note of their requests and did curtail supply, we shut down two of our four tissue machines and we shut down our Tantanoola pulp mill in response to allow the pressure to build.”

ABC News

China should import more energy says Chinese goverment official

China Says Oil to Exceed 50 Percent of Its Energy by 2010 Feb. 14 (Bloomberg) — China will rely on oil for more than half of its energy by 2010, when net imports will rise to between 180 million tons and 200 million tons of oil a year, a Chinese official said. “China should import […]

China Oil Imports Will Increase 33%

China Oil Imports Will Increase 33% by Adam Smallman Mon, Feb 14, 2005 17:32 GMT LONDON – China’s net oil imports in 2005 will continue growing by at least a third on the year even as the country’s economic growth tempers, a Chinese government energy advisor said Monday. “I think it will increase to net […]

From the creators of Peak Oil – University of Uppsala’s RoboBall!

Robotic ball that chases burglars By David Millward (Filed: 14/02/2005) A large black ball, originally designed by Swedish scientists for use on Mars, could be the latest weapon in the war against burglars. The device, developed at the University of Uppsala, acts as a high-tech security guard capable of detecting an intruder thanks to either […]

We Need the Oil, Right, So What’s the Problem?

With the “weapons of mass destruction” of recent memory having evaporated as casus belli for the invasion and occupation of Iraq, I had decided to experiment with a tutorial on what I believe to be the real reasons behind the war—first and foremost, oil. Passing by a phalanx of late-model gas-guzzlers on my way in, I found myself wondering how my observations on the oil factor would be received. In the end, I was more than a little surprised that none of the 250 folks in that very conservative audience seemed to have much of a problem.
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/021405Y.shtml

Green progress for London

Greens deal keeps London council tax rises down Hélène Mulholland Monday February 14, 2005 … The raft of measures in the package include a commitment to make the production of renewable energy for the Tube a top priority of the new Climate Change Agency; a new training and skills initiative for green energy and sustainable […]

Electricity from ocean waves

SAN FRANCISCO/NEW YORK (Reuters) – Since ancient times poets have revered the power of the seas. Now energy companies and coastal cities like New York and San Francisco are aiming to tap ocean waves and tidal currents as abundant sources of electricity. Whether captured by big buoys bobbing on sea swells or by submerged turbines […]

Bankruptcy Laws May Get Tougher

Senate Republicans are ready to make it more difficult to use bankruptcy laws to erase debt Americans who are buried in bills would find it tougher to wipe away debt by filing for bankruptcy under legislation on the cusp of clearing the Senate. After nine years of failed attempts to rewrite the nation’s bankruptcy laws […]

Russia Won’t Admit Foreigners to Major Natural Resource Auctions in 2005

The Russian Ministry of Natural Resources and the Federal Agency for Subsurface Use made a decision to bar foreign-controlled companies from taking part in tenders to develop major oil and metals resources in 2005, Natural Resources Minister Yuri Trutnev said on Thursday, Feb. 10. MosnewsThe Russian Ministry of Natural Resources and the Federal Agency for […]

Germany’s Neo Nazi Party Gains Political Clout

Once a fringe group, the neo-Nazis have seized on Germany’s recognition finally of its own wartime suffering to grab headlines and forge political gains, especially in the east where unemployment remains high 15 years after unification.

“I would take the phenomenon seriously but not overrate it. The neo-Nazis got into Saxony’s parliament but on a low turnout,” he was quoted as saying.

reuters

India and China battle over Russian oil

India is fighting China in the battle for Russian oil by angling for a supply deal and a stake in Yuganskneftegaz, the oil unit that was seized from Yukos and is now owned by Rosneft, the state oil company.

telegrapg

No mullah left behind

THOMAS L FRIEDMAN The Wall Street Journal ran a very, very alarming article from Iran on its front page last Tuesday. The article explained how the mullahs in Tehran — who are now swimming in cash thanks to soaring oil prices — rather than begging foreign investors to come into Iran, are now shunning some […]

Ex-Ford exec shops idea of energy park

A retired Ford Motor Co. executive has started a money hunt to build a renewable-energy business park in West Sacramento with research laboratories at the University of California Davis. Dennis Schuetzle, a native Sacramentan and former director of international research and technology for Ford, recently founded a nonprofit called the Renewable Energy Institute International. The […]

KNUST to take over College of Renewable Natural Resources

Kumasi Feb. 11 GNA — Negotiations are going on for the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) to take over the College of Renewable Natural Resources in Sunyani to become the Faculty of Forestry Resources under the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources. The University will also be annexing the Wood Industries Training […]

INTERNATIONAL PETROLEUM WEEK OPENS IN LONDON

INTERNATIONAL PETROLEUM WEEK OPENS IN LONDON LONDON, February 14 (RIA Novosti’s Alexander Smotrov) – International Petroleum Week events will take place from February 14 to February 17 in London where one of the largest petroleum exchanges is located. The organizers told RIA Novosti that this was the 91st event of this kind. This is the […]

Sinking Islands Cling to Kyoto Lifebuoy

SYDNEY – Islanders on tiny Tuvalu in the South Pacific last week saw the future of global warming and rising sea levels, as extreme high tides caused waves to crash over crumbling sea-walls and flood their homes. “Our island is sinking together with our hearts,” wrote Silafaga Lalua in Tuvalu News (www.tuvaluislands.com).Tuvalu is a remote […]

Oil holds at $47, traders look toward Q2 lull

SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Oil prices stuck near $47 a barrel on Monday as traders were torn between the seasonal ebb of demand in the second quarter and the constant threat of an OPEC output cut.With the northern hemisphere winter drawing to a close and U.S. crude and gasoline inventories healthy, some dealers expect a period […]

Polar distress

PUNTA ARENAS, Chile – Scientists looking southward from the tip of South America, over steel-gray waters toward icy Antarctica, see only questions about the fate of the planet. Now that one mammoth Antarctic ice shelf has collapsed into the ocean, when might another, bigger one crumble and slip into a warming sea? In 1,000 years? […]

Iraq Winners Allied With Iran Are the Opposite of U.S. Vision

“This is a government that will have very good relations with Iran. The Kurdish victory reinforces this conclusion. Talabani is very close to Tehran,” said Juan Cole, a University of Michigan expert on Iraq. “In terms of regional geopolitics, this is not the outcome that the United States was hoping for.” The results have long-term […]

Climate fears prompt energy U-turn in China

Climate fears prompt energy U-turn in China
By Geoffrey Lean, Environment Editor

13 February 2005

China has abruptly slowed and halted work on building 22 major dams and power stations in a dramatic greening of the policies of the world’s most populous nation.

The surprise move – one of the most dramatic ever undertaken by any government – arises from rapidly growing environmental concern in China. It calls the bluff of President George Bush, who has cited growing pollution in China as justification for refusing to join the Kyoto Protocol, which enters into force on Wednesday.

The Independent

Reformer

KAT-Chem – a spinout from Bremen University in northern Germany – has developed technology, known as a reformer, which can extract hydrogen from propane, butane, liquid petroleum gas and the like for fuel cells.

FuelcellWorks

Enron-like madness

Sunday, February 13, 2005

Enron-like madness

SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER EDITORIAL BOARD

A few years ago, Enron and other power marketers sent Northwest electric rates soaring with the manipulation of a West Coast energy crisis. Now, President Bush wants to pick up where his one-time pals at Enron left off.

The president’s budget proposes to charge premium prices, equivalent to those from higher-cost power plants, for the low-cost electricity produced by federal dams. The budget envisions “modest” annual rate increases to bring the costs up to those for power from other market sources.

SeattlePi

Price war erupts in carbon market

Price war erupts in carbon market
By Tessa Thorniley and Dominic White (Filed: 14/02/2005)

Brokers scrambling for new business in the carbon trading market have sparked a price war and sent commissions tumbling to wafer-thin levels.

Telegraph

Cities Eye Ocean Waves for Power Supplies

Cities Eye Ocean Waves for Power Supplies
Sun Feb 13, 2005 10:46 AM ET
By Leonard Anderson and Timothy Gardner

SAN FRANCISCO/NEW YORK (Reuters) – Since ancient times poets have revered the power of the seas. Now energy companies and coastal cities like New York and San Francisco are aiming to tap ocean waves and tidal currents as abundant sources of electricity.

Whether captured by big buoys bobbing on sea swells, or by submerged turbines spinning with the ebb and flow of the tides, the energy potential of moving water, or marine power, is beginning to turn heads in the energy world.

Reuters

India and China Battle Over Russian Oil

India is fighting China in the battle for Russian oil by angling for a supply deal and a stake in Yuganskneftegaz, the oil unit that was seized from Yukos and is now owned by Rosneft, the state oil company. TelegraphIndia is fighting China in the battle for Russian oil by angling for a supply deal […]

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