Energy Secretary Quietly Dismantles Independent Science Advisory Board

Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman has quietly disbanded the Secretary of Energy Advisory Board (SEAB), the departmentThink Progress

Global Warming Threatens Extinctions: Report

Global warming will become a top cause of extinction from the tropical Andes to South Africa with thousands of species of plants and animals likely to be wiped out in coming decades, a study said on Tuesday. “Global warming ranks among the most serious threats to the planet’s biodiversity and, under some scenarios, may rival […]

Federal Government Picks Contenders for Oil-Shale Development

The U.S. Bureau of Land Management narrowed the field of oil companies hoping to exploit vast oil-shale reserves in Utah and Colorado, government officials said Monday. In a second elimination round, Exxon Mobil Corp. and a tiny Utah company, Oil-Tech Inc., were knocked out of the running for research and development leases to work 160-acre […]

World on the ‘Cusp of a New Energy Regime’

The world is moving towards a new third industrial revolution based a new energy regime, argues US thinker Jeremy Rifkin as Europe considers how to reformulate its energy policy. “We are on the cusp of a new energy regime that will alter our way of life as fundamentally as the introduction of coal and steam […]

Seeking the Good Oil Overseas (New Zealand)

Competition for waste cooking oil to convert into car fuel is so stiff that suppliers are beginning to look overseas for supplies – which could push up the price for consumers. Wellington company Envirocar manufactures a conversion kit that allows vehicles to run on environmentally friendly vegetable oil, which is gathered from restaurants and fast […]

Planning, Policy, Strategy and Energy

A COUPLE OF months ago, I wrote an article in Whiskey & Gunpowder entitled “Things Just Got Worse” (Jan. 25, 2006) concerning a major downward revision to the estimate of oil reserves in Kuwait. My sense of doom and gloom was prompted because if the downward revisions to the Kuwait numbers are true, the world’s […]

Turbines ‘threaten’ Trump plans

Plans by US billionaire Donald Trump to build a world class golfing centre in Aberdeenshire could be threatened by an offshore wind farm. The Mr Trump is said to be unhappy about plans for a wind farm off the coast of Aberdeen which would affect the view. Aberdeen Renewable Energy Group (AREG) said it now […]

Gas prices and discontent rising in Iraq

WASHINGTON — In what is seen as an unavoidable trade-off, Iraq’s acting government is risking public anger by ramping up gasoline prices to boost revenues and reduce a gas-smuggling trade that is helping to fund the insurgency. Heavily subsidized since the days of Saddam Hussein, the price of gas has risen from about 5 cents […]

Jordan raises fuel prices to reduce budget deficit

AMMAN — Jordan has decided to raise prices of fuel derivatives in a bid to reduce budget deficit, a government spokesman announced on Sunday. The prices of regular gasoline went up from 0.544 U.S. dollar to 0.607 dollar per litre, while super gasoline rose from 0.713 dollar to 0.855 dollar, unleaded gasoline from 0.769 dollar […]

Cross-party Commission on Peak Oil – Invitation

Maori Party Invites other Parties Cross-party Commission on Peak Oil NEW ZEALAND –

Toward a New Vision for Hamilton

(This is part one of a two-part series on Richard Gilbert’s vision for Hamilton. Part one looks at the implications of peak oil and peak natural gas for Hamilton’s growth strategy. Part two will discuss transportation, goods movement, and building energy use in more detail, focusing on Hamilton’s opportunities in energy production and conservation.) In […]

Power grid comes under scrutiny as energy prices rise

VALLEY FORGE, PA — In a suburban office park near Philadelphia, about 10 people work around the clock under the constant glow of a 40-foot wide video screen with a map of the East Coast power grid — stretching all the way from Chicago to New Jersey to eastern North Carolina. These people work for […]

Not summer yet, but gasoline prices are high and rising

Concerns in the oil market and increased refining costs send gas over $2.55 a gallon. NEW YORK As usual, the price of oil is a major factor. Thursday morning, a barrel of crude oil was above $67 – less than $3 from the record of $69.91 set after hurricane Katrina. But this time, other factors […]

The Darwin Award For Self-Extinction Goes To…

When a young Edwin Hubble started looking out into the universe at the beginning of the 20th century experts thought that this universe was only tens or maybe hundreds of millions years old (most people thought the world was less than 10,000 years old). Now, on a 4 1/2 billion year old Earth in a […]

Should we use net energy to measure global energy reserves?

Net energy is a simple concept really. Once you understand that it takes energy to get energy, the basic math is clear. To calculate the net energy available from an energy resource, you add up the energy used to find, extract, process and deliver that resource and then subtract that amount from the amount of […]

Rig makers scramble to support energy boom

Shortage forces companies, contractors to look abroad and improvise STERLING, Colo. – On the prairie of northeast Colorado, Roger Stumpff stands in a muddy lot and looks at the pieces of a giant blue-and-white drilling rig that have become the heart of his business. Decades ago, Stumpff Stumpff has nearly doubled his work force to […]

Calculating the costs of nuclear energy

The building of only one major nuclear reactor in Viet Nam would be uneconomical, argues Atomic Energy Commission chairman Dr Vuong Huu Tan, who believes that eventually 25 to 30 per cent of his country’s power needs will be met by harnessing the atom. And the chairman, who says a feasibility study for the building […]

Panelists say plenty of capital wants into oil business

The plentiful supply of capital seeking to enter the oil and gas industry was frequently mentioned at this week’s Executive Oil Conference… “Where is this capital going, and is there too much?” ” Dick Covington, managing director, NGP Energy Capital Management, said, then citing a number of statistics, particularly in the natural gas markets, before […]

Chavez’s Oil

Escalating oil prices on international markets appear to indicate the world is running out of oil, but is this really the case? If a proposal mooted by Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez were to be accepted all round, the oil era still has some time to run. Chavez essentially proposes a deal with consumer countries that […]

Angola’s oil province on difficult quest for peace

Angola’s rebel province of Cabinda is on a difficult search for a settlement to end decades of separatist fighting in this patch of land that is the lifeline of the country’s oil boom. A peace overture from the Angolan government is being received with skepticism — although not rejected — in the poor northern province […]

Palm Oil Biodiesel May Face Barriers In Europe

Expectations in the palm oil industry for biodiesel sales to Europe may be premature, as trade barriers look likely to limit market access, a European biofuels industry official said. Instead, the industry should focus on supplying the bioenergy, or electricity generation, market, which holds more potential, said Edgare Kerkwijk, chief financial officer and head of […]

Town Sees Nuclear Plans as a Boon, Not a Threat

More than a quarter century after the accident at Three Mile Island and two decades after Chernobyl, America’s utilities stand at the early edge of what promises to be the first large-scale wave of nuclear plant construction since the 1980’s. And the energy companies are finding New York Times

Chavez Threatens to Expel U.S. Envoy

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said the U.S. ambassador was “provoking the Venezuelan people” and threatened Sunday to expel the American diplomat, whose convoy was chased by pro-government protesters on motorcycles. Chavez condemned the crowd of protesters for pelting U.S. Ambassador William Brownfield’s car with eggs and tomatoes, saying his government “rejects any kind of aggression.”Houston […]

Iran — Apocalypse Now?

This story is based on Seymour “Sy” Hersh’s article about to be published in the New Yorker entitled The Iran Plans. When a child is finally able to read, write and understand some things, there are two lessons that should be taught first, and these are 1. The Golden Rule which states in one formulation […]

Saudi Arabia May Join Nuclear Club

Kuwaiti researcher Abdullah al-Nufaisi told a seminar in Doha, Qatar, that Saudi Arabia is preparing a nuclear program, the Middle East Newsline reported. He said Saudi scientists were urging the government to launch a nuclear project, but had not yet received approval from the ruling family.United Press International

Thinktank Urges Bulk Buying Energy to Aid Jobless and Elderly

The government is being urged to take direct action to help pensioners and the unemployed cope with rising energy bills amid concerns about the increase in fuel poverty in Britain. The Institute for Public Policy Research argues that some 3.5 million people who use pre-pay meters are paying The Guardian

Oman to Spend $10B on Oil, Gas Output Boost

Oman plans to spend $10 ($NZ16.50) billion within the next five years to increase its oil and natural gas output, the non-Opec Gulf state’s oil minister said today. “We want to increase (oil) production to 900,000 barrels per day by 2010 or 2011 from around 780,000 now and want to double gas output to 70-80 […]

Cooking oil a vehicle for change

Most drivers groan when they see the price of petrol inch up at the pumps Stuff.co.nz

Energy Philosophy For Entropic Times

[Editor’s Note: This essay was prepared for the New York City Peak Oil Conference, April 2006.] If we are looking for an energy philosophy that might help us in troubled times, we can try out the multiple and disputed meanings of entropy. Warning: This has been tried before by many persons from many different angles. […]

Oil Fund Too Risky for Average Investors

A new financial instrument aimed at those pining to profit from the multiyear surge in oil prices is distressing energy and stock-market experts because of the allure — and risks — it presents to average investors. The United States Oil Fund, an exchange-traded fund that is expected to debut Monday and whose per-share value is […]

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