Spare output to double by 2010: BP

Global spare oil production capacity may double by 2010, helping reduce the “fear premium’’ that is helping boost crude oil prices, according to BP Plc, Europe’s largest oil company. Spare oil production capacity may rebound to the historical average of about 3mn barrels a day by the end of the decade, from about 1.5mn at […]

Energy exploration ‘hit by rising costs’

Energy explorers have seen exploration costs rise by more than a third over the last year posing a serious threat to the future of the industry, a peak industry body says. At an industry conference in Darwin, chief executive of the Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration Association (APPEA) Belinda Robinson said exploration was also being […]

Nonrenewable renewables: The hidden life of biofuels

The farm fields are again sprouting with their recently planted corn and soybeans, and those verdant fields, once reserved for growing food, are increasingly devoted to what people are now calling renewable fuels. Those fuels, ethanol from corn and biodiesel from soybean oil, are touted as the path to energy independence and clean air and […]

European leaders renew sustainable development commitments

EU heads of states and government strengthened the review of the EU’s sustainable development strategy demanding more focus for sustainable production and consumption. But the relationship between this strategy and the EU’s Lisbon agenda remains vague. The EU’s sustainable development strategy (SDS) was originally adopted at the European Council in Gothenburg in 2001 and complemented […]

Vietnam is going nuclear

Caught between increasing demand for energy and the rising cost of oil and gas, Vietnam has decided to meet its long term energy needs by resorting to nuclear power. Currently, hydropower accounts for 50 per cent of Vietnam’s electricity supply while oil and gas, and coal account for 25 and 20 per cent respectively. gulfnews

Gazprom Export Monopoly Approved by Russian Lawmakers

Russian lawmakers gave preliminary approval to a bill formalizing the monopoly of state-controlled gas giant Gazprom on the country’s gas exports in a rebuff to European demands for Russia to open up its gas market. rigzone

China Gas Expects State Approval `Soon’ to Increase Natural Gas Prices

China Gas, based in Shenzhen, is in talks with some provincial governments to establish a “mechanism” to pass increases in natural gas prices to customers, said Volen He, deputy general manager of investor relations. China, which controls energy prices to limit inflation, is lifting domestic gas prices to bring them closer to soaring global levels. […]

Ethanol’s water demands cause for scrutiny, not alarm

Ethanol proponents say there is virtually no risk ethanol will contaminate groundwater, and there is almost no wastewater from its production. Matt Hartwig, a spokesman for the Renewable Fuels Association, says the water coming out of an ethanol plant may be cleaner than what was pumped into it. kotatv

China to Fill Cars With Cassava Ethanol

China, trying to cut dependence on imported oil, will use cassava-based ethanol fuel for cars in the southern region Guangxi in 2007, state media said on Friday. The region will build ethanol plants with a combined annual capacity of 1.0 million tonnes to deal with a fuel shortage, Xinhua news agency quoted Pan Wenfeng, an […]

A negotiated solution to the Iranian nuclear crisis is within reach

The urgency of halting the proliferation of nuclear weapons, and moving toward their elimination, could hardly be greater. Failure to do so is almost certain to lead to grim consequences, even the end of biology’s only experiment with higher intelligence. As threatening as the crisis is, the means exist to defuse it. A near-meltdown seems […]

Silicon Free Solar Cells? Bypassing Peak Energy

Manufacturing design for renewable energy technology is becoming better streamlined, more efficient. The cost of solar energy is coming down in comparison to conventional energy sources, due to better efficiencies of production and the devising of means to minimise or eliminate the amount of “scarce” silicon. blogspot

State has more energy resources than oil

Colorado’s state geologist said that the state rests upon a vast energy reserve, but this time he’s not talking about coal, oil or natural gas. Vince Matthews, who also heads the Colorado Geological Survey, attended a conference in September where Nevada’s efforts to develop its geothermal resources were outlined “and I thought, ‘Gee, we’ve got […]

Our Future(s)

Dynamic Cities Project via EnergyBulletin.net – PowerPoint Presentation Peak Oil and Climate Change are unprecedented global challenges. Four energy transition scenarios are presented to help guide dialogue and decision making: Lean Economy, Collapse, Techno-Markets, Burnout.EnergyBulletin.net

Researchers Look Beyond Biofuels as Substitutes for Fossil Fuels

AP – As biofuels gain momentum as viable alternatives to petroleum-based fuels in the Northwest, Oregon researchers are sounding a word of caution. Biodiesel and ethanol are good short-term solutions to curbing the nation’s oil addiction, but they are not sustainable over the long haul, they say.kgw.com

Mexico Candidates Rule Out Foreign Energy Investment

(Reuters) – Mexico’s two leading presidential candidates have ruled out direct foreign investment in the country’s state-run energy industry, The Washington Post reported on Sunday. In interviews with the newspaper, ruling party candidate Felipe Calderon and his leftist rival, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, said they would not allow foreign companies to invest in the Mexican […]

States Vie for Next-Generation Power Plant

(AP) – In fierce bidding reminiscent of efforts two decades ago to win the superconducting super collider, seven states are aggressively trying to land a billion-dollar power plant prototype that’s virtually pollution free… Touted as the power plant of tomorrow, FutureGen involves technology that converts coal into highly enriched hydrogen gas that burns cleaner than […]

Iraq’s Disastrous ‘Black Oil’ Swamps

International Herald Tribune – An environmental disaster is brewing in the heartland of Iraq’s northern Sunni-led insurgency, where Iraqi officials say that in a desperate move to dispose of millions of barrels of an oil refinery byproduct called “black oil,” the government pumped it into open mountain valleys and leaky reservoirs next to the Tigris […]

Experts: Ethanol’s Water Demands a Concern

AP – City officials in Champaign and Urbana took notice when they heard that an ethanol plant proposed nearby would use about 2 million gallons of water per day, most likely from the aquifer that also supplies both cities. “There was concern about impacting a pretty valuable resource,” said Matt Wempe, a city planner for […]

U.S. Lawmakers Push Sugar as Fuel Source

AP – With the market for corn-based ethanol booming, lawmakers from sugar-producing U.S. states are hoping that beet and cane growers can soon jump onto the renewable fuel bandwagon. They cite the model of Brazil, which produces ethanol made from sugar cane. But critics, pointing out that sugar is much cheaper in Brazil than in […]

Oil Execs Defend High Gasoline Prices

Houston Chronicle – Americans paying $3 per gallon at the pump have it relatively cheap when compared with prices globally, say oil and gas company executives who defend their record profits as essential to maintaining supplies. In parts of Europe and elsewhere in the West, gasoline prices are more like $5 per gallon to $7 […]

The Oil Drum: ‘Oil Shale Development Imminent’

I have recently noticed an increase in oil shale coverage in the media, so this seems like a good time to take a look at the potential for oil shale to meet a portion of our energy wants (as opposed to Much more after the jump to The Oil Drum.

The fuel supply chain

Hurricane incident demonstrates the vulnerability of the gas pipeline. Surging oil prices have stirred fears of threats to global energy security in hot spots from Iraq to Nigeria. But one of the energy world As the hurricane season starts, a little-understood episode from last summer

Don’t fear changes energy crisis brings

…We have witnessed great change in our agriculture this past 75 years as we moved from a rural to an urban economy. We are currently just becoming involved in an even greater change as our agriculture is adjusting to meet the needs of an energy crisis. Excluding Wisconsin, where we did not have the legislative […]

The Last Cairn

Sound The Energy Alarm And Get Ready To Share A Ride SOCORRO, New Mexico – Catron County is notorious for some of its Sometimes a little judicious concern is warranted. Heeding one

OIL: WHAT LIES BENEATH

Contrary to popular perception, there may not be a global oil shortage. But what does that mean for investors in oil stocks? India is scared. And this has a lot to do with oil prices. High oil prices lead to inflation which in turn leads to higher interest rates. The US Fed is facing sleepless […]

Power shifts to nations with big oil reserves

The West is increasingly vulnerable to supply disruptions and coercion. There is more to today’s oil crunch than temporary jolts to supply and demand. What is also roiling the energy world is an enduring shift in the balance of power between the fuel-guzzling West and oil-rich developing countries. Since World War II, the industrialized world […]

As Oil Rises in Markets, Rigs Rise in Mississippi

LAUREL The high price of oil, hovering around $70 a barrel, has brought a nearly dormant Mississippi petroleum industry roaring to life. Wells abandoned long ago by the major oil companies are being reopened by independent operators. Requests for new drilling permits have spiked. Trainees for oil-field work can make nearly $14 an hour. Companies […]

Carnival profits lower as fuel up

Carnival, the world’s biggest cruise firm, has seen profits fall in the second quarter amid rising fuel costs and lower demand for Caribbean cruises. The firm saw net income at $380m ( While year-on-year revenues rose by 6%, fuel costs rose by 43% in the same period, the firm said. The rise in energy prices […]

Eco-fuel firm facing liquidation

A company that hoped to lead the UK in the production of cleaner bio-fuels is being put into liquidation. Global Commodities, of Shipdham, Norfolk, has been making about 200,000 litres of bio diesel a week using oil from restaurants and take-aways. But last month the firm was prosecuted by the Environment Agency and fined

Greenpeace says M&S is the best

For decades, British supermarkets have fought to provide the cheapest baked beans, knickers and fish fingers. But this year’s battle on the high street is for the “green pound”, and environmentalists have declared one store the winner: Marks and Sparks. Campaigners for Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth say the once-staid high-street chain is now […]

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