Watching the doomwatchers

What’s the worst that can happen? If you often ask yourself that question, then you’re probably an emergency planner. The centre of Britain’s emergency preparations is the Civil Contigencies Secretariat, based in the Cabinet Office. This employs ten civil servants to look for trouble. They monitor the waxing and waning of about 120 potential threats, […]

Ethanol, Corn Users May Deplete US Supplies By 2008

US ethanol manufacturers, foodmakers and livestock feeders are consuming so much corn (maize) that stockpiles could be depleted by 2008, unless plantings expand sharply, analysts said on Friday… If USDA’s forecast of this year’s crop proves true, “that postpones the corn supply crisis to next year (2007/08),” said private consultant John Schnittker. He said an […]

Oil Spill Threatens Philippines

BBC – Heavy rains and strong winds have been hampering efforts to clean up the worst oil spill to hit the Philippines. The Philippines has said it plans to ask Japan and Indonesia to help contain the huge spill around Guimaras island. The spill has polluted fishing grounds, dive spots and a national marine reserve […]

Key oil port concerned about security

Los Angeles, Miami, the New York region — those are areas that probably come to mind when you think about port security. But in Louisiana, the focus is on Port Fourchon (pronounced Foo-shon). The port is a beehive of activity, with hundreds of boats constantly on the move, carrying supplies or crew members to offshore […]

When tomorrow brings the twilight of oil

The price of crude can only rise while supplies dwindle worldwide Crude oil has reached a point where the skeptics of yore have become the proselytes of tomorrow, readying the world when crude tops $100 per barrel. That day is not far away though few saw it coming. Only just six years back, crude was […]

Oil’s Dirty Laundry

Remember the giant companies that once dominated the world oil market as the Seven Sisters? Of course, they have long since been expelled as owners from the Middle East to Mexico, and must now beg and barter for access to oil. The majority stake in world oil reserves that they held is now in the […]

Petroleum: Why We’ll Never Run Out

There’s no shortage of scare stories about looming oil crises — Don’t believe ‘em [Washington] …The President has signed legislation creating the Federal Oil Conservation Board, to ration dwindling supplies of petroleum…a recent report from the US Geological Survey has indicated oil supplies may be gone entirely within six years… Last week’s newscast? Actually, it […]

US envoy pushes for Turkmenistan-Pakistan gas pipeline

ASHGABAT (AFP) – Washington is pushing for a new gas pipeline from Turkmenistan to Pakistan and “strongly opposes” a rival pipeline from Iran, US diplomat Steven Mann has said after meeting with Turkman President Saparmurat Niyazov. Niyazov and Mann met for two hours on Monday to discuss a variety of possible gas pipeline projects from […]

American among 4 oil workers seized

PORT HARCOURT, Nigeria – Armed men seized four foreign oil workers Nigeria’s oil-rich southeastern delta has seen 14 abductions in the last week. Kidnappings and sabotage attacks by militants, who argue that the impoverished region does not benefit from its oil, have cut Nigerian production by more than 20 percent since the beginning of the […]

Gambled and lost

Oil companies got nothing but higher production taxes North Slope oil producers thought they had signed on for an “everyone wins” deal that would benefit the state treasury, Alaska residents and the companies, too. That was the plan. They agreed months ago in negotiations with the governor to pay much higher oil production taxes. As […]

China mulls raising oil, power prices

Report: Move to ease energy controls aimed at improving efficiency BEIJING – China is considering easing controls on the price of oil, power and other resources, letting market forces push them up in an effort to cut widespread waste, a state newspaper said Monday. The government is Bi

Demand is the demon behind high gas prices

Is pipeline shutdown to blame for high prices? No, it’s Econ 101 ANCHORAGE, Alaska – The nation

U.S. Director of The Climate Group in 40-minute audio interview

Nancy Skinner, U.S. Director of The Climate Group, which organized the July 31, 2006, climate summit in Long Beach, California, between UK Prime Minister Tony Blair and California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, appeared today on the Sustainable Cities Channel to talk about The Climate Group and its strategy for addressing the twin threats of peak oil […]

Fitch Says Russia

International rating agency Fitch Ratings said on Monday, Aug. 14, that RussiaBankrupt Russian oil company Yukos The agency also said that oil refineries in Central Europe were vulnerable to supply risks due to their dependence on Russian crude.

Japanese Tanker Spills Tons of Crude Oil

The Houston Chronicle – A Japanese tanker spilled around 4,500 tons of crude oil in the Indian Ocean following a collision, a news report said Tuesday. The tanker spilled the oil after colliding with a cargo ship, Mitsui O.S.K. Lines said, according to Kyodo News agency. The Kyodo report did not give the location where […]

Solar panels pilot ‘could be rolled out to thousands of homes’

A bid to cut soaring energy bills by installing affordable solar panels is being piloted by housing experts. The solar panel heating system could be put into thousands of new homes nationwide, according to Places for People, the UK’s largest housing association and developer. If successful, Places for People said it will look at installing […]

Use of wind energy on the rise

U.S. wind energy facilities now exceed 10,000 megawatts in generating capacity, producing enough electricity to power more than 2.5 million homes a day, an industry report said. “Wind energy is providing new electricity supplies that work for our country’s economy, environment, and energy security,” said Randall Swisher, director of the American Wind Energy Association, which […]

San Francisco’s clean energy revolution is here

San Francisco took a historic step last week toward creating the city’s first Green Power Community on the site of the former Hunters Point Naval Shipyard, where developer Lennar BVHP is about to begin construction of more than 1,600 new residential units and retail space. Mayor Gavin Newsom and the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission […]

Arab refinery output rises by 600,000 bpd

Production from the Arab world’s refineries has grown by over 600,000 barrels per day over the past five years, and capacity is set to surge by over 2 million bpd when new projects are completed, according to official data. The Organisation of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries’ (Oapec) latest report says most of the increase between […]

Libya announces new auction for oil exploration rights

Libya announced a new round of bidding for the rights to hunt for oil as the world’s energy giants flock back to the former pariah state that is now flush with Western investment. The state-owned National Oil Corp has invited the world’s major oil firms to participate in the third oil licensing auction for 41 […]

Australia offers incentives to run cars on LPG

Car-loving Australians on Monday were offered cash rebates to convert their vehicles to run on liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) rather than petrol in a government move to reduce the country’s dependence on Middle East oil. Prime Minister John Howard unveiled a A$1.6 billion ($1.2 billion) program over eight years to help combat high world oil […]

Homemade Solar Cell Built Right In Your Kitchen

With The Man jacking up energy prices, it’s probably not a bad idea to start investigating the benefits of solar power. (No, nobody cares about energy derived from the wind, Netherlands, thank you very much.) The solar panel in question is made from cuprous oxide rather than the usual silicon. Science Toys has the step-by-step […]

Iowa group to build 12 biodiesel plants

A Ralston company and its new partners plan to build 12 biodiesel plants in Iowa and other states by 2009, company officials announced Monday. The new plants, including five in Iowa, and three existing plants will employ about 450 people. The company will be able to produce 640 million gallons of biodiesel annually by 2009, […]

DOE Funds $1.4 Million for Study of Nuclear-Powered Hydrogen Production

The US Department of Energy (DOE) intends to fund approximately $1.4 million (subject to negotiation) for two projects to partner with industry to study the economic feasibility of producing hydrogen at existing commercial nuclear power plants. greencarcongress

AES Corporation Joins Plug-In Hybrid Development Consortium

AES Corporation, one of the world greencarcongress

Santa Monica leads the way towards sustainability in the face of peak oil

Etopia Media – On August 7, 2006, Shannon Parry, Environment Analyst, Sustainable City Program, City of Santa Monica, California, recorded an in-depth interview a guest on the now-launching Sustainability Channel to talk about efforts by this city on the western edge of North America, through its Sustainable City Plan, to make Santa Monica a sustainable […]

OPEC Crude Output Falls 260,000 b/d in July

MSN Money – OPEC crude production fell by 260,000 barrels per day (b/d) to 29.69 million b/d in July from 29.95 million b/d in June, a Platts survey of OPEC and oil industry officials showed August 11… John Kingston, Global Director of Oil at Platts, said, “It seems that every surge in analysis about the […]

Indian Ocean island states form biofuel alliance with China and Malaysia

Bioenergy is clearly becoming a field of play for the world’s superpowers who create bilateral production and trade agreements (such as France and Brazil, China and Nigeria or Japan and Brazil), whereas regional biofuel cooperation agreements are being launched more and more as well (such as Africa’s ‘Green OPEC’ or Europe’s common policies or its […]

It

THEY are not yet as ubiquitous as the Toyota Prius, the hybrid car popular among the ecologically minded, but Developers say they are building green because they believe in it, but they also expect to gain a competitive edge. If faced with the choice of renting or buying two similar apartments, the developers say, consumers […]

The Oil Drum: Saudi Oil Production Revisited

About this time last year, I wrote the following into what is now the Classic section of TOD. Given the nature of the current discussion, I hope you don’t mind my bringing it back forward, since it appears informative to Prof G’s recent question. It relates to current and anticipated production from the oil fields […]

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