Food industry calls for a more balanced biofuel policy

With the increasing use of some of their raw materials for the production of biofuels, the food industry is starting to call on the European Commission to take measures to ensure they do not face further price hikes for their supplies.Recently the Association of Chocolate, Biscuits and Confectionery industries of the European Union (Caobisco) and […]

Indonesia: Massive biofuel program to go ahead despite int’l concerns

International criticism of Indonesia’s massive biofuel development program will not affect the project, which is expected to turn the country into one of the biggest biofuel producers in the world, says an official. The director of the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry’s research and development unit, Nenny Sri Utami, said in Jakarta on Monday that […]

OPEC Revival Looms Over Big Oil’s ‘07 Production Outlook

As major oil companies work to boost production in 2007, they’re experiencing fresh angst from an old rival: OPEC. Responding to stumbling oil prices and concerns about falling demand, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries has returned to the fore-front as a driver of oil markets, rendering two production cuts since Nov. 1 that have […]

For the first time, poverty shifts to the U.S. suburbs.

Once prized as a leafy haven from the social ills of urban life, the suburbs are now grappling with a new outbreak of an old problem: poverty. Currently, 38 million Americans live below the poverty line, which the federal government defines as an annual income of $20,000 or less for a family of four. But […]

Game over on global warming?

Everybody in the United States could switch from cars to bicycles. The Chinese could close all their factories. Europe could give up electricity and return to the age of the lantern. But all those steps together would not come close to stopping global warming.A landmark report from the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, […]

Cheney’s Fund Manager Attacks…Cheney

The oil-based energy policies usually associated with Vice President Dick Cheney have just come under scathing attack. There’s nothing remarkable about that, of course — except the person doing the attacking. Step forward, Jeremy Grantham — Cheney’s own investment manager. “What were we thinking?’ Grantham demands in a four-page assault on U.S. energy policy mailed […]

Jeremy Leggett: War and skis

Global action is an amalgam of millions of tiny personal initiatives, and sacrifices – so I’m saying farewell to the slopes. The Intergovernmental Panel’s warning was all across the front pages and TV news this morning. Apparently even the US networks turned up in force to the scientists’ news conference in Paris. For the Guardian’s […]

Turkey: It

Time magazine has awarded After George Bush

Nigeria’s Energy Crisis

Just as the ink on my article last week about this administration’s mismanagement of the power sector since 1999 was starting to dry up, the country was dealt another knock out punch by the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN). PHCN through its Public Affairs unit informed the country that power generation dropped again by […]

Global Warming Myths and Lies

As the fervor over global warming continues to permeate the discussions of politicians and the media alike, I This is my collection of rebuttals for the most prominent arguments put forth by the folks who deny anthropogenic climate change. 1. Mars is undergoing global warming, therefore humans can not be causing it on Earth. No. […]

Saudi price hike surprises

World’s largest oil exporter announces March price increase in effort to abide by OPEC cut. LONDON (Reuters) — Saudi Arabia raised its crude prices for March as the world’s largest oil exporter sought to trim supplies to abide by the latest OPEC cut, trade sources said on Monday. Although a price increase was expected, lifters […]

The Agenda Restated – Kunstler

Out in the public arena, people frequently twang on me for being “Mister Gloom’n’doom,” or for “not offering any solutions.” I find this bizarre because I never fail to present audiences with a long, explicit task list of projects that American society needs to take up in the face of the combined problems I have […]

SADC countries face blackouts

Neighbouring countries may end up with the blackouts currently experienced in South Africa. Eskom plans to divert exported electricity when the domestic supplies run short. Eskom has export contracts with three countries – Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe – and according to a report recently done for the department of public enterprises, Eskom will be allowed […]

Richard Heinberg: Five Axioms of Sustainability

My aim in this essay is to explore the history of the terms sustainable and sustainability, and their various published definitions, and then to offer a set of five axioms (based on a review of the literature) to help clarify the characteristics of a durable society. The essence of the term sustainable is simple enough: […]

Australia: Oil supply report to be released

A Senate report into Australia’s future oil supply will be released on Tuesday. It comes as peak oil theory experts and environmentalists prepare to link growing concern about global warming to the over use of oil. Peak oil theory predicts crude oil reserves will run out, with some warnings suggesting that little more than 50 […]

Oil workers targeted as Nigeria violence grows

PORT HARCOURT, Nigeria (Reuters) – Lolo Oluchi has painted over the bullet holes in the ceiling of her karaoke bar in this Nigerian oil city, where gunmen seized seven foreign oil workers last August, but the regulars haven’t come back. Thousands of foreign workers and their families have left Africa’s top oil producer since a […]

Global warming to hit poor worst, says U.N.’s Ban

NAIROBI (Reuters) – The world’s poor, who are the least responsible for global warming, will suffer the most from climate change, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told environment ministers from around the world on Monday. “The degradation of the global environment continues unabated … and the effects of climate change are being felt across the globe,” […]

Petrophobia

There’s a retired “farmer” lives down the road from our subdivision. I like to take my kiddies by there in the Escalade to show them what “extinct” means. The dude thinks he can “wean” himself from his “oil addiction.” It’s a fascinating spectacle, like dropping a mouse into a jar, screwing the lid on, and […]

Environmentalists Need to Help Fight Bush’s Ethanol Surge

Corn-based ethanol has been at the center of a well-funded misinformation campaign launched and perpetuated by the Bush Administration. In fact Nicholas Hollis, President of the Agribusiness Council, believes that “ethanol is the largest scam in our nation’s history”. The facts about corn-based ethanol are seriously under-reported by the media. The ethanol gold rush is […]

EU Says Germany Stifling Progress on Climate Change

Germany’s lack of progress in cutting greenhouse gas emissions is holding back international efforts to combat global warming, the European Union’s Environment Commissioner was quoted as saying on Sunday. In an interview with Bild am Sonntag newspaper, Stavros Dimas said Germany, which currently holds the bloc’s presidency, was a long way from leading the way […]

Nigeria: Niger Delta – 90 Percent Indigenes to Lose Jobs –

The Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) has disclosed that 90 per cent of Niger Delta indigenes stand to lose their jobs in the region if the current insecurity and hostage taking persist. President of PENGASSAN, Comrade Peter Esele, told THISDAY in a chat at the weekend that already 1,500 workers […]

‘Gas war’ forces Ukraine to clean up its act

For years Western environmentalists tried in vain to convince Ukraine to shake an energy addiction that made it one of the world’s least energy efficient economies. Then in one fell swoop Russia turned energy conservation into a Ukrainian national priority by doubling the price of gas exports to its Western neighbour at the start of […]

North Sea’s Decline & Russia’s Intransigence: Gas Challenges & Opportunities

Russian President Vladimir Putin stated last week Russia is interested in the idea of an OPEC for gas producers. Although he also said that such an organisation would not attempt to be a price fixing cartel, as OPEC does, many observers will be sceptical given Russia’s propensity towards maintaining a politicised energy policy whilst concurrently […]

Renewable energy projects can help reduce poverty

Renewable energy is the fastest growing energy technology in the world and has a major role to play in reducing poverty while protecting the environment, according to the World Bank. In its report Improving Lives: World Bank Progress on Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency in Fiscal Year 2006, released recently, the bank said its annual […]

Arabs urged to use energy judiciously

Two experts have called for the appropriate use of both conventional and renewable sources in energy-deficit Arab countries which suffer from huge power shortages. About half the Arab region faces power shortage and 20% of its population have no access to electricity, according to Merwat Tallawy, executive secretary at the United Nations Economic and Social […]

Total sets its sights on nuclear energy

Total, the French energy group, has begun to eye nuclear energy as access to oil and gas becomes more restricted in countries reluctant to allow foreign investment in their most precious resource. Christophe de Margerie, who will take over as Total’s chief executive this month, will continue to focus on the hunt for hydrocarbons – […]

Algae-Based Fuels Set to Bloom

Relatively high oil prices, advances in technology, and the Bush administration’s increased emphasis on renewable fuels are attracting new interest in a potentially rich source of biofuels: algae. A number of startups are now demonstrating new technology and launching large research efforts aimed at replacing hundreds of millions of gallons of fossil fuels by 2010, […]

Russia: Dependence on Oil Could Hurt Growth

News that the GDP grew a healthy 6.7 percent in 2006 met with as much anxiety as cheer among analysts, who said the economy got lucky last year with the oil price but is not diverse enough to stay ahead if that luck runs out next year.Natalya Orlova, chief economist at Alfa Bank, said the […]

Wal-Mart wants suppliers to use less fossil fuel

CEO says long-term goal is for retail giant to only use renewable energy Wal-Mart Stores Inc. will look for ways to reduce the amount of nonrenewable fuels used to make the products it sells, the latest target in a set of environmental goals for the world

Praying at the Pump

ONCE again, the price of oil is making Americans nervous. After falling by more than one-third since peaking above $75 per barrel last summer, the price has rebounded to $58 with the re-emergence of cold weather and news of a production cut by OPEC. As Congress and President Bush face off over energy policy, we […]

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