Red tape thwarts wind revolution

Wind farm projects that could supply power to one in six homes in the UK have been stuck in Britain’s controversial planning system – prompting warnings that renewable energy has effectively been ’stopped in its tracks’. The latest blow to the government’s energy and environment record comes as ministers are expected to admit within weeks […]

Lithuania threatens to block EU-Russia agreement

Lithuanian officials, angered by Russia’s halting of oil supplies to the country, have said that they may join Poland in blocking talks on a new EU-Russia agreement.Transneft, Russia’s state-controlled pipeline operator, shut the Druzhba link to Mazeikiu Nafta, the only refinery in the Baltic states, following a reported leak last July. There has been speculation […]

How will thirst for biofuels affect global hunger?

Fans of biofuels give the impression we could soon be running cars on maize, producing electricity with sugar, and getting power from palm oil. Using plants to feed our fuel needs sounds like a great idea, and it could be a moneyspinner for some poor countries, but it might well mean people go hungry as […]

Europe and the IT industry seek energy-efficient data centres

The European Commission may ask data centre operators to become more energy efficient, and the IT industry – including recently formed body The Green Grid – is stepping up to the plate. The idea of a voluntary code of conduct will be discussed at a meeting of the EC’s Renewable Energies Unit in London this […]

China: Boom seen for energy pipelines

China plans to extend its oil and gas pipelines by nearly 63 percent by 2010 to meet rising energy demand, according to the nation’s key pipeline builder. Around 25,000 kilometers of energy pipelines will be added in the period, Su Shifeng, director of the China Petroleum Pipeline Bureau, was quoted as saying late last week […]

Iran Oil Offer Pleases Turkey But Not U.S.

Iranian Foreign Minister Manuchehr Mottaki”s offer to open natural gas and oil wells in Iran to Turkey, and even market the extra gas produced by these wells, was well received by Turkish energy circles. However, Mottaki”s offer would give rise to new problems in Turkish-American relations said Turkish ministry of energy sources. Mottaki also offered […]

Turkey, Egypt agree to discuss oil crisis in Mediterranean

Turkish and Egyptian foreign ministers agreed to set up delegations to discuss an Egyptian-Greek Cypriot deal that paves the way for oil and gas exploration by Greek Cyprus in the eastern Mediterranean, diplomatic sources said yesterday. The agreement came during a meeting between FM Abdullah Gul and his Egyptian counterpart Ahmed Abdul Gheit. In 2005, […]

Gore’s `An Inconvenient Truth’ Wins Best Documentary Oscar

“An Inconvenient Truth,” the film about former Vice President Al Gore’s slide show on climate change, won the Academy Award for best documentary feature. bloomberg

Factbox-What are renewable energies?

Following are frequently asked questions about renewable energies: * WHAT ARE THEY? – Renewable energies occur naturally and can be tapped again and again, unlike fossil fuels such as coal or oil, which take millions of years to form and can only be used once. Renewables include firewood, hydro, wind, solar, geothermal and tidal power. […]

Factbox-Renewable energy in the mix

Following are figures on world energy supply by fuel in 2004 and projected supply in 2030, according to the International Energy Agency, energy adviser to the industrialised world. alertnet

John K. Cooley: Each oil crisis spells a new energy future

Some scientists assert that world oil resources are near their peak and may soon decline. However, reports of the U.S. Geological Survey point out that peak oil production may not be as close as some have previously thought: Oil reserves are still about 42 times annual production levels. Long-term, alternative petroleum resources, such as the […]

Hydrogen Storage Gets A Boost

Running cars on hydrogen-powered fuel cells might be commonplace in the future. But for now, it’s still a technology on the drawing board, limited by the ability to store significant amounts of hydrogen in a safe and practical way. Three papers published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society now report a significant milestone […]

Sinopec and oil majors ink US$3.5b refinery contract

China Petroleum & Chemical Corp – better known as Sinopec (0386) – signed a contract Sunday with Saudi Arabian Oil and US major Exxon Mobil on a US$3.5 billion (HK$ 27.3 billion) refinery project in southern China’s Fujian province after months of talks. thestandard

Oil exporting Emirates plunges into renewable energy

Leaders of this major oil-producing Gulf country said Sunday they were plunging into the field of renewable energy, announcing a joint research venture into green energy with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. iht

Climate Politics in the US

The US is soon to have a cap and trade system for GHG emissions. This will be broader in scope than the current EU ETS as it will include the transport sector. How soon this comes into being is one question, this year or next? Before or after Bush leaves the White House? climatechangeaction

Minnesota Enacts 25% Renewable Portfolio Standard for Power Generation

On Thursday, Governor Tim Pawlenty signed into the new Minnesota Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS). The RPS requires that 25% of the state greencarcongress

Will Cellulosic Ethanol Take Off?

Cellulosic ethanol, a fuel produced from the stalks and stems of plants (rather than only from sugars and starches, as with corn ethanol), is starting to take root in the United States. This month, Celunol, based in Cambridge, MA, broke ground on an ethanol plant in Louisiana that will be able to produce 1.4 million […]

Joules, BTUs, Quads

The fact that energy sources and uses are stated in so many different kinds of terms is increasingly seen as not merely an annoyance but as a serious impediment to public understanding of critical choices. In an effort to get matters onto a more intuitive, citizen-friendly basis, a number of experts have hit on the […]

The Oil Drum: A quick review of some current numbers on domestic crude stocks…

It struck me that we are in that navel gazing part of the year where we try and estimate what will happen to oil supply and prediction. Since it helps to have data, let It is worth remembering, as we look at the history of crude stocks over the past year that, about twelve months […]

Coastal Brits fret about climate change

HAPPISBURGH, England – A 12-bedroom guest house, with beautiful views of the North Sea, a lighthouse and sandy beaches, sounds like prime real estate. But Cliff House is nearly worthless. The offshore wooden barrier that once protected the sand and clay cliffs of this stretch of eastern English coast has broken apart, and the government […]

Fyfe flys low over Cullen sell-down

…Fyfe’s view is that many airline investors currently see the sector as an “oil play” and are keen to exploit the cyclicality of aviation stocks. When he joined Air NZ in 2003 – jet fuel was US$30 a barrel before peaking at US$90 a barrel three years later. It was an “uncomfortable” place to be. […]

Venezuela Spending on Arms Soars to World

CARACAS, Venezuela They also argue that Venezuela must strengthen its defenses to counter potential military aggression from the United States.

Kurdish officials to back Iraq oil law

SULAIMANIYAH, Iraq – Kurdish authorities have agreed to back a draft law to manage and share Iraq’s vast oil wealth, removing the last major obstacle to approving the measure and meeting a key U.S. benchmark in Iraq, a top Kurdish official said Saturday. Approval of a new oil law could help open the way for […]

A Few Rambles On The Virtues Of Living In Town

I just got back from the store where I picked up a newspaper and some fresh fruit. Along the way I made a quick stop at the bank where I retrieved some money from the ATM. Since I was just across from the post office, I picked up my mail. And on the way home, […]

French Join U.S. Resistance Over London Traffic Charge

LONDON

In Big Buyout, Utility to Limit New Coal Plants

Under a proposed $45 billion buyout by a team of private equity firms, the TXU Corporation, a Texas utility that has long been the bane of environmental groups, will abandon plans to build 8 of 11 coal plants and commit to a broad menu of environmental measures, according to people involved in the negotiations. The […]

North Sea gas industry ‘under threat from higher taxes and falling prices’

High taxes and falling prices will force the UK’s Simpson revealed that Tullow planned to cancel a production programme in one of its North Sea fields because it had become uneconomic. He said: “There is going to be a crunch in the gas business soon. The door will shut quite dramatically. It has already started […]

Grain pain harms the biofuel industry

High grain prices are threatening the nascent biofuels industry, raising input costs and making the fuel less economic compared with oil.High grain prices create problems for biofuel companies which produce ethanol from wheat and barley. Other biofuel companies make biodiesel from oil-bearing crops such as soya, peanuts, palm oil and rapeseed. The prices for most […]

Latin America — the ‘Persian Gulf’ of Biofuels?

Today there is a lot of excitement among current and former U.S. and Latin American officials, regional think tanks and multilateral institutions over this thesis: The U.S. pursuit of oil alternatives may lead to unprecedented levels of cooperation in the Western Hemisphere, bringing with it the strategic, social and environmental benefits long promised by trade […]

International Energy Agency revises oil demand upwards

The International Energy Agency’s monthly report for January revised this year’s oil demand forecasts. The upward revision comes on expected increased demand in China and the Caspian regions. With the revision, the IEA anticipates the 2007 world demand to increase by 1.8 percent. On the supply side, the report indicates that OPEC (minus Angola) produced […]

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