Global Warming Response

Time for a carbon tax? It balms my bleeding liberal heart to witness a conservative president from Texas and a Republican governor of California promoting renewable energy. Also known as alternative energy, it was widely advocated by environmentalists after the 1970s energy crisis and heartily embraced by President Jimmy Carter and Gov. Jerry Brown. But […]

China’s Hu heads to Russia urgently seeking fuel

BEIJING (Reuters) – Chinese President Hu Jintao goes to Moscow on Monday, confidently offering trade deals with an economy roaring back home, but urgently seeking oil, gas and assurance as the two countries eye each other’s resurgent power. Hu’s three-day state visit to Russia will be his third as president, showing how seriously Beijing is […]

The elasticity of oil production and consumption

Classical economists still insist higher prices will bring out increased production sufficient to give us the oil we humans need. This is a response. Although written for the American audience, it applies to any nation that must import a substantial portion of its oil or natural gas. Elasticity A quick lesson in economics. Elasticity. The […]

Returning as the ‘Goracle’

WASHINGTON But he returned Wednesday reincarnated: the subject of an Academy Award-winning film, a nominee for the Nobel Peace Prize, a 58-year-old guy who, slightly grayed and a little puffy, can share a stage with Leonardo DiCaprio and still manage to be the center of attention. The onetime congressman, senator and vice president was back, […]

GM tries to unplug Volt hype

General Motors Corp. seized the world’s attention in January when it unveiled plans to build the Chevy Volt — a plug-in hybrid car touted not so much as a mode of transportation but as part of a solution to the nation’s energy crisis. The Volt grabbed headlines, lit up online chat boards and dominated the […]

The Oil Drum EU: From sweet on the table to fuel in the tank: Sugar Cane

Sugar Cane is back on the news. With oil prices resembling those of the early 1980s, it seems that all those efforts made by then in Brasil to step-up ethanol production make sense again. With the promise of a high energy return and a renewable production cycle, the cane culture might be set for a […]

War with Iran, Crude Oil, Banks and the US Dollar

On the eve of the next war front to explode in the Persian Gulf region, some thoughts on the energy sector seem appropriate which attempt to tie some factors together. In the last two to three years, the biggest challenge to analysts is not so much identification of certain relevant effects, as it is integration […]

Venezuela’s PDVSA to begin US$5 billion (

Venezuela’s state oil company will launch a US$5 billion (IHT

Report to feds on oil shale development due this month

A federal task force mandated to recommend to Congress and President George W. Bush how the government can accelerate the development of oil shale and tar sands may have its report ready by the end of the month, a U.S. Department of Energy official said this week. Anton Dammer, Director of the Office of Naval […]

As fuel crisis worsens, cab drivers struggle

Managing petroleum supplies for the valley during the closure of Birgunj border is a hard nut to crack for Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC). But, the crisis, which has continued for months has proven a struggle for thousands of taxi drivers who earn their living in Kathmandu. NOC eventually can and has been trying to escape […]

Apocalypse Soon?

A UA professor thinks an oil crisis is imminent–so kiss your old life goodbye. Professor Guy McPherson understands why it’s hard for people to accept it when he says the world as they know it is about to end. TucsonWeekly

US energy secretary says pipeline could help Iran build bomb

NEW DELHI (AFP) – US Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman has called for the planned Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline to be abandoned, saying it could help Iran build nuclear weapons, according to a report on Friday. “There have been talks among Iran, India and other countries about finding ways of developing Iran’s oil and gas assets,” Bodman […]

Greenhouse-friendly Airbus to halve its fuel use by 2020

European manufacturer Airbus is targeting a 50 per cent reduction in aircraft fuel consumption by 2020. Airbus vice-president, environmental affairs, Philippe de Saint-Aulaire, said the manufacturer was looking at airframe improvements to provide about 25 per cent of the reduction, while between 10 and 15 per cent would come from engine manufacturers. “The remainder, about […]

Catholic Bishops Slam Brazil Ethanol Growth Plan

Roman Catholic bishops warned on Thursday that a rapid increase in cane ethanol production in Brazil could have a devastating social and environmental impact in the countryside.“Cane cultivation leads to land concentration because it requires large plantations and this has traditionally triggered a rural exodus,” said Bishop Odilo Scherer, who was appointed archbishop of Sao […]

Seoul seeks to widen economic ties with Middle East to IT sector

South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun’s week-long swing through Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Qatar, slated for Saturday through Friday, is primarily intended to help build omnidirectional and cooperative relations between South Korea and the Middle East countries, Roh’s aides said Friday. Amid rising oil prices, the president’s trip is also expected to provide an opportunity to […]

Fossil fuels use divides EU member nations

Some have reasons for not rushing to establish renewable sources> In Poland, for example, leaders are disinclined to cut coal use, which helps limit dependence on Russian oil and natural gas. And with a 15 percent unemployment rate — the EU’s highest — cutting jobs in an industry that employs roughly 200,000 people could be […]

India, Japan to hold energy dialogue, work for Asian security

India and Japan Thursday invigorated their strategic partnership in the context of a rising Asia and agreed to push for an early bilateral free trade pact, cooperate in maritime security and hold their first energy dialogue that will also include nuclear energy. External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee and his Japanese counterpart Taro Aso launched the […]

‘Africa must set alternative energy agenda’

Africa must be bold and follow the examples of Brazil and Germany to plan an energy future around renewable and alternative sources, the head of the UN environment agency said on Thursday. Many of the plans being considered by African governments, including huge hydropower dams and fossil fuel plants, were simply “more of the same”, […]

US experts seek India, China entry in global energy system

Three US experts have suggested bringing the emerging major oil consumers, such as India and China, into the global energy system as a key diplomatic strategy to secure the stability of American oil supply. Testifying before the foreign affairs committee of the House of Representatives Thursday, they were unanimous in suggesting this course as oil […]

Mystery of the Missing Meters: Accounting for Iraq’s Oil Revenue

Rumors are rife among suspicious Iraqis about the failure to measure the oil flow. “Iraq is the victim of the biggest robbery of its oil production in modern history,” blazed a March 2006 headline in Azzaman, Iraq’s most widely read newspaper. A May 2006 study of oil production and export figures by Platt’s Oilgram News, […]

‘Brown playing games on oil’

Falling North Sea oil revenues will force the government to borrow more than expected, it emerged today, drawing accusations of “panic” from opposition politicians. Gordon Brown argued in an interview that borrowing remained on a downward trend but added: “What has changed our forecast is what happened to North Sea revenues.”Mr Brown said North Sea […]

The car of tomorrow is here today

Before joining the staff of the Union of Concerned Scientists, I worked as a consultant for the major automakers, so I know first-hand that they can do better. Working with other UCS vehicle experts, I recently designed a “virtual” vehicle that combines a number of pollution-cutting technologies under one hood. Our blueprint, which we call […]

EU biodiesel firms blame politicians as demand falls

The European Union biodiesel industry is operating well below capacity despite top-level political moves to increase the use of biofuels to combat global warming, according to industry executives. Biodiesel is more expensive to produce than diesel from fossil fuels, and it needs tax breaks or a legal requirement to blend it with fossil fuels at […]

State lawmakers hear good news from solar, geothermal power companies

Nevada is making steady progress toward becoming a national leader in solar and geothermal energy, state lawmakers were told Thursday. Representatives of several leading alternative energy companies, as well as University of Nevada, Reno researchers, told the Senate Commerce and Labor committee that those renewable energy sources are becoming more popular and economical. lasvegassun

Museletter #177 – Bridging Peak Oil and Climate Change Activism

The problems of Climate Change and Peak Oil both result from societal dependence on fossil fuels. But just how the impacts of these two problems relate to one another, and how policies to address them should differ or overlap, are questions that have so far not been adequately discussed. With regard to both problems there […]

Fed gets room by ending its tilt towards higher rates

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S Bernanke is giving himself flexibility to respond to slowing economic growth. For the first time since the Fed ended a two-year run of interest-rate increases in August, the central bank on Wednesday signalled that its next move might be either to lower or raise borrowing costs, instead of just the […]

Russian warns US of ‘potential crisis’

US-Russian relations are heading for a potential crisis unless Washington drops its unilateral approach to foreign policy, a senior Russian lawmaker has warned. Konstantin Kosachev, chairman of the international affairs committee of the Russian Duma, says that President Vladimir Putin’s strongly-worded speech in Munich last month criticising US unilateralism was not a declaration of a […]

Potential Solutions to Peak Oil Crisis

From the information above it is clear that although peak oil certainly presents a very real threat to our way of life and economy the worst case scenario is not inevitable. The alternatives exist and have wide ranging potential. Most of the drawbacks associated with some forms of energy generation can be countered by better […]

Kurdish oil move could signal start of Iraqi energy rush

A scramble for Kurdish oil licences is expected this summer after Ashti Hawrami, the oil minister for Iraq timesonline

The rape of Iraq’s oil

The recent cabinet agreement in Baghdad on the new draft oil law was hailed as a landmark deal bringing together the warring factions in the allocation of the country’s oil wealth. What was concealed was that this is being forced through by relentless pressure from the US and will sow the seeds of intense future […]

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