High costs put on hold new refinery projects

LONDON: Refinery project cancellations have accelerated in recent weeks as escalating costs raise more questions over the future profitability of new units making key transport fuels. Kuwait State refiner Kuwait National Petroleum Co had said on Monday it would reissue a tender for a new refinery soon, after it deemed bids in the first round […]

Thailand: Importing palm oil for bio-diesel production under consideration

BANGKOK (TNA) Thailand’s government-sponsored Oil Fund may have initiate incentives to encourage palm oil planters to grow more trees here, Mr. Piyasvasti said. Imports of palm oil may have to be made carefully as they may pose a negative impact on the bio-diesel production plan by Thai Oleochemicals, a subsidiary of PTT Chemical Pcl., scheduled […]

Europeans Do It Better

…If fears of population implosion result in paid parental leave, improved childcare and more support for mothers’ careers, it won’t be the first time a government has done the right thing for the wrong reason. But isn’t it weird to promote population growth while we wring our hands over global warming, environmental damage, species loss […]

Diet for a smaller planet

A review of Bill McKibben’s Deep Economy: The Wealth of Communities and the Durable Future …He begins with a short chapter reviewing the last few centuries of economic strategies that have operated under the assumption the human condition will improve by growing the pie. McKibben reminds us of growth’s darker side, diminishing our well-being as […]

Open Letter from Brian O’Leary to Al Gore

…You have asked the public to address the important question: “How can we reverse global climate change?” I agree that taking on that task is critical for our collective survival. You have also stated that we must freeze and drastically reduce our carbon emissions. I totally agree. The most promising answer to your question is […]

Mitsubishi Heavy to borrow money using CO2 credits

TOKYO (AFP) – Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. plans to finance a Bulgarian wind farm by using the resulting greenhouse gas emission rights as collateral, the first such financing plan in the world, a report said Saturday. The Japan Bank for International Cooperation and Mizuho Corporate Bank will extend a syndicated loan of 38 million euro […]

Arctic could have iceless summers by 2100

Climate models show a complete melting down to open ocean in warmer weather, maybe as early as 2040. A review of existing computer climate models suggests that global warming could transform the North Pole into an ice-free expanse of ocean at the end of each summer by 2100, scientists reported today. The researchers said that […]

Army Foresees Natural Gas Crisis

The Pentagon has been talking recently about going oil-free by 2050, a fairly radical initiative given the hidebound nature of the institution and the complexity of the technologies it employs. But oil apparently is among the least of the Army’s energy problems. According to this newly-minted memorandum , the Army’s assistant chief of staff for […]

India: Can farmers farm the sun?

India’s two biggest future challenges could be agriculture and energy. Agriculture is in crisis since grain production has stagnated for seven years. And if India’s GDP rises 40-60 times by 2050, as predicted by Goldman Sachs, energy consumption will rise at least 20 times, exacerbating the global energy crisis. Farmers complain that no new, high-yielding […]

Ambassador Denies that Brazil Has Ethanol Slaves

The ambassador of Brazil in Great Britain, Jose Mauricio Bustani, in a letter published this Saturday in the British newspaper The Guardian, refutes a story that appeared in the publication on March 9 charging that Brazil is using slaves in its sugar cane plantations. The report made in Palmares Paulista, in the interior of Sao […]

Don’t exaggerate climate dangers, scientists warn

Leading climate change experts have warned of the ‘Hollywoodisation’ of global warning and criticised American scientists for exaggerating the message of global warming. Professors Paul Hardaker and Chris Collier of the Royal Meteorolgical Society said scientists, campaign groups, politicians and the media were all guilty of making out that catastrophic events were likely when this […]

India:Forest land diverted for wind energy projects

Adivasis in Dhule district, Maharashtra, are protesting the diversion of forest land for wind power projects. About 340 hectares of forest land has been diverted for wind energy projects in Sakri taluka of Dhule district, promoted by Suzlon Energy Limited. With the passing of the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest […]

Political fears scare oil investors in Southern Sudan

Southern Sudan government officials said this week that the rush for the vast region’s massive oil wells has been slow in coming since the signing of a peace accord slightly over two years ago. Optimists say investor interest is there, but the potential oil hunters do not know where to begin. Pessimists cite the lack […]

Wall Street drools over prospect of capturing Iraq oil wealth

The Iraqi cabinet’s adoption last week of a law creating the legal framework for turning over the country’s oil wealth to American corporations has touched off a chorus of salutes from the Bush administration, congressional Democrats and the corporate-controlled American media. Perhaps the crassest expression of money-grubbing glee came in the Wall Street Journal, which […]

Russia bolsters Gulf energy strategy

Putin has again stressed that Russia shares common interests in energy matters with the Gulf states during his recent visit to Saudi Arabia and Qatar an indication that the Middle East is becoming increasingly important to Russia’s long-term energy strategy.Bilateral Saudi and Russian business ties are developing. Lukoil Saudi Arabia Energy (LUKSAR) was established in […]

Russian atomic energy industry to become self supporting by 2015

The Russian atomic energy industry will become self-supporting and build new units with its own funds by 2015, First Vice-Premier Sergei Ivanov said here on Friday. The government will allocate 674 billion rubles (26 billion U.S. dollars) from the federal budget for the industry before 2015, which will make it self-supporting, Ivanov was quoted by […]

Global oil glut hidden by rig dearth makes drillers good bet

The professionals most familiar with the so-called oil shortage know there is an estimated 3tn barrels under land and sea. That is why they are making their biggest bets in drilling rigs where the scarcity is no illusion. Oil drillers “are the most attractive way to go,” said Don Hodges, who holds about 160,000 shares […]

The Oil Drum: Simmons Discusses Plateauing Oil Supply on CNBC with Bartiromo

This interview was in response to an interview with Rex Tillerson (CEO of Exxon Mobil). Good piece to send around to friends (check out the other link to the Bloomberg video in the post). Much more after the jump to The Oil Drum.

Global warming is a ‘weapon of mass destruction’

Sir John Houghton, former director-general of the Meteorological Office and chairman of the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution, entered the debate over the seriousness of climate change after two meteorologists were reported as saying that “some scientists have been guilty of overplaying the available evidence”. He said he agreed with the Government’s chief scientist, Professor […]

British Columbia Aligns With California to Create a Green Bloc Along Pacific

The premier of British Columbia wanted to bring coal-burning plants and offshore oil rigs to this lush province, so environmental groups were ready for a fight as he prepared his government’s annual policy speech last month. They were stunned when Premier Gordon Campbell delivered a list of green promises that surpassed their most ambitious dreams. […]

A Realistic Path to Hydrogen and Fuel Cells

In 2002, more than 40 organizations endorsed Fuel Cells and Hydrogen: the Path Forward (www.fuelcellpath.org), which outlined a comprehensive $5.5 billion program for the United States. There were two reactions: you greencar

Hydrogen: Where Do We Go from Here?

Few people realize that a hydrogen economy already exists at the industrial level. Energy companies produce hydrogen for use in their own refineries and market it as a specialty chemical to manufacturers. In fact, annual worldwide hydrogen production is equivalent to roughly 10 percent of worldwide oil production. Now we are working to extend the […]

Houston’s role in energy may not end

Halliburton’s plan to move its top office to Dubai has touched a nerve in Houston. True, just one chief executive is leaving the oil-field services firm’s hometown. But it raises an unsettling question: Can Houston remain a global energy hub if much of the industry’s growth is taking place on the other side of the […]

Automakers Use New Technology to Beef Up Muscle, Not Mileage

The average vehicle, which 25 years ago accelerated to 60 miles an hour in 14.4 seconds, now does it in 9.9 seconds, a pace once typical only of sporty or luxury cars like Camaros and Jaguars. And vehicle weight now averages about 4,100 pounds, up from about 3,200 in the early 1980’s, as many buyers […]

Oil Boom Runs Out of Gas

Oil prices have been bouncing all over the place. After cresting at $77 a barrel last summer, they plunged to $51 in January, rebounded to $62 and settled March 14 at $57. The most recent drop has been on fears of economic slowing. So we’re left with weighing the fundamentals of supply and demand and […]

Edison develops wind power plan

Southern California Edison will upgrade and expand transmission lines throughout the San Gabriel Valley and Inland Empire as part of a $1.7 billion project to deliver wind power from Tehachapi, company officials said. Edison will pay for the project up front, but the cost ultimately will be spread out among Edison customers and California Independent […]

Texas plant powers state’s electric grid using only biodiesel

Chicken fat and a $3.5 million investment are behind a breakthrough in the way Texans heat, cool and light their homes and offices. Using the slimy, light-colored tallow as the source for clean-burning biodiesel, Biofuels Power Corporation launched three, 2,000-horsepower diesel engines a couple of weeks ago. They add a bit more energy to the […]

Abu Dhabi Explores Energy Alternatives

On the outskirts of this Persian Gulf boomtown, past an oil refinery and a water desalination plant, the foundations are being poured for an ambitious project that will house a research facility and perhaps even a power plant, all intended to take this oil-producing giant into the next energy wave. Oil, however, will have nothing […]

Movie Review: How Cuba Survived Peak Oil

…Along those lines, Cuba has not produced anything nearly resembling adequate food supplies. As an October 2006 WaPo article makes clear, shortages of food remain widespread, leading to a thriving black market. This suggests that while Cuba’s sustainable ag practices have averted widespread famine, fundamental problems remain. The US embargo is clearly a major culprit […]

Biofuels can be environmental boon, but gas guzzling must first end

…But the shortage gave Ontario motorists just a taste of what a gasoline shortage might mean – and just how vulnerable the existing supply might be. “We’ve got to stop the addiction from growing,” said Peter Tertzakian, an analyst and author of the book “A Thousand Barrels.” “Then, once you get over that, then you […]

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