Biofuels shift seen to put major squeeze on food prices

MANILA (AFP) – A global shift toward renewable energy could jack up food prices by up to 80 percent as crops and farmland are diverted to producing biofuels, an international agricultural think-tank warned Thursday. Joachim von Braun, director-general of the International Food Policy Research Institute, said further crop yield improvements and increased efficiency of these […]

The Oil Drum: Of earthquakes, coal bursts and retreat mining

Those of you that have been following the reports of the trapped miners at the Crandall Canyon Mine in Utah may have read that there is some debate as to whether the incident was caused by the mining itself, or whether it was a naturally induced earthquake. Also you may not understand what the mine […]

The Oil Drum Europe: Aviation and Oil Depletion

Aviation is one of the fastest growing industry sectors in the world, growing at 2.4 times the rate of world GDP. The industry consumes over 5 million barrels of oil per day worldwide, almost one tenth of all the oil used for transportation. In the UK, according to the Department for Transport, the UK aviation […]

Canadian PM vows to defend Arctic

TORONTO, Ontario (AP) — Canada’s prime minister has begun a three-day trip to the Arctic in an effort to assert sovereignty over the region a week after Russia symbolically staked a claim to the North Pole by sending submarines. Although Stephen Harper’s visit has been planned for months, it has taken on new importance since […]

US should consider gas tax: Ford chief

TRAVERSE CITY, United States (AFP) – The United States should consider imposing a European-style gasoline tax if it hopes to improve energy security and tackle global warming, the head of Ford Motor Co. said Wednesday. “The way to get at is to make an economic decision just like in Europe where the fuel prices are […]

Cities in the deindustrial future

…Step outside the potent complex of cultural factors that make a flight to rural isolation seem like the obvious response to peak oil, and things take on a very different shape. Now it Imagine, by contrast, a city of between 20,000 and 200,000 people in a mostly agricultural region; there are hundreds of such cities […]

Europe’s cars may get weight-based emissions allowances

The European Commission is examining the idea of an emissions trading system for car manufacturers that would force makers of high-polluting cars to pay money towards those producing greener cars. According to a report in German daily Handelsblatt, the amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) a car may emit in the future could be determined by […]

Germany Decides to Abandon Coal Mining

Germany will gradually phase out its coal mining, after declaring that it makes no economic sense. Subsidies to phase out the mining over the next decade will cost 30 billion euros ($41 billion.) A 200-year tradition will come to an end in Europe’s largest economy. On Wednesday, the German government approved phasing out coal mining […]

Lula da Silva promises energy/ethanol aid to Nicaragua

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva offered Nicaragua technical assistance in producing ethanol after talks Wednesday in Managua with the country’s president, Daniel Ortega. Brazil will seek to contribute to growth, development and “social justice” in Nicaragua, Central America’s poorest country, Lula da Silva told reporters. Lula da Silva’s trip follows three visits to […]

Probe into New York storm chaos

Engineers have been ordered to find out within 30 days how torrential rain and heavy winds all but paralysed New York’s transport system. Commuters faced huge delays when floods hit subways and overground train lines during Wednesday morning’s rush hour. New York state Governor Eliot Spitzer ordered an assessment of the system’s drainage after the […]

Oil drilling off Alaska: Cheney’s ill-advised crusade

On June 29 the Bush administration quietly approved a keystone of Vice President Dick Cheney’s energy policy: furthering our addiction to oil through the 5-Year Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program. The program governs the sale of all offshore oil and gas leases in federal waters over the next five years and anticipates […]

Increased North Sea oil production shrinks UK trade deficit

The UK’s global trade gap in goods unexpectedly shrank in June to its smallest since October 2005 as the balance in oil moved into the surplus for the first time in more than two years, government figures showed today. The shortfall in goods in narrowed to Guardian

China’s rising inflation has spirits falling

China’s latest inflation rate of 4.4% is hitting its citizens in their wallets as well as their stomachs as prices for staples such as pork and eggs keep rising. However, government officials remain optimistic that they can bring the inflation under control. Economists and analysts have warned that China’s Consumer Price Index might accelerate by […]

Total and Chevron agree to work together in Iraq

Two of the worldLondonTimes

Russia has eyes for Iraq’s oil

Ever since oil prices hit a record high above $78 last week, those prices have been sliding back. This morning, oil is trading below $72 a barrel. But what’s happening in Russia today has big potential to move the markets. Iraq’s oil minister is in Moscow to meet with his Russian counterpart, and he’ll also […]

Fuel Crunch Brings Zimbabwe Road Transport To A Grinding Halt

Zimbabwe’s national road transport system has ground to a halt as the National Oil Company of Zimbabwe, commonly known as NOCZIM, which was recently given a monopoly in the fuel sector, has shown itself unable to supply the nation. Trade Minister Obert Mpofu two weeks ago declared that NOCZIM alone had the right to import […]

Chevron Announces Significant Oil Discovery Offshore Angola

Chevron Corporation announced today that its subsidiary Cabinda Gulf Oil Company Limited (CABGOC) and partners made a significant oil discovery in Block 14, offshore Angola. The discovery well, Malange-1, was drilled in December 2006 in 873 feet (266 meters) of water to a total vertical depth of 15,562 feet (4,743 meters). The well encountered 212 […]

Are Rising Oil Prices Good For The Economy?

The ratio of Oil Stocks to Crude Oil Prices has been a good indicator of trends in the broader stock market. Since June this correlation has been breaking down with implications for both markets. In a recent article on oil stocks we discussed why these stocks do not necessarily move in lock-step with the price […]

Opec

Opec does not need to raise oil output at a meeting on September 11, despite calls from consumers for more crude to lower prices from near a record high, an Opec delegate said yesterday. The comments are the latest indication that Opec, source of more than a third of the worldGulfTimes

Bodman to speak with OPEC ministers about more oil

Energy Secretary Sam Bodman said on Wednesday he expects to speak with OPEC ministers ahead of their September 11 meeting and relay the Bush administration’s message that the producer group needs to pump more oil. “I expect I will be talking with oil ministers,” Bodman told reporters in a telephone call from New Orleans. He […]

Biofuel— meeting the needs of dryland farmers

Soaring prices of fossil-fuels and environmental pollution associated with their use, have resulted in an increased worldwide interest in the production and use of bio-fuel. The International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), Patancheru in Andhra Pradesh, is playing a major role in bringing poor and marginal dryland farmers into the global biofuel […]

Ethiopia: Forests for Biofuel – a Dubious Swap?

One wonders why, given their manifold munificence to us, we continue to consider forests as something easily dispensable and worthy only of our divided attention, merely worthy as photo op for dignitary’s spouses during publicized seedling plantings. Let’s have a look at the largess which by no means is exhaustive, of course, and perhaps realize […]

Russia To Boost Arctic Presence, Plans New Expedition

Russian explorers on Wednesday announced a new expedition to the Arctic for later in the year to boost Russia’s presence there following a flag-laying stunt on the seabed under the North Pole.“Russia will strengthen its position in the Arctic,” expedition leader Artur Chilingarov, a bearded 67-year-old polar adventurer, told reporters, Itar-Tass news agency reported.A deputy […]

Gazprom: Belarus pays gas debt in full

Russia’s state-controlled gas monopoly Gazprom said Wednesday it had received all of an outstanding US$460 million (€334 million) gas bill from Belarus. The announcement allayed fears that the latest energy dispute between Russia and its former Soviet neighbor could lead to supply interruptions for Europe.“Gazprom confirms that Beltransgaz has made the last payment for gas […]

Russia hardens EU resolve to seek new energy supply

Renewed tension between Russia and Belarus has yet to disrupt energy flows, but still it has sharpened Western Europe’s desire to curb dependency on Moscow if it possibly can.It provides roughly 25 per cent of western Europe’s gas. In addition, the former Soviet Union, including Russia, provided 35 per cent of crude and refinery feedstock […]

Seoul to invest billions for energy resources

South Korea will spend 10 trillion won in the next decade to compete with China and India to secure oil and natural gas supplies as an expanding global economy lifts energy prices. The government will budget about 1 trillion won, or $1.1 billion, each year to finance stake purchases by state-run and private companies in […]

Nigeria: Solar Energy And Competitive Advantage

Solar electric power systems are an effective energy conservation programme because they conserve costly conventional power for urban areas and town market centres including industrial, commercial and private uses. This will allow for decentralised solar generated power for lighting and satisfying basic electrical needs. Solar technology applications are not being widely exploited and as such, […]

Data centers suck down energy, mostly for AC

The extremely air-conditioned computer farms known as data centers are the gas-guzzling jalopies of the technology world. Some require 40 or 50 times more power than comparably sized office space. So with energy costs high and environmental friendliness making for good public relations, more tech companies are touting ways they are “greening” data centers, which […]

Habitat of pygmy elephants threatened by palm oil

Borneo’s unique pygmy elephant is being increasingly threatened by loss of habitat, a new study reveals..The type of land they need to survive – forests situated on flat, low lands and in river valleys – is also the type of terrain favoured for palm plantations.Sabah has lost 10 per cent of its forest cover annually […]

Smaller, Cheaper Biofuel Reactors

Researchers at the University of Minnesota have developed a fast way to convert sawdust and waste biomass directly into a mixture of gases that can be burned to generate electricity or made into liquid fuels such as diesel. If the process can be scaled up, it could be a more energy-efficient method for making biofuels […]

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