Big Houses Are Not Green: America’s McMansion Problem

The recent mansion boom produced millions of energy-wasting homes with thousands of square feet that Americans don’t need — not the behavior of a society that’s thinking about a sustainable future. In Los Gatos, Calif., controversy has raged this summer over the city planning commissionThe just-popped housing bubble has left behind a couple of million […]

Mexican rebel groups takes credit for attacks that cut oil and gas supplies

VERACRUZ, Mexico At least a dozen pipelines, most carrying natural gas, were affected, said Jesus Reyes Heroles, the head of Mexico’s oil monopoly Petroleos Mexicanos, without providing specifics. He said there would be hundreds of millions of dollars in lost production and about nine states and the capital, Mexico City, would be affected.

Battery-like device could power electric cars

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Millions of inventions pass quietly through the U.S. patent office each year. Patent No. 7,033,406 did, too, until energy insiders spotted six words in the filing that sounded like a death knell for the internal combustion engine. An Austin-based startup called EEStor promised “technologies for replacement of electrochemical batteries,” meaning a […]

Race is on for Arctic resources

A person in space looking down on the frigid region around the North Pole would view something never seen before at this time of year. Earlier last month, Arctic sea ice reached its lowest extent on record, according to scientists measuring the retreat since satellite images became available in the 1970s. They predict that the […]

Oil sands facing capacity squeeze

CALGARY Consequently, producers could delay some oil sands projects to try to ensure they don’t have to discount their future output to guarantee it gets to market, said Tom Wise, executive vice-president at Purvin & Gertz.

Australia: Winds of change blowing through energy policy

AUSTRALIA is in the middle of a revolution in energy policy driven by the threat of dangerous climate change. Whatever the outcome of the looming federal election, Australia will have a national emissions trading scheme operating from around 2011, based on economic analysis to be completed next year. But it is generally agreed that trading […]

Amid tight markets, rising energy costs, automakers emphasize lower emissions

FRANKFURT, Germany: The world’s automakers will try to win customers over with more environmentally friendly cars at the Frankfurt Auto Show this week as they tout new vehicles with hybrid propulsion and more advanced, cleaner engines. The show, which runs from Sept. 13-23, reflects concerns about high gas prices, fuel efficiency and global warming by […]

On carbon, it’s government first, then the markets

When the Canada-U.S. free-trade agreement was signed 20 years ago, governments did not try to soft-pedal the implementation. There was a phase-in period, but everybody had to take the consequences – good and bad – of increased competition. Why can’t we follow the same rules for reducing greenhouse gas emissions? Why are Ottawa and the […]

Company ships ammonia-powered engine for testing

Officials Say Success Could Lead To Gas-Free Engines ALGONA, IA (AP) – A northern Iowa company developing alternative fuel engines said Monday it is shipping its first ammonia-powered engine for testing to a California irrigation system operator. Algona-based Hydrogen Engine Center Inc. said the company’s proprietary 4.9 liter engine is powered with anhydrous ammonia with […]

Pacific power companies band together to cut fuel costs

Cash-strapped electricity companies in the Pacific islands plan to join forces to cut the high fuel costs which are making it difficult for them to stay afloat, officials said. The Fiji-based Pacific Power Association is tackling the problem through a plan for joint fuel-buying to lower costs and by reducing electrical distribution losses which cost […]

Oil Off on OPEC, Gas Up on Explosions

Oil, Gasoline Futures Fall on Speculation OPEC Will Boost Output; Attacks Lift Natural Gas NEW YORK (AP) — Oil and gasoline futures fell Monday on speculation OPEC may raise output at its meeting Tuesday. Natural gas futures, meanwhile, jumped after a series of explosions hit natural gas pipelines owned by Mexico’s state-owned oil company. While […]

PBS Documentary: The Silence Of The Bees

NEW YORK, – From crop fields to hi-tech labs, scientists and bee experts are investigating a rapidly unfolding ecological nightmare. The Silence of the Bees premieres on Sunday, October 28 at 8 p.m. eastern on PBS (check local listings). Academy Award-winning actor F. Murray Abraham narrates the series. It was shot on high definition cameras.Honeybees […]

Climate Change Solutions: Beyond Science and Above Confines

Despite the vast research and debates about solutions to global warming and climate change, most of these solutions are confined to science and scientific research. The recent developments in the field of bio-fuels, solar energy, wind energy, Geo Engineering and other fields have indeed provided solutions in reducing the carbon emission. But we have to […]

Melting ice cap triggering earthquakes

The Greenland ice cap is melting so quickly that it is triggering earthquakes as pieces of ice several cubic kilometres in size break off. Scientists monitoring events this summer say the acceleration could be catastrophic in terms of sea-level rise and make predictions this February by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change far too low. […]

China planning major expansion of oil refineries: report

SHANGHAI, China (AP) – China is planning a major expansion of its oil refineries to help reduce reliance on imports and keep up with demand, a Chinese newspaper reported over the weekend. Plans call for the country to have 31 refineries by 2015, each with a capacity to process nine million tonnes of crude oil […]

Energy from Unusual Sources

A slew of entrepreneurs are looking well beyond sunlight and wind. Think: tornadoes, algae, giant kites, and lightning Chances are that Louis Michaud is one of very few people who spend their days trying to make tornadoes. A year ago, the retired petrochemical engineer put together what looked a bit like a high-tech kiddie swimming […]

The Oil Drum: When Is Global Peak Energy?

Energy is the ● When and at what level will global energy

Blasts Hit Mexico Oil Company Pipelines

MEXICO CITY – Six explosions believed to be the result of sabotage ripped apart natural gas pipelines for MexicoIt said the six blasts at about 2 a.m. (3 a.m. ET) caused four fires. At least five pipelines were affected. A small, left-wing guerrilla group claimed to have attacked a major Pemex gas pipeline in July, […]

Gasoline prices rise for first time since July

NEW YORK (Reuters) – The average retail price of a gallon of gasoline in the United States cost about 6.5 cents more last week, rising for the first time since early July on the back of higher crude oil prices, an industry analyst said on Sunday. …The most recent increase was due to a rise […]

A ‘Total’ Shift in the Oil Industry

With the Dow down 250 points and oil pressing its all-time highs, commodity investors may have missed the most important news bit hitting the airwaves Friday. Speaking to the Financial Times, Christophe de Margerie, CEO of the French oil giant TOTAL, said that the price of oil is high and is likely to stay high […]

Renewable Energy Cannot Sustain a Consumer Society

Ted Trainer, of the University of New South Wales, has made a valuable contribution to the literature of energy and resource depletion with his new book Renewable Energy Cannot Sustain a Consumer Society. The title says a lot I think. With the focus of most mainstream debate on peak oil and energy being on the […]

Oil and Corruption in Iraq Part I: Tribes Sabotage Kirkuk Pipelines

KIRKUK, Iraq, September 10, 2007 (ENS) – Masked men infiltrate the village of al-Milih, 75 kilometers west of Kirkuk, and approach an oil pipeline that passes nearby. Under cover of darkness, they steal oil from an opening they drilled into the pipeline weeks earlier. Over a period of weeks, this scene is repeated nightly. Despite […]

Oil price danger looms over OPEC meeting

VIENNA (AFP) – OPEC oil ministers arrive in Vienna on Monday, under pressure to help combat high crude prices, which have surged to near-record highs and loom as a new risk for the global economy. The outcome is uncertain of a formal meeting on Tuesday, when the group will decide whether to raise output, amid […]

Low grain harvest, rising food prices and China

I want to stitch together some pieces of information, a set of events unfolding, that that I describe as a double Achilles Heel in ethanol production here in China. It In southern China flood waters have submerged about 9.7 million hectares (21.5 million acres) putting the total submerged and parched dry land at one-sixth of […]

Greens need to grasp the nettle: aren’t there just too many people?

Reducing consumption is imperative, but it’s pointless to cut out meat and cars while having lots of children It’s the one issue no environmentalist organisation wants to talk about. Population. Thirty years ago, when international concern first began to mobilise about the planet’s future, it was the pre-eminent question, but now you’re hard put to […]

Biofuels Could Strain U.N. Goals of Ending Hunger

STOCKHOLM Production of fuels from sugar, maize, soybeans and other corps is surging, spurred by oil prices above $70 a barrel and a drive for more environmentally friendly fuels from renewable sources. “This is a completely new issue, we only know that this has impact on the question of feeding the world,” he told a […]

Food Demand and Climate Straining Soils

VIENNA – World food demand will surge this century with a leap in population, highlighting a need to protect soils under strain from climate change, experts said on Thursday. About 150 scientists and government experts will meet in Iceland from August 31-September 4 to try to work out how to safeguard soils from over-use and […]

Kremlin extends grip on oil

MOSCOW – Mikhail Gutseriyev, a Russian oil billionaire who offended the Kremlin, is on the run, claiming he is the victim of political persecution. His private company Russneft, once the country’s seventh-largest petroleum firm, has been hobbled by back tax charges and seized by a court. The tribulations of Mr. Gutseriyev, who has reportedly fled […]

The Oil Drum: Biodiesel Misconceptions

Sometimes I am astonished at the misconceptions people have. Just because you’re running something on biodiesel don’t think you’re neither using oil nor polluting…Much more after the jump to The Oil Drum.

China, Japan agree to talks on disputed gas field

SYDNEY (Thomson Financial) – Japan and China have agreed to hold further talks on proposed joint exploration of a disputed natural gas field in the East China Sea, a Japanese official said. Japanese Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura and his Chinese counterpart Yang Jiechi agreed that senior officials should discuss the proposal in Beijing on Sept […]

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