Corn Ethanol: Biofuel or Biofraud?

Here’s an interesting bit of scientific research, courtesy of a recent report from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, a Paris-based global economic think tank, on the difference in greenhouse gas emissions from cars burning gasoline-only fuel and fuels made from various forms of ethanol:Corn ethanol: 0-3 percent greenhouse gas emission reduction. Sugar cane […]

B’desh seeks nuclear option to boost energy supply

Bangladesh plans to set up a nuclear plant to produce between 600 and 1,000 megawatts of power to ease the country’s nagging energy shortage, a senior energy official said on Monday. The project, which may cost up to $1.5 billion, will be submitted to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) by the middle of next […]

Thailand – Cassava and biofuel: the new magic

When people hear about “mansampalang” or “tapioca” they usually think of poor Isaan farmers who are unable to grow anything better on their parched sandy soil. In fact, those poor farmers may not be so poor in the future thanks to the “Green Cassava Revolution” that is currently sweeping most Southeast Asian countries.Presently there is […]

Oil is up, and this time the dollar is down

Oil is up and the dollar is down. If the petroleum part of that relationship doesn’t change significantly – which looks unlikely – the currency piece probably won’t, either. For three decades, the correlation between two of the world’s most important prices was strongly positive, with oil and the dollar rising and falling in tandem.But […]

Norway: Oil and gas estimates stable

Norway’s oil directorate still thinks there’s as much as 5.8 billion cubic meters of offshore oil and gas riches waiting to be discovered in the country’s territorial waters, even though several discoveries already have been made. The directorate reported Monday that it’s maintaining its estimate of untapped oil and gas reserves in Norwegian territorial waters.It […]

One Molecule Could Cure Our Addiction to Oil

Trace the fortunes of cellulosic ethanol over the past three decades and you’ll find that the arc almost perfectly mirrors Lee Lynd’s career. The 49-year-old Dartmouth professor started in a compost heap in the 1970s, seemed on the verge of a breakthrough in the ’80s, and nearly went bust in the ’90s. “There were times,” […]

Price of palm oil predicted to leap

Palm oil futures in Malaysia may advance as much as 15 percent during the next year because of rising demand and a shortfall in supplies of vegetable oils, Dorab Mistry, a director at Godrej International, said Sunday. Prices might climb to up to 3,000 ringgit, or $870, a ton in the year ending Sept. 30, […]

Canada’s oil nationalism

Cries of “O Canada” have not all been of the patriotic kind recently. An independent panel has recommended that Alberta jack up the province’s tax-take from the energy sector. Stocks in Canadian oil majors have plunged as a result. Reports of the sector’s doom are much exaggerated, but it is easy to see why the […]

Abu Dhabi’s Overseas Energy Play

Abu Dhabi is putting a new twist on the concept of recycling petrodollars by recycling its earnings into Canadian energy properties. PrimeWest Energy Trust soared 32.7%, or $6.32, to close at $26.25 on the New York Stock Exchange on Monday, after Abu Dhabi National Energy — which is known by the acronym TAQA — said […]

BP results set to be ‘dreadful’

Tony Hayward, BP’s new chief executive, has prepared staff for a far-reaching shake-up of the oil company as he delivered a blunt warning that third-quarter revenues would be “dreadful”. Mr Hayward told a staff meeting in Houston he would be announcing a streamlining of the company’s organisation next month, the Financial Times has learnt. He […]

Media report Iran motorists to get 100 litres extra fuel

TEHRAN (Reuters) – Iranian motorists will from Sunday be able to buy an extra 100 litres of subsidised gasoline in a one-off allocation in addition to a monthly quota of 100 litres, an Iranian daily reported. Iran is the world’s fourth largest oil producer but lacks refining capacity and must import large amounts of gasoline […]

Fears over rush into green funds

Fears are mounting of a bubble in funds investing in renewable energy stocks as asset management companies rush to launch funds to tap into the environmental zeitgeist. In the first seven months of 2007, 15.2 per cent of net inflows into equity funds across Europe, some EU4.6bn ( This rush of money into relatively small-scale […]

Russia to run out of oil in 50 years, gas in 75 years – scientist

MOSCOW, September 24 (RIA Novosti) – Russia will run out of crude oil reserves in 50 years, and the country’s natural gas will be depleted in 75 years, a geologist specializing in oil production said Monday. Yevgeny Kozlovsky, who served as geology minister in the Soviet Union, said the forecast was based on predicted production […]

Global Swarming

Is it time for Americans to start cutting our baby emissions? …What’s the environmental cost of having a child? In the crudest terms, you’ve added another version of yourself into the world, which means you’re potentially doubling your carbon-dioxide emissions over the total life of your family. That’s a high estimate, since our kids won’t […]

Global oil extinction: Could be a blessing in disguise for Sri Lanka

…Are we ready for this? Our entire production and transportation market is based on oil. Sadly Sri Lankans haven Conflicts among countries will start for reasons based on substitute energy bases. Power shifts of world economy drivers will take place. Minor countries who adapts to the situation well will emerge as powerful nations. Climate changes […]

The global economy: The turning point

Does the latest financial crisis signal the end of a golden age of stable growth? …What lay behind that change? The sceptical view is that improved stability has no cause: it is mostly down to luck. Economic shocksThe more likely explanation is that economies have become far better at absorbing shocks, because they are more […]

Greenspan’s Open Secret

It Really is About Oil–and Not Just in Iraq So, the secret is finally out. The Iraq war and occupation is about oil! Alan Greenspan, the man on whom the capitalist press has conferred the title of sage numerous times, says exactly that in his memoirs released this week. Of course, many folks around the […]

Mexico gas terminal could up air pollution

ENSENADA, Mexico, Sept. 23 (UPI) — Local authorities and environmentalists are protesting construction of a $1 billion natural gas terminal in Mexico about 50 miles south of the U.S. border. The Sempra Energy terminal, now in the final phases of construction, will receive liquefied natural gas from overseas via tanker, and inject it into existing […]

UAE to cut oil output in November

ABU DHABI

It was oil all along and it is oil ahead

THE PRESSURE that the US administration of President George W Bush is applying on the Iraqi government of Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki and others in Iraq for having the draft law on the country’s oil resources passed and enacted clearly shows the truth in what many commentators have been saying from day one of […]

Montana: Power Project Stalled

Ill winds for Montana power project; investors turn to California The strong winds that blow across the Northern Plains have been chased over the past two years by a spate of politicians and entrepreneurs eager to promote wind as an alternative to fossil fuels. Yet political will, tax breaks and a seemingly endless supply have […]

Iraq Oil Deal Gets Everybody’s Attention

The oil deal signed between Hunt Oil and the government in Iraq’s Kurdish region earlier this month has raised eyebrows, in no small part because it appears to undercut President Bush’s hope that Iraq could draft national legislation to share revenue from the country’s vast oil reserves. Making the deal more curious is that it […]

Farmers Take Another Look at Wind Energy

Joe Weisshaar always knew the winds whipping across his family’s farm could offer more than a cool breeze. He just didn’t how to harness it. “I started going to a bunch of seminars, trying to figure out how to do this. But I was going no place,” said Weisshaar, who has farmed on family land […]

Oil companies on alert in Nigeria after threat

LAGOS (Reuters) – Western oil companies reinforced security in Nigeria on Monday after a rebel group threatened to resume attacks on Africa’s largest oil industry, but security sources played down the risk of a major disruption. The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) threatened fresh attacks on oil facilities and abductions of […]

Cheap oil days nearing end, UNH prof warns

The supply of oil will peak this decade and the world no longer can depend on it as a cheap energy source, according to a professor at the University of New Hampshire. The Dover Energy Advisory Council hosted professor John Carroll on Tuesday night. Carroll teaches in the UNH Department of Natural Resources and has […]

AUSTRALIA: A crude awakening

HAVE the policy mandarins in George Street been sniffing petrol instead of putting it in their taxpayer-funded cars? It’s the only possible explanation for the hare-brained proposal to regulate petrol prices in Queensland. The logic – and we use the term loosely in this context – goes that motorists are not getting the full benefit […]

Peak oil conspiracies

Ancient peoples often imagined that any calamity natural or otherwise was the work of displeased gods. Today, we are more enlightened. When we suffer misfortunes such as rising energy prices, some of us immediately imagine small secretive groups in high places engaged in elaborate conspiracies. In fact, it is a good thing to take a […]

The Oil Drum: Economic Impact of Peak Oil Part 2: Our Current Situation

Peak oil seems likely to make a huge change in our economic system–more than would be expected by a worldwide decline in oil production by a few percentage points a year. In Part 1, we looked at the contrast between economic systems before the industrial revolution and the current economic system. We also looked at […]

Albany activists strive for sustainability

…On Saturday, Sept. 29, several Mansion neighborhood residents will host Albany Skill Share 2007, a community-organized conference aimed at teaching city residents how to live self-sufficiently. “It’s kind of a way to prepare for a post-peak-oil society, but it’s also about taking any steps you can to reduce the use of petroleum products now,” said […]

Wal-Mart to study energy impact

World’s largest retailer will partner with group to study energy used to produce products such as soap, DVDs, toothpaste. NEW YORK (AP) — Retailer Wal-Mart Stores Inc. said Monday it will partner with a nonprofit climate group to measure the amount of energy used to create products throughout its supply chain. Wal-Mart said it would […]

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