Year-ender 2007

…It really is amazingly cheap to buy the U.S. Congress. Since 1990, fossil fuel industries, logging interests, agribusiness companies and the transportation industry have given federal politicians only about $750 million, but that money plays such a key role in funding their election campaigns that on the question of climate change Congress usually toes the […]

New Material Promises to Save LCD, Solar Power Industry

German researchers claim breakthrough that may salvage the solar industry from the brink of disaster It sounds like the death knell of the solar power industry — shrinking Earth supplies of indium, which experts estimate will only last for another decade. Facing its darkest hour, a new breakthrough by researchers at Germany’s Max Planck Institute […]

New Nuclear Reactors For The UK: Is This Really A Good Idea?

…not when you take into account the uranium-peak, the energy return on energy invested in the nuclear life-cycle, and the prospect of much of the legacy of nuclear waste being abandoned for ever. However the UK Government are likely to announce a decision to build a new generation of nuclear reactors shortly. The Oil Drum: […]

Iran struggles to meet gas demand

Iran has cut gas exports to Turkey after high domestic consumption and a halt in supplies from Turkmenistan. About a dozen Iranian towns and cities have been left without gas in freezing weather, an Iranian news agency reports on Tuesday.Heavy snowfalls and temperatures in Iran’s north plummeting to -10C have increased demand. “After the sharp […]

Norway mulling alternative energy — Petroleum Minister

The Norwegian government is seriously considering use of alternative energy resources to reduce reliance on oil, revealed Petroleum Minister Aslaug Haga in an interview with a paper here Wednesday. The minister told the widely popular daily, “Aftenposten,” the ministry is very keen on implementation of environment safety measures throughout oil production. However, Haga stressed this […]

Japan: Solar panels to go in 30% of houses by 2030

The government will aim for 30 percent of all households to have solar panels installed by 2030 as part of its efforts to fight global warming, officials said. Under the target, the number of solar-powered households would increase to 14 million from the current 400,000, and the capacity of such generation would expand 30-fold from […]

Corals may move from warming seas

If their watery world continues to warm as climate change scientists predict, Western Australia’s corals may head south to cooler climes. That’s the message from US and Australian researchers who compared the behaviour of the state’s corals then and now.Since “then” was 125,000 years ago, University of Queensland paleoecologist John Pandolfi and geologist Benjamin Greenstein […]

Giant sail technology could make shipping greener

One of the first large cargo ships in 100 years to cross the Atlantic with the help of the wind will set off from European shores this month on a voyage which is due to make maritime history. W hen the 10,000-tonne Beluga Skysail is well clear of the land, it will launch a giant […]

South Korea sees 2008 energy imports up 15.4 pct

South Korea will likely pay nearly one-sixth more in importing oil and other energy sources this year than it spent last year mainly because of higher prices, the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy said on Wednesday. The ministry said in a statement energy imports by the world’s ninth-largest oil consumer would grow 15.4 percent […]

South Korea cuts 2008 GDP growth forecast, citing oil

South Korea’s Finance Ministry lowered this year’s economic growth forecast to take account of higher oil prices and the likelihood of slowing exports. The $887 billion economy will expand at a “upper 4 percent” pace in 2008, down from a previous forecast of 5 percent, Finance Minister Kwon Okyu said at a briefing in Gwacheon […]

Chocolate powered biodiesel

Chocolate is a guilty pleasure for some, but could soon prove highly nutritious — for your car! Thanks to a process created by British company Ecotec, it is now possible to take waste chocolate from confectionery companies and turn it into biodiesel. And to prove that it works, two British adventurers just completed a trek […]

Broke Britain: millions face struggle to stay afloat as financial crisis hits

Debt experts are predicting a record number of personal insolvencies this year as excessive Christmas shopping, rising mortgage payments and soaring food and fuel costs force thousands of people over the financial edge and into bankruptcy. More than nine million individuals in Britain are now believed to be struggling to pay credit card bills and […]

Virus threatens mass extinction of frogs

An international campaign has been launched to help save the world Amphibians have thrived for hundreds of millions of years but as many as half of all species could perish unless a solution is found. The spread of the parasitic fungus amphibian chytrid, which has proved deadly for hundreds of amphibian species, may have been […]

Top 10 Global Warming Stories of 2007

What events or actions had the most positive or negative impact on the likelihood that the nation and the world will act in time to avoid catastrophic warming? Here are my picks: #10. Over a barrel: Oil nearing $100. Technically not a global warming story — but who can doubt that part of the renewed […]

The internal struggle for the Iraqi oil law continues

A year has passed since the landmark deadline of December 2006, which was In an August 22, 2007

Iran not to extend deadline for Shell’s gas deal

TEHRAN, Jan. 1 (Xinhua) — An Iranian official said Tuesday Tehran will not extend the June-2008 deadline for oil giant Royal Dutch Shell to sign a major gas deal with the country, Iran’s English-language Press TV channel reported on its website. Ali Vakili, Managing Director of Iran’s Pars Oil and Gas Company, said the Anglo-Dutch […]

Venezuelan Oil Industry Shrinks By 5.3 Percent In 2007

Venezuela’s oil industry shrank by 5.3 percent in 2007, according to the nation’s Central Bank. In 2007 it contributed only $3.14 billion to the country’s gross domestic product. That was in sharp contrast to previous years when the oil industry yielded $3.3 billion (7.10 trillion bolivares) in 2006 and $3.38 billion (7.25 trillion bolivares) in […]

Why the era of cheap food is over

Food prices worldwide hit record highs in 2006, and all the signs are that they will go on rising this year, and for the foreseeable future. The era of cheap food, the experts say, is over and we are going to have to get used to it. This is easier said than done for millions […]

Some ethical investments

…Kunstler The next morning over coffee, my wife reads Kunstler and asks:

Kenya: Fuel and food shortages loom as shops remain closed

Kenyans could be in for tough times if the standoff over the presidential election results is not resolved soon as food and fuel shortages begin to bite. Yesterday, motorists and airlines were already feeling the effects of fuel shortages as oil companies suspended distribution of the commodity due to insecurity and violence. Shell Kenya had […]

Nigeria: Shell West Nigeria Output Drops By Extra 80,000 B/D

THE west base operations of the Anglo Dutch Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) which covers Delta State has suffered a drop of about 80,000 barrels per day in its maximum output, just as the company announces cost cutting measures to enable it remain afloat as the Niger Delta crisis takes toll on its operations. An […]

Iran reduces gas exports to Turkey after Turkmen cut

TEHRAN, Jan 1 (Reuters) – Iran has reduced natural gas exports to Turkey after Turkmenistan halted supplies to Iran, an Iranian energy official said on Tuesday, adding he expected Turkmen deliveries to be restored by the end of the week. An Iranian news agency, Fars, said Iran had slashed its daily sales to Turkey by […]

Myanmar Quashes Fuel Ration Cut Rumors

YANGON, Myanmar (AP) A report in the state-owned New Light of Myanmar on Tuesday said that rationing of gasoline, diesel and compressed natural gas will remain the same. As fuel prices increase worldwide, rumors have been rampant in Yangon that instead of increasing fuel prices, the government might reduce the ration for private-car owners to […]

Cost of crude oil ends year 57 percent higher

Observers see fuel continuing its unprecedented gains in 2008 NEW YORK – Oil prices ended the year near $96 a barrel, or 57 percent higher than where they began, and analysts expect rising demand and geopolitical instability to keep upward pressure on energy costs early in 2008. …Oil reached a trading record of $99.29 on […]

UK: Bus fares go up

Bus passengers are facing a fares increase to rival the price rises on train services. First, the biggest operator of bus services in the Bradford district, is putting up some fares by as much as 14 per cent from Sunday. The company says the increases are because of rising fuel costs. Bradford Telegraph and Argus

UK: Decrease in traffic due to fuel prices, says expert

AN UNEXPECTED fall in road traffic across Northern Ireland may have been because of high fuel prices, a road expert has said. Figures released in the Assembly show that traffic volumes on all classes of road fell in 2006 Responding to a question from East Antrim MLA Ken Robinson, Regional Development Minister Conor Murphy said […]

Bush signs Sudan divestment

US President George Bush has signed into a law a measure aimed at allowing states, local governments, mutual funds and pension funds to divest from Sudan businesses, particularly its oil sectors. Some 20 US states have initiated divestment efforts because of the conflict in Sudan’s Darfur region, which has taken some 200,000 lives and displaced […]

Bad microbes on the move

Since the 1950s, when scientists first identified the mosquito-borne tropical disease known as chikungunya, its reach has been limited to countries near the Indian Ocean. But in August, chikungunya broke out in Italy. Now World Health Organization officials are calling it the first example of a tropical disease, aided by global warming, causing an epidemic […]

British wildlife in steep decline as man-made activities take their toll

Several of Britain’s best-known animal species, ranging from the hedgehog to the harbour seal, are now suffering declines that require serious conservation action, according to a comprehensive report on the status of British mammals. The report, from the Mammals Trust UK, which is funded by the People’s Trust for Endangered Species, identifies an assortment of […]

In 2008, a 100 Percent Chance of Alarm

I’d like to wish you a happy New Year, but I’m afraid I have a different sort of prediction. You’re in for very bad weather. In 2008, your television will bring you image after frightening image of natural havoc linked to global warming. You will be told that such bizarre weather must be a sign […]

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