Turning physics on its ear

Has college dropout done the impossible and created a perpetual motion machine?

It’s a pivotal moment. The invention, at its very least, could moderately improve the efficiency of induction motors, used in everything from electric cars to ceiling fans. At best it means a way of tapping the mysterious powers of electromagnetic fields to produce more work out of less effort, seemingly creating electricity from nothing.

Toronto Star

Energy Lessons from South Africa

What do you do when you flip the light switch and nothing happens? You call the electric company and complain. But what do you do if the electric company tells you, “We have run out of electricity”? That is more or less what has happened in South Africa, which, despite the reputation of the continent […]

Limit on wheat prices raised

With wheat prices touching all-time highs, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission on Friday took steps to allow the daily limit on price moves to double, to 60 cents a bushel from 30 cents. Additionally, the limit will rise to 90 cents a bushel on the next day after a 60-cent limit is reached. The new […]

Has Earth entered a new epoch? What geologists think

The Anthropocene epoch would mark the period when humans became the predominant force over the Earth’s environment. Geologists wonder if they should add a new epoch to the geological time scale. They call it the Anthropocene Presenting that case in the February issue of GSA Today magazine, the team notes that “since the start of […]

Crisis Looms as Bitter Cold, Blackouts Hit Tajikistan

…With many Tajiks spending what little money they have on fuel to heat their homes, the country is about to face widespread food shortages, says the United Nation’s Zlatan Milisic. “Increased food prices, previous reduced harvests, very, very cold weather, and the energy crisis have all contributed to the fact that the people are not […]

Nigeria: Anger Over Shell’s Downsizing Plan

The management of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) is not comfortable with the ongoing restructuring at the Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria (SPDC). An NNPC official said yesterday that the corporation, as the principal partner with a 51 per cent stake in the NNPC/Shell/Agip/Elf joint venture arrangement, should be properly briefed before an […]

EU gas supplies at risk if Ukraine does not settle bill with Russia

Gas supplies to the EU could be at risk again next week after a warning from Russia that it would reduce the supply to Ukraine on Monday unless Kiev settled its debts. The Russian state energy firm Gazprom says Ukraine owes it $1.5bn ( Last week the Russian newspaper Noveya Gazeta claimed Rosukrenergo’s real owner […]

Fuel Prices Increase in Panama

Panama, Feb 8 (Prensa Latina) The combustibles most used by the Panamanian population – gasoline, diesel and propane went up in price again Friday, as per the government’s Hydrocarbon General Office that periodically revises prices, but “does not mandate” them for distributors. The previous readjustment was made before Carnival on February 1, when gasoline price […]

OPEC could ditch dollars for euros: chief

LONDON (AFP) – OPEC could switch the pricing of oil from dollars into euros within a decade, secretary general Abdullah al-Badri told a weekly magazine. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries could adopt the euro to combat the decline of the dollar, Badri told the Middle East Economic Digest (MEED), published in London. “Maybe […]

Following Two Paths to the Same Destination: Environmental Doom

Two lavish, cautionary nature documentaries go head to head on Sunday in a fight for the worried viewer. Their messages of ecological doom are similar, but their methods couldn The species that star in

Iran to privatize $90 bln of energy assets: report

DUBAI (Reuters) – Iran plans to privatize 47 firms in its energy sector worth $90 billion and set up a holding company for these assets which it will list on four international exchanges, a National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) executive said. The plan would see the oil and gas companies put under an umbrella group […]

Peak Oil Passnotes: Here Comes the Stag

High energy prices will not go away. Despite the fall in equity markets, despite the turmoil of debt and credit markets, despite the growing numbers of people thrown out of jobs. Despite the fact that data in the United States has been amazingly weak this week, with stock builds all over the place – including […]

Peak Oil Concerns Sail Safely Beneath the Radar

SOCORRO, New Mexico (STPNS) — When it takes a small university journalism project to uncover what is arguably the most critical challenge ever faced by industrial society you have Denial, with a capital The issue in question – peak oil – is not new, having been proposed as a theory in 1956 by Shell Oil […]

Richard Heinberg: Proportionality

There is a strange clause in the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) that applies to only one country That point is not decades in the future, it is fairly imminent. Then there is the problem of Climate Change. Canada is committed by treaty to reducing domestic emissions of carbon dioxide. But most of Canada

‘Peak oil’ theory: Keeping the oil flowing

Concerns about energy supplies have dominated newspaper headlines since the Russian-Ukrainian gas crisis of 2005. Yet are these concerns legitimate? The inter-relationship of consumer and producer states is a longstanding phenomenon, which historically overcame major obstacles, such as the East-West confrontation during the Cold War. For many observers, energy security — or insecurity — epitomises […]

Petro-Canada Considers Options for Quebec LNG Plant

(Bloomberg) — Petro-Canada is considering options for its planned natural-gas import terminal in Quebec after OAO Gazprom canceled a project to provide fuel for the facility from the Baltic Sea. “Yesterday, Gazprom announced they do not intend to go ahead with this project, so that’s something we had been working on from an option point […]

Meet the Weimar Dollar

Where is this $150,000,000,000.00 At the same time, in anticipation of this distribution of just printed cash, the price of oil on the commodities exchange promptly went up, to over $90/barrel. You can bet your Buick it will bust the $100/barrel mark before May, and gasoline at the pump will be $4/gallon just in time […]

Iran starts second atomic power plant – Tass

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Iran has started building a second atomic power plant in an oil-rich region near the border with Iraq, Iran’s Ambassador to Russia was quoted as saying on Friday by Itar-Tass news agency. Gholamreza Ansari said construction had started at Darkhovin in south-western Khuzestan province. Iran has said it would construct a 360 […]

Canada, Brazil lead oil output growth in Americas

CALGARY, Alberta (Reuters) – Booming investment in Canada’s oil sands and rising Brazilian crude production should more than make up for declines elsewhere in the Americas — good news for the United States as it tries to reduce its reliance on Middle East imports, a Reuters survey showed. The gains from northern Alberta’s vast tar-like […]

North Sea Brent Crude-Oil Daily Shipments to Fall 15% in March

(Bloomberg) — Daily shipments of North Sea Brent crude, part of the price benchmark for almost two-thirds of the world’s oil, will fall by about 15 percent in March. Tankers are set to load 157,346 barrels a day of Brent crude in March, down from 184,552 barrels a day scheduled for February, according to the […]

Spying against oil-rich Norway returns to Cold War levels after lull

OSLO, Norway: International espionage against oil- and technology-rich Norway is now back at Cold War levels, after spying dwindled following the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union, police intelligence said Friday. NATO-member Norway is a major exporter of oil and natural gas and shares land and sea borders in the Arctic with Russia. That includes […]

Energy: The $22 trillion question

Securing supplies, the boom in Wall Street interest, and what $100 oil means for the economy are all up for discussion at upcoming energy conference. NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — How safe are our oil supplies? Where will the new supplies come from? Have high oil prices killed the economy? Are speculative investors responsible for the […]

Venezuela oil minister denies $12 billion in assets frozen

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) – Venezuela’s oil minister denied today that the state oil company has had $12 billion in assets frozen by court orders obtained by Exxon Mobil. Rafael Ramirez tells reporters that the courts have frozen just $300 million in cash. He calls that a “transitory measure” while state oil company Petroleos de Venezuela […]

The Sun Also Sets

Climate Change: Not every scientist is part of Al Gore’s mythical “consensus.” Scientists worried about a new ice age seek funding to better observe something bigger than your SUV And they’re worried about global cooling, not warming. Kenneth Tapping, a solar researcher and project director for Canada’s National Research Council, is among those looking at […]

Mexico oil production decline to increase in 2010

LOS ANGELES, Feb. 7 — Mexico will face difficulties in producing crude oil over the coming 2 years, according to a media report, which claims that Cantarell and Ku-Maloob-Zaap (KMZ) fields will decline simultaneously in 2010. “As we move toward that scenario,” said El Financero newspaper, “Cantarell’s decline became more pronounced in 2007, when it […]

Deffeyes: The Second Great Depression

Yesterday, I was pumped up to vote in the California primary. When I moved to California to enjoy my grandchildren, I filled out a voter registration form. They must have tossed the forms in the wastebasket, because I was not registered to vote here yesterday. Here’s my revenge on the system: We are now entering […]

OPEC May Cut Output to Defend $80 Oil, Officials Say

(Bloomberg) — The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries may cut crude production when it meets next month to keep the price above $80 a barrel, oil ministry officials from four of the group’s nations said. OPEC would trim output if prices slip to $80, according to one delegate, while another said $70 would be unacceptable […]

Talk of ‘peak oil’ prompts land rush

Sky-high oil prices means a brisk business in the selling of oil and gas properties. Last year $43.2 billion worth of assets changed hands, up from $34.1 billion in 2006, according to Merrill Lynch Petrie Divestiture Advisors and JS Herold. This year has seen deals worth $3.6 billion — the same figure for all of […]

Oil Production: Will the Peak Hold?

The theory of peak oil remains as contentious as ever, and by definition is unresolved. The supporting evidence starts with the bull market in crude prices in recent years, inspiring some to proclaim that global production is about as high as it ever will be. The optimists counter that technology will save the day, through […]

Exxon wins $12b freeze on Venezuela assets

NEW YORK – Exxon Mobil Corp. has secured court orders to freeze more than $12 billion in worldwide assets of Venezuela’s state-owned oil company, as it prepares to dispute the nationalization of a multi-billion dollar oil project. The move limits Petroleos de Venezuela’s room to maneuver as it fends off challenges from major Western oil […]

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