Peak oil denial

Just as climate change attracts furious denials, so does peak oil – as the comments on my recent, evidently somewhat contentious, post indicate. “Running out? We’re swimming in the stuff!” the deniers say cheerfully. Their most common argument is this: that higher oil prices will make it more affordable to drill less accessible deposits, so […]

Sumatran deforestation driving climate change and species extinction – report

The destruction of Sumatra’s natural forests is accelerating global climate change and pushing endangered species closer to extinction, a new report warned today. A study from WWF claims that converting the forests and peat swamps of just one Sumatran province into plantations for pulpwood and palm oil is generating more annual greenhouse gas emissions than […]

Turkey offers oil pipe lifeline to India

Turkey has offered – during a visit by Foreign Minister Ali Babacan to India this month – to facilitate the supply of oil to India from Central Asia via Israel through a combination of overland pipelines and super tankers. Under the plan, oil transported through Turkey’s extensive pipeline infrastructure from Central Asia to its Ceyhan […]

Russia gas pact energizes Iran

While Washington, facing European Union discomfort and frank opposition from Russia and China, remains obsessed with another round of United Nations sanctions against Iran, the facts on the ground spell an overwhelming “expansion of mutual cooperation” in the energy sector between Iran and Russia. Iran holds the world’s second-largest proven natural gas reserves, behind only […]

Biofuel demand to push agri commodities prices higher

Strong demand for biofuels will be the catalyst driving prices of agriculture commodities higher. Singapore-based Frost & Sullivan director, global consulting Chris de Lavigne said the global supply tightness in oilseeds this year would take years to balance while the world market continued to look for ways to grow more crops, especially for bioethanol production. […]

A recipe for inflation

In Pakistan, the prohibitive price of tea became an election issue; the Chinese Communist Party’s politburo frets about how long it may be before its poor can afford to eat pork again; Mexican housewives have rioted to protest the shortage of affordable tortilla; Swaziland is facing famine, even as it exports cassava to feed the […]

China may hit energy use target for 1st time in 08

China could meet its own annual targets for energy efficiency for the first time this year, but will still have problems meeting its goals of reducing emissions, according to a state-backed think tank. China in 2006 set a goal of cutting energy intensity, or the amount of energy needed to produce $1 in economic growth, […]

Power, coal shortages likely to re-emerge this year – China Electricity Council

‘Systemic’ problems in the supply, delivery and pricing of power coal will lead to further electricity shortages this year, said Wang Yonggan, vice-general secretary of the China Electricity Council, speaking at a conference. Wang, cited in a report in the official China Electric Power News, said problems were already evident before the temperatures plunged to […]

Gazprom creates new energy giant

Gazprom is joining forces with Russia’s biggest coalminer to create a new energy giant, combining electricity generation and coal resources. The joint venture with Siberian Coal Energy Company (Suek) will comprise power generation assets recently acquired by Gazprom and Suek as well as the miner’s vast coal assets, which supply a third of the coal […]

EasyJet Faces `Pressure’ From Oil Prices, Chief Harrison Says

EasyJet Plc, Europe’s second-biggest low-cost airline, is under pressure from rising oil costs and is already buying contracts for jet fuel at “a much higher” price for next year, Chief Executive Officer Andy Harrison said. “If oil prices remain at the current level, it’s going to put enormous pressure on all airlines,” Harrison said in […]

The Rising Cost of Food: Shoppers warned bigger bills on way

When William Lapp, of US-based consultancy Advanced Economic Solutions, took the podium at the annual US Department of Agriculture conference, the sentiment was already bullish for agricultural commodities boosted by demand from the biofuels industry and emerging countries. He added a twist – that rising agricultural raw material prices would translate this year into sharply […]

Oil Hits a High; Some See $4 Gas by Spring

Gasoline prices, which for months lagged the big run-up in the price of oil, are suddenly rising quickly, with some experts fearing they could hit $4 a gallon by spring. Diesel is hitting new records daily and oil closed at an all-time high on Tuesday of $100.88 a barrel. The increases could not come at […]

Oil industry freed from grip of jailed ‘master of arms’

The voice at the end of the crackling mobile phone line was that of a confident, well- educated man speaking in the clipped accent spoken by much of the elite in English-speaking Africa. But Henry Okah, who this month was transferred to a detention centre in Nigeria from Angola, where he was arrested in September, […]

Which orange juice should I buy?

Your daily breakfast OJ might not be as healthy for the planet as it is for you DRINKING 170 litres of water with breakfast would be ridiculous. You’d have your legs crossed all the way to work, which would be particularly problematic if you were doing the right thing by walking. But that’s the amount […]

Alaska town sues over global warming

ANCHORAGE (AP) Kivalina is a traditional Inupiat Eskimo village of about 390 people about 625 miles northwest of Anchorage. It is built on an 8-mile barrier reef between the Chukchi Sea and Kivalina River. Sea ice traditionally protected the community, whose economy is based in part on salmon fishing plus subsistence hunting of whale, seal, […]

Worries grow for worse ’stagflation’

WASHINGTON (AP) – It’s a toxic economic mix the nation hasn’t seen in three decades: Prices are speeding upward at the fastest pace in a quarter century, even as the economy loses steam. Economists call the disease “stagflation,” and they’re worried it might be coming back. Already, paychecks aren’t stretching as far, and jobs are […]

Oil prices close at new high above $100

NEW YORK – Oil futures surged to close at a new record Tuesday as traders focused on supply concerns and a bullish stock market rather than renewed signs of a shaky U.S. economy. Crossing the psychologically significant $100 mark once again “You see additional buying among people who think they’re missing something,” he said. “Any […]

Massive power outage hits Central and South Florida

MIAMI, Florida (CNN) — Massive power outages struck Florida on Tuesday afternoon, with power reported out from Miami to Palm Beach County, police and utility officials said. About 4.4 million customers across South Florida were affected, Florida Power and Light officials said. The outage struck shortly after 1 p.m., as scattered thunderstorms passed through the […]

Gazprom Threatens to Cut Ukraine Gas Supplies March 3

(Bloomberg) — OAO Gazprom, Russia’s natural-gas exporter, threatened to cut supplies of the fuel to Ukraine March 3 if an accord on the repayment of debt isn’t signed by next week. State-run Gazprom will reduce deliveries by 25 percent at 10 a.m. that day if Ukraine doesn’t sign an agreement reached Feb. 12 on debt […]

Researchers say bugs could ease famine

CHIANG MAI, Thailand The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization estimates 1,400 species of insects and worms are eaten in almost 90 countries in Africa, Latin America and Asia. Researchers at the conference detailed how crickets and silk worms are eaten in Thailand, grubs and grasshoppers in Africa and ants in South America. “In certain places […]

U.S. govt has no plans to stop adding emergency oil

WASHINGTON, Feb 26 (Reuters) – Despite record crude oil prices above $100 a barrel, the U.S. Energy Department told Congress on Tuesday it had no plans to stop adding about 70,000 barrels per day of oil to America’s emergency oil stockpile. Katharine Fredriksen, who heads the department’s Office of Policy and International Affairs, told the […]

Oil prices and the dollar

The relationship between oil and the US dollar has been at the heart of the way international economic relations have been organised for more than half a century. International capitalism has relied on the US dollar as the basic reserve currency, and has therefore granted it an essential degree of stability for several decades despite […]

UK: Bank warns of more economic risks

The Bank of England’s deputy governor has said the outlook for the UK economy in 2008 has “changed dramatically”. Rachel Lomax said there was uncertainty over the full impact of “the largest ever peacetime liquidity crisis”. …The other major economic concern Ms Lomax identified was rising inflation. Higher utility bills are set to push up […]

Opec to shun increase as US slows

A combination of economic slowdown in the United States and a seasonal fall in consumption will hit oil demand and Opec will not increase output when it meets next week, the producer group’s president said on Tuesday. ‘I can tell you they are not going to increase production because there are plenty of stocks,’ OPEC […]

Smart ForTwo smart for few

Daimler’s tiny city car turns heads, but it has more than its share of problems. If you’re one of the first people in line to get a new Smart ForTwo, the ultra-super-teeny car from Daimler, give yourself some extra time to get places. I speak from experience. It’s not that the car is slow. The […]

Ice melt means spike in CG Arctic operations

Coast Guard officials say they have no official opinion about the human role in global warming Coast Guardsmen aren

Where Will We Find The Next Generation Of Engineers?

A new study that examines the number of engineering graduates coming out of our nation’s engineering schools reveals a mixed picture of how prepared each state is for meeting the need for high-tech workers in the coming years. “Over the past 20 years, the number of students earning bachelors degrees in engineering has declined by […]

Crisis in Mexico

The perfect storm for social upheaval is now brewing in MexicoThe second front is to the north. As the U.S. economy has slowed so have remittances from the United States to Mexico. The housing crunch has disproportionately affected Mexican labor (both legal and illegal). As U.S. construction, landscaping, remodeling, and other housing-related jobs have evaporated […]

The Cogeneration Stopgap

The prospect of going through a cold winter with inadequate heat is a real one. More and more Americans are putting their winter heating fuel on credit, increasing their level of debt and the burden of servicing it. This cannot continue indefinitely. When the ARM resets or the credit cards max out, the whole house […]

Are the days of easy-to-reach oil at an end?

Apart from a new price high, this week has been more of the same – oil prices have been high, and boy, are they looking to stay that way. But what people are talking about now is the one factor that may keep those prices in place. And the words of the day are ‘peak’ […]

« Previous Page — Next Page »

LATEST NEWS HEADLINES

• Why the IEA is Wrong About Peak Oil Demand
• Did we inadvertently speed global warming?  
• Venezuela’s Oil Monopoly Eases
• Why Germany is Choosing Natural Gas Over Nuclear Power
• U.S. coal-fired electricity generation decreased in 2022 and 2023

• America Cracks Down on Methane Emissions from Oil and Gas Facilities
• Meet America’s Newest Oil Trader Extraordinaire: Joe Biden
• Is It Time To Refill America’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve?
• Oil prices set to end year 10% lower as demand concerns snap winning streak
• What’s Driving America’s New Oil and Gas Boom?
• China’s peak oil demand bombshell eviscerates Danielle Smith’s energy strategy