World’s wildlife and environment already hit by climate change

Global warming is disrupting wildlife and the environment on every continent, according to an unprecedented study that reveals the extent to which climate change is already affecting the world’s ecosystems. Scientists examined published reports dating back to 1970 and found that at least 90% of environmental damage and disruption around the world could be explained […]

Soaring fuel costs are devastating airlines industry

Skyrocketing fuel costs have put several airlines out of business, the latest Mesa Air’s Air Midwest, and the worst could be yet to come. David Castelvetter with the Air Transport Association says the current situation for airlines is as bad as it was following the 9-11 attacks in 2001 and that it could turn out […]

Mexican tortilla prices ‘up 18%’

The price of tortillas, a staple food in Mexico, are set to rise 18% in the next few weeks, an industry group says. … The National Chamber for the Tortilla and Dough Industry told Reuters that prices would rise from 8.5 pesos (42 pence) a kilo now to 10 pesos in June. The government said […]

Record Fuel Prices Spur Sales of Gas Cap Locks

Soaring gas pump prices are fueling an epidemic of gas-tank siphon thieves – and triggering a boom for locking gas caps to thwart them. With gas heading toward the $5-a-gallon mark a surge in gas thefts from parked cars is the latest energy crisis to hit consumers, with widespread police reports coast to coast of […]

Celebrate clean coal, come on!

The coal industry has turned up the heat on its ad campaign and apparently McCain, Clinton and Obama are buying. In one TV commercial, Kool and the Gang warble their celebration of good times because coal, yes, coal, makes the party possible in America. In another, white and black, young and old, male and female, […]

PetroChina may scrap Sichuan refinery plan after quake

BEIJING (Reuters) – PetroChina is reconsidering its plan to build a $5.7 billion refinery and petrochemical complex in Sichuan province after a strong earthquake hit the region this week, a company executive said on Thursday. The 7.9-magnitude quake on Monday destroyed many buildings, disrupted transport and communication lines as well as fuel and power supplies […]

OPEC trims 2008 global oil demand forecast

LONDON World oil demand will rise by 1.16 million barrels per day (bpd) this year led by Asia, the Middle East and Latin America, 40,000 bpd less than the previous forecast, OPEC said in its Monthly Oil Market for May. The report by OPEC’s economists underlines the group’s view that factors beyond oil supply and […]

Peak-oil spike reshapes the suburbs

The reality of peak oil will see properties classified into two types in the near future, according to Simon Fraser University professor Anthony Perl. One will be properties from which owners can get to work, leisure activities, and services predominantly by car. The other offers alternatives to the automobile such as public transit, biking, and […]

Running Out of History

A report from the Bureau of Meteorology in Australia makes clear that, despite recent heavy rains in the eastern Australian breadbasket, years of above normal rainfall would be needed “to remove the very long-term [water] deficits” in the region. The report then adds this ominous note: “The combination of record heat and widespread drought during […]

Naimi Counters Peak Oil Theorists, Says World Reserves Doubled

(Bloomberg) — Saudi Arabian Oil Minister Ali al- Naimi said global crude oil reserves have doubled since 1980, countering analysts who predict a supply shortage. Oil prices and other commodity markets are “becoming increasingly more interconnected with the financial markets where rapid developments in the latter have intensified oil price volatility,” he said in a […]

Bank of England warns ‘the good times are over’

Britons face real cut in the standard of living The good times are gone and there is now a real risk of recession, the Bank of England warned yesterday. Families face a five-pronged assault on their finances, Governor Mervyn King said in his bleakest assessment yet of the state of the country. In his quarterly […]

How humans are putting the planet in peril

Man-made global warming is producing significant change on Earth, according to a study that has put together decades of data to reveal changes that range from the loss of ice sheets to the collapse of wildlife populations. The conclusions of the study are “extremely robust”, say commentators, and go further than the most recent Intergovernmental […]

Hydrogen Fuel from Formic Acid

New research shows that formic acid could be used as a safe, easy-to-transport source of hydrogen for fuel cells. Matthias Beller and his colleagues at the Leibniz Institute of Catalysis, in Rostock, Germany, have found a way to convert formic acid, a common preservative and antibacterial agent, into hydrogen gas at low temperatures. While hydrogen […]

FG, Shell reach crucial stage in funding for oil production

A senior executive underlined ShellBusinessDay

Iraq upgrading more refineries

The Iraqi Oil Ministry has concluded a contract with a U.S. company, Colorado Industrial Construction Services Co., to modernize the refinery in the southern city of Najaf. Under the $85 million contract, Colorado Industrial would help increase refinery capacity from 20,000 to 30,000 barrels of oil per day. The Najaf refinery was constructed in October […]

Venezuela’s Chavez Says Attack by U.S. Would Cause $500 Oil

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, whose country is the biggest oil exporter in the Americas, said crude oil would rise to “$400 or $500 a barrel” in the case of a U.S. attack. The reactivation of the U.S. Fourth Fleet in the Caribbean on July 1 and a possible U.S. base on the Guajira Peninsula, which […]

U.S. to list polar bears as threatened species

The U.S. government will list the polar bear as threatened under the Endangered Species Act, making it the first animal to win protections because of global warming. The Arctic sea ice is vital to the bear’s survival, its habitat has dramatically melted, and computer models show that the pack ice is likely to continue shrinking […]

Japan facing inflation crisis

Inflation might be of emerging concern to the US, but in Japan it’s a real problem now, which shows no sign of slowing. Figures released yesterday show that Japan’s wholesale prices again rose strongly in April, approaching the 30 year highs seen in March. The Bank of Japan said producer prices rose at an annual […]

Norway trims 2008 oil and gas output forecast

Norway’s Labour-led government trimmed its 2008 oil production forecast to 2.4 million barrels per day from a previous projection of 2.5 million bpd, according to the revised budget for this year published on Thursday. “Oil production is expected to continue to decrease gradually in the coming years,” the Petroleum and Energy Ministry said in a […]

Petrobras Hires 80% of Deepwater Drilling Rigs, Drives Up Costs

Petroleo Brasileiro SA, Brazil’s state-controlled oil company, leased about 80 percent of the world’s deepest-drilling offshore rigs to explore prospects including the Western Hemisphere’s biggest discovery in decades. Petrobras, as the Rio de Janeiro-based company is known, is hiring rigs that can drill in at least 3,000 meters (9,800 feet) of water, Chief Executive Officer […]

Sechin Looks to Raise Oil Output

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and his new energy policy director, Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin, went on the offensive Wednesday to battle claims that the country’s oil production was in decline. “You think oil production is declining?” Sechin said in an interview with Interfax, a first for the secretive former Kremlin insider who has been […]

Saudi-US relations hit rocky road

One woman laughed sarcastically into the phone. Another rolled her eyes and said she would TheNational

Why does Brazil want to join Opec?

What is it about oil that makes Brazilian officials so talkative? Last month, the country’s oil regulator provoked uproar when he claimed, very speculatively, that the recently discovered Carioca field might hold a massive 33 billion barrels of recoverable oil reserves. Now, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Brazil’s president, speaking to Der Spiegel, says he […]

Don’t hope for gas prices to drop, says oil economist

Most drivers think $4 per gallon of gasoline is too much to pay in a weakening economy. Sales for sport-utility vehicles are plummeting. And people are actually driving less. But don’t expect prices to fall anytime soon despite slackening domestic demand, American Petroleum Institute chief economist John Felmy said Wednesday. The API, based in Washington, […]

South Africa’s Eskom Misses Winter Coal Stocks Target

Eskom Holdings Ltd., South Africa’s state-owned electricity utility, missed a target for increasing coal stocks, raising the risk of power cuts with the onset of winter in the southern hemisphere. Stocks have climbed to 16.2 days of consumption, after dropping below 10 days in January when heavy rain disrupted mine output, Andrew Etzinger, demand-side general […]

New World Record For Efficiency For Solar Cells

Physicist Bram Hoex and colleagues at Eindhoven University of Technology, together with the Fraunhofer Institute in Germany, have improved the efficiency of an important type of solar cell from 21.9 to 23.2 percent (a relative improvement of 6 per cent). This new world record is being presented on Wednesday May 14 at a major solar […]

Solar bra brings conservation closer to the heart

Ladies, take your battle for the environment a little closer to your heart with a solar-powered bra that can generate enough electric energy to charge a mobile phone or an iPod. Lingerie maker Triumph International Japan Ltd unveiled its environmentally friendly, and green colored, “Solar Power Bra” on Wednesday in Tokyo which features a solar […]

T. Boone Pickens orders 667 GE turbines for wind farm in Panhandle

T. Boone Pickens has placed a massive order for wind turbines with General Electric, a big step toward building the world’s largest wind farm in the Panhandle. Mr. Pickens’ company, Mesa Power LLP, plans to announce today that it ordered 667 turbines from GE for about $2 billion. That will produce 1,000 megawatts of power, […]

Israel: On the roof, wind turbines to bring power

Tel Aviv residents are likely to encounter a new sight on local rooftops in the coming years. No longer will there just be the walls and fences on high-rise rooftops that currently surround the various devices and machinery, but there will also be wind turbine farms that will supply part of the building’s electricity needs. […]

The Age of Aquarius

I wonder if much of the debate about the run-up of oil prices could be resolved simply by looking at this graph. Graph: World Oil Supply & Demand (all liquids) from 2003-2007 Source: EIA supply and demand data As you can see, world oil demand surpassed the available supply in 2007. Demand rose 7.51% during […]

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