When burning gas is good for the planet

Rural families can slash their energy costs, improve their health and help preserve local forests by harvesting natural gas from rotting manure, researchers argue. They say the use of biogas plants, which store the decomposing manure and capture the natural gas it releases, could improve rural farmers’ livelihoods, while protecting the environment. … Many families […]

Can we copy the way leaves turn sunshine into energy?

Scientists at Bangor University are trying to copy the way that leaves create energy. As leaves, nature’s most efficient form of solar energy production, are bursting into view all around us, the Bangor scientists are investigating whether it is possible to replicate plant life’s ability to turn sunlight into energy.“We aim to test the feasibility […]

China sets energy-saving lightbulb target for provincial areas

China has ordered provincial governments to replace 50 million traditional incandescent lamps with heavily-subsidized energy-efficient lights this year. In a circular published on its website on Wednesday, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) set a three-million target for each of the following provincial areas: Hebei, Shanxi, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Shandong, Henan and Guangdong. Beijing, Jilin, […]

Coal, Coke to Rise to Record on Chinese Demand, Analysts Say

Chinese demand for metallurgical coal and coke will drive a record-setting price rally for the raw materials used to make steel, consultants and analysts say. Coke, used in blast furnaces to make pig iron, may rise to $650 a metric ton on a free-on-board basis from China, the world’s biggest shipper of the raw material, […]

Sweet sorghum promoted as ‘’smart” biofuel

A corn-like plant that can grow as high as an elephant’s eye on some of Earth’s driest farmland shows promise as a “smart” biofuel that won’t cut into world food supplies, an agriculture expert said on Monday. Sweet sorghum, used in the United States mostly as animal feed, offers a 10-foot (3 meter) stalk that […]

Honda shows off improvements in fuel cell

New technology takes less space, leaves more room for vehicle’s interior TOKYO – Honda’s new hydrogen-powered vehicle, set for leasing within a few months, radically reduced the sizes of its fuel cell and motor. leaving the same interior space as a regular car, engineers said Tuesday. That’s a vast improvement from the company’s first such […]

DOE report: Wind power can provide 20% of US power needs by 2030

A new forecasting report from the U.S. Department of Energy asserts wind power could generate 20 percent of U.S. electricity needs by 2030. The scenario, “while ambitious, could be feasible if the significant challenges” identified in the report are overcome.More than 300 gigawatts of wind power capacity would be needed to meet the DOE’s 20 […]

Shell, E.ON Stall Offshore Wind Projects EU Needs

Equipment shortages and rising costs are stalling as much as $120 billion of offshore projects the European Union and other governments are counting on to reduce the use of fossil fuels and combat global warming. Royal Dutch Shell Plc on May 1 said it planned to sell its 33 percent stake in the London Array, […]

Using Fruit To Aid The Sun’s Work

Blackberries, blueberries, oranges and grapes—chemistry students at Rowan University (Glassboro, N.J.) are loading up on their fruits these days, but it has nothing to do with the food pyramid. The students (John Manganaro, 21, a senior chemistry major from Monroeville; Dave Lawrence, 23, a junior chemistry and physics major from Jackson; Anthony Antonelli, 21, a […]

Russia’s Sechin upbeat on oil output outlook-report

Russia’s newly appointed vice-premier and the chairman of the country’s largest oil firm Rosneft, Igor Sechin, said on Wednesday oil output in Russia was likely to rise this year despite gloomy experts’ forecasts. “Let’s see and wait until the end of the year. I am sure there will be an increase in production, not decline,” […]

GM’s sales focus to get ‘dramatic redesign’ as gas soars

After months of holding out hope that U.S. truck sales would rebound, General Motors Corp. is accepting that the market shift toward more fuel-friendly vehicles isn’t likely to end. The automaker, which has made billions off its hefty trucks and SUVs over the years, said Tuesday that it’s been over-promoting its largest vehicles and plans […]

Oil Refiners See Profits Sink as Consumption Falls

While drivers are facing sticker shock at the pump these days, here is a bigger shock: high prices are putting a strain on oil refiners. After last year Experts say the refiners are caught in a double bind. The price of their raw material, oil, is rising because of strong global demand. At the same […]

Oil industry costs continue steep rise: CERA

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Costs to tap into new oil and gas projects escalated about 6 percent globally over the past 6 months and the climb can be expected to steepen on soaring prices for steel and other raw materials, according to a study released on Wednesday. Cambridge Energy Research Associates (CERA), a unit of […]

Wave/Geothermal – Energy Return on Investment (EROI) Pt 5

This is the final piece of a series on Energy Return on Investment from Professor Charles Hall’s EROI Workshop at SUNY-Syracuse. Today’s papers outline the energy technologies of wave and geothermal power, concluding a 5 part series that has looked at Why EROI Matters, Natural Gas and Imported Oil, Tar Sands and Shale Oil, Nuclear […]

JPMorgan to start physical oil trade, eyes $200 oil

JPMorgan Chase & Co will begin trading physical oil by year-end, increasing its exposure in a market that could rise to $200 a barrel, the bank’s global head of commodities said on Wednesday. The bank plans to expand in commodities and energy trading, Blythe Masters said, despite expectations of job cuts in other areas as […]

China’s weakness the greater danger

China as an “emerging superpower” makes for a compelling story line in the media. It is reinforced by the propaganda image that the current Chinese leadership would like us to accept. But the reality is quite different. Although recent events in Tibet and western China, and the central government’s response, appear to be generating pro-government […]

Oil Wars

Despite all the recent talk of soaring prices at the pump, political and economic pundits rarely mention the impact of war and political instability in the Middle East on the skyrocketing price of oil. There is strong evidence, however, that the heightened price of energy is a direct consequence of the destabilizing wars and geopolitical […]

Briefing: Oil

We rely on it to power our everyday lives, and it drives the economy worldwide, but oil faces an uncertain future in the 21st century. Black gold is increasingly expensive, environmentally damaging and, in the view of some experts, increasingly scarce. How much oil do we currently consume? In short, a lot. We get through […]

Aging steel oil pipelines latest threat facing United States

The fire floods from the subprime lending volcano have temporarily been contained thanks to U.S. Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke who rained green showers of dollars on these deadly streams, helping the lenders but not the borrowers, but in doing so merely postponed the day of reckoning, as even greater dangers are ready to emerge […]

Oil: why it

…As soon as people say, But it won

The New Peak Oil: Peak Demand

…Lost in the bullish talk of $200 oil was Goldman’s notes about demand destruction. The same report which predicted the super-spike also said that by 2012 the price of crude oil would fall to $75 normalized. Goldman expects the current euphoria to lead to a spike in crude oil prices, which will spur new supply […]

Iran Expects OPEC Supply Cut as Heavy Oil Demand Weak

(Bloomberg) — The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries will eventually have to cut production of lower-quality crude as warmer weather in the northern hemisphere reduces demand for oil, Iran’s OPEC governor said today. “If OPEC isn’t cutting production officially, they will do it in secret because the price is so high” and supply cuts would […]

China quake hits gas output, oil impact mininal

BEIJING (Reuters) – A powerful earthquake that hit southwest China on Monday has shut in some 3 percent of China’s gas output, but the impact on oil demand is marginal due to the loss of power, companies said on Wednesday. Quake-striken Sichuan, largely a rural province that accounts for 4 percent of China’s economy, is […]

NOAA chief urges creating National Climate Service

WASHINGTON – With concerns about global warming rising along with the planet’s temperature, the head of the federal agency in change of weather research and forecasting is proposing creation of a new National Climate Service. Conrad C. Lautenbacher said Tuesday a climate service within his agency could combine data from the research and analysis work […]

High fuel prices curtail RV trips

Kutztown, Pa. – Inside the door of their 36-foot-long RV is a map that shows the route Bob and Linda Timko have pulled their “fifth wheel” But they can’t imagine giving up the RV lifestyle: a sense of freedom and adventure mixed with close friendships developed over years of traveling around the country. They don’t […]

UK inflation woe ’set to worsen’

The outlook for UK inflation has “deteriorated markedly”, the Bank of England governor Mervyn King has said. Government figures on Tuesday showed that the rate of consumer inflation reached its highest level in 13 months driven by high food and fuel costs. Mr King said inflation would probably stay above the government target of 2% […]

High oil prices rekindle oil production in Mo.

DEERFIELD, Mo. – Pumpjacks, the oil rigs that resemble those thirsty bird toys, are going up in Missouri for the first time in two decades, the latest region to revive a long-faded industry as crude nears $130 a barrel. The sky-high price of oil has turned extraction methods recently considered cost-prohibitive into cash cows. Bright […]

Russia needs new oil and gas shipping fleet -Putin

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin urged his government on Tuesday to give Russia a modern fleet of ships for its flourishing energy sector and named his close ally to manage the multi-billion-dollar project. “The principal direction is the creation of a complete line of ships and equipment to extract and transport oil and gas from offshore […]

Ships bring water to parched Barcelona

Climb down the stony banks of the massive Sau reservoir in the mountains above Barcelona and you get a real sense of why this famous city is so short of water that it’s resorted to bringing in emergency supplies – by ship. Nestling in a deep valley of stunning cliffs and forests, this vital source […]

Crude Oil: how high can it go?

19th century whaling is today one of the best examples we have of a complete cycle of exploitation of a natural resource. Production of whale bone and whale oil both followed Hubbert style “bell shaped” curves, peaking in the mid-19th century. In both cases their peak and decline triggered near exponential price rises. It seems […]

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