Think gas hurts? Try diesel

Record-high diesel prices have cut into truckers’ profits, and members of the House Transportation Committee are searching for solutions. NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — Rising diesel prices have slammed the trucking industry and hurt independent truck drivers, and Congress is looking for solutions. Members of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure on Tuesday took up […]

Monbiot: If there is a God, he’s not green. Otherwise airships would take off

Many will cite the Hindenburg, but flying without harming the planet is possible. These craft are worth developing Of all the charges levelled against environmentalists, perhaps the most unfair is the accusation that we are opposed to technological change. Most of the greens I know are fascinated by gadgets (sometimes to the exclusion of better […]

Mexico’s Calderon less popular amid energy debate

MEXICO CITY, May 5 (Reuters) – Mexican President Felipe Calderon’s popularity has slipped in the past two months amid fierce opposition by leftists to his energy reform proposal. Approval for Calderon, who narrowly won the 2006 presidential election over leftist candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, has fallen to 62 percent from 66 percent in February, […]

A Visit to the New Choren BTL Plant

I have written several essays describing biomass gasification. However, let’s review. Biomass gasification takes biomass – ideally some sort of waste (and I understand that the term “waste” can be contentious) plant material – and partially burns the material with a controlled amount of oxygen to produce carbon monoxide and hydrogen (synthesis gas, or syngas). […]

Marshall Plan for ‘rusty’ infrastructure required within a year: Simmons

Some $50-100 trillion will be needed over the next seven years to rebuild the world energy industry He told delegates at OTC:

Oil hits record above $121 on supply woes

VIENNA, Austria – Oil futures surpassed $121 a barrel for the first time Tuesday, the spike fueled by worries about threats to supply and a weakening of the U.S. dollar. The surge in oil prices was also fueled by hopes that the U.S. economy will be spared a sharp downturn after the release of data […]

Hubbert’s Pimple

When did Shell executives first learn that the world would one day face the moment of peak oil, known to many as HubbertThe story begins in 1950s when the United States was the world

Oil At $150-$200/Bbl Possible In Next 6-24 Months – Goldman

LONDON -(Dow Jones)- An oil price “super-spike” to $150-$200 a barrel is increasingly likely within the next six to 24 months, Goldman Sachs says. “We believe the current energy crisis may be coming to a head, as a lack of adequate supply growth is becoming apparent and resulting in needed demand rationing in the OECD […]

Big Oil

Listen to almost any politician, President Bush included, and you These credits are necessary to attract new investment in renewable sources until they become competitive with cheaper, dirtier fuels like coal. When the credits disappear, investments shrivel. The production tax credit for wind energy has been allowed to expire three times. In each case, new […]

$5 gas near, 78% of Americans say

A vast majority of consumers expect to shell out $4 and even $5 a gallon this year, according to a recent poll. NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — Americans are already paying through the nose for gasoline, and they think it’s only going to get worse. A CNN/Opinion Research Corp. poll found that 94% of respondents expect […]

Tracking Saudi Oil From Space

At a time of high anxiety over soaring fuel prices and scarce supplies, oil analysts are resorting to satellite imagery to crack one of the industry’s biggest unknowns — whether Saudi Arabia’s massive Ghawar field is slipping into depleted old age. Saudi Arabia has long contended that its famed Ghawar field, responsible for around 7% […]

Saudi Aramco Widens Heavy Crude Discounts for Asia

Saudi Aramco, the world’s largest state oil company, increased the discount on prices of heavy crudes it will export to Asia in June to a record after the refining profit for fuel oil declined. Dhahran, Saudi Arabia-based Aramco widened discounts for its Arab Heavy grade by 45 cents to minus $7.45 a barrel and Arab […]

Oil Industry Shifts Focus to Angola

If there were doubts about the shift in global oil industry focus on the new frontier for oil exploration and production on the African continent, the ongoing Offshore Technology Conference in Houston, Texas cleared the air when its opening session centred on Angola and not Nigeria fraught with oil shut-ins, kidnappings, arson and the activities […]

Indonesia considers quitting OPEC

JAKARTA, Indonesia – President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said Tuesday that Indonesia was considering quitting the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries because it was no longer a net oil exporter. “Our wells are drying,” he said in the nationally televised speech, adding that the country needed to concentrate on increasing domestic production, which has dropped to […]

Oil hits new London record price

The price of a barrel of oil has passed $119 for the first time in London. Brent crude reached $119.07 a barrel. US light, sweet crude also hit a new high of $120.93. Oil has been rising because of optimism about the US economy, as well as fears over possible supply disruptions in Nigeria and […]

Growth forecast for UK economy will be hit by rising oil price

The post-credit crisis economic recovery could be “snuffed out” by high oil prices, experts have warned, as the price of crude broke through the $120 mark for the first time. The influential Ernst & Young Item Club warned that rising oil prices may force it to slash its growth forecast for next year dramatically, and […]

Airline emissions ‘far higher than previous estimates’

The aviation industry’s failure to curb its soaring carbon emissions could lead to the “worst case scenario” for climate change, as envisaged by the United Nations. An unpublished study by the world’s leading experts has revealed that airlines are pumping 20 per cent more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere than estimates suggest, with total emissions […]

Bush: No quick fix for gas prices

WASHINGTON – President Bush said Monday that he’s troubled by rising gas prices and will take a look at proposals to relieve the crisis but warned that there is no quick fix. “It’s been a while in the making and it’s going to be a while that we solve the problem,” Bush said in an […]

Fermi’s Paradox and the End of Cheap Oil

I’ve been thinking of Fermi’s Paradox since I saw the documentary film A Crude Awakening: The Oil Crash, with its dire predictions of the wars and disruptions that could occur on the downward slope of the Hubbert curve. While I remain an optimist about the power of human ingenuity to surmount enormous challenges, I have […]

The End of Cheap Oil is Now

Never underestimate a politician’s ability to pander. With gasoline prices nearing $4 a gallon and the summer driving season approaching, presidential candidates John McCain and Hillary Clinton have responded by calling for a consumer holiday from the federal gasoline tax. But both McCain and Clinton must know that blaming taxes for soaring gasoline prices is […]

12 steps of Peak Oil

The 12 Steps of Oil Anon (With a tip o 2. Came to believe that a dedication to the facts about peak oil could restore us to sanity. 3. Made a decision to dedicate our will and our lives to the creation of a new and better way of living. 4. Made a searching and […]

Peak Oil and the ‘08 Election

The headlines this month have been taken by the most insidious of America’s vices: black gold. Oil futures are now projected to exceed $100 a barrel until 2016, and continue to sit comfortably near the $115-120 a barrel mark. Many different causes have been blamed for rising prices at the pump, ranging from massive speculation […]

Public Bike Programs Surging

A surge in public bicycle rental programs is giving cycling a shot in the arm in a growing number of cities around the world. Copenhagen, Berlin, and other municipalities in Europe have offered public bikes for several years, but Paris took the concept to a new level last year when it made 20,000 bikes available […]

Bush to discuss oil prices on trip to Saudi Arabia

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President George W. Bush is expected to talk with Saudi Arabian officials about the effect record oil prices are having on the U.S. economy during his upcoming visit to the kingdom, the White House said on Monday. “Whenever the president has discussions with leaders in the region he talks about the impact […]

Mexico key opposition party criticizes oil plan

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – A key Mexican opposition party lawmaker has recommended rejecting part of President Felipe Calderon’s energy reform proposal that would allow private companies to own refineries and pipelines. The opposition Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, has said it likes the general look of Calderon’s plan to boost the sagging energy sector and […]

Local Food Is In, And State Farmers Reap The Bounty

Restaurants wanting to buy their salad greens from Urban Oaks Organic Farm in New Britain are likely to end up on a waiting list. “For us, the battle is just trying to keep up with the demand,” said Ken Zaborowski, a manager at Urban Oaks. “The last year and a half, everything started picking up.” […]

The era of cheap energy is over

The price of oil is more than $110 per barrel, coal costs more than $75 per ton and natural gas prices are climbing. To those who hope to see a return to $1.50-per-gallon gasoline or a reduction in heating and electricity bills, I have bad news: The era of cheap energy is over. We’ve had […]

The Gospel of Consumption

And the better future we left behind PRIVATE CARS WERE RELATIVELY SCARCE in 1919 and horse-drawn conveyances were still common. In residential districts, electric streetlights had not yet replaced many of the old gaslights. And within the home, electricity remained largely a luxury item for the wealthy. Just ten years later things looked very different. […]

Gas price break may not last

After 2-week advance, daily average is down for 4th straight day. But another run at the record looms – surveys. ATLANTA (CNN) — After a two-week climb in gasoline prices, there appeared to be some short-term moderation Monday – but another run at the record high set last week seems likely, two surveys indicated. The […]

The just-in-time economy crumbles

Almost two years ago I wrote a piece called “Is just-in-time nearly out of time?” laying out how completely the just-in-time inventory management idea had infected businesses, governments and even nonprofit organizations. I catalogued concerns that the practice of holding razor-thin inventories of many critical items such as food, fuel and medical supplies could potentially […]

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