Already Stunned by Gas Prices, Shockingly High Electricity Prices May Await

Americans may pay a lot more for electricity this summer, federal energy officials and the spot power market indicate. Worst hit could be the Northeast, especially the area from Boston to New York City, where forward prices from the InterContinental Exchange for July-August 2008 have been running up to 75% and higher over year-ago levels. […]

Europe faces bulging energy bills because of oil

Europeans are facing big increases in their energy costs this year and beyond as the effect of soaring oil on wholesale power and gas prices hits customers’ bills. Crude oil prices have doubled in the last year. As a result, wholesale forward and gas power markets have also surged to record highs in the last […]

Crude Oil Crisis Coming to an End?

It’s no coincidence that a meaningful top in the crude oil price occurred very close to the last presidential election in 2004. This time should be no different as the oil price must come down in order for the massive bail-out and economic relief efforts to take full effect. It is doubtful in the highest […]

Peak Oil, Peak Food and Peak Everything Else

The world keeps turning and the resources get used up. It’s really quite simple. Despite that fact, the debates rage over Peak Oil, Peak Food and peak everything else. It’s about as sensible as rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic. So the “experts” continue to debate whether or not resources are running low. But the […]

Oil price will wipe out profits, says Ryanair

The budget airline Ryanair warned yesterday that profits this year are likely to be wiped out by the high cost of oil and predicted that more airlines would go bust in the coming months as they struggled to cope with prices at around $130 a barrel. Michael O’Leary, chief executive, said fares on Ryanair would […]

Tough Climate Goals Cost $45 Trillion By 2050-IEA

A goal to halve planet-warming carbon emissions by 2050, similar to an aim Japan is urging G8 leaders to agree next month, would add $45 trillion to global energy bills, the International Energy Agency said on Tuesday. “It’s a lot of money,” IEA analyst Peter Taylor told a meeting on the fringes of a climate […]

EU low-cost airlines reject planned emissions trading rules

Low-cost airlines on Tuesday called on the European Union to reject a plan that would force air carriers to trade pollution allowances because they say it risks turning potential environmental benefits into punitive fees for air carriers and passengers.The European Low Fares Airline Association said high soaring oil prices have already increased the cost of […]

China needs new policies to kickstart biofuel sector – expert

The Chinese government needs to draw up new policies to ensure that its biofuel targets can be achieved efficiently and economically, said a researcher with the country’s regulator, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC). Wang Zhongying, the assistant director of the renewable energy section of the NDRC’s Energy Research Institute, said at a conference […]

Climate Change Could Impact Vital Functions Of Microbes

Global climate change will not only impact plants and animals but will also affect bacteria, fungi and other microbial populations that perform a myriad of functions important to life on earth. It is not entirely certain what those effects will be, but they could be significant and will probably not be good, say researchers June […]

Vietnam approves use of civilian nuclear power

Lawmakers in communist Vietnam on Tuesday approved the use of atomic energy for civilian purposes, paving the way for the construction of its first nuclear power plant to feed the booming economy. Vietnam is heavily reliant on hydro-electric plants and is struggling to meet the growing energy requirements of consumers and an economy that expanded […]

Chinese carriers cut flights over fuel costs

Two major Chinese airlines plan to cut the number of international flights they offer due to spiralling fuel costs, at least temporarily, the carriers said Tuesday. China Southern Airlines, the country’s top carrier in terms of fleet size, said it planned to suspend an unspecified number of flights to cut costs.“Southern Airlines does have such […]

Really, Really Bad News About Oil

Some years ago I wrote a paper called In the American Navy there was once a saying that

US attacked at food summit over biofuels

The US came under intense criticism yesterday for its policy of promoting biofuels, which a senior UN official claimed was diverting food away from the hungry “to satisfy a thirst for fuel for vehicles”. The biofuel issue quickly emerged as the most contentious at a summit on the global food crisis being held in Rome. […]

US coal lobbyists unveil nightmarish vision of life after cap-and-trade law

US businesses have spent tens of millions of dollars trying to kill a proposed law that would introduce European-style “cap-and-trade” rules on carbon emissions Despite publicly supporting emissions reductions, the coal industry and electricity firms that use coal-fired plants

$4 Gas: Fueling Our Fears

The average price for a gallon of regular gasoline crossed the dreaded $4 per gallon threshold Thursday in Eugene and Springfield, after the price of oil doubled in the past year to more than $130 a barrel. According to the AAA, regular gas in area now averages $4.02 a gallon. Some analysts say the prices […]

End to ethanol could stave off grain crisis

BEIJING (Reuters) – Halting production of ethanol from grains would help ease global grains shortages in the short-term, the founder of the Earth Policy Institute think tank said on Tuesday. Ethanol, a fuel made from corn, accounts for a 20 million ton increase in the amount of grains consumed each year, far outpacing growth of […]

SUVs on road to nowhere

They sit on the front lawns of rural North America in increasing numbers, “For Sale” signs slapped on their windows like badges of shame. It has come to this for the once-mighty sport-utility vehicle. Some auto dealers are refusing to take them as trade-ins. Those that do value them at a fraction of their previous […]

Ireland: Teagasc 2030 Foresight conference

Teagasc used five different scenarios as the basis for its 2030 Foresight study. Although these five ideas are not predictions of the future, they are possible fictional ‘futures’ that may arise, based upon expert judgment. The process involved elements of imagination and creativity, but drew on available forecasts and predictions based in reality. … Scenario […]

UK: Firms being driven round the bend by soaring fuel prices

WHILE many drivers can either absorb the cost or leave their cars at home, many fuel-dependent businesses are fighting for survival. Last week, a convoy of hauliers took to the streets of London to protest at a further proposed 2p hike in fuel duty. The protests might not yet be on the scale of those […]

North Sea spoils

Scotland has not benefited from oil as much as it should. Now the SNP wants a fresh look at the way revenues are split “It’s Scotland’s oil” according to the SNP, and of course it is. There is no reasonable authority denying that, if Scotland were an independent nation, North Sea oil would be under […]

UK fishers stage fuel prices demonstration

Fishers today protested in London over the soaring fuel costs they claim will have a “horrendous” effect on the hard-pressed industry. The National Federation of Fishermen’s Organisations (NFFO) and the Scottish Fishermen’s Federation (SFF) are calling on the government to put together a short-term survival package for the fishing industry. Fishers from Scotland, north-east England, […]

US rail network facing congestion ‘calamity’

CHICAGO: Railway executive Matthew Rose stood before fellow industry leaders, pointing to a map meant to tell the future of the U.S. rail freight network. It was drenched in red “For those of you who’ve ever seen a good rail meltdown, this is what it looks like,” Rose, CEO of Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp., […]

Blast affects Apache natural gas supplies to Australia

Apache Corp., the most active explorer in Australia, said an explosion at its plant on Varanus Island off Western Australia will affect natural-gas pipeline deliveries to the domestic market for “a number of days.” “We are doing everything we can to ensure the safety of personnel and minimize the impact of the incident,” Tim Wall, […]

What they said on hot energy topics

LONDON (Reuters) – The following are comments on a number of key energy issues from speakers at the Reuters Global Energy Summit in London: PEAK OIL (Peak oil: the concept that global oil production is near a peak after which it will decline sharply.) – Nobuo Tanaka, Executive Director of the International Energy Agency: “I […]

Kurdistan PM Barzani says Iraq should triple crude oil export capacity

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates: Kurdistan’s Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani said Tuesday Iraq should boost crude oil export capacity to 6 million barrels a day, three times the amount the country is exporting now. “We think Iraq needs to export more oil,” Barzani said to reporters after a press conference in Dubai. “Iraq has (the) capacity […]

IEA may trim world oil demand further

LONDON (Reuters) – World oil demand is shrinking more quickly than first thought due to weak consumption in some major consuming countries, the International Energy Agency’s head said on Monday. The IEA may cut its forecast for world oil demand growth further, said Nobuo Tanaka, executive director of the agency which advises 27 industrialised countries, […]

Gas OPEC future unclear as meeting postponed

MOSCOW (Reuters) – The world’s top gas exporting nations will postpone holding a high-level forum to October from June as the sides cannot agree on whether to form a body similar to the OPEC oil group, Russian officials said on Tuesday. Russia is hosting this week a working group from gas exporting nations, which should […]

Energy Department Seeks License for Yucca Mountain

(Bloomberg) — The U.S. Energy Department submitted an application seeking to build and operate the nation’s first permanent repository for used nuclear fuel at Yucca Mountain, Nevada. The 17-volume application was filed today with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, David McIntyre, a commission spokesman, said in an interview. The energy department has said the underground facility […]

A doomer’s garden

Now that oil is up over $130 a barrel and the subprime debacle is making everyone think that there may just be a Big Problem in the future, I would like to reopen the discussion on the menu du jour, post-Peak. Tractor trailers may not be able to bring in our Krispie Flakes and California […]

BP’s Tight Gas in Wamsutter WY

I recently visited BP America’s tight gas facility in Wamsutter, Wyoming on a trip paid for by the American Petroleum Institute. I was the only representative of internet media on the trip. The other reporters on the trip were from AP-Cheyenne, Casper Star-Tribune, and Natural Gas Weekly. On the trip, we spent a day and […]

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