Amish also feel strain of high fuel costs

…The Amish, widely known for their horse-drawn buggies and a lifestyle that shuns many modern conveniences, are as susceptible to the sting of rising oil prices as anyone else. From the diesel fuel for tools used in milking cows, building cabinets and sawing timber, to the gasoline used to power washing machines and freezers, the […]

Solar power from space

Picture this: a 6-mile-wide solar-power satellite orbiting 22,000 miles in space. Photo-sensitive panels on the satellite collect light from the sun and turn it into microwave radiation that an antenna beams down to a ground station, where it’s converted into enough electricity to power a large city. Sound like science fiction? Last year, a government […]

Call to dub climate change ‘a catastrophe’

The government should stop talking about global warming and start using the term “climate catastrophe”, a leading scientist said yesterday. Dr Richard Pike, chief executive of the Royal Society of Chemistry, also called for a commitment to deliver a large-scale use of renewables and nuclear power, rather than encouraging “trivial solutions” such as washing clothes […]

China: Melting glacier leaves world’s worst polluter with no room for doubt

Up close, the sound of global warming at the face of the Urumqi No1 Glacier is a simple, steady drip, drip, drip. Just 30 metres from the main wall, the flood of meltwater becomes so powerful that it cuts a tunnel under the floor of grey ice, leaving only a blotchy, wafer-thin crust on the […]

‘We call it the Three Gorges of the sky. The dam there taps water, we tap wind’

In the vast natural wind tunnel that is Dabancheng, the gales that roar between the snow-capped mountain ridges get so strong that trains have been gusted off railway tracks and lorries overturned. Today, the gales themselves have become big business in Dabancheng. The area is home to one of Asia’s biggest wind farms and a […]

A Turkish theater for World War III

As the price of oil increased rapidly in the past three years, Saudi influence has grown. The rapid decline of the US into a credit crisis has also prompted the need for rich friends in high places, particularly to rescue moribund banks and continue buying bonds issued by bankrupt federal agencies. It now appears that […]

China’s coal price caps could worsen shortages – Morgan Stanley

China’s attempts to cap coal prices in order to encourage power generators to maintain full output could be counterproductive, with private miners likely to cease operations until the caps expire, said Morgan Stanley. In a note to investors, it said that ‘given the inelastic coal demand, we believe the incentives for coal mines, especially privately […]

BNSF CEO sees global coal demand high for next several years

Global demand for coal should remain high for the next few years, the top executive of No. 2 U.S. railroad Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp said on Thursday. Chief Executive Matt Rose told Reuters in a telephone interview that all indications show that demand will “continue to outstrip supply for the next several years at […]

New biofuels lobbying group formed by some of the biggest agribizz players

The argument over using crops to make biofuels is about to get a little louder, courtesy of a new group formed by some of the biggest agribusiness companies in the world. The new group — formed by Monsanto Co., Archer Daniels Midland, Deere & Co. and DuPont Co. — announced Thursday it will use national […]

‘Botswana could have up to 8% of world’s uranium’

Botswana has the potential to become a major uranium producer and even rival neighbour Namibia in the coming years, A-Cap Resources Managing Director Andrew Tunks said on Wednesday. Tunks was speaking at the Botswana Resource Conference held at the GICC at which he also said his company was currently exploring one of the largest places […]

Want floor time? First, get past Bartlett

…By his own count, Bartlett has given 48 hourlong floor addresses since March 14, 2005

Russia’s military conducts test flights near North Pole

MOSCOW: Russia’s navy conducted test flights near the North Pole on Thursday, boosting its military presence in an area believed to contain vast quantities of oil and natural gas. Cpt. Vladimir Serga, a naval spokesman, said that Il-38 anti-submarine bombers and Tu-142 long-range strategic bombers of the Northern Fleet took part in the exercise, in […]

The Peak Oil Crisis: America’s Electricity

Earlier this week, the National Conference of State Legislators held an energy policy forum entitled “The Future of State Electricity Policy” for the benefit of legislators from all over the U.S. who were attending the annual conference. At the outset, the organizers announced they had been considering a transportation fuels forum, but had finally deemed […]

The coming gas supply shock in the Gulf

IT IS ironic that the Arabian Gulf, which contains two thirds of the world Cheap energy is the feedstock for many of the GCC

Just how thin is the North Pole ice?

Last spring we broke the news that the North Pole could be ice-free this summer. Now we’ve got some numbers that show just how thin the ice at the North Pole has become over the past 17 years, and they suggest that Santa isn’t sitting very pretty. Christian Haas of the Alfred Wegener Institute for […]

New Microgrid Network Proposed For More Dependable, Cheaper Power

Hurricane Katrina helped University of Texas professor, Alexis Kwasinski, formulate a new plan for the U.S. telecom system: a de-centralized power architecture that would have kept the lights and phones on in New Orleans. Kwasinski maintains that a microgrid-based power plant with its own local power sources and independent control would be more dependable, efficient, […]

Study: Saudi oil exports may start falling in 2014

Saudi Arabia’s oil exports may start to fall in 2014 after it reaches maximum production capacity of 12.5 million barrels a day and domestic consumption grows, Chatham House said in a report. “Once production levels off at a plateau, exports will decline” as local demand rises, the London-based think tank said in report titled “Ending […]

Everything you need to know, in order

A student in my class asked me for a list of skills we need to get ready for peak oil, prioritized. I admit, it took me about a day after she asked to stop thinking 1. How not to panic. – This is probably the most important skill set – when stuff gets hard, you […]

Pretend-O-Rama (Kunstler)

The comprehensive bankruptcy of the United States, at every level, in all corners, atop each hill and mole-hill, and down not a few rat-holes, is preceding like some kind of hideous multi-media, inter-dimensional cosmic grand opera as produced and directed by the Devil. Every week, some bizarre new subplot is introduced by the stage managers, […]

China oil use soars in 1H despite high world prices

Soaring world prices don’t seem to have crimped China’s oil use, with statistics released on Thursday by an industry group indicating that first-half consumption of oil and refined oil products set records. The China Petroleum and Chemical Industry Association (CPCIA) said that “apparent consumption” of refined products — gasoline, diesel and kerosene — rose 14.6 […]

Politicians say electric cars will dominate, but experts differ

If you listen to political leaders like Prime Minister Gordon Brown of Britain, you might think that we will all be driving around in electric cars in just over 10 years, but industry experts don’t agree and expect there will still be a big cocktail of choices available by 2020. Brown told the Group of […]

Nigerian oil union threatens fresh strike over diesel cost

Nigeria’s oil workers’ union NUPENG has threatened to resume a suspended strike over the high cost of diesel and kerosene in the oil-rich west African country, its leader said Thursday. “We will meet again next week Tuesday. But between now and Tuesday, our extension will have lapsed so we are looking at a lot of […]

Venezuela, Belarus sign oil deal

Venezuela and Belarus sign a deal to develop three more oil fields in the Latin American country as Caracas vows to supply Belarus with its oil needs. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has assured his Belarus counterpart Alexander Lukashenko that his country will supply Minsk with its oil needs for the next century.

Faltering Northwest Airlines posts loss

Northwest Airlines Corp. says it lost $377 million (U.S.) in the second quarter because of a large accounting charge and soaring fuel expenses. The loss came to $1.43 per share on revenue of $3.58 billion, Northwest said yesterday. During the same period last year, when Northwest emerged from bankruptcy protection, profit stood at $2.15 billion, […]

Bangalore: Brace Up for Harsher Power Cuts – Energy Minister (India)

During the fortnight since the last evaluation of the state’s power situation two weeks ago, the state government has found that it has sunk deeper into power crisis than it estimated. As against the 11% power shortage that was projected then, fresh estimates say, that the state is faced with a huge shortfall of 20% […]

It is time to resolve the dispute over Iraq’s reserves

At a time of high oil prices and supply shortages, the dispute over Iraq’s oil reserves, which could produce an additional 1.5m barrels a day with minimum investment, demands urgent resolution. Iraq’s oilfields require immediate and expert maintenance, and the Iraqi people need the funds the oil can command on the global market. But negotiations […]

Russia oil output seen up at 10.3 mbpd in 2010

Russia expects its oil output will rise by 4.6 percent in 2010 compared to 2007, an energy ministry document showed on Wednesday, stopping short of making predictions for 2008-09. A government source quoted the report, issued by Energy Minister Sergei Shmatko to Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, as saying that oil output in Russia will reach […]

Sceptics say oil supply may not improve in 2009

Oil consumers and producers expect a strain on world markets to ease in 2009, giving some respite from record prices — if supply rebounds from years of underperformance. The International Energy Agency (IEA), adviser to industrialised countries, and producer group OPEC both point to rising supply from outside OPEC in 2009 as well as slightly […]

Saudi Arabia: Diesel shortage worsens for farmers

BURAIDAH Chairman of the Agricultural Committee in Al-Jouf Region Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Ghali Mubarak Al-Fehaiqi, said an emergency meeting would be held this week to discuss the increasing fuel shortages with farmers and to suggest solutions. Assistant Director General of Agricultural Affairs for the Al-Jouf region, Khamees Anan Al-Daghmani said farmers are suffering […]

Los Angeles bans plastic bagging in stores

LOS ANGELES (AFP) – The city of Los Angeles announced it will ban all plastic bags from retail stores as of July 1, 2010, following similar anti-pollution regulations already enforced in San Francisco. After July 1, 2010, all store customers must provide their own bags or purchase bags made of paper or other biogradable material […]

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