New toll lanes make drivers pay to avoid congestion

Already facing $4 a gallon at the pump, drivers in a growing number of states are tempted to pay even more for a quicker ride home. Transportation agencies are increasingly looking to reduce congestion and make more use of sometimes under-utilized high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes. Some are developing plans to allow vehicles that don’t have […]

Oil pricey, but Latin America hooked on cheap fuel

CARACAS (Reuters) – Latin American states from energy-starved Chile to oil powerhouse Venezuela are growing dependent on expensive fuel subsidies that could lead to future economic shocks if countries are forced to raise prices. Drivers in Latin America’s traffic-choked capitals can buy fuel for as little as 12 cents a gallon thanks to government handouts […]

Winter’s heating oil costs climb

SPRINGFIELD – The cost of heating an average home with oil for a year is expected to top $3,000 in 2009, according to a study released Monday by The Donahue Institute at the University of Massachusetts. “It’s going to be a pretty serious problem this winter,” said Michael D. Goodman, director of economic and public […]

Saudi Arabia

RIYADH – GCC demand for gas is growing faster than the region Saudi Arabia

Why the Energy Crisis Won’t Solve Itself

Will Wilkinson is optimistic about energy. Don’t worry about peak oil, he says: as oil prices rise, alternative energy sources will become more attractive, and eventually innovation and competition in the alternative-energy space will drive alternative-energy prices down below the “historical trend” of oil prices. That’s how we get to environmental nirvana: it’s a natural […]

Gas Prices Apply Brakes To Suburban Migration

That 1958 brick rambler inside the Beltway is suddenly looking a lot better to Dawn and Jeff Schaefer, who are buying their first house in Northern Virginia. Not too long ago, they were looking farther out — for a newer house, a bigger yard and all the amenities. But no more. “You get less house […]

Why Oil Really Fell Today—and Could Keep Falling

Oil slipped below $120 at one point today and now overall is down nearly 20 percent from its July high of near $150. But I don’t think the drop had much to do with the usual suspects—a weak consumer spending report, less risk that Tropical Storm Edouard will smack the Gulf Coast—which will surely be […]

Chinese and Indian oil giants in battle for Imperial Energy

Two of the world’s most powerful state-run oil titans are locked in a tug of war for control of a UK exploration group based in Leeds and operating in Russia. Shares in Imperial Energy rose steeply, valuing it at over Discussions are already underway with the Oil and National Gas Corporation of India (ONGC) which, […]

The long shadow of oil’s rise

Now that crude prices have plunged from their record highs, dragging gasoline prices down with them, will the economy get the much-needed boost it craves? “In many ways we’re just too fixated on the near-term gyrations, which are impossible to explain,” said Peter Tertzakian, chief energy economist at ARC Financial in Calgary.“There’s no question there’s […]

Measuring the Total Carbon Footprint of Biofuels Through Life-Cycle Analysis

In recent years, lawmakers in the United States and the European Union have embraced biofuels as a key element of their respective strategies to combat climate change and promote energy independence. However, just as these two major markets are beginning to agree on technical standards for biofuels, as shown in the white paper on “Internationally […]

U.S. candidates clash over energy policy

Energy politics dominated the race for the White House as Barack Obama and John McCain escalated a series of increasingly bitter attacks Monday over how to ease American dependence on oil. After days of Republican attack ads that compared him to Britney Spears and Moses, Obama celebrated his 47th birthday by releasing his own television […]

The problematic future of U. S. energy investment

Can the current financial system in America help us make the energy infrastructure investment we need for a transition away from fossil fuels? First, let’s look at how things are going right now. As investors have watched like deer in headlights while their stock portfolios melted down in recent months, the many flaws of America’s […]

T. Boone Pickens

At his big energy speech in Lansing today, Barack Obama likened John McCain to the Democrats To make this point, Obama cited oil man-turned energy problem solver T. Boone Pickens, who has recently launched an effort to contribute ideas for solutions to the energy crisis.

Monbiot: The stakes could not be higher. Everything hinges on stopping coal

The climate camp must succeed. In the absence of political backbone, our only hope is an avalanche of public revulsion Everything now hinges on stopping coal. Whether we prevent runaway climate change largely depends on whether we keep using the most carbon-intensive fossil fuel. Unless we either leave it – or the carbon dioxide it […]

GM Executive Raises Natural Gas As Alternative To Gasoline

DETROIT -(Dow Jones)- General Motors Corp. (GM) may add natural gas to the arsenal of energy alternatives it hopes will one day make gasoline a scarcity on U.S. roads. GM’s top researcher said in a recent blog posting that the auto maker considers natural gas an “enticing” alternative to petroleum, signaling a new interest in […]

Iran says able to close key oil route ”easily”

TEHRAN (Reuters) – Iran can easily close a key Gulf shipping route if it were attacked over its nuclear program, the head of the Revolutionary Guards was quoted as saying on Monday, a move that could choke off world oil exports. The statement by commander-in-chief Mohammad Ali Jafari was likely to fuel tension over Tehran’s […]

Untouched forests store 3 times more carbon: study

SYDNEY (Reuters) – Untouched natural forests store three times more carbon dioxide than previously estimated and 60 percent more than plantation forests, said a new Australian study of “green carbon” and its role in climate change. Green carbon occurs in natural forests, brown carbon is found in industrialized forests or plantations, grey carbon in fossil […]

Oil companies seek to add value through split

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Oil companies looking for a bump in their share prices are aiming for addition by subtraction: spinning off lower margin businesses such as refining to focus on red-hot exploration and production units. And in an environment where proven oil and gas reserves are increasingly hard to come by, those split-off assets […]

Peak oil review – August 4

1. Production and Prices 2. Iran 3. Nigeria 4. China 5. In the Congress 6. Energy Briefs 1. Production and Prices It was another volatile week during which oil prices moved between $121 and $128 in response to various news reports. The perception that slowing US and OECD economies will stem the demand for oil […]

Falling oil prices: The downside

Lower prices mean less pain at the pump – but tougher times ahead for the economy. NEW YORK (Fortune) — Oil prices are falling sharply, and that’s good news. But not nearly as good as you might think. No doubt the drop, down to $120 by mid-day Monday, gives strapped consumers relief at the gas […]

Richard Heinberg: Coal & Climate

Recent reports on global coal reserves, surveyed in previous chapters, generally point to the likelihood of supply limits appearing relatively soon At the same time, because global warming has emerged as the central environmental issue of our era, climate concerns will inevitably impact how much coal we continue to burn and how we burn it

Form an orderly line here for your rent-free cardboard box

HAVE you heard of jingle mail? It’s the practice in the US of sending your bank manager the keys to your house when you can no longer pay your subprime mortgage. Instead of hanging on despite crippling mortgage payments, you find an envelope (any old one will do), put your house keys in it and […]

Peak oil changes everything

As the era of cheap liquid fuels draws to an end, everything about modern consumer society will change. Likewise, developing societies pursuing the benefits of globalization will struggle to grow economies in an era of scarce liquid fuels. The most localized, self-reliant communities will experience the least disruption. Oil is a fixed asset of the […]

OPEC output up for third month in July – survey

LONDON (Reuters) – OPEC oil supply rose for a third consecutive month in July, mainly due to higher output from the world’s top exporter Saudi Arabia, a Reuters survey showed on Monday. Supply from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries climbed to 32.58 million barrels per day in July from 32.33 million bpd in […]

Storm shuts offshore oil port and hits shipping

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Tropical Storm Edouard, the second named storm to threaten oil operations in the Gulf of Mexico so far this year, forced shut a huge offshore oil port, closed the Houston Ship Channel, and prompted at least two companies to evacuate staff from their offshore platforms. So far, however, energy companies reported […]

Kuwait mulls oil storage plans to allay Iran threat

KUWAIT (Reuters) – Rising international tension between Iran and the West has prompted OPEC-member Kuwait to consider long-term plans to increase storage of its oil abroad, oil industry sources and diplomats said. The United States says it wants a diplomatic solution to its dispute over Iran’s nuclear programme but has not ruled out military action […]

Beware ‘Peak Price Oil’

Ben-Gurion University historian Benny Morris caused quite a stir with his July 18 New York Times Op-Ed contribution. Morris believes Israel will “almost surely attack Iran’s nuclear sites in the next four to seven months.” He sees himself as a centrist, reflecting a broad consensus “shared by most Israelis across the political spectrum.” If a […]

Will fares go so high that only the rich can fly?

Deregulation of the airline industry 30 years ago made air travel affordable to most Americans. Rising airfares threaten to again make flying a service for the affluent. Airfares have risen this summer more than any year in the past quarter century, new studies by airfare experts show. The studies, done by Travelocity, FareCompare.com and Harrell […]

Friedman: Iran war may prompt $300 oil

American political analyst George Friedman says an attack on Iranian nuclear facilities would be ‘cataclysmic to the global economy’. He warned that a war against Iran would likely result in Tehran retaliating with attacks on oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz, a strategic passage for oil transfer from the Persian Gulf states. Crude oil […]

Growing insecurity grips low-wage workers

Josephine Cage,, an employee at the Consolidated Catfish Company plant in Isola, Miss., says her 30-mile commute to work costs $200 a month, or nearly 20 percent of her pay. By Michael A. Fletcher and Jon Cohen updated 10:04 a.m. CT, Sun., Aug. 3, 2008 Low-wage workers in the United States are gripped by increasing […]

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