Oil, Natural Gas Evacuations Start as Gustav Advances

(Bloomberg) — U.S. oil and natural-gas companies have begun to evacuate thousands of offshore workers in the Gulf of Mexico as Tropical Storm Gustav, which may become the costliest hurricane since Katrina, heads toward the region. “We could see 50 percent of Gulf of Mexico oil and gas production shut in,” said Andy Lipow, president […]

Mystery of Greenland’s Ice Lingers as Sheet Shrinks

Scientists have cautioned that a warming planet could melt Greenland’s vast ice sheet, a potentially catastrophic event that would raise sea levels and inundate coastal communities around the globe. Yet while they puzzle over when and whether this might happen, they’re also mystified over how the giant island formed so much ice in the first […]

Report: Climate Shift Could Profoundly Alter Md. Shore

Climate change could profoundly alter Maryland in the next century, swallowing 200 square miles of low-lying land, making heat waves more deadly, and allowing Southern species to colonize its woodlands and the Chesapeake Bay, according to a new state report. The “Climate Action Plan,” released today by the state’s Commission on Climate Change, says that […]

Streetcars in Cincinnati

The University of Cincinnati is a proposed station stop along what may one day become a four-mile streetcar system in town. As such, UC recently turned to an internationally recognized economics researcher to help analyze whether the costs and benefits of such a system had been rigorously and accurately projected.

Even ”green” energy needs lower oil price

As a lengthening economic slowdown bites, the antidote for the renewable energy sector may come as a surprise — a lower oil price. Government subsidies and record prices for competing fossil fuels have underpinned the alternative energy boom, but now they are now starting to work against the sector.Reliance on subsidies exposes the likes of […]

US heating oil dealers clamp down on unpaid bills

U.S. heating oil dealers are using new software to weed out clients who may not pay their bills as Americans gear up for another winter of high fuel costs in the world’s top consumer. Heating oil dealers in New York City, Long Island, and Connecticut have turned to real-time information software provided by a consumer […]

Bangladesh: Coal extraction urgent

The country is passing through a serious shortage of electricity. The maximum generation of electricity is about 3,500 megawatt against the peak hour demand of nearly 5,500 MW. The demand has to be met through load shedding for which life of the people has become inconvenient. Industrial production is being seriously hampered. Further development of […]

S.Africa’s power crisis cost economy $6.4 billion: report

South Africa’s energy regulator said Africa’s biggest economy lost 50 billion rand due to the power crisis which led to reduced supplies to mines, manufacturers and other sectors. Smunda Mokoena, the chief executive of NERSA, was quoted by South Africa’s SAPA news agency as saying that the crisis was partly caused by dwindling coal stocks, […]

US Gulf Energy Region Remains ‘Under The Gun’ of Gustav

Nearly 85% of energy facilities in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico will be shut in and damage is likely as Gustav, currently a tropical storm, cuts a path from the Caribbean to the Gulf Coast as a powerful hurricane, a prominent weather forecaster predicted Wednesday. “Based on projected track, size and strength of Gustav over […]

Former FirstEnergy engineer guilty on 3 of 5 counts

A former FirstEnergy Corp. engineer was found guilty Tuesday afternoon by a U.S. District Court jury on three of five counts he faced for lying or withholding information from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission about Davis-Besse’s operating status in the fall of 2001. A federal jury deliberated over three days before returning the verdict against Andrew […]

Richard Heinberg: GM Pines for Electric Car

In just two years we So naturally it

Hurricane Gustav and Energy Infrastructure – Early Open Thread

From meteorologist Chuck Watson: Both GFDL and HWRF (which will replace GFDL) are showing fairly explosive amplification in the mid Gulf. Even the official forecast is now showing damage to the OCS facilities, and GFDL is showing Katrina-like long term disruption. None of the official tracks are onshore yet, but our in-house runs out to […]

Japan’s Mitsubishi plans big expansion in solar power

TOKYO (AFP) – Japan’s Mitsubishi Electric Corp. said Wednesday it will spend 50 billion yen (458 million dollars) to boost solar power cell production four-fold by early 2012 amid growing interest in renewable energies. “This market is expected to grow globally by about 20 percent every year,” said Aiji Suzuki, director of Mitsubishi Electric’s main […]

Arctic sea ice melts to second worst on record

WASHINGTON – New satellite measurements show that crucial sea ice in the Arctic Ocean has plummeted to its second lowest level on record. The National Snow and Ice Data Center in Boulder, Colo., announced Wednesday that the extent of sea ice in the Arctic is down to 2.03 million square miles. The lowest point on […]

Feel The Heat

Behind the headlines, scientists warn that climate change is already hitting New Mexico. …Few people on the planet are unaware of climate change

Why oil won’t fall below $100

With a surge in the price of global commodities, it’s costing more to produce a barrel of oil than ever before. NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — Last week, falling oil prices looked unstoppable. The last few days have seen a halt in that slide. Still with prices well below the record set in July and a […]

Boone Pickens Hits Bottom, Bounces Back, Rings Oil Alarm

…Having established his credentials, Pickens moves on to his management tips — “help, don’t hinder” — and a blunt summary of why we need to accept that the world is running out of oil. “The Saudis claim they have 260 billion barrels in reserve,” he writes. “I don’t believe them.” What’s the U.S. to do? […]

U.S. wind power strangled by antiquated power grid

WASHINGTON: When the builders of the Maple Ridge Wind Farm spent $320 million to erect nearly 200 windmills in upstate New York, the idea was to get paid for producing electricity. But at times, regional electric lines have been so congested that Maple Ridge has been forced to shut down even with a brisk wind […]

Saudi may face OPEC pressure to trim supply

LONDON (Reuters) – Saudi Arabia, the world’s top oil exporter, may come under pressure from within OPEC ranks to reduce supplies to prevent a further fall in crude prices when the group meets on Sept. 9. While OPEC is unlikely to change its official supply target at the meeting in Vienna, it is pumping almost […]

Japan firms to work on solar-powered ship

The race to go green has taken to the high seas with two Japanese companies saying they would begin work on the world’s first ship to have propulsion engines partially powered by solar energy. Japan’s biggest shipping line Nippon Yusen KK and Nippon Oil Corp said solar panels capable of generating 40 kilowatts of electricity […]

Russia coal exporters told to prioritise domestic supply

Russian coal exporters were told by Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov to prioritise domestic coal supply for the balance of this year over exports at a meeting held on August 7, coal industry sources said. Russian power plants have extremely low stocks of coal and the lowest hydro reserves for decades.There are not enough rail […]

China Faces Obstacles In Nuclear Energy

China has great potential and incentive to speed up the development of nuclear energy, as its fast-growing economy badly needs more fuel. Until now, the country has relied on coal for 70% to 80% of its energy needs, thanks to an abundance of the resource. It has also been importing more oil each year to […]

Wind farms put pressure on bats

Bats are at risk from wind turbines, researchers have found, because the rotating blades produce a change in air pressure that can kill the mammals. Canadian scientists examined bats found dead at a wind farm, and concluded that most had internal injuries consistent with sudden loss of air pressure.Bats use echo-location to avoid hitting the […]

Energy and overpopulation: Man

Climate change is not the most pressing issue facing mankind today. Hunting down the perpetrators of the greenhouse effect not only wastes time but focuses our attention on the wrong issues. We should instead be looking for new energy sources, new technologies and new means to manage population growth. The importance of ensuring sufficient energy […]

Has US Crippled NATO?

For years, the U.S. could afford to dismiss Russian declarations that such encirclement was a threat to its national interests and would be resisted. Russia was weak. But the U.S. occupation of Iraq, instead of unleashing its huge oil supplies, and being a bonanza for American oil companies, has severely weakened the U.S. and contributed […]

Energy Price Prediction `More Difficult,’ EIA’s Caruso Says

(Bloomberg) — Predicting energy prices is “more difficult” now because of the lack of sufficient information from emerging economies, the head of the U.S. Energy Information Administration said. “No one could’ve predicted” recent record energy prices, Guy Caruso, administrator of the agency, said today at a press conference in Washington sponsored by Platts. Caruso, 66, […]

Not – So – Permafrost: Big Thaw of Arctic Soil May Unleash Runaway Warming

“Drunken” trees listing wildly, cracked highways and sinkholes “When the air temperature rises two to three degrees, the Arctic tundra would switch from a carbon sink to a carbon source,” says soil scientist Chien-Lu Ping of the University of Alaska Fairbanks. “The greater the carbon stores, the greater the impact it causes,” including even faster […]

Southwest to trim 190 flights this winter

DALLAS – Southwest Airlines Co., which had resisted the kinds of capacity cuts being made by other carriers, will eliminate nearly 200 flights early next year as it struggles with high fuel costs and a weakening economy. The move raised doubts about the company’s publicly stated goal of growing modestly in 2009 despite the airline […]

UK: MPs call for energy windfall tax

Prime Minister Gordon Brown is facing mounting pressure from Labour MPs for a one-off windfall tax on energy firms which have recorded huge profits. More than 80, some of them ministerial aides, say the money should go towards helping poor families pay energy bills. Meanwhile, council leaders are calling for an annual levy to fund […]

DOE official cites need for major breakthroughs to cope with climate change

WASHINGTON In a two-part podcast entitled “Confronting Climate Change,” Orbach notes that meeting this challenge will demand “transformational breakthroughs in basic science,” meaning revolutionary discoveries rather than common step-by-step scientific advances. He cites as one example the development of artificial versions of photosynthesis, the natural process that plants use to produce energy from water and […]

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