How will our town cope when the oil begins to run out?

THIS question is beginning to be faced by towns and villages all over the world, including now Thame. Transitions Towns is an international movement gaining more and more support, as the realisation begins to dawn that the world has reached the top of what is called the ‘peak oil’ curve which will create the need […]

Cheap oil not here to stay: Ex-Talisman CEO

HALIFAX Buckee was a controversial figure in Canada, hounded by human-rights activists and investors in the 1990s for helping the rogue government of Sudan exploit its oil reserves. He is now retired and living in England, but Buckee says society hasn’t done enough serious thinking about how to cope with gasoline prices of $10-$20 a […]

Obama energy goal hard to meet: energy secretary

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President-elect Barack Obama will have a hard time significantly increasing America’s alternative energy production, outgoing U.S. Energy Secretary Sam Bodman said on Wednesday. As part of his economic stimulus plan, Obama wants to double output of alternative energy over the next three years. “I think it’s going to be extremely difficult to […]

EU premiers plead with Ukraine and Russia for gas

MOSCOW/KIEV (Reuters) – EU states cut off for days from Russian gas in freezing temperatures pleaded with Moscow and Kiev on Wednesday to end wrangling which has stalled a deal to restore fuel supplies. But Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, returning from high-level talks in Moscow and Kiev, said he did not expect Russian gas […]

Oil is weapon against Israel, U.S., says Iranian aide

TEHRAN (Reuters) – An aide to Iran’s top authority said Wednesday oil could be used as a weapon against Israel, the United States and their allies, echoing an earlier call by an Iranian commander to impose a crude oil embargo over Gaza. Iran, OPEC’s No. 2 oil producer, has said in the past oil could […]

Flying J California refinery remains closed after 10-day shutdown

The Flying J hasn At that time, many industry insiders speculated the refinery might not reopen, which could lead to higher gas and diesel prices in California in particular. A company spokesman confirmed to Land Line Monday that Flying J officials hadn

Saving the Economy, One Furnace at a Time

Like most Americans, I’m guarding my dollars, but when my furnace died during Seattle’s coldest winter in decades, I needed to replace it. And when I did, with a high-efficiency Trane model made in Trenton New Jersey, the costs and gains underscored key lessons about what we need to do to craft a stimulus package […]

As fed steps up, states step back on solar funding

NEW YORK (AP) “It’s two steps forward, one step back,” said Jeff Wolfe, CEO of Vermont-based solar installer groSolar. “It’s frustrating.” In Massachusetts, for example, the Commonwealth Solar program cut its rebate by $1 per watt on Jan. 1, reducing the overall discount by $3,000 for a 3 kilowatt solar panel system. In Colorado, customers […]

Solar energy’s darker side stirs concern

Everybody loves solar, the shiny superstar of renewable energy. But scratch the surface of the manufacturing process and the green sheen disappears. Vast amounts of fossil fuels are used to produce and transport panels. Solar cells contain toxic materials. Some components can’t be easily recycled. That has some environmentalists worried about a new tidal wave […]

Obama EPA pick will investigate coal ash sites

Jackson: Science, law will rule at Environmental Protection Agency WASHINGTON – The Obama administration will immediately begin to assess the hundreds of coal ash disposal sites at power plants across the country in the wake of two spills in Alabama and Tennessee. Lisa Jackson, President-elect Barack Obama’s pick to run the Environmental Protection Agency, said […]

Enjoy low food prices, they are not here to stay

At least the price of stuff is coming down. Faced with a rash of corporate bankruptcies and the threat of mass unemployment, the only piece of good news for the Government is that white van man isn Loss-making oil and metal barons? Who cares. But this is not just about the economics of oil, it […]

Smart Lighting: New LED Drops the ‘Droop’

Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have developed and demonstrated a new type of light emitting diode (LED) with significantly improved lighting performance and energy efficiency. The new polarization-matched LED, developed in collaboration with Samsung Electro-Mechanics, exhibits an 18 percent increase in light output and a 22 percent increase in wall-plug efficiency, which essentially measures the […]

New Power Line De-icing System Developed

ScienceDaily “The beauty of the VRC system is that it’s fully customizable and is an affordable addition to the current manufacturing and installation process,” said Gabriel Martinez, Ice Engineering’s Vice President who studied under Professor Petrenko while earning his M.S. in engineering sciences from Dartmouth. “And it works without causing any service interruption whatsoever,” he […]

A Win-win: U-pick Pumpkin Farms Recycle Urban Leaves

ScienceDaily Cities and towns seeking a cost-effective method to dispose of collected leaves can also benefit from the study. In New Jersey alone, five million cubic yards of leaves are collected each year by local municipalities for composting or use on farms. State regulations prohibit disposing of leaves in landfills or locally burning leaves. A […]

OPEC may trim supplies more, ignore low price calls

OPEC, the supplier of 41 percent of the world

Some States in a Pinch May Raise Gasoline Tax

Several states are considering the rare step of raising gasoline taxes to help fill growing budget gaps and potholed roads. Politicians in California, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Illinois and Oregon, for example, are introducing bills that would raise gasoline taxes for road and bridge repair, as state legislatures around the country begin their new sessions. In […]

ConocoPhillips CEO urges balanced energy policy

WASHINGTON To ensure prosperity, the U.S. economy needs quickly available energy, reasonably priced, he said. By restricting energy development domestically, the country exports dollars to buy oil from abroad, thereby also exporting jobs. ConocoPhillips, the third-largest U.S. oil company, is a member of the U.S. Climate Action Partnership, a coalition of business and environmental groups […]

Obama to lead fight against climate change: Clinton

WASHINGTON (AFP) “At the extreme it threatens our very existence but well before that point it could well incite new wars of an old kind over basic resources like food, water and arable land,” Clinton said. “President-elect Obama has said America must be a leader in developing and implementing a global and coordinated response to […]

Choosing What Our Cities Will Look Like in a World Without Oil

As we draw nearer to reaching the point of Peak Oil, it benefits us to imagine what our cities will look like in a world without oil. Does this conjure up images of cities turned into urban farms just to produce enough food for us all? Do we devote all our energy to growing, bartering […]

Analysis: Global power demand to languish in 2009

The outlook for energy commodities this year remains grim, says a new report from Merril Lynch. Neither cold winter temperatures in the Northern Hemisphere nor a steep fall in the price of energy have provided much support to the demand for oil, natural gas or coal. In part, the low price elasticity of demand has […]

Slight Majority Of U.S. Energy CFOs Disagree That World Has Reached Peak Oil

Approximately 48% of U.S. E&P chief financial officers believe that the world has reached its peak petroleum production rate or will reach it within the next few years, while another 52% disagree with that statement, according to a new survey by Chicago-based national professional services firm BDO Seidman LLP. The BDO Seidman Natural Resources 2009 […]

The Frightening New Evidence Scientists Have Just Learned About Global Warming

Scientists have found the first unequivocal evidence that the Arctic region is warming at a faster rate than the rest of the world at least a decade before it was predicted to happen. Climate-change researchers have found that air temperatures in the region are higher than would be normally expected during the autumn because the […]

Mexico’s Star Oil Field Cantarell to Continue Fading in 2009

Output at Mexico’s main oil field Cantarell will continue sliding this year despite new investments in drilling and well maintenance, putting Petroleos Mexicanos’ 2009 production target at risk. A combination of old age and poor long-term planning have frustrated state-run Pemex’s efforts to stem the collapse at Cantarell. Production is down by more than half […]

Peak Oil Review – Jan 12

1. The volatility continues 2. Gaza 3. OPEC cuts production 4. Briefs 1. The volatility continues It was another week of fighting in Gaza, OPEC production cuts, and the gas shutoff to Europe competing with an avalanche of bad economic news for control of oil prices. At the end, the bad economic news won with […]

Industry Outlook – Alternative Energy

Assuming that GDP growth is slightly negative for the next 3 to 4 quarters while the credit markets gradually strengthen, let’s consider the outlook and opportunities for the Alternative Energy industry over the next 6 to 12 months. Many companies engaged in the solar power market offer profitability with strong average long-term annual earnings growth […]

More U.S. backing seen possible for ethanol plants

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Congress may add $1 billion to a U.S. loan guarantee program for construction of cellulosic ethanol plants, the president of a renewable fuels trade group trade said on Tuesday. During a teleconference, Renewable Fuels Association President and CEO Bob Dinneen said lawmakers apparently were looking at $1 billion for loan guarantees to […]

Study: Nations that sow food crops for biofuel may reap less than expected

Ethanol and biodiesel manufacturers have been extremely optimistic about the potential of food crops such as corn and soybeans to produce biofuels, but a new study suggests that the projections they relied on have not been realistic. The study by University of Wisconsin and University of Minnesota researchers, published Tuesday in the journal Environmental Research […]

New twist for Pickens in energy independence fight

WASHINGTON (AP) “You watch, we will elevate the interest in this,” he said. Pickens and environmental advocate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. said oil-rich Middle East nations are using billions of U.S. energy dollars to build new schools, roads and airports while America’s infrastructure crumbles. They made the comments during a briefing at the Capitol. Americans […]

$100 million climate, energy center at Stanford

130 faculty members from 21 departments will come together PALO ALTO, Calif. – Stanford University announced Monday it has raised $100 million to create a new research center focused on combating global warming and developing cleaner sources of energy. The new Precourt Institute for Energy will focus on research related to improving energy efficiency, reducing […]

Agronomists to map Africa’s soils to increase crops

NAIROBI (Reuters) – International agronomists plan to map different soil types across Africa to improve agricultural methods, increase harvests and help farmers earn a better living from their land, scientists said Tuesday. The four-year project will combine on-the-ground soil sampling and remote satellite imagery to produce a detailed digital map of sub-Saharan Africa, the Center […]

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