Halt all carbon emissions by 2050, says Worldwatch

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – To avoid the most catastrophic effects of climate change, world carbon emissions will have to drop to near zero by 2050 and “go negative” after that, the Worldwatch Institute reported on Tuesday. This is a deeper cut than called for by most climate experts and policymakers, including President-elect Barack Obama, who favors […]

China oil imports recover on stockpiling

BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s crude oil imports in December recovered from the year’s lowest in November, as oil firms, as well as the state, rushed to build up stocks following the crash in oil prices. The increase came despite ample fuel supplies and sluggish demand at the pump as the economy took a worse-than-expected toll […]

Conoco reports big oily water spill at Alaska field

ANCHORAGE (Reuters) – A corroded pipeline ruptured on Christmas Day at ConocoPhillips’ Kuparuk oil field in Alaska, causing one of the biggest spills of oil-laced water at the field in years, the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation said on Tuesday. The 94,920-gallon spill from a corroded water-injection pipeline did not affect production from North America’s […]

U.S. trade deficit narrows as oil and Chinese imports drop

Skidding oil prices helped push the United States trade deficit to its lowest point in five years in November, as the country imported less goods amid a sharp economic slowdown. The gap between the value of imports and exports narrowed to $40.4 billion in November, from $56.7 billion a month earlier, the Commerce Department reported […]

Army goes electric with new Chrysler vehicles

WASHINGTON (AP) The initiative is part of an effort to “create a culture of energy awareness throughout the entire Army,” said Paul Bollinger, the service’s deputy assistant secretary for energy and partnerships. The Army will lease the equipment through the General Services Administration from Chrysler LLC and other companies, Bollinger said. The vehicles will replace […]

EIA again cuts 2009 US gas supply growth estimates

NEW YORK (Reuters) – The U.S. Energy Information Administration on Tuesday again cut its estimate of domestic natural gas production growth in 2009 and further increased the expected decline in demand as economic activity continues to slow. In its January short-term energy outlook, EIA forecast U.S. marketed natural gas output this year would rise 0.41 […]

New tax credit for wind power

WASHINGTON However, if you installed a small windmill to generate energy for your home, you may qualify for a credit for up to $4,000 of the cost. Wind-produced energy was added for 2008 to the alternative energy sources under the Residential Energy Efficient Property Credit. The credit is for 30 percent of the cost, including […]

T. Boone Pickens seeks stimulus funds to convert trucks to natural gas

WASHINGTON Pickens said he discussed his requests Tuesday at a meeting with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman, and two other top Democrats. An effort to convert 18-wheelers and other large trucks to natural gas would cost $75,000 per vehicle, Pickens said, for an estimated total cost of $26 billion. […]

Study links swings in North Atlantic Oscillation variability to climate warming

Using a 218-year-long temperature record from a Bermuda brain coral, researchers at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) have created the first marine-based reconstruction showing the long-term behavior of one of the most important drivers of climate fluctuations in the North Atlantic. The North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) is a wide-ranging pressure seesaw that drives winter […]

Tesla Motors to Supply Batteries For Daimler’s Electric Mini Car

DETROIT–Tesla Motors Inc. said it will supply batteries and chargers to Daimler AG for its new electric mini Smart car, which is slated to come out in the second half of 2010, as the race to get electric vehicles into the market heats up. Elon Musk, chairman and chief executive of Tesla, said Tesla will […]

DART to reconsider natural gas engines for new buses

Members of the DART board will hear new information today about the costs involved with choosing either diesel-powered or compressed natural gas engines for its new fleet of passenger buses. DART plans to buy 537 of the buses, mostly 40-footers at a cost of more than $400,000 each, over the next three years. The first […]

As super-predators, humans reshape their prey at super-natural speeds

SANTA CRUZ, CA–Fishing and hunting are having broad, swift impacts on the body size and reproductive abilities of fish and other commercially harvested species, potentially jeopardizing the ability of entire populations to recover, according to the results of a new study that will appear in the January 12, 2009, online issue of the Proceedings of […]

Climate aid is tantamount to bribery

After eight years of pain, the environmental community is about to gain a US president they have some faith in. Barack Obama has said that climate change will be one of his priorities. The bad old days are over. No longer will the president send negotiators to Kyoto protocol talks with the aim of frustrating […]

Post Carbon Institute Proposes Real New Deal For Energy, Economic & Environment

SEBASTOPOL, CA –/WORLD-WIRE/– Post Carbon Institute today announced the release of “The Real New Deal: Energy Scarcity and the Path to Energy, Economic, and Environmental Recovery,” a proposal to the incoming Obama Administration. The plan calls for responding to the current economic crisis with a massive policy and investment shift towards a fossil fuel-independent economy. […]

Bush asserts U.S. sea power over Arctic straits

OTTAWA Key elements of Bush’s policy challenge the ambitious Arctic sovereignty agenda put forth by Prime Minister Stephen Harper that includes bolstering Canada’s military presence and fostering economic and social development. The Bush directive reiterates that the Northwest Passage is an international waterway

Saudi to cut oil supply below OPEC targets

NEW DELHI

Investment banks hoarding oil

Fifty million barrels of oil are just sitting around on supertankers. They’re not getting unloaded because investors are waiting for the price of oil to go up. Mitchell Hartman explains. Bob Moon: Now here are some millions that haven’t raised the ire of Congress — 50 million… Barrels of oil. They’re sloshing around on huge […]

Reality Report: Bill McKibben (audio)

The Reality Report talks to Bill McKibben, author of Deep Economy: The Wealth of Communities and the Durable Future and co-founder of the climate change group 350.org. Over the past year or so, much of the thinking about the severity and timeline of climate change has undergone a major shift. In the fall of2007, a […]

Europe gas halted as Russia-Ukraine deal falters

MOSCOW (AFP) Gazprom’s deputy chief Alexander Medvedev was quoted by Russian news agencies as saying: “In these circumstances, we physically can’t carry out transit of gas through Ukraine’s territory.” “The Ukrainian side cynically informed us that the gas transport system had been reoriented to domestic consumers,” he added. AFP

Capitalism Freezes in Worldwide Winter of Discontent

(Bloomberg) — As capitalism staggers through its first globalized economic crisis, the costs won In the past month, Nigerian rebels threatened renewed warfare against foreign oil producers, Russia sent riot police from Moscow to quell an anti-tax protest in Siberia and China

Nigeria: Airlines Operators Decry High Cost of Aviation Fuel

Airline operators yesterday protested the increasing cost of aviation fuel in the country and warned that the situation could lead to collapse of aviation businesses. The operators lamented that despite the crash in the price of crude oil in the international market, the cost of aviation fuel had continued to rise at an alarming rate.In […]

South Africa: Global Slowdown and Record Fuel Prices Hit Air Travel

THE global slowdown and last year’s record fuel prices have claimed two more victims in the airline industry, with Zambian Airways ceasing operations at the weekend and Virgin Nigeria announcing it would suspend flights to London and Johannesburg later this month. Virgin Nigeria, which operates two weekly flights to Johannesburg and four to London’s Gatwick […]

13,000 Family Farmers Enrolled in Brazil’s Biodiesel Program

The National Program for Biodiesel Production and Use encourages the development of family farming by means of actions that involve distribution of seeds, agricultural technical assistance services, transport of production and support to the organization of small farmers into cooperatives. Petrobras Biofuel signs five-year contracts, which offer greater guarantees to farmers, with purchase prices previously […]

Gulf Oil States Seeking a Lead in Clean Energy

With one of the highest per capita carbon footprints in the world, these oil-rich emirates would seem an unlikely place for a green revolution. Gasoline sells for 45 cents a gallon. There is little public transportation and no recycling. Residents drive between air-conditioned apartments and air-conditioned malls, which are lighted 24/7. Still, the region’s leaders […]

Eyeing uranium supply, India to back Kazakh bid for WTO

State-owned Nuclear Power Corporation and Kazakh national atomic firm Kazatomprom are working on a uranium supply deal that may eventually see India’s sole N-power firm set up its first overseas plant in joint venture in Central Asia’s fastest-growing economy. A team of Kazatomprom executives is coming to India for advanced negotiations. The two sides will […]

Coming Soon: Hydrogen and Electric Vehicles From Toyota

Toyota plans to begin selling a hydrogen-powered car in 2015, and a two-seater electric vehicle in 2012, the company announced Tuesday at the North American International Auto Show. But he said Toyota had to proceed. “We will run out of any alternative strategies if the oil supply diminishes,” Mr. Takimoto said. “Oil consumption will increase, […]

Alternative-Energy Companies Grow Even as Others Falter

While many small businesses continue to struggle with tight credit and declining sales, one fledgling industry is seeing a boom in investment and sales growth: alternative energy. Alternative-energy firms are reporting an influx of inquiries and business from a wide range of companies looking to increase their energy efficiency, especially from those that believe the […]

Why (and How) We May Survive Peak Oil

I’ve written a fair bit recently about declining oil production, price volatility, economic crisis and painful adjustment to some kind of post-oil economy. My thesis, and it’s supported by considerable detailed research – including a major report (PDF link) Robert L Hirsch prepared for the US Defense Department that found the transition will take two […]

An Economic Prediction That Actually Came True

Economists are notorious for making bad predictions. There are endless examples, but the first one that comes to mind is a book written by economist Kevin Hassett and co-authors entitled Dow 36,000. The title was their prediction of where the Dow Jones Industrial Index should be based on fundamentals. The book came out in the […]

48 mpg is nice, but hybrids don’t add up right now

NEW YORK Paying thousands of extra dollars for a hybrid car when gas topped $4 a gallon wasn’t unreasonable because with enough driving, it only took a few years to recoup the added cost. But with the economy mired in a recession and fuel prices at their lowest in six years, pinched consumers seem less […]

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