Scientists Refute Argument Of Climate Skeptics

Scientists at the GKSS Research Centre of Geesthacht and the University of Bern have investigated the frequency of warmer than average years between 1880 and 2006 for the first time. The result: the observed increase of warm years after 1990 is not a statistical accident. Between 1880 and 2006 the average global annual temperature was […]

Canada’s oil sells for less

CALGARY At times in December, the price of a barrel of West Canadian light crude fell almost $10 below that of benchmark West Texas intermediate crude (WTI), but the gap has since narrowed to about $2.50. The two usually trade at similar prices, or even a slight premium for the Canadian blend. The hit to […]

Somali pirates free Saudi supertanker

MOGADISHU (Reuters) – Somali pirates freed a Saudi supertanker seized in the world’s biggest ship hijacking for a $3 million ransom on Friday, an associate of the gang said. The capture of the Sirius Star and its $100 million cargo of crude in November drew attention to a surge in piracy off Somalia that has […]

Local Currencies Grow During Economic Recession

The gentle mountain slopes of New England isolate the Berkshires, creating a peaceful remoteness in this southern Massachusetts region. As a result, independent thinkers have thrived here. Herman Melville penned Moby Dick; Norman Rockwell etched paintings of American life; W. E. B. Dubois authored his first calls for emancipation. Today, the Berkshires is giving rise […]

Monbiot: The sceptics are skating on thin ice

Frozen lakes and ponds used as ice rinks are fun, but a brief cold spell is no reason to deny that climate change is taking place …The weather of the past few weeks would have been unexceptional in the early 1980s. Today it is being cited as definitive proof that manmade climate change can’t be […]

Recession resistant coal industry cuts back

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The ailing economy has left a big question mark hanging over the U.S. coal industry: will last year’s high-priced contracts and today’s declining costs be enough to offset rapidly falling world demand this year? Already, mine operators have scaled back production plans for 2009, namely coking coal used for steelmill blast furnaces […]

Gazprom may resume gas shipments to Europe Friday

KIEV, Ukraine “Our goal is to show who is to blame for stealing gas,” Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said. “Such thievery can’t be left unaccountable.” AP

Crude falls below $40 for first time in 2009

COLUMBUS, Ohio Friday’s decline capped another bad week for oil prices, though crude at one point rose above $50 a barrel from a five-year low of $33.87 on Dec. 19. Crude has closed lower every day with dire economic news overshadowing armed conflict in the oil-rich Middle East, a dispute that has shut off or […]

Credit crunch may lead to another rice crisis

MANILA, Philippines (AP) Farmers, however, suffered losses because they were left with a lower-priced crop produced with high-priced fuel and fertilizer, said the Philippines-based International Rice Research Institute. The ongoing credit crisis makes it hard to secure loans for purchasing seeds and fertilizer, and farmers may plant less or switch to less expensive staples, Samarendu […]

Upgraders on the Backburner

Financial analyst William Lacey of FirstEnergy Capital came out with a particularly thoughtful analysis in which he asked the question, Again at the risk of oversimplification, two numbers show the stark contrast between Fort Hills and the EnCana joint venture. The cost of producing a daily flowing barrel of oil through the Fort Hills project […]

Gas Fight: T. Boone Pickens and FedEx Square Off

Dallas billionaire T. Boone Pickens and FedEx Corp. chief executive Fred Smith are now duking it out He just unveiled yet another TV ad and is building up his Pickens Army online

Temporary Suspension of Madera, CA Ethanol Facility Operations

SACRAMENTO, Calif. /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Pacific Ethanol, Inc. , the leading West Coast-based marketer and producer of ethanol, announced today its intention to temporarily suspend operations at its 40 million gallon per year ethanol facility located in Madera, CA. Extended unfavorable market conditions for producing ethanol has prompted Pacific Ethanol to suspend operations beginning January 12th. […]

Chinese oil fund in the pipeline

China is reportedly planning to establish a giant government-led fund along the lines of the National Social Security Fund, in a bid to stabilize oil supply, demand and prices. The fund is expected to come into being within a year, reported Newexpress Daily, a Guangdong-based newspaper. It will also increase the negotiating power of China […]

India calls in army but returning workers ease crisis

NEW DELHI, Jan 9 (Reuters) – India called in troops to load fuel tankers and some striking employees at state oil firms went back to work on Friday, easing fears of a prolonged fuel crisis. The government dug in its heels on the third day of a stoppage that has triggered panic buying and cut […]

City runs out of fuel as oil stir continues

NEW DELHI: The city was running critically low on fuel at the end of Day 2 of the strike by officers of oil PSUs on Thursday, with just 25% of petrol pumps left with supplies. The situation is feared to get worse on Friday when offices reopen after the Muharram holiday as fresh talks between […]

Obama’s green energy plans build hopes, skepticism

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Proponents of alternative energy and energy efficiency were elated on Thursday by President-elect Barack Obama’s economic stimulus speech, but some analysts warned his energy agenda could hit turbulence in Congress or from the slow economy. Obama asked Congress “to act without delay” to pass legislation that included doubling alternative energy production in […]

Heating Home with Leftovers

The price of home heating oil has come down quite a bit but the price is of no consequence to one Farmington man. Mike Transue makes a home heating in a garage near his house. Transue makes his own fuel using leftover vegetable oil. He transforms the oil from restaurants into biodiesel. “Instead of spending […]

EU seeks gas supply return after deal on monitors

MOSCOW/KIEV (Reuters) – Europe on Friday looked for a swift restoration of gas supplies, after striking a deal with Moscow on monitoring gas shipments via Ukraine that have been halted by a rancorous pricing dispute with Kiev. Diplomats in Prague said the European Union would send monitors to Ukraine on Friday to be deployed at […]

Can Nitrogen Be Used to Combat Climate Change?

Excess nitrogen mitigates carbon dioxide’s effects–but with considerable risk, scientists say LANSING, Mich. As the atmosphere’s most abundant element, nitrogen plays a significant role in ecosystems, and one to which scientists and policymakers are paying greater attention. Growing evidence suggests that as humanity pumps more nitrogen into the environment, forests could become bigger carbon sinks […]

Schlumberger eyes job cuts beyond North America

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Schlumberger Ltd (SLB.N), the world’s largest oilfield services provider, plans to shed 5 percent of its North American workforce, or 1,000 jobs, and is looking at cuts elsewhere, a spokesman said on Thursday. “We do anticipate reductions in jobs worldwide, but it’s too early to say,” said Stephen Harris, a spokesman […]

Algae used in biofuel on U.S. jet test flight

Mixture exceeded specs for regular fuel; no changes were needed on 737 HOUSTON – Continental Airlines on Wednesday became the first U.S. commercial carrier to conduct a demonstration flight powered in part by alternative fuels, though large-scale use of such fuel is forecast to be several years away. Supply bottleneck for now Jennifer Holmgren, general […]

Despite deep chill, global warming is still a peril: scientists

PARIS (AFP) “If we look at the trajectory over the last 160 years, it overlays a large natural variability, and that’s what causes confusion.” The cooler weather that was a hallmark of 2008 can be explained partly by La Nina, a reversal of the phenomenon by which warm waters build up on the surface of […]

International Energy Agency ‘blocking global switch to renewables’

International Energy Agency accused of consistently underestimating potential of wind, solar and sea power while promoting oil, coal and nuclear as ‘irreplaceable’ technologies The experts, from the Energy Watch group, say the International Energy Agency (IEA) publishes misleading data on renewables, and that it has consistently underestimated the amount of electricity generated by wind power […]

The Peak Oil Crisis: Cars – Redux

I hate to keep coming back to cars, but in the last hundred years they have come to be one of the most significant facets of civilization – yet their future is in doubt. Here in America they are clearly the fundamental implement of life for most of us. Their manufacture, financing, care and feeding […]

Shell Stops Supplying Big West California Refinery With Oil

(Bloomberg) — Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Europe Shell normally supplied about 10,000 barrels of oil a day to the 68,000-barrel-a-day refinery, Chassin said.

Richard Heinberg: The shape of the recovery

An article on the Bloomberg website today suggests that Asia will have a “V-shape” recovery from the current economic crisis, rebounding in 2010. This is opposed to a “U-shape” recovery, which would presumably take a little longer. May I suggest another alphabetic possibility? What if the “recovery,” not just in Asia, but globally, is shaped […]

Michael T. Klare: Be Careful What You Wish For

Only yesterday, it seems, we were bemoaning the high price of oil. Under the headline “Oil’s Rapid Rise Stirs Talk of $200 a Barrel This Year,” the July 7 issue of the Wall Street Journal warned that prices that high would put “extreme strains on large sectors of the U.S. economy.” Today, oil, at over […]

The Downside of ADM’s Focus On Biofuels

Even before oil prices collapsed, Patricia A. Woertz had one of the most delicate balancing acts in business. Now things are getting downright precarious. As chief executive officer of Archer Daniels Midland (NYSE:ADM – News), the world’s largest grain processor, Woertz has watched various parts of her $70 billion-a-year empire gyrate wildly during the past […]

Tilting at wind farms

A way to make wind power smoother and more efficient that exploits the inertia of a wind turbine rotor could help solve the problem of wind speed variation, according to research published in the International Journal of Power Electronics. Wind power is being touted as a clean and inexhaustible energy source across the globe, but […]

Half of world’s population could face climate-induced food crisis by 2100

Rapidly warming climate is likely to seriously alter crop yields in the tropics and subtropics by the end of this century and, without adaptation, will leave half the world’s population facing serious food shortages, new research shows. To compound matters, the population of this equatorial belt “The stresses on global food production from temperature alone […]

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