Will the Economy Be Ahmadinejad’s Downfall?

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad appears to believe that only desperate measures on the economy can save his presidency when Iranians go to the polls in June, but he suffered a shocking setback on Monday when the legislature dominated by like-minded conservatives blocked his key initiative. Ahmadinejad had proposed legislation in the Majles, Iran’s parliament, that would […]

Economic Crises and the Impacts on Public Health

Today I report on a study with public health officials from across the nation. These data are preliminary and being gathered through telephone interviews, with a few done face-to-face. I am speaking with urban and rural local health departments and a few state level offices. The questions are not about peak oil per se; that […]

High Energy and the Loss of Knowledge (and vocation and purpose

…That is to say, as energy in a given context increases, knowledge decreases, because the energy quite simply extracts us from the context, buffers us from it. We need to collect, know, and transmit the biological and cultural information that high energy destroys. The good news is that we

Oil slick washes up on Moreton Island

An environmental disaster is unfolding on Moreton Island off Brisbane. About 20 tonnes of fuel oil which leaked from the damaged cargo ship Pacific Adventurer is washing up on beaches along the eastern side of the island. Staff at the Tangalooma resort have been briefed by National Parks and Wildlife staff but at this stage […]

South Africa: Three cities put the sunny side up

There’s a new champion of green power in South Africa: three of the country’s largest municipalities are in the process of ordering 600 000 solar water heaters. The country has a tight electricity supply. Indications are that this will remain tight until at least 2013 when new capacity becomes available. Municipalities have in the meantime […]

China February Auto Sales Rise 25% After Tax Cuts

(Bloomberg) — China vehicle sales surged 25 percent in February, the first gain in four months, after the government cut taxes on some models, helping the country extend its lead as the world China has halved retail taxes on small cars and drawn up plans to give out vehicle subsidies in rural areas to revive […]

UN climate chief: US carbon cuts could spark ‘revolution’

The head of the UN body charged with leading the fight against climate change has conceded that Barack Obama will face a “revolution” if he commits the US to the deep carbon cuts that scientists and campaigners say are needed. Rajendra Pachauri, head of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), said domestic political constraints […]

Crude Price Slump May Help Shell Gain Access to More Reserves

Royal Dutch Shell Plc and other international oil companies may get greater access to reserves as resource-rich nations seek capital and technology for fields that have become harder to develop since crude prices slumped. Shell, EuropeBloomberg

Washington big guns take up oil sands cause

As AlbertaCanada.com

Petrobras: Revenues and Profit Fall

Thanks to falling oil prices, Brazil’s state oil giant Petrobras will see revenues and profits fall this year, but see a strong comeback next year, HSBC says in a new research report on the company. LatinBusinessChronicle

Nigeria’s oil output down to 1.6 million barrels

Nigeria’s oil output has dropped to 1.6 million barrels per day compared to last year’s average of around two million bpd, President Umaru Yar’Adua said on Tuesday. “The reality today as a result of the… OPEC quota and activities of militants in the Niger Delta… the average production has fallen to 1.6 million barrels per […]

Deadlines for green car loans removed

As the urgency to secure green car loans takes on added impetus in the automotive sector, one of the obstacles to getting loans out of the door as soon as possible has been removed. Energy Secretary Steven Chu has been eager to scrap deadlines and review applications on a rolling basis so that requests could […]

UK drivers acting on CO2

Carbon dioxide emissions from new cars have fallen dramatically as motorists shun gas guzzlers and motor manufacturers bring in new technology. Figures released by the industry showed that Britain is on track to meet environmental targets set by the European Union. According to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), CO2 emissions fell by […]

Japan wholesale deflation speeding up

Japanese wholesale prices are falling at their fastest annual rate in nearly six years, February figures show, prompting warnings that Japan faces broader deflation than just the one-off effect of sliding oil prices. In addition, Japanese core machinery orders, a key gauge of corporate capital spending, fell 3.2 percent in January as the global crisis […]

Low Oil Price, Econ Crisis May Cut Kashagan Costs – Shell

Low oil prices and the economic crisis may cut costs of development at Kazakhstan’s largest oil field Kashagan, Royal Dutch Shell PLC’s (RDSA) general manager for the Caspian region said Tuesday. “The economic situation and low oil prices should allow us to bring the cost down,” Campbell Keir told reporters. “But we’re continuing to invest.” […]

China Feb crude imports fall steep 15 pct on yr

China’s crude oil imports in February fell by a surprise 15 percent, extending an 8 percent drop in January, as oil firms appeared to scale back purchases after heavy stockpiling last year and on a slow demand recovery. China imported 11.73 million tonnes of crude oil last month, or 3.06 million barrels per day, customs […]

Iran says OPEC could accept Russia as member

Iran’s oil minister suggested OPEC would accept Russia as a member if Moscow wanted to join the 12-member oil producers’ group, the semi-official Fars News Agency reported. Gholamhossein Nozari, speaking a few days before the cartel is due to meet in Vienna on March 15, also reiterated a call for more cooperation between OPEC and […]

Economy to slow U.S. nuclear power growth: NRC head

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – An “excessive exuberance” for expansion in the U.S. nuclear power industry has calmed because of the global credit and economic crisis, the head of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission said on Tuesday. Separately, a GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy official warned that the lack of credit will slow the pace of U.S. […]

Government

Many agencies are slowing in their goal of using less energy, raising doubts over whether they can cut energy use 30 percent by 2015. Chris Tremper, an analyst at the Energy Department Overall, agencies cut energy consumption by 12.3 percent in fiscal 2008, compared to 2003 benchmarks, according to preliminary Energy Department data. Federal law […]

World Oil Outlook: Stable Market, Consumption To Decline

Following the sharp price decline that occurred during the second half of 2008, the global oil market has remained relatively stable since the beginning of the year. This situation is expected to continue through most of 2009, until economic recovery in the United States and elsewhere leads to a rebound in oil demand growth. The […]

Toxic jatropha shrub fuels Mexico’s biodiesel push

ROSARIO IZAPA, Mexico (Reuters) – All his life elderly Mexican farmer Gonzalo Cardenas has planted a stalky weed that grows wild in southern Mexico to form a sturdy live fence around his tropical fruit trees. Now it turns out the weed, jatropha, could be used to fuel jet planes and the Mexican government wants farmers […]

Recession has taken toll on alternative energy

(03-10) 18:07 PDT — Worldwide sales of solar cells, biofuels and wind turbines soared 53 percent last year to hit $115.9 billion before the global recession started sapping their strength, according to an annual report issued Tuesday. The report by the Clean Edge research firm shows the alternative energy industry at a turning point in […]

Rising methane levels in Norwegian Arctic

Greenhouse gas buried in permafrost had been stable from 1999-2005 OSLO – Levels of methane in the Norwegian Arctic increased in 2007 possibly because the thawing northern tundra released more of the greenhouse gas into the atmosphere, officials said Monday. The concentrations of methane gas measured at the remote islands of Svalbard rose by 0.6 […]

Tidal wave of trash threatens world oceans

MIAMI (Reuters) – A tidal wave of man-made trash is threatening world oceans, damaging wildlife, tourism and seafood industries and piling additional stress on seas already hit by climate change, conservationists said on Tuesday. A report by U.S.-based Ocean Conservancy detailed what it called a “global snapshot of marine debris” based on itemized records of […]

EPA Aims To Declare CO2 Endangerment In Mid-April -Source

WASHINGTON -(Dow Jones)- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is considering officially announcing that carbon dioxide is a danger to the public – a finding that would trigger regulation of the greenhouse gas across sectors of the economy – in mid-April, an Obama administration official close to the matter said Tuesday. By making such a declaration, […]

This climate crunch heralds the end of the end of history

We are on the brink of a revolution: the demise of the fossil-fuel economy. A new deal must jolt us out of orthodox thinking Every crisis, Sigmund Freud said, is potentially a stimulus to the positive side of the personality and an opportunity to start afresh. Today we are facing two global crises in tandem […]

Oilsands dreams in jeopardy in northern Saskatchewan town

A Saskatchewan town that hoped to cash in on the oilsands boom is getting hit hard by the economic downturn. Unemployment in La Loche in the province’s northwest has traditionally been high CBC

Oil scarcity hits Mombasa (Kenya)

A crippling fuel shortage has hit the coastal city of Mombasa with motorists driving around for hours in a desperate search for the commodity. The city center is the worst hit with a shortage of super and regular petrol being reported.111 A spot check by KBC found long queues of angry motorists lining for hours […]

Ford builds 100,000th hybrid

The Ford Motor Co. on Tuesday produced its 100,000th vehicle powered by a combination of gasoline and electricity and said it continues to see alternative power as a big part of its future. The silver Escape Hybrid rolled off the assembly line at the Dearborn, Mich.-based automaker’s Kansas City Assembly Plant before a crowd of […]

China’s Grab for Resources

The United States consumes 25 barrels of oil per capita, Japan consumes 16, and Korea 15. Interestingly, they all followed a very similar pattern of development. As their economies grew, oil consumption per capita expanded until it found a plateau. Developed economies ultimately become more service-oriented, so it’s natural for oil consumption per capita to […]

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