Maximum cash for clunkers

Vehicles like these will help SUV and truck owners get the biggest bang for their trade-ins. The “cash for clunkers” bill now making its way through Congress won’t do much for car owners who want to trade in for a more fuel efficient model. If you own an SUV, though, you could stand to gain […]

China April Auto Sales Jump 37% on Government Support

(Bloomberg) — China China has withstood a global slump in auto sales after the government cut retail taxes and began handing out 5 billion yuan ($733 million) in subsidies to help boost demand. Volkswagen AG and other automakers are expanding in China, the world

Global wind power capacity up 29 percent in 2008

LONDON (Reuters) – Global wind capacity grew by 29 percent in 2008 with the United States surpassing Germany to become the world’s leading wind power generator, Worldwatch Institute said. The Washington-based research organisation said on Thursday that global wind capacity rose by over 27,000 megawatts (MW), or enough to power around 27 million homes, to […]

Jeremy Rifkin: Leading the Way to the Third Industrial Revolution

While oil, coal, and natural gas will continue to provide a substantial portion of the world Renewable forms of energy

Ship Owners Forced to Pay to Carry Middle East Oil

(Bloomberg) — Ship owners are being forced to pay to carry oil from the Middle East to the U.S. for the first time in at least a decade after demand collapsed and the fleet expanded. Supertanker owners make no rental income from the voyages and are paying $3,445 a day toward fuel costs, data from […]

Venezuela to nationalize oil service companies

CARACAS (AFP) The law approved Thursday by a majority of the National Assembly “reserves for the state, the goods and services connected to primary hydrocarbon activities.” It also gives local courts exclusive jurisdiction to settle disputes between the state and private companies, shielding the country from international arbitration. AFP

Obama budget rescinds energy industry tax breaks

President Barack Obama outlined a budget plan Thursday that would end $26 billion in oil and gas industry tax breaks, point to a new direction for dealing with nuclear waste and shift government aggressively toward helping to develop renewable energy sources. Obama’s budget also would largely abandon the Bush administration’s push to develop hydrogen as […]

How much oil have we used?

Estimates of how much crude oil we have extracted from the planet vary wildly. Now, UK researchers have published a new estimate in the International Journal of Oil, Gas and Coal Technology that suggests we may have used more than we think. Physorg

Insuring climate change still possible – Munich Re

Reuters – Insuring the effects of climate change is still possible anywhere in the world “at the right price” despite increasing natural catastrophes such as hurricanes, reinsurance group Munich Re said on Wednesday. Natural catastrophes resulting in insurance losses of more than $500 million more than doubled in 2008 from 1980, the group said. Most […]

Budget Omits Gulf Drilling Tax, for Now

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration left a plan to raise $5 billion through a new excise tax on oil and gas production in the Gulf of Mexico out of its proposed fiscal 2010 budget — but may revive those plans when it provides more detail next week. The White House is sticking with other plans […]

China Oil-Product Demand to Grow at 0.6-0.7 of GDP

(Bloomberg) — China Petroleum & Chemical Corp., Asia

First comprehensive atlas maps riches of Arctic

OTTAWA It shows physical features such as kimberlite pipes

Energy industry adjusts to politics of global warming

Whether or not oil and gas players have abandoned years of skepticism about the human role in climate change, the industry appears to have accepted the likelihood of pending game-changing legislation. The change goes beyond the environmentally friendly ad campaigns from companies like Shell, BP and Chevron in recent years. Exxon Mobil made several mentions […]

Chesapeake CEO: Dramatic Natural Gas Price Rebound Expected

Current low natural gas prices are setting the stage for a dramatic price rebound that should begin this fall or winter, Chesapeake Energy Corp.’s chief executive officer told analysts Tuesday. “Today’s gas prices are clearly not strong enough to support a North American rig count that is high enough to prevent a very severe and […]

Monbiot: How much fossil fuel can we burn?

Governments need to cap the amount of coal, gas and oil we extract if they are serious about fighting global warming Two papers on carbon emissions published in the scientific journal Nature last week were ground-breaking: they show us how much carbon dioxide we can produce if we’re to have a reasonable chance of preventing […]

Stimulus weatherization aid favors cold regions

A huge boost in federal funds to help low-income families weatherize their homes provides more than $3 on average in the coldest states for every $1 given to warm-weather states, an analysis of the aid program shows President Obama’s economic stimulus plan provides $5 billion for weatherization, more than 20 times the normal yearly budget. […]

Natural Gas Industry Slow to Apply Brakes

Natural gas prices are about a third of what they were last summer, and oil and gas companies are cutting their capital spending to the bone. But it This comes despite a plummeting number of rigs and dwindling industrial demand for gas due to the current economic slowdown. The abundance of the gas output reflects […]

Berkeley unanimously approves climate plan

…”After two years pouring your soul into something, to see it passed 9-0 is just intoxicating,” said the city’s planning director, Dan Marks. “This plan is a model for cities everywhere. As usual, Berkeley is a leader.” The City Council on Tuesday night voted to move ahead with its 145-page Climate Action Plan, approving a […]

Research Center Seeks to Turn Methane into Transportable Liquid Fuel

A new center to develop technologies for converting methane gas and other hydrocarbon and fossil resources into readily transportable and higher-value liquid fuels is being established at the University of Virginia under a new $11 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy. U.Va.’s new Center for Catalytic Hydrocarbon Functionalization will focus on identifying catalysts […]

Obama gives DOE $406 mln hike, cuts oil tax breaks

WASHINGTON, May 7 (Reuters) – The U.S. Energy Department would see its funding increase $406 million, or 1.6 percent, for the 2010 spending year, under the Obama administration’s proposed government budget released on Thursday. The administration also proposed ending “unjustified tax loopholes” for oil and gas companies that would raise $26 billion over the next […]

Sea 'snake' generates electricity with every wave

Anaconda, a giant rubber “snake” that floats offshore and converts wave energy to electricity, is a step closer to commercialisation. An 8-metre long, 1/25th scale version is currently undergoing tests in a large wave tank in Gosport, UK, and a full-size working version could be a reality in five years. …The tube is anchored at […]

Fuel for deep space exploration running on empty

WASHINGTON Deep space probes beyond Jupiter can’t use solar power because they’re too far from the sun. So they rely on a certain type of plutonium, plutonium-238. It powers these spacecraft with the heat of its natural decay. But plutonium-238 isn’t found in nature; it’s a byproduct of nuclear weaponry. The United States stopped making […]

Coal-fired power plants: The writing on the wall

Only green compromises will allow them to survive THE coal-fired power plant that was cancelled in Michigan on May 1st is the 97th to be rejected since 2001, and the ninth this year. The number of planned coal plants across America has plummeted from 150 to 60 in the past five years. Last year 5,465 […]

Analysis of Decline Rates (Part II)

In the first part, we tried to estimate the implicit decline structure behind the IEA analysis of worldwide decline rates. We established that only 11.8 mbpd of a total of 69.8 mbpd were not in decline in 2007 (17.0%) and for the Super-Giants/Giants group, the IEA claims that around 20% (9.2 / 42.5) are still […]

Oil-Services Providers Ponder How to Survive Energy Bust

When oil-service providers met at the Offshore Technology Conference in Houston during the recent boom in energy, they were used to calling the shots. Now, caught between high operating costs and clients bent on reducing their own expenses, they’re exploring strategies to survive the current economic crunch. “All of us are starting to see an […]

Free Trade, Green Trade

PRESIDENT OBAMA and the other leaders at the Group of 20 meeting last month vowed to both pursue a This proposal is simple and easy to put into place, and need not await the outcome of drawn-out international trade negotiations. Countries merely need to choose the products on which they want to cut tariffs, and […]

Study: Corn-based Biofuel Costs 50 Gallons of Water per Mile

Federal requirements to increase the production of ethanol has developed into a The researchers report that ethanol derived from corn grown in Nebraska, for example, would require 50 gallons of water per mile driven, when all the water needed in irrigation of crops and processing into ethanol is considered. Fuel derived from irrigated sorghum grown […]

Peak phosphorus: the sequel to peak oil ?

Phosphorus isn’t quite at the top of the list of fashionable causes, but perhaps it should be. Dana Cordell warns of a looming problem, we’ve become addicted to it and, like oil, it’s believed it will run out. Phosphorus has been used extensively for over 100 years as a fertiliser in modern industrial agriculture. The […]

Peak-Oil Prophet James Howard Kunstler on Food, Fuel and Why He Became a Vegan

Kunstler dishes on the collapse of our institutions, why “recovery” may never come and how to survive the fall of farming as we know it. I grew up in Woodland Hills, Calif., a nominally pastoral, petrocentric Los Angeles suburb, so peak oil prognosticator James Howard Kunstler’s dim view of our car-crazed culture really resonates with […]

Nissan plans electric car to challenge Chevrolet Volt

Nissan says it could beat General Motors’ highly publicized Chevrolet Volt to market, selling an electric car as soon as fall 2010 with an eye-popping fuel-economy rating equivalent to 367 miles per gallon and a range of 100 miles on a charge. The electric car does not use petroleum fuel directly. The mpg equivalent is […]

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