Uncle Sam to pond scum: I want you!

LOGAN, Utah (AP) Heady stuff for a simple sun-sucking organism. But algae’s ability to grow fast and churn out fatty oils makes it an alluring prospect for a military looking to lessen its dependence on foreign oil. “It inherently makes sense to start there,” said Muhs, who runs Utah State’s energy lab. Work at the […]

Shell ceases production in Niger Delta

Royal Dutch Shell has suspended its operations in the Western Niger Delta, giving into increasing pressure from the MEND rebels in the region. Shell confirmed the closure of its oil plants in the region following a spike in attacks on the company’s facilities and employees, Nigerian media reported. Speaking in Lagos, the financial capital of […]

Nigeria, Algeria, Niger Sign Accord on Gas Pipeline

July 3 (Bloomberg) — Nigeria, Algeria and Niger signed an agreement on a proposed Trans-Saharan pipeline that will ship natural gas from Nigeria to Europe. The accord was signed by Nigerian Petroleum Minister Rilwanu Lukman, Niger The project

House climate bill wouldn't cut U.S. oil dependence much

WASHINGTON – Despite its title as the “American Clean Energy and Security Act,” the energy and climate bill that the House of Representatives passed recently takes only a modest step toward reducing U.S. dependence on foreign oil. Two studies project that the legislation would cut oil use in the future, but not enough to make […]

Americans take to road but cautious after gas shock

The travel and auto group AAA projected last week that U.S. travel over the holiday weekend would drop 1.9 percent this year compared to 2008, a casualty of higher fuel prices and economic worries. Approximately 37.1 million Americans will travel 50 miles or more away from home during the holiday weekend, typically the busiest time […]

China says "carbon tariffs" proposals breach WTO rules

BEIJING (Reuters) – Proposals to impose “carbon tariffs” on imported products will violate the rules of the World Trade Organization as well as the spirit of the Kyoto Protocol, China’s Ministry of Commerce said. In a statement posted on its website, the ministry said collecting carbon duties from foreign products would enable developed countries to […]

EU seen meeting renewable fuel targets with blends

HAMBURG (Reuters) – The European Union is likely to achieve its target of generating 10 percent of transport fuels from renewable sources by 2020 by blending biofuels with fossil fuels, a leading EU researcher said. Most blending is likely to use first-generation biofuels produced with food crops, said Giovanni De Santi, director of the Energy […]

Iraqi crude deal 'boost' for China's oil security quest

The successful joint bid by BP and China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) to develop an oilfield in Iraq has offered unique opportunities for the Chinese company to tap crude reserves in the oil-rich nation, analysts said yesterday. But domestic oil producers should prepare themselves well for any uncertainties in the war-torn country, which boasts of […]

OPEC and IEA Agree Not to Disagree: A Good Omen for the Industry

The IEA and OPEC are different organizations. Their briefs are different. They represent two worlds, two distinct interest groups and two schools of thought. They diverge rather than concur on major issues, but professionals run them; they may agree to differ yet both have no constraints in concurring, either. Despite all the odds, this industry, […]

Organic Farms as Subdivision Amenities

SOUTH BURLINGTON, Vt. In 2001, investors in a stalled project with an agriculture component outside Boise, Idaho, recruited Frank Martin to take over their development. Mr. Martin had been a manager at Prairie Crossing, a subdivision built around a working farm in the Chicago suburb of Gray

Book Review: Blackout

Coal. Under the surface we seem to have a lot of it. It’s fairly inexpensive but this is changing as demand rises to meet increased energy needs especially in countries like China. So we have a lot, its cheap, let’s use it, what’s the problem? Right? Wrong! Author Richard Heinberg writes in Blackout: Coal, Climate […]

Group: World failing to halt biodiversity decline

Governments are failing to stem a rapid decline in biodiversity that is now threatening extinction for almost half the world’s coral reef species, a third of amphibians and a quarter of mammals, a leading environmental group warned Thursday. “Life on Earth is under serious threat,” the International U-nion for Conservation of Nature said in a […]

Spain backtracks on nuclear power phase-out

MADRID (AFP) “This was not an easy decision but it is a thought-out decision,” he told a news conference, adding the decision would allow for the preservation of jobs in the region at a time of high unemployment. Socialist Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero had vowed during general elections in 2004 and 2008 to […]

Eager to Tap Iraq's Vast Oil Reserves, Industry Execs Suggested Invasion

Two years before the invasion of Iraq, oil executives and foreign policy advisers told the Bush administration that the United States would remain “a prisoner of its energy dilemma” as long as Saddam Hussein was in power. That April 2001 report, “Strategic Policy Challenges for the 21st Century,” was prepared by the James A. Baker […]

Europe urged to stockpile gas

European countries were urged to start stockpiling gas reserves for the winter as another gas crisis involving Russia and Ukraine is looming. The European Commission said a repeat of January’s energy shortfall was likely if Ukraine failed to raise Millions of European consumers were left without gas for the first two weeks of this year, […]

Oil's record high, one year later

Crude is less than half its $145 peak of last July 3 – as a global economic slowdown zaps demand. NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — One year ago, on July 3, 2008, oil prices settled at a record high — a once-unthinkable $145.29 a barrel On Thursday, it settled at $66.73, less than half the record […]

Oil May Fall on U.S. Fuel Inventories Increase, Survey Shows

(Bloomberg) — Crude oil may fall on speculation that U.S. fuel inventories will climb as the recession curbs demand in the world U.S. gasoline stockpiles climbed 2.33 million barrels to 211.2 million last week, an Energy Department report on July 1 showed. Inventories of distillate fuel, a category that includes diesel and heating oil, climbed […]

Rogue broker blamed for oil spike

PVM blames unauthorized trades for spike in Brent crude markets LONDON – PVM Oil Associates, the world’s biggest over-the-counter oil brokerage, says it lost nearly $10 million this week because of unauthorized trades that caused a temporary spike in Brent crude markets. The firm said in a statement late Thursday that it was investigating the […]

The Case of the Shrinking Sheep

On a remote Scottish island, the sheep are shrinking, and the cause appears to be the warming of winter. The wild Soay sheep that live on the island of Hirta in the North Atlantic have been under careful scientific observation since 1985, partly because the island ecosystem is a simple one consisting of the sheep […]

Focus on India – South Asia Rig Count Heats Up

Exploration in India has grown dramatically in the last decade through the New Exploration Licensing Policy (NELP) program. With its first formal open exploration round in 1997, India is currently conducting its eighth bidding round for exploration and development opportunities on- and offshore the South Asian country. Prior to the open bidding process, only 11% […]

Green Power Takes Root in the Chinese Desert

This year China is on track to pass the United States as the world’s largest market for wind turbines — after doubling wind power capacity in each of the last four years. State-owned power companies are competing to see which can build solar plants fastest, though these projects are much smaller than the wind projects. […]

German study sees job boom from Sahara solar project

A project linking solar power from the Sahara to energy users in Europe and North Africa could create 240,000 German jobs and generate 2 trillion euros ($2,822 billion) worth of power by 2050, a study published on Thursday found. The report by Germany’s Wuppertal Institute for Climate for Greenpeace and the Club of Rome also […]

Nabucco is still alive

Nearly two months ago, Turkey and the EU finally overcame two outstanding problems regarding the transit of Azerbaijan’s natural gas to Europe across Turkey: that is, the price to Ankara of the Nabucco pipeline and the legal framework for domestic Turkish regulation of the venture. That gas would come from the second stage of development […]

Nova Scotia needs a new deal

…The key thing is that the full costs of imported food is not included. We don’t have to go down the protectionist route, it’s just that the cost of transportation and use of energy and greenhouse gas emissions are omitted from the actual price of the product. We have to be able to bring those […]

Green power faces many hurdles

Renewable energy–green power–is in the news and on the floor of Congress. The Senate is currently mulling over a bill from the House of Representatives to implement sweeping changes to America’s energy sector. Billions of dollars could be added to our national debt to subsidize a fledgling green energy industry. The question is whether or […]

The Reasons Behind Big Oil Declining Iraq's Riches

Any notion that the invasion of Iraq was simply an oil grab took another hit on Tuesday when Baghdad opened the bidding on the rights to develop its massive energy reserves. In a day-long auction of eight huge oil fields Despite the rich deposits on offer, energy companies were put off by the prices demanded […]

Part 1: America's sobering future–The Long Emergency

For some strange reason, my critics love hurling ad hominem attacks concerning my attempts to educate Americans on our impending water shortages, energy crisis, species extinctions, climate destabilization and a Pandora’s Box of forthcoming harsh realities facing America as it inundates itself with relentless immigration. Therefore, this two part series supports everything in my work […]

Iraq over optimistic on oil, output to fall -IEA

LONDON, June 29 (Reuters) – Iraqi plans to raise oil output to 6 million barrels per day (bpd) by 2017 are likely to be over optimistic, the International Energy Agency said on Monday, saying oil capacity could fall over the next two years. The IEA said in its Medium-Term Oil Market Report it had taken […]

Peak oil review – June 29

1. Production and Prices 2. In the Congress 3. Briefs 1. Production and Prices Crude prices gyrated within a dollar or two of $70 a barrel last week as weaker equity prices and sluggish economies trumped unrest in lran and damaging insurgent attacks in Nigeria. There seems to be a growing sentiment that hints of […]

Study: Tropical rain band is shifting north

Warming suspected; freshwater shortages for some Pacific isles likely Earth’s most prominent rain band, near the equator, has been moving north at an average rate of almost a mile a year for three centuries, likely because of a warming world, scientists say. The band supplies fresh water to almost a billion people and affects climate […]

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