Are we at the peak of oil production?

In the image at right, you will notice that the peak of oil production occurred shortly after 1970. You will also notice the uptick of production when the Alaska oil fields became operational late 1970s. The current debate to open ANWAR really matters, if we don’t curtail our overall use of oil. Since the 1980’s […]

Clean Energy Investment Leaps In Second Quarter

Global investment in clean energy and climate-friendly technologies leapt in the last three months but full-year levels won’t recover until 2010 or 2011, analysts said on Wednesday. Falling energy demand and more expensive debt have hurt large renewable projects for example in wind and solar power. Recession has cut risk appetite, curbing funding for clean […]

UK Wind Boom Spikes Prices, Threatens Plants: Study

The dramatic growth in wind turbines around the British Isles may lead to huge spikes in power prices by 2030 and threaten the viability of backup plants needed for calm periods, according to Poyry Energy Consulting. Britain and Ireland have ambitious targets to reduce their carbon dioxide emissions, with wind turbines expected to reduce most […]

China boosts gas imports from Turkmenistan

Russia’s stoppage since April 9 of gas imports from Turkmenistan, ostensibly due to a pipeline accident, can only strengthen Turkmenistan’s motivation to start exports to China on schedule in early 2010. With Russia demonstrating its unreliability as a gas importer (let alone supplier to others), Beijing is using this opportunity to increase the volume of […]

Kenya: State to Distribute Energy-Saving Bulbs to Conserve Power

The Government will give out one million energy-saving bulbs in exchange for the ordinary ones to conserve power as hydro-electricity sources fail to meet demand because of poor rains. Users will be expected to drop off their standard bulbs at designated points in exchange for the energy saving ones in the exercise expected to begin […]

India Gas Demand Set to Rise as Fertilizer Makers Add Capacity

India’s demand for natural gas is set to increase as fertilizer makers spend as much as 50 billion rupees ($1 billion) in the next three years to boost capacity by 35 percent, an official said. Fertilizer companies may need an additional 24 million cubic meters a day of gas to feed new plants and existing […]

Flashing Lights on the Console

KMO welcomes Albert K. Bates back to the program, and they sit down together for a chat with Richard Heinberg, author of Peak Everything. Albert admits that he’s finding it hard to maintain his “soft lander” status in the face of mounting evidence, and Richard talks about the themes in his new book, Blackout: Coal, […]

Nigeria oil company rejects damning Amnesty report

(CNN) — Nigeria’s state oil company rejected criticism from a leading human rights group Wednesday, calling an Amnesty International report “inaccurate.” “We have issues with the report,” said Levi Ajuonoma, a spokesman for Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation. Amnesty said Tuesday that pollution and environmental impacts from the oil industry in the Niger Delta are creating […]

Venezuela Oil Exports to United States Fall to Record Low

Time was when Venezuelan President Hugo ChLAHT

Truck safety advocates push to mandate speed-limiting devices

Stephen Owings, whose 22-year-old son died when his car was rear-ended, is fighting to have the federal government require the use of speed-limiting devices on all big rigs, saying: “We’re not against truckers; we’re pro-highway safety.” Most often, citizen-crusaders find themselves in lonely, unequal struggles against industry groups and lobbyists. But this time, David and […]

Kazakhstan expands China oil pipeline link

China secured access to vast oil deposits in western Kazakhstan on Wednesday after the energy-rich Central Asian nation said it had completed the expansion of a major oil pipeline to its eastern neighbour. A Kazakh company in charge of the project said the first test shipment of oil had been successfully completed through the newly […]

OPEC oil output rises in June: survey

OPEC oil supply rose in June as higher output from several members of the group offset cutbacks in Nigeria caused by militant attacks on the oil industry, a Reuters survey showed on Wednesday. Supply from the 11 members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries bound by output targets rose to 26.02 million barrels […]

Airlines lost $3 billion in first quarter

The world’s airlines lost more than $3 billion in the first quarter of 2009, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) said on Tuesday, maintaining its estimate for full-year losses of $9 billion. In its latest snapshot on the industry, the Geneva-based lobby said weak travel demand and lower freight volumes in the global recession had […]

WTO admits some trade limits may be necessary to stop climate change

GENEVA (AP) Import taxes on goods coming from countries that fail to meet environmental standards might be among the measures exceptionally permitted under global free trade laws, WTO said LA Times

From bush to bike – a bamboo revolution

On the outskirts of Lusaka, Zambia, next year’s crop of bicycles is being watered by Benjamin Banda. “We planted this bamboo last year,” he says, “and now the stems are taller than me. When it’s ready we’ll cut it, cure it and then turn it into frames.” Mr Banda, is the caretaker for Zambikes, a […]

Oil market oversupplied, demand weak -Kuwait

OPEC is unlikely to raise oil output when its minister meet in September as the oil market is still oversupplied, Kuwait’s oil minister said on Wednesday. “I doubt there will be a further increase in production,” Sheikh Ahmad Abdullah al-Sabah told reporters at parliament when asked for comment about similar views by fellow OPEC members […]

Russia proposes Arctic détente

Russia says it wants to work co-operatively with Canada on the future of the thawing Arctic, and both countries should freeze out non-Arctic Europeans jockeying for a piece of its rich resource “pie.” Stephen Harper’s Conservative government has occasionally aimed tough talk about Canadian claims in the Arctic at Russia, but has recently toned down […]

Iraq oil auction dashes majors' bonanza hopes

Iraq’s first auction of contracts to develop its oil fields since the U.S.-led invasion was not the bonanza for the oil industry that executives hoped, and has tempered eagerness to participate in future bid rounds. Iraq closed the oil auction on Tuesday after awarding just one of the eight fee-paying contracts on offer, to a […]

The least sea ice in 800 years

New research, which reconstructs the extent of ice in the sea between Greenland and Svalbard from the 13th century to the present indicates that there has never been so little sea ice as there is now. The research results from the Niels Bohr Institute, among others, are published in the scientific journal, Climate Dynamics. …In […]

Honda's new hybrid disappoints

New hybrid-only Insight does too poorly on Consumer Reports tests to earn a recommendation. NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — Honda’s new hybrid-only Insight, touted as a low-cost competitor to the Toyota Prius was dealt a major blow Monday after it failed to get a thumbs up from the influential magazine Consumer Reports. “The Insight is the […]

Commentary: Interview with Charles T. Maxwell (Part 2 of 2)

We caught up with Charley Maxwell, the life-long oil industry analyst viewed by Barrons Maxwell: We

China's latest fuel price rise triggers public debate

BEIJING (Xinhua) — China’s latest fuel prices hike, which is intended to reflect rising international crude cost, sparked widespread debate as consumers grumbled that the record domestic prices were even higher than those in the United States, the world’s biggest oil consumer. The 9-10 percent state-set price rise in gasoline and diesel as of June […]

Agriculture and Food in Crisis

The causes for the extraordinary spike in food prices in 2008, doubling over 2007 prices, brought together long-term trends, at work for decades, with a number of more recent realities. The most important long-term trends leading to current situation include: Monthly Review

Irish 'energy for nothing' gizmo fails jury vetting (Steorn)

A MUCH-TRUMPETED plan for limitless supplies of free energy has been dashed by the revelation that something cannot be produced from nothing. An Irish company had promised it could deliver non-polluting, virtually cost-free power but an international jury said yesterday it did not work. However the verdict has not deterred the company, Steorn Ltd, from […]

Qatar minister: Tough year ahead for oil and gas

DOHA (AFP) “The last quarter of 2008 was difficult for the energy industry and all the indicators show that this year it will witness a tough period as well.” Oil prices on world markets tumbled to about 32 dollars a barrel in December from an all-time high of 147 dollars last July before recovering to […]

Arctic Permafrost Carbon

(Bloomberg) — Arctic permafrost, the frozen soil beneath polar snow and ice, contains twice as much carbon as previously estimated and may spark a further increase in temperatures should global warming continue. A study by the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization, or CSIRO, showed a 10 percent reduction of permafrost through warming could add […]

Another perspective on peak oil

KM: Yesterday I spent some time with Jeff Rubin, who is the former chief economist of CIBC [World Markets], on a big book talking about peak oil [ Why Your World is About to Get a Whole Lot Smaller: Oil and the End of Globalization ]. What is your view on peak oil? Have we […]

Gas demand set for first fall in 50 years

Global demand for gas is expected to fall in 2009 marking the first annual decline since the Fifties, a new report warns. The International Energy Agency’s (IEA) annual Natural Gas Market Review said: ‘[We] project that for the first time in 50 years, the world will witness a drop in global gas demand.’ It says […]

Wind + water = untapped energy

An abundance of power exists above Earth’s oceans, study finds (PhysOrg.com) — Wind energy over the planet’s oceans is a vastly underutilized renewable resource, according to UC Irvine researchers. At 80 meters above the ocean – the typical wind turbine height – more than 50 percent more power is available than at 10 meters, the […]

Dependence on Big Oil, Dirty Coal Could Cost U.S. $30 Trillion By 2030

WASHINGTON – Between 2010 and 2030, the United States will spend as much as $30 trillion on oil, coal, and other fossil fuels – nearly four times the total earnings of all American workers in 2007. At the same time, pollution from fossil fuels is the number one source of air and global warming pollution […]

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