The biofuel factor on oil prices

Not long ago bioethanol and biodiesel were fringe fuels, but recently they have been making a subtle, but material dent in the US transportation market. Were it not for the effects of the global recession, the growing biofuel trend would have been even more noticeable.Let’s look at the numbers: until 2003, biofuels provided about 0.5% […]

Africa to Seek Billions in Climate Change Compensation

The African U-nion is considering a proposal to demand at least $67 billion a year in environmental damages from developed countries at the Copenhagen Climate summit in December. Africa is seeking a common position to increase its bargaining power in Copenhagen. Representatives of several African heads of state met at AU headquarters Monday to determine […]

China Racing Ahead of U.S. in Drive to Go Solar

President Obama wants to make the United States “the world’s leading exporter of renewable energy,” but in his seven months in office, it is China that has stepped on the gas in an effort to become the dominant player in green energy — especially in solar power, and even in the United States. Chinese companies […]

Biggest Solar Panels Still Not Big Enough

This is going to be the secret to solar’s success; not more solar, but better solar, allowing solar to eventually replace at least 25 percent of fossil-fuel electricity generation by making it both efficient and affordable. It isn’t merely important that solar succeed as an energy resource, it’s essential. Petroleum experts like Dr. Sadad al-Huseini, […]

Michael Lynch: 'Peak Oil' Is a Waste of Energy

By Michael Lynch Like many Malthusian beliefs, peak oil theory has been promoted by a motivated group of scientists and laymen who base their conclusions on poor analyses of data and misinterpretations of technical material. But because the news media and prominent figures like James Schlesinger, a former secretary of energy, and the oilman T. […]

Biological Solar

A handful of projects–including an effort by Craig Venter’s energy company, Synthetic Genomics–are now under way to use genetically modified photosynthetic organisms to generate fuels with input energy from the sun.One such effort is Helioculture, an emerging technology pioneered by Joule Biotechnologies of Cambridge, MA, which can uniquely convert sunlight and carbon dioxide directly into […]

Scenes from the Violent Twilight of Oil

It succors and drowns human life. And for the last eight years, oil — and the people and places that make it — was my obsession. Across the globe, oil is invoked as an agent of destiny. Oil will make you rich, oil will make you poor, oil will bring war, oil will deliver peace, […]

Twist of fate: horse and buggies replacing cars

Havelock-Belmont-Methuen The Skoda was one of a fleet of vehicles produced in the early 1990s to be driven in European cities, said John Stephenson, the vehicle’s previous owner, who made some modifications to make it lighter and more efficient. Both Fernbach and Stephenson are advocates of alternative energies to power everything from vehicles to homes […]

A Rare Peek at Green Energy Economics

California regulators have approved contracts for more than 8,600 megawatts of renewable energy, to be generated mostly by big solar power plants for the state When approving contracts for 310 megawatts of solar electricity, the utilities commission also signed off on an apparently first-of-its-kind technology royalty agreement between BrightSource and PG&E. Under the contracts approved […]

We believed Obama was going to tackle climate change. It isn't that easy

…Obama and his team built a compelling narrative in the campaign. There was so much bad news last year and so many intractable problems that everything was beginning to dovetail. A big story was coming together; all of our crises The Democrats have already achieved an impressive and perhaps unlikely victory. It’s easy to forget […]

A Solar-Powered Oil Field?

BrightSource Energy has broken ground on a 29-megawatt solar steam plant at a Chevron oil field in Coalinga, Calif. The 100-acre project In a conventional solar power plant, the steam drives a turbine to generate electricity. In this case, the steam will be injected into oil wells to enhance production by heating thick petroleum so […]

How a Solar-Hydrogen Economy Could Supply the World's Energy Needs

As the world’s oil supply continues to dry out every day, the question of what will replace oil and other fossil fuels is becoming more and more urgent. According to the World Coal Institute, at the present rate of consumption, coal will run out in 130 years, natural gas in 60 years, and oil in […]

Our Energy Problems Are All Based In Human Nature

The more I probe the hardest questions about the future of energy and our best shot at sustainability, the more I am convinced that the real questions are not about technology, but about human nature. We have all the technology we need to make homes that produce their own energy. We know how to build […]

Pemex May Miss Output Goal This Year as Drop Worsens, Cera Says

(Bloomberg) — Petroleos Mexicanos, Latin America

Iran discovers massive oil reserve

Iran has discovered a huge in-situ oil reserve of over 8.8 billion barrels in Soussangerd oilfield, Khuzestan province, Oil Minister Gholam-Hossein Nozari announced here on Monday. “”This is the largest oil reserve found in the country in the past five years,”” Nozari said, “”development of the field can boost the country’s crude oil production capacity […]

NOAA, Coast Guard Hunt for Alaska Methane, Carbon Dioxide Sources

Recent observations have suggested that the air above Alaska may already hold the first signs of a regional increase in greenhouse gas emissions that could contribute to climate change around the globe. To learn more about the region Scientists will search for natural sources of methane and carbon dioxide

Failing Nations: Why things fall apart

It can happen after one fateful event Geography can make a country more vulnerable to instability. Just finding itself in a bad neighborhood puts a country at risk; the war in Iraq, for instance, sent a flood of refugees into neighboring Syria. Crowded nations with huge populations, like Bangladesh, face special challenges. But so do […]

U.S. Refining May Drop by a Quarter on Climate Bill, API Says

(Bloomberg) — U.S. refining production may drop by a quarter by 2030, making the nation more dependent on fuel imports, if the climate-change legislation approved by the House becomes law, the American Petroleum Institute said. The Washington-based group, whose members include Exxon Mobil Corp. and ConocoPhillips, released a study today it commissioned on the legislation […]

America Is Running Out Of Rope

…The dollar is in the toilet and threatening to break all support levels. If it does, it may collapse to as low as 40, which will in turn rocket oil north to $300 or more and gasoline to $10! If that happens it is too late to stop it and too late to reverse course. […]

Putting a price on walkability

How much is walkability worth? An intriguing new study suggests that people are willing to pay considerable premiums for houses in neighborhoods that are highly walkable The study, conducted by a group called CEOs for Cities, looked at 90,000 homes in 15 different markets in the US, mashing up home sales data with

2,000 attend rally for natural gas drilling

DEC hold-ups costing local residents money, they maintain BAINBRIDGE — Responding to a rallying cry to protect their rights and royalties, about 2,000 people gathered in Bainbridge on Sunday afternoon to urge state officials to allow energy companies to drill for natural gas in their backyards. With hundreds of millions of dollars on the line, […]

Detroit tries peddling produce like ice cream

DETROIT – In a U.S. neighborhood served by 26 liquor stores but only one grocery, a community group is peddling fresh fruits and vegetables like ice cream. Five days a week, the Peaches & Greens truck winds its way through the streets as a loudspeaker plays R&B and puts out the call: “Nutritious, delicious. Brought […]

Fighting global warming with CIA?

WASHINGTON – Melting ice caps. Drought. Spreading disease. US defense planners view global climate change as a national security threat because it could create millions of new refugees and intensify conflicts over resources. But a diverse group of specialists is warning that the Pentagon A new debate is unfolding over whether linking climate change too […]

Energy 'as vital' as China for new global power

A senior Australian international relations specialist says the changing economics and politics of energy will be as important as the rise of China in reshaping global power and that it could be more important than climate change. Emeritus professor Stuart Harris says energy issues have the potential to spark conflict over existing disputes in areas […]

Daniel Yergin: It's Still the One

Oil’s very future is now being seriously questioned, debated, and challenged. The author of an acclaimed history explains why, just as we need more oil than ever, it is changing faster than we can keep up with. …Just because we have entered this new age of high-velocity change does not mean this story is about […]

McKibben: 'No development will be of use if Ganga dries up'

Bill McKibben is a US-based expert on global warming and alternative energy. On a recent visit to India, he told Nandita Sengupta why India needs to bargain strongly on environmental issues: How worrying is the state of the earth today? Earth’s satellite images today are far different from five years ago. There’s much less white […]

A Step Forward for Microbial Machines

A novel approach to genetic engineering could aid in the creation of fuel-producing bacteria–and edge closer to artificial life.The researchers now aim to test the technique on other bacteria. “We want to start transferring this technology to organisms that are more relevant industrially or for biofuels,” says Vashee. For example, he says, genetic pathways from […]

Science club investigates alternative energies

An ocean of clean energy pours from the sky. We could forget about nonrenewable climate-altering sources, like gas, oil and coal, if we could fill the tank or power our homes with a sunbeam. Current solar technologies aren’t quite up to that task. Conventional solar panels are inefficient; electric batteries are expensive and can’t store […]

The Red Dragon's thirst for oil grows

While the United States continues its moratorium policy of locking up 85 percent of its natural resources from exploration and development, the Red Dragon is continuing her desperate quest for oil, locking up every oil deal it can get hold of. China is now “Big Oil,” knowing full well the world economic downturn provides economic […]

Iraq's Second Oil Bidding Round Needs Higher Fees to Succeed

Iraq, which awarded only one oil field contract in June because of disagreements over fees, needs to pay more to attract foreign bidders in the second round of licensing, according to former state officials and analysts. International companies vying for the untapped deposits, including Majnoon, Iraq’s largest undeveloped field, want higher returns for working in […]

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