IBM-Sponsored Report: Utilities Not Ready For Climate Change

NEW YORK -(Dow Jones)- A report sponsored by International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) says that 90% of utilities around the world know they are at risk from climate change but fewer than a third said they have performed any financial review of the possible impacts on their business. Utilities face a variety of potential problems […]

USDA releases report on use of manure for energy

Manure can be used to produce energy commercially and on farms without competing with the supply needed for fertilizer, but the economics might not be beneficial to all farmers, according to a report the USDA produced for Congress titled Using manure for energy won

India to import food amid drought

India will import food to make up for shortages caused by a drought thought to be affecting 700 million people, the finance minister has said. The minister, Pranab Mukherjee, did not specify what would be imported and when, saying he wanted to avoid speculation on prices. The drought is affecting almost half of India’s districts. […]

Artificial life will be created 'within months'

Scientists are only months away from creating artificial life, it was claimed yesterday. Dr Craig Venter The first artificial lifeform is likely to be a simple man-made bacterium that proves that the technology can work. But it will be followed by more complex bacteria that turn coal into cleaner natural gas, or algae that can […]

Oil diplomacy in Megrahi release?

Even as the British Foreign Office denied the claims, Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi was hinting at the same allegation made by his son, Seif al-Islam, hours earlier. “This step [Megrahi’s release] is for the benefit of relations between Britain and Libya, and relations of personal friendship between me and them, and it will certainly be […]

The big drill

B.C.

Current population growth not sustainable

… Most recently, the global population doubled in only 46 years. There are now close to 7 billion humans. So how are the resources to sustain an exponentially growing population holding up? Let’s look at just one of them — oil. Inhabitants of the United States literally eat oil. Oil is necessary to make the […]

Demand for tariffs in global-warming legislation splits allies

Midwestern Democrats, who want duties placed on countries who don’t limit greenhouse gas emissions, are at odds with Obama. Reporting from Perrysburg, Ohio – A group of Midwestern Democrats is pushing for tariffs on products from countries that don’t limit greenhouse gas emissions, a controversial step that the legislators say is needed to help American […]

Oil could be setting an inflation time bomb for autumn

With oil prices back above $73 a barrel, anyone who regularly fills a gas tank has to be hoping that this isn’t the start of a new surge. Carl Weinberg, chief economist at High Frequency Economics, says there’s a reason beyond the personal pocketbook issue to worry about another jump in oil prices: The effect […]

Chinese Solar Companies Report Weak 2Q Results, Rising Shipments

Solar-equipment manufacturers based in China have taken hits from the global recession and rapidly escalating industry competition. But there are signs that Chinese solar firms could emerge stronger than many of their competitors. While their bottom lines look bad now, most companies say shipments of photovoltaic (PV) module are rising fast, a sign that demand […]

Climate change opens Arctic route for German ships

Two German ships set off on Friday on the first journey across Russia’s Arctic-facing northern shore without the help of icebreakers after climate change helped opened the passage, the company said. Niels Stolberg, president and CEO of Beluga Shipping GmbH, said the “Beluga Fraternity” and “Beluga Foresight” left the Russian port of Vladivostok on the […]

EU wind power seen steady in 2009 despite crisis

Europe looks set to build slightly more wind capacity this year than in 2008, despite weakening electricity demand due to the economic crisis, the European Wind Energy Association (EWEA) said on Friday. About 8,600 megawatts of new wind energy capacity will be installed in the European U-nion’s 27 nations in 2009, 1 percent higher than […]

Nile Delta: 'We are going underwater. The sea will conquer our lands'

The Nile Delta is under threat from rising sea levels. Without the food it produces, Egypt faces catastrophe Already, a series of environmental crises are parking themselves on the banks of the Nile. Some are subtle, like the river’s quiet vanishing act in the Delta’s northern fields; others, like the dramatic collapse of coastal lands […]

Why Is Afghanistan So Important?

Rivalry for pipeline routes and energy resources reflects competition for power and control in the region. Pipelines are important today in the same way that railway building was important in the 19th century. They connect trading partners and influence the regional balance of power. Afghanistan is a strategic piece of real estate in the geopolitical […]

Oil will hit $150 again

Herrera, Simmons: The question is when, not if, but too many variables in play to predict …Oil industry analyst and On Aug. 18, Bloomberg reported oil was $69 a barrel, having Oil

In Brazil, Paying Farmers to Let the Trees Stand

QUERENCIA, Brazil Mr. Marcolini says he cares about the environment. But he also has a family to feed, and he is dubious that the group

Watching Myths Unwind

A few generations from now our descendants will wonder, I want to step back from our gargantuan dilemmas of 2009 and reflect on the East German intelligentsia I interviewed in 1990-1992 at the time of the unification of Germany. Readers might find this recollection tangential, irrelevant or idiosyncratic; nonetheless, my rationale is this: these East […]

Exxon Evacuates Nova Scotia Gas Platforms Ahead of Bill

ExxonMobil Canada said it is evacuating personnel from production facilities at five natural gas fields it operates off the coast of Nova Scotia, ahead of Hurricane Bill’s expected arrival on Sunday. “ExxonMobil is closely monitoring the progress of Hurricane Bill,” spokeswoman Margot Bruce-O’Connell said Thursday. “Based on the current predictions of the storm’s severity and […]

Mexico oil output falls 7.8 pct yr/yr in July – Pemex

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Mexican oil output fell 7.8 percent in July compared to the same month a year ago as the its efforts to replace production capacity lost at the Cantarell field continued to lag the giant’s natural decline. State oil monopoly Pemex said on Friday it produced 2.561 million barrels per day of […]

Thirst for African Oil: Asian National Oil Companies in Nigeria and Angola

The report provides a comparative study of the impact of Asian companies on the two leading oil producing countries in sub-Saharan Africa, Nigeria and Angola. The report shows that Asian companies that gained a foothold in the Nigerian oil sector in return for their commitments to invest in downstream and infrastructure projects failed to understand […]

Learning geology before the earthquake

The greatest changes in our country and the world are brought about as a result of crises. The Great Depression brought about the New Deal and many History has also shown

U.S. Bans Commercial Fishing in Warming Arctic

The Obama administration approved a management plan yesterday for Arctic fisheries that prevents the expansion of commercial fishing into vast swaths of sea whose ice is being melted by rising temperatures. “As Arctic sea ice recedes due to climate change, there is increasing interest in commercial fishing in Arctic waters,” Commerce Secretary Gary Locke said […]

Oil surges to 10-month high

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — Oil prices soared on Friday to their highest level since October as investors grow hopeful that a recovery of the world economy is in sight. Light, sweet oil for October delivery rose 98 cents to settle at $73.98 a barrel — its highest closing price since Oct. 20, 2008, when crude […]

US Coast Guard steels for role in Arctic as exploration increases

Anchorage (Platts) – The US Coast Guard is strengthening its presence in US Arctic regions, testing equipment and operating strategies for the third summer season, to ensure safety as oil and gas exploration and commercial shipping in the area increases, the agency’s commandant told a US Senate subcommittee Thursday. Climate change and the retreating polar […]

Ethanol Producers Warily Eye Algae's Bloom

It’s been the summer of algae-based fuels, with new technical advances, investments and legislative proposals appearing at regular intervals. After years of quietly building steam, the algae industry has recently received major, attention-grabbing investments from Exxon Mobil Corp. and Dow Chemical Co. And the industry is starting to find support in Congress with proposals that […]

Militants claim Russia dam disaster

MOSCOW (AFP) The claim was posted on a rebel website, Kavkazcenter.com, which said it received a statement by email. There was no way to check the veracity but Russian officials said Monday’s tragedy at Russia’s biggest hydroelectric plant was caused by a technical fault and there was no evidence of an attack. “Russian security service […]

Getting Real About the High Price of Cheap Food

…But we don’t have the luxury of philosophizing about food. With the exhaustion of the soil, the impact of global warming and the inevitably rising price of oil The Downside of Cheap For all the grumbling you do about your weekly grocery bill, the fact is you’ve never had it so good, at least in […]

Michael Klare: Is Iran gas ban a step toward war?

As the Barack Obama administration struggles to devise a strategy for dealing with Iran’s intransigence on the uranium-enrichment issue, it appears to be gravitating toward the imposition of an international embargo on gasoline sales to that country. Such a ban would be enacted if Iranian officials fail to come up with an acceptable negotiating plan […]

Life Without Frivolities

Simpler living may outlast the recession. Large numbers of U.S. adults have cut back on driving, eating at restaurants, going to the movies and traveling. It’s no surprise that this type of discretionary spending has taken a hit, but these trends are not just the result of a 20-month recession. To be sure, the recession […]

Iran announces massive oil find

Though declining to specify exactly where, the outgoing Iranian oil minister announced the discovery of a giant oil field as a new government takes shape. Iranian Oil Minister Gholamhossein Nozari announced the discovery of the field, which the semiofficial Fars news agency reports has in-place reserves of more than “20,000 billion barrels.”“The relevant information on […]

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