Illuminating the Future of Energy

…The average energy consumption on earth is 56 kilowatt-hours per day per person. You can visualize this personal energy consumption in terms of light bulbs: 56 kilowatt-hours per day is the energy consumption of 56 ordinary 40-watt bulbs left switched on all the time. The world The countries with the highest power consumption per area […]

Michael Lynch, Daniel Yergin – The Denizens of Peak Oil Denial

by Steve Andrews and Randy Udall Last week Michael Lynch and Daniel Yergin pummeled the concept of peak oil in two mainstream media outlets. Lynch’s feisty but nearly fact-free op-ed for the New York Times and Yergin’s more scholarly reflection in Foreign Policy whipped up further discussion in the blogosphere. Although the majority of on-line […]

Mitsubishi, IHI to Join $21 Bln Space Solar Project

(Bloomberg) — Mitsubishi Electric Corp. and IHI Corp. will join a 2 trillion yen ($21 billion) Japanese project intending to build a giant solar-power generator in space within three decades and beam electricity to earth. A research group representing 16 companies, including Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd., will spend four years developing technology to send electricity […]

Eco-Cities: Building a Comeback?

The global recession put a damper on what are known as eco-cities, or big real estate developments that dramatically cut carbon emissions. The most notable delay has affected a major project planned for Dongtan, outside Shanghai. But with the recession easing and oil prices rising, plans to build such ultragreen model cities seem to be […]

EPA drafts fuel economy rules

35.5-m.p.g. standard is planned for 2016 WASHINGTON — The Environmental Protection Agency has drafted its version of fuel economy rules setting a 35.5-m.p.g. standard for vehicles by 2016, the first move by the Obama administration to regulate greenhouse gas emissions, EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson said Monday. The proposed rules under review by the White House […]

Our best guess about global warming may be wrong

Scientists wonder whether rising CO2 may trigger something else that further warms the climate Fifty-five million years ago, the world was a much warmer place. The poles were ice-free year-round. Palm trees grew in Alaska. Forests stretched right into the Arctic Circle. There, swamps like those in today Scientists call this time in Earth

Future of energy debate – Groningen

– A debate about the future of energy, including climate change and security, was held at a conference to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Groningen gas field – with speakers from ExxonMobil, Solar Century, Shell, Schlumberger and Texas A+M University, together with electronic audience voting, chaired by Rien Herber, vice president exploration for Shell in […]

The Bankruptcy of American – End of the Petrodollar System

Currently, the world consumes more than 80 billion barrels of oil per day. And with each barrel sold, more demand for U.S. dollars is created. This continual demand for dollars means the Federal Reserve must keep dollars in plentiful supply, meaning printed regularly. More money in circulation leads to expansion of the monetary base, and […]

McKillop: Rome Falls While The Sun Shines

By Andrew McKillop Discussing the end of population growth is as politically incorrect as saying the simplest solution to peak oil and climate change is to use less fossil energy, starting with the most oil and fossil energy intense economies and societies.In the 20th Century, world population nearly quadrupled from around 1.55 billion to about […]

Saudis decry anti-Arab tilt in US oil posturing

…By specifically criticising Mr Obama for saying foreign oil In post-September 11 America, this may simply be the energy policy rhetoric required of any presidential candidate serious about getting elected. But with the presidential race over, is it necessary or helpful to keep beating the anti-Arab drum? Mr Obama may now be trapped. His

Will Earthlings Survive the Earth – Or Vice Versa?

What’s scarier than severe recession? Okay, depression. Terrorism looms still, but for sheer panic, nothing matches 90% species die-off. Not from asteroids, nor nukes, nor is our planet doomed, though the approaching Andromeda galaxy looks to digest our Milky Way – but not for billions of years. Let’s worry instead about our progeny and how […]

US agriculture interests split over climate bill

OMAHA, Neb. Those who are against the bill say it would lead to skyrocketing fuel and fertilizer costs, cutting into farmers’ and ranchers’ already unpredictable profits. Those who support it contend any losses would be more than made up for through a provision that would allow companies to meet their pollution targets by investing in […]

Florida Vetrans Denounce Big Oil Front Group

Big Oil is out astroturfing once again, this time under the guise of the group It

Earth experiment could buy precious time

As the UK’s Royal Society prepares to publish its conclusions on whether geo-engineering can help combat climate change, physicist Alan Gadian argues that geo-engineering techniques, in particular cloud whitening, must be properly tested – and soon. Planet Earth has become a huge science experiment, and the consequences will affect all of us. He argues that […]

Top science body calls for geoengineering 'plan B'

Take note: the back-up plan for saving the world is no joke. A major scientific institution has published a comprehensive review of possible ways to engineer the climate to reverse global warming. The UK Royal Society’s review of geoengineering will make it difficult for governments to ignore the issue. It says that while reducing emissions […]

Increasing density could mean reductions in vehicle travel, fuel use and CO2

WASHINGTON — Increasing population and employment density in metropolitan areas could reduce vehicle travel, energy use, and CO2 emissions from less than 1 percent up to 11 percent by 2050 compared to a base case for household vehicle usage, says a new congressionally mandated report from the National Research Council, although committee members disagreed about […]

Chevron Offers Evidence of Bribery Scheme in Ecuador Lawsuit

CARACAS, Venezuela The recordings indicate that an Ecuadoran political operative was working to obtain $3 million in bribes related to environmental cleanup contracts to be awarded in the event of a ruling against Chevron. NY Times

Scientists study possible responses to climate emergencies

Palo Alto, CA Professor John Shepherd, who chaired the study said, “It is an unpalatable truth that unless we can succeed in greatly reducing CO2 emissions we are headed for a very uncomfortable and challenging climate future, and geoengineering will be the only option left to limit further temperature increases. Our research found that some […]

Canada's Oil Sands – Part 2

In Part 2 of this post, I provide some additional thoughts to help the reader come to his / her own conclusions about the future of the oil sands. I talk a little about how Canada’s oil sands production fits in with its other sources of supply, and how this in turn relates to Canada’s […]

New Vending Machine Energy Conservation Standards

From Report Summary: The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is adopting new energy conservation standards for refrigerated bottled or canned beverage vending machines. DOE has determined that energy conservation standards for these types of equipment would result in significant conservation of energy, and are technologically feasible and economically justified. … pg 6. The economic impacts […]

Blackout Britain warning as Government predicts severe power shortages

Britain faces the first widespread power blackouts since the 1970s because of looming energy shortages, Government documents reveal. For the first time, ministers are expecting that the supply of electricity will fail to meet demand at peak times. Official papers show that consumers will be hit by an ‘energy gap’ when a number of existing […]

Catastrophe bonds: a financial symptom of climate change?

You can’t trust banks; can you trust insurers? Dan Box looks at the rise and rise of ‘catastrophe bonds’ – the new financial product with a very big downside …Catastrophe bonds are, depending on who you talk to, either a smart way to spread the insurance risk around to ensure the market doesnt buckle under […]

Norwegian oil output to fall more than expected

OSLO Production was about 2.2 million barrels per day at the end of 2008, after falling from a peak average of 3.1 million barrels per day in 2000. The government has been urging oil companies to step up efforts to find more oil near existing North Sea fields, develop technology to get more crude out […]

Blowpipes thwart Borneo's biofuel kings

Hundreds of Borneo tribes men armed with blowpipes are blockading roads in protest against companies they accuse of destroying their rainforests to grow oil palms for “green” biofuel, cooking oil, soap and margarine. The confrontation is taking place in the endangered forests of the Malaysian state of Sarawak, where members of the Penan tribe have […]

Burma refugees carry lesson in imperialism to China

For China, the cost of oil and gas has just doubled. You will not find this new oil price quoted anywhere, but its burden will weigh heavily on the leadership in Beijing. It is not an oil price that can be measured in dollars per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. There has been […]

Mexico Needs to Find New Revenue Sources, S&P Says

Mexican President Felipe Calderon must create new sources of revenue to offset declining oil income if the country is to avoid a downgrade of its debt rating, Standard & Poor’s analyst Lisa Schineller said. Mexico’s contracting economy, a 50 percent drop in oil prices over the past year, and declining production by the state oil […]

Chinese Oil Giant Buys Into Canadian Oil Sands

With a $1.7 billion deal to acquire a majority stake in Canada’s Athabasca Oil Sands Corp, PetroChina made its biggest investment in Canada, which has the world’s second-largest oil reserves. The oil sands that PetroChina plans to exploit are estimated to contain as many as five billion barrels of reserves. Athabasca Oil Sands Corp said […]

« Previous Page

LATEST NEWS HEADLINES

• Why the IEA is Wrong About Peak Oil Demand
• Did we inadvertently speed global warming?  
• Venezuela’s Oil Monopoly Eases
• Why Germany is Choosing Natural Gas Over Nuclear Power
• U.S. coal-fired electricity generation decreased in 2022 and 2023

• America Cracks Down on Methane Emissions from Oil and Gas Facilities
• Meet America’s Newest Oil Trader Extraordinaire: Joe Biden
• Is It Time To Refill America’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve?
• Oil prices set to end year 10% lower as demand concerns snap winning streak
• What’s Driving America’s New Oil and Gas Boom?
• China’s peak oil demand bombshell eviscerates Danielle Smith’s energy strategy