Cargill warns on self-sufficiency

The drive towards self-sufficiency in response to last year’s food crisis will fail, a top executive at Cargill has warned, adding that the idea that countries “can be self-sufficient in every single food is a nonsense”. The warning by the world’s largest trader of agricultural commodities comes ahead of next Monday’s UN World Summit on […]

In oil markets, the future looks sour

NEW YORK/HOUSTON (Reuters) – Saudi Arabia’s new method of pricing oil bound for the United States reflects the world’s growing reliance on sour crude, which is harder to refine. The sour grades of crude may eventually displace tried-and-true light, sweet crude to become a benchmark. That could help producers and refiners manage risk as they […]

We the Six Billion: The Ammonia Economy

Saturday morning I attended a powerpoint presentation at the Strand Theatre. The presenter was Matthew Simmons, of local and international fame, who had been invited by the Island Institute to take part in its Sustainable Island Living Conference. Simmons, a part-time Rockport resident, is a local benefactor (he is, coincidentally, responsible for the beautiful restoration […]

John Michael Greer: How Relocalization Worked

One of the points that I That relocalization needs to happen, and will happen, is clear. Among other things, it

The IEA

…Halfway through the article, we perceive the glimmer of the real agenda. To get some substance to the story and to get somebody to go on record, The Guardian spoke to John Hemmings a Member of Parliament, and chair of the UK all-party parliamentary group on peak oil and gas. (You can tell from the […]

In Nod to Global Warming, Navy Preps for

The dwindling Arctic ice cap has launched an international race for control of northern waters: Russia, Canada, Denmark, and even China are hustling to expand their military presence, plant flags and eye those 90 billion barrels of natural gas under the cap. Now the U.S. Navy Then the Arctic Roadmap sets out a three-phase plan […]

Even though the Arctic Sea floor contains up to 30 percent of the world And that

Mysteriously warm times in Antarctica

A new study of Antarctica’s past climate reveals that temperatures during the warm periods between ice ages (interglacials) may have been higher than previously thought. The latest analysis of ice core records suggests that Antarctic temperatures may have been up to 6 Lead author Louise Sime of British Antarctic Survey said, “We didn’t expect to […]

Oil-paid study says Arctic spills easier to clean

Oil spills in Arctic ice may be easier to clean than those in open water, according to research funded by oil companies that are seeking offshore exploration in federal waters. Shell Oil Co. brought scientists from the Norwegian nonprofit research institute SINTEF to Anchorage this week to present findings from May experiments run in the […]

Storm Over the Chamber

As president of the nation The companies that resigned this fall

Let them eat snail

A nutritionist in Nigeria says that malnutrition and iron deficiency in schoolchildren could be reduced in her country by baking up snail pie. In a research paper to be published in the International Journal of Food Safety, Nutrition and Public Health, she explains snail is not only cheaper and more readily available than beef but […]

Oilwatch Monthly November 2009

The Oilwatch Monthly is a newsletter that is available free of charge with the latest data on oil supply, demand, oil stocks, spare capacity and exports. Spare capacity in OPEC countries increased from 1 to 4 million b/d from July 2008 to April 2009, and since remained at that level according to the Energy Information […]

Energy-saving bulbs 'get dimmer'

Energy-efficient light bulbs lose on average 22% of their brightness over their lifetime, a study has found. In some cases they emit just 60% as much light as traditional models which are being phased out of shops, it says. The study in Engineering and Technology magazine concluded that consumers were being misled by the bulbs’ […]

Four ways to feed the world

IT IS humanity’s oldest enemy. Despite all our science, a sixth of people in the developing world are chronically hungry. At a summit in Rome this week, world leaders reaffirmed a pledge to end hunger “at the earliest possible date”. The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) wanted them to promise to end hunger by […]

Oil tankers parked off British coast as speculators wait for prices to rise

Oil traders have been criticised for parking tankers off the coast of Britain as they wait for petrol prices to rise. Ten oil and gas vessels are currently anchored in Lyme Bay in Devon amid claims that speculators are trying to push up the prices paid by motorists. Local residents say that some of the […]

20 green heroes and villains: Have your say

On 7 December, world leaders and climate change negotiators will meet in Copenhagen to discuss the future of our planet. As the debate intensifies, the New Statesman’s panel of environmental experts have chosen their heroes and villains – politicians, activists, companies and institutions. But who did we leave off the list? Are there activists who […]

Six renewable energy sources judged to be best prospect for future

The best prospects for large-scale renewable energy production and net-energy performance remain wind and certain forms of solar, according to a study released by two California-based think tanks.

A carbon target for Copenhagen

CLIMATE CHANGE was at the top of President Obama’s agenda in China Tuesday, just three weeks before representatives from 192 countries meet in Copenhagen for a much-anticipated international climate conference. And he came tantalizingly close to saying what the rest of the world has been waiting years to hear: that next month the United States, […]

Oceans' uptake of manmade carbon may be slowing

The oceans play a key role in regulating climate, absorbing more than a quarter of the carbon dioxide that humans put into the air. Now, the first year-by-year accounting of this mechanism during the industrial era suggests the oceans are struggling to keep up with rising emissions — a finding with potentially wide implications for […]

Every Year of Delaying Legislation on Climate Change Adds $500 Billion a Year

The normally conservative International Energy Agency is now saying that we must act faster to prevent climate change. Not only to prevent catastrophe, but also because the longer we wait, the more difficult and expensive it becomes to achieve the greater and greater cuts that are necessary to keep worldwide temperature rise to 2 degrees […]

The Emerging US-China Strategic Alliance on Clean Energy

The bilateral relationship between the United States and China has begun to take on a more pragmatic and secure quality under the Obama Administration, a welcome contrast to the past, when the U.S. was mostly uneasy about the rise of China and China was often uncertain about assuming its emerging role as an economic and […]

Seeking Wind Energy, Some Consider the Sea

Deepwater turbines are meant to solve some of the problems of existing land-based turbines and those that are built on foundations in shallow water, like large turbine farms in the North Sea and the Cape Wind project proposed for Nantucket Sound in Massachusetts. Floating turbines can be located over the horizon, out of sight of […]

Energy chiefs warn crisis stifling investment

GENEVA But, they added, fresh capital is needed to renew and expand infrastructure such as production capacity and gas pipelines, cut carbon emissions from traditional fuels or build up more costly alternative energy sources. Global energy needs are expected to grow by more than 40 percent by 2030, according to an International Energy Agency report […]

Just use less

Energy savings to be big part of nation Savitz said the last couple of years have been exciting for those involved in energy conservation and efficiency, with public interest at levels not seen since the 1970s. The question, she said, is how long such interest will continue. Savitz said that any U.S. energy solutions will […]

New Danish plant turns straw into biofuel

KALUNDBORG, Denmark (Reuters) – A new plant in Denmark has begun converting straw into bioethanol for cars, pellets for biofuel-burning power plants and molasses for animal feed to avoid the carbon emissions from fossil fuels. State oil, gas and power firm DONG Energy inaugurated the plant on Wednesday in time to serve as a showcase […]

Could cheap algae oil power our energy future?

Production on land is expensive, but costs could go down if brought to sea Although algae is currently the most energy-dense biofuel source, the cost of producing algae oil is prohibitively expensive. The U.S. Department of Energy estimates that the biofuel would cost around $8 per gallon at the pump. Other experts have even projected […]

Nigeria's oil war truce 'in danger'

PORT HARCOURT, Nigeria, Nov. 18 (UPI) — A cease-fire in Nigeria’s oil war appeared to be under threat Wednesday after army soldiers destroyed the home of one of their commanders. But to some observers, the episode was part of a bizarre pre-election ritual. There was no word of any immediate retaliation by the rebels of […]

U.S. coal industry stakes survival on carbon capture

NEW HAVEN, West, Virginia (Reuters) – A looming government clampdown on CO2 emissions is about to confront an already embattled U.S. coal power industry with two stark options: capture carbon or die. Legislation from Congress or tough new regulatory demands could make it costly to spew greenhouse gases, posing a serious threat to the nation’s […]

Canada's Heartland – Political Peak Oil's First Refuge

The concept of “political peak oil” (an obscure, unpleasant term I admit) has been floating around under that name or as “geopolitical peak” (even worse) for years. Large oil companies based in the US, and UK, and France – known as the ‘oil majors’ – cumulatively control, at most, 15 to 20% of proven global […]

COP15 failure and Peak Oil success: Why exaggerate Global Warming?

OECD leaders go far out of their way to never, ever mention Peak Oil. This in fact is the biggest real world driver for worldwide Energy Transition away from CO2 emitting fossil fuels. Due to limited world oil reserves and production capacity, moving away from fossil fuels is necessary, whether or not there is climate […]

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