Pockets of Promise in Natural Gas and Oil

TER: Given what you just said, you are a contrarian to the peak oil pundits? PS: Absolutely. Peak oil is an economic impossibility and so it kind of makes me chuckle. It’s the kind of story told to get people to pay way too much for oil resources, as they’ve been doing over the last […]

Iraq to Rival Saudi Arabia in OPEC Oil Stakes

A surge from Iraq’s oil fields will occupy Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries crude producers in coming years as the recovering country’s output challenges that of Saudi Arabia, observers said as the cartel held its latest meeting. Iraq has signed several contracts this month with foreign oil companies and said it could raise production to […]

Building a Basil Economy: Growing, Gleaning, Gifting

…Much has been made, in print and on air, of Lexingtonians’ budding interest in growing and consuming fresh and local produce. We eat fresher food. We get to sample a greater variety of food. We grow community by gathering in groups at places like Farmer’s Markets to chat, eat, and purchase food for home. We […]

Panasonic plans home-use storage cell

“We’ll be the first to bring to the market a storage battery for home use, which can store sufficient electricity for about one week of use,” said Fumio Otsubo, president of Panasonic, in a recent interview with The Yomiuri Shimbun. Stressing that Panasonic and Sanyo have already test-manufactured a storage battery for home use, Otsubo […]

Nigerian Leadership Crisis Impacting Global Energy Markets

The illness of Nigerian Pres. Umaru Musa Yar The delicacy of the Nigerian domestic political situation is such that any further instability in Nigeria could disrupt oil and gas production in the Niger Delta, at a time when Nigerian oil already represents more than 15 percent of US oil imports, and its oil and gas […]

Exxon's drilling juggernaut

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — Exxon Mobil may be getting more than it bargained for with its recent plan to purchase natural gas giant XTO Energy. The $41 billion deal would make Exxon the country’s largest shale gas producer, drawing more attention to a controversial area of drilling that analysts say could invite tightened federal regulations […]

On the move: Species face race against climate change

Land ecosystems will have to move hundreds of metres each year in order to cope with global warming, according to a letter published on Thursday in Nature, the British-based science journal. On average, ecosystems will need to shift 420 metres (about a quarter of a mile) per year to cooler areas this century if the […]

UAE set up nuclear power body, to name builder soon

ABU DHABI (Reuters) – The United Arab Emirates set up a body on Wednesday to run its burgeoning nuclear programme to produce electricity, which is expected to award the region’s largest-ever energy deals soon, state media reported. A decree by President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed al-Nahayan established the Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation (ENEC), the state […]

Ice Melting Faster Everywhere

From the Arctic sea ice to the Antarctic interior and the mountainous peaks of Peru, Alaska, and Tibet, ice is melting at an alarming rate. The accelerating loss of ice sheets, sea ice, and glaciers is one of the most powerful and striking indicators of a warming climate. The most notable ice loss in recent […]

Anti-Iranian demonstrations spread across Iraq in oil well dispute

A row over an oil well on the Iran-Iraq border has triggered anti-Iranian demonstrations across Iraq, angry statements by politicians accusing the Government of supporting Iran and the announcement of a new cross-tribal armed force to combat Iranian incursions. The controversy began on Friday when armed Iranians moved on to the al-Fakka oilfield, in Missan […]

Taiwan unveils Asia's biggest solar plant: govt

TAIPEI One megawatt is enough to power 1,000 homes, according to an official at the council, which is also in charge of sustainable energy. The facility, which started operating Tuesday, will help Taiwan cut its carbon emissions by up to 660-700 tonnes annually, officials said. AFP

Thomas Friedman: The Copenhagen That Matters

As I listened to Denmark The more I listened to the Danish minister, Lene Espersen, the more I thought of my own country, where I

Bangladesh wants 15 pct of climate fund: minister

DHAKA “We demand per capita compensation: 15 percent of the 30 billion dollar fund,” he said, referring to the “fast track” finance pledged by rich nations for adaptation to and mitigation of climate change for the 2010-2012 period. The money will be used to construct cyclone shelters, reinforce coastal embankments, develop saline resistant crops and […]

Endgame: USA

…A number of economists such as Dr James Hamilton (PDF 637KB) and Jeff Rubin attribute the GFC to the oil price spike of 2007-08. This is not particularly surprising with oil price spikes having been followed by recessions consistently since the 1970s. With depletion rates of oilfields running at 6.7 per cent a year, and […]

Peak oil and the psychology of work

The following is a guest post from Vinay Kumar, who lives in the small coastal town in Southern India. Vinay has a Phd in Neuroscience from M.I.T. and a M.S. in Electrical Engineering from Northeastern University. He works as a systems engineer and volunteers on an organic farm that he helped to create. He also […]

The madness of Rome

If you happen to be one of those techno-optimists who believe that our culture can transition to a future powered by benign alternatives by using coal or unconventional carbon-based fuels, you just might want to consider the damage caused by the extraction of these resources. For example, if “clean coal” is your fancy, a little […]

Nigeria: Troops quell Delta protests

Security forces have deployed in two cities in Nigeria’s oil-producing Niger Delta in the past two days to disperse former militants protesting over the non-payment of amnesty allowances. Activists say the government is not keeping the promises it made during an amnesty period earlier this year and that the region, which is home to Africa’s […]

China Secures Gas Supply From Turkmenistan: Who

On December 14, 2009, an inauguration took place that deserves more attention than it received because it marks an economic power shift to the benefit of three Central Asian countries and China and to the detriment of Russia. The presidents of China – Hu Jintao, Turkmenistan – Gurlanguly Berdymukhamedov, Kazakhstan This pipeline then connects with […]

PetroChina Shuts Two Fertilizer Units on Gas Shortage

(Bloomberg) — PetroChina Co., the country China boosted gas production and imports last month as snowstorms increased demand for heating fuels at a time when government economic stimulus spurred industrial consumption of gas, used to run power, chemical and fertilizer plants. Winter demand this year will exceed supply by more than 1 billion cubic meters, […]

Jeff Rubin: Just how big a mortgage can you carry?

Energy prices, which were falling a year ago, are now back on the rise. Just as the inflationary impact of those prices triggered the fatal rise in interest rates which, in turn, gave us the deepest postwar global recession ever, energy prices will once again push inflation and interest rates much higher. (See my post […]

NYC urges ban on shale gas drilling in watershed

NEW YORK (Reuters) – New York City urged New York state on Wednesday to ban natural gas drilling in its watershed, adding unprecedented support to critics who consider the chemicals used to mine for shale gas as poisonous to drinking water. The biggest city in the United States joined environmentalists and small-town neighbors of drilling […]

China plays Pipelineistan

For all the rhapsodies on the advent of the New Silk Road, it may have come into effect for good last week, when China and Central Asia got together to open a crucial Pipelineistan node linking Turkmenistan to China’s Xinjiang. By 2013, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Hong Kong will be cruising to ever more dizzying heights […]

A delicate dance of power

China’s emergence as an important player in the development and use of energy resources found in the Caspian Sea basin, alongside longer established interests emanating from Russia, Europe and the United States, is a reminder of the ever-changing dynamics of the region, too easily overlooked during periods of apparent statis, such as during the late […]

China resets terms of engagement in Central Asia

Nursultan Nazarbayev has a way of drawing lines in the sand. The president of Kazakhstan recently told global oil and metal majors that new laws would allow only those foreign investors that cooperate with his industrialization program to tap his nation’s mineral resources. “We will work only with those who propose projects helping diversification of […]

Nigeria Says Shell Will Need Government Approval to Sell Assets

Nigeria’s Oil Minister said Royal Dutch Shell Plc will need government approval to sell oilfields following a report that it plans to sell as much as $5 billion of assets in the West African nation. Shell, Europe’s biggest energy company, is planning to sell stakes in several onshore Nigerian oilfields, the Sunday Times reported yesterday. […]

Kingdom to store oil in Japan

Saudi Arabia has signed a deal to put “millions of barrels” of oil in commercial storage in Japan, Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Ali Al-Naimi said Tuesday. “Asia will be a huge market and this will be a big take off,” Al-Naimi said ahead of an OPEC meeting.About half of the Kingdom’s crude exports […]

World's largest solar project prompts environmental debate

Panoche Valley is known mostly for cattle and barbed wire, a treeless landscape in eastern San Benito County that turns green every spring but for much of the year looks like rural Nevada. A posse of lawmen gunned down the famous Gold Rush bandit Joaquin Murrieta, an inspiration for the fictional character Zorro, near here […]

Wind Energy Industry Highlights of 2009

Reflecting on a year that opened with high expectations for renewable energy from the new Obama Administration and was buffeted by economic storms, AWEA identified the wind industry’s top accomplishments in 2009.“Wind power is a symbol of hope in our economy and supports thousands of jobs, but U.S. wind turbine manufacturing is lagging at the […]

China considers compulsory green energy purchases

China’s top legislature Tuesday discussed a legal amendment to require electricity grid companies to buy all the power produced by renewable energy generators. The State Council energy department and the state power regulatory agency should supervise the purchases, said the draft amendment to the Renewable Energy Law, which was submitted to the Standing Committee of […]

MIIT: China to establish rare metal reserve system in 2010

Chen Yanhai, director general of the Department of Raw Material Industry under the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), said recently that in 2010, MIIT will cooperate with relevant departments to strengthen the protection of resources and establish a rare metal reserve system. China’s reserves of rare metals including tungsten, indium and rare earth […]

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