‘Carmageddon’ begins in Los Angeles

The closure of a mountain highway pass in the heart of the nation’s second-largest city — an event anticipated to be so calamitous to car-loving Southern California that it’s been dubbed “Carmageddon” — hit the area Friday night. Crews began closing ramps late Friday on Interstate 405, where it passes over the Santa Monica Mountains, […]

The Price of Gas

What’s the price of gasoline? In the U.S. it’s about $4 a gallon. But some experts say the true price of gas is much higher. What about the costs of pollution, and the global and local problems caused by it? Who pays for those? This animated feature from the Center for Investigative Reporting calculates the […]

Italy, Eni told to ‘forget’ Libya’s oil

Libya’s Prime Minister Al-Baghdadi Ali Al-Mahmoudi said his government has stopped all cooperation with Eni SPA, the country’s largest international oil company, due to Italy’s participation in the bombing campaign being waged by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. “The Italian government needs to totally forget about Libyan oil and every agreement we signed in the […]

A Future of Price Spikes

Thomas Malthus lived in an era much like today’s — when emerging technologies made anything seem possible. The 19th century was approaching, the Industrial Revolution was steaming along, and in intellectual circles it was popular to believe that expanding scientific knowledge could create a more enlightened, even utopian, society. Malthus, however, was making a more […]

The end of cheap coal

World energy policy is gripped by a fallacy — the idea that coal is destined to stay cheap for decades to come. This assumption supports investment in ‘clean-coal’ technology and trumps serious efforts to increase energy conservation and develop alternative energy sources. It is an important enough assumption about our energy future that it demands […]

Dwindling global rice surplus prompts price surge fears

* Shrinking crop areas for top exporters Thailand, Vietnam * Risks from adverse weather, labor and water shortages * Global annual rice surplus to shrink 90% at decade end BANGKOK/HANOI – A significant rice surplus is forecast to shrink by the end of the decade if more farmland in top exporting nations is put to […]

BP Sets New Voluntary Standards in GOM Drilling

BP Exploration & Production (BPXP) will implement a new set of deepwater oil and gas drilling standards for its operations in the US Gulf of Mexico, demonstrating the company’s commitment to safe and reliable operations. The announcement was made in a letter to the director of the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and […]

Robert Rapier: Renewables 2011 Global Status Report Released

The Renewable Energy Policy Network for the 21st Century has just released their annual Renewables 2011 Global Status Report. I was one of the reviewers of the draft report, and therefore got to read and comment on it prior to publication. The report provides a comprehensive overview of global renewable energy sectors, breaking different categories […]

Peak Copper

Copper surprised everyone with its rapid ascent from the recession, propelled by China’s stockpiling program to hit record-high prices. Prices were buoyed by underlying changes to the supply chain, with analysts closely watching eroding stockpiles of copper in warehouses, and predicting that sooner, rather than later, we will run out of copper. We all have […]

Why Europe Needs Its Own Energy Agency

Oil prices have once again reached record levels and volatility is more than ever destructive. While the public complains, governments remain powerless. Growing demand from non-OECD countries, stagnating production and unrest in the Middle East are the main causes for this new paradigm. In every crisis, understanding the overall situation is a first step for […]

T Boone Pickens: We’ll see $5 at the pump in 2012

Oil tycoon/ We’ll see $5 at the pump in 2012.CBS – 7/14/11

QE 3D: The summer blockbuster

Commodity Bulls Rejoice! QE 3D may be coming soon to a screen near you! Your friends at the Fed seem to be unhappy with the commodity markets returns so why not raise the stakes and juice them up! QE 3D! If you liked QE2 then you are going to love the 3d version. Fed Chairman Ben […]

Russia’s Mad Dash to Growth

When Brian Hicks, owner and founder of Angel Publishing, started writing articles about Peak Oil, he was practically laughed out of the industry. This was in 2004. At the time, the idea that the world could run out of oil was relegated to tinfoil hat-wearing basement dwellers from the dark side of the Internet. As […]

‘Fracking’ Has EPA Seal of Approval

Natural gas is clean and cheap compared to other forms of energy. Over the last few years, U.S. and world natural gas reserves have soared – U.S. reserves are up by over a third – as we’ve discovered how to apply the technique known as fracking to unleash gas trapped in deep underground shale formations. […]

How Dependent Is the U.S. on Foreign Oil? – EIA Reports Current Trends

The U.S. imported about 49 percent of the crude oil and refined petroleum products that were consumed during 2010, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) noted in a recent brief on the issue. About half of these imports came from the Western Hemisphere, EIA said, adding that U.S. dependence on foreign petroleum has declined since […]

China says oil spills still not controlled

China has ordered ConocoPhillips to immediately halt output at two offshore platforms in the Bohai Bay off its northeast coast, saying recent oil spills were not fully under control. The State Oceanic Administration said Wednesday it wanted the company to completely eliminate any risks of leaks after spills were found from platforms B and C […]

Still Mad About Gas Prices? Your Conspiracy Theories Are True

Whatever you’re paying for gas these days—likely just shy of $4 a gallon—you’re right to be angry about the causes of the gouging. Forget supply and demand; budget-busting high oil prices are the result of speculation on “paper” barrels of oil—and manipulation. Those are the conclusions of author, political commentator and retired commodities trader Raymond […]

Dmitry Orlov: A Black Hole of Debt

The latest installment of consciousness-raising audio from KMO featuring Richard Heinberg, whose soon-to-be-released book, The End of Growth, offers a most necessary flossing between the ears for the growth-addled, and me. Stay conscious!

Oil giant ConocoPhillips to split into 2 companies

ConocoPhillips, the nation’s third-largest oil company, said Thursday that it will split itself into two separate publicly traded companies and its CEO and Chairman Jim Mulva plans to retire once the transaction is complete. The breakup would create the largest independent refiner in the world, a prominent analyst said. Its shares jumped $7.35, or almost […]

IEA Says Additional SPR Releases Possible

If there is one thing in the past year that has received more ridicule than the Fed’s horrendous monetary policy it is the IEA unprecedented decision to release 60 million in crude from the global strategic petroleum reserve. One needs to take a simple look at the price of crude just today to see what […]

PM: Japan ‘can exist without nuclear power’

Japan’s prime minister says he wants the country to learn from its ongoing crisis and become less reliant on nuclear energy. Naoto Kan told a news conference on Wednesday the risk of nuclear energy is too high and he wants to wean the nation off nuclear energy and eventually seek a society that can do without it. He […]

China in talks for possible Cuba oil block

State-owned China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) is discussing with Cuba the possible leasing of one or more offshore exploration blocks in Cuban Gulf of Mexico acreage, a Cuban state oil company official said on Wednesday. “They are discussing that. They have to look at the data and see if that’s what they want, and that’s […]

Chris Martenson: UK Economy Crash Course

Chris Martenson explains the predicament the UK and world economy is in from the perspective of economics, energy and the environment. He discusses concepts such as the nature of money, debt, exponential growth, natural limits, peak oil and energy yields.

Germany to fund new coal plants with climate change fund cash

The German government wants to encourage the construction of new coal and gas power plants with millions of euros from a fund for promoting clean energy and combating climate change. The plan has come under stiff criticism, but the Ministry of Economics and Technology defended the idea. A spokeswoman said it was necessary as the […]

China facing severe water crisis due to massive food production

As the world’s population increases, so too does its need for food and water – the two resources which are absolutely necessary to sustain life. And as it happens, one is needed to grow the other, so it should alarm you to know that the country with the largest population – China – is is […]

Bernanke Fights Ron Paul In US Congress: Gold Isn’t Money

Chairman Ben Bernanke faced-off with Fed-hating Representative Ron Paul during his monetary policy report to Congress on Wednesday.  The head of the Fed was forced to respond to accusations of enriching already rich corporations while failing to help Main Street, while he was pushed on his views on gold.  When asked whether gold is money, […]

Exxon: Yellowstone River Cleanup and Recovery Update

Under the direction of the Unified Command, almost 700 people are now involved in the response and cleanup effort including ExxonMobil’s North America Regional Response Team, the Clean Harbors and ER oil spill response organizations and additional contractors. We have deployed more than 43,000 feet of boom and approximately 260,000 absorbent pads to clean up […]

Bakken Production Visualization

Hello Readers! Today is quite exciting as we have our first blog post showcasing the power of gDC data and visualization from Visage. We are going to be releasing a series of analysis in conjunction with Visage to display the value of looking at data in different ways than we have typically be used to […]

Too Much Life on Earth?

The specter of overpopulation was raised once more in 2008 by the decline in global food stocks and rapid deterioration of the environment. The figures are frightening — 218,000 more mouths to feed each day, 80 million more each year, a global population now close to 7 billion. But overpopulation is as much a question […]

Tin production — A classic case of limits to growth

The tin production story is out there is in plain sight, but only those directly involved in supplying the tin ore, refining it or consuming tin metal are paying any attention. Bloomberg’s Bear Market in Tin Ending as Shortages Mean PT Timah’s Profit Advances 55% explains what’s going on now, and what’s been going on […]

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