Depletion of fossil energy resources
Depletion of global fossil oil resources has been the theme topic of the world economic and political circles over the past decades, particularly in consumer countries in Europe and America. This has also been a source of great apprehension in those countries. The heart of their discussion is about the alternate sources of energy when the fossil oil resources are used up? Of course, how the alternatives can be exploitable, while being economically cost-effective, are the key factors in coming up with conclusion and making decision on the part of consumers.
Over the past several decades, the consumer countries have been weighing up the use of other resources, or substitutes, such as solar, water, wind, nuclear. Although huge research works have been done, it sounds a serious steps has not been taken yet; mainly because there have been gigantic amount of this noble energy carrier, namely the oil, and it has been rather cheap and comparing with other substitute resources being highly cost effective. So all this have made weak incentives for the use of other resources.
EIA to revise 2009 natgas production data Thurs
NEW YORK, April 26 (Reuters) – The U.S. Energy Information Administration said Monday it will revise gross natural gas production data for all of 2009 when it releases its EIA-914 report on Thursday.
Earlier this month, EIA said it planned to revamp its methodology for calculating gross natural gas production, beginning with its February report due out on April 29.
Norway pushes its own ‘Dash for Gas’
Current concerns about energy shortages and future supplies, carbon emissions and trading, et al, have thrown lots of attention on wind power, other renewable energy sources and the potential of nuclear power generation.
But what about natural gas? The world seems to have fallen out of love with a lower carbon source for power generation and other uses with reserves in hand for another 250 years of consumption.
Oil rig sinking puts ‘bad boy’ industry in spotlight again
The industry is inherently dangerous and accidents such as the latest one in the Gulf of Mexico can never be eliminated. However, Manouchehr Takin of the Centre for Global Energy Studies said: “Perhaps I’m biased. But accidents like this one will amplify the image of the industry as a bad boy. That is unfair, I think. We still need oil and gas.”
ConocoPhillips asset sale revealed
ConocoPhillips’s banking advisers today revealed details of the assets the oil giant is selling in the US and Canada as part of its $10 billion sale programme to shore up its finances.
The Houston-based company is divesting properties in the Permian basin in New Mexico and Texas, the Wind River basin in Wyoming, the panhandles of Texas and Oklahoma, and Western Canada, according to the website of Scotia Waterous, the oil and gas merger and acquisitions division of Scotia Capital, which is advising ConocoPhillips in its asset sale.
Petrobras capital plans may face delay
Brazilian state-owned Petrobras may face delays in its capitalisation plan because certifying the value of barrels to be used in the oil-for-shares plan could take longer than expected, Credit Suisse said today.
Can Biochar Help Save the World?
On Earth Day, we looked back on a year in which James Cameron’s Avatar, a film about environmental crisis and restoration, swept box offices around the globe. What if there were a real-life answer to help solve the real world problems of climate change, peak oil, and global food security? Would you want the leaders of the G8 and the G20 to know about it and endorse it? This Earth Day, The Huntsville Project launched to inform the global public about biochar, one of the most promising developments in our fight against climate change. At the new website, http://www.newcarboneconomy.info, you can find out about biochar and sign the petition.
Fighting against food waste
Each year people in the UK throw away 8.3 million tonnes of edible food. If that food wasn’t wasted the carbon emissions saved would be the equivalent of taking one in four cars off the road. As well as household food waste, retailers and commercial operations bin a huge amount of food that is past its sell by date – but still perfectly edible.
Creating Climate Wealth
In this dinner address, Branson offers insight into why he founded the Carbon War Room, which along with Earth Day Network, hosted the gala in the Ronald Reagan Building. He believes that capitalism — “if properly monitored” — can be a force for good in protecting the planet. He notes that mechanisms established decades ago to protect the planet no longer work and too often, globalization increases the gap between rich and poor.
Adaptation, Habituation, Consumption and $9/Gallon Gasoline
Human beings resist change until there is no other choice, and then they adapt and habituate rather quickly.
What Works, Maybe: Individual Options
Like global climate change, peak oil represents a predicament, not a problem. There is no politically viable solution to either of these great challenges. Political solutions require economic growth, forever, and therefore no significant sacrifice on the behalf of the electorate. Further, the industrial economy is underlain by the assumption of growth: The industrial economy grows or it dies.
Greenland Gears Up for Oil Search
Oil, one way or another, promises to transform this barren ice mass.
For years, many Greenlanders and scientists have blamed the burning of oil and other fossil fuels for rising temperatures that have caused Greenland’s huge ice cap to recede and its building-size offshore glaciers to crack apart.
Yet the slow-speed meltdown has also helped create a huge opportunity for the oil industry, opening more of this North Atlantic island’s
coastal areas for exploration and making it possible for boats to navigate and for drilling rigs to be planted in new offshore regions.
Starting around July, U.K. oil company Cairn Energy PLC is set to drill the first exploration well in Greenland in a decade, which analysts say may turn up sizable quantities of crude.
Norway, Russia Discuss Arctic Border Dispute
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev arrived in Norway Monday for a state visit during which the two countries were to discuss a long-running dispute over their maritime border in the Barents Sea, believed to contain vast oil and gas resources.
Since 1970, Norway and the Soviet Union, and then Russia, have contested a 176,000-square-kilometer area of the Barents Sea straddling their economic zones.
Global oil demand to increase by 5 mn bpd: Kuwait
Global oil demand will increase by five million barrels per day in the next five years, and China and India will lead the growth in emerging markets, the Kuwaiti oil minister said at the opening ceremony of the 18th Middle East Oil and Gas Conference in Kuwait City on Monday.
“The fastest growth will be in Asia, where consumption is expected to account for more than 30 per cent of the global demand,” Xinhua reported quoting Oil Minister Sheikh Ahmad Al-Abdullah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah.
API: U.S. Well Completions Down 24% in 1Q
The estimated number of U.S. oil and natural gas wells and dry holes completed in the first quarter of 2010 — 7,663 — was 24 percent lower than 2009, halting an uptick in completion well activity that began in the second half of 2009, API’s first-quarter drilling estimates indicate.
“This drop in drilling activity was somewhat unexpected. Looking at the rig activity, we expected first-quarter completions to at least maintain their fourth-quarter 2009 level,” said Hazem Arafa, director of API’s statistics department. “Upon closer inspection, we noticed that a considerable uptick in permits and rig activity occurred closer to the end of the first quarter. We therefore expect this increased activity to result in an uptick in completions in the second quarter.”
Saudi has 4m bpd to spare
Saudi Arabia has close to 4 million barrels per day of spare oil production capacity on hand, Saudi Aramco chief executive Khalid al-Falih said.
Days After Rig Explosion, Well Is Pouring Thousands of Gallons of Oil Into Gulf
NEW ORLEANS — Officials expect to determine today or Tuesday whether they will soon be able to stop oil leaks coming from the deepwater well near Louisiana or will need months to stem the flow of what is now about 42,000 gallons of oil a day pouring into the Gulf of Mexico.
The response team is trying three tacks: one that could stop the leaks within hours, one that would take months and one that would not stop the leaks but would capture the oil and deliver it to the surface while permanent measures are pursued.
Chavez dismisses ‘Cubanization’ accusations
CARACAS, Venezuela — President Hugo Chavez dismissed a retired general’s warnings about a growing Cuban presence in Venezuela’s military, accusing the officer Sunday of helping opponents portray his government a pawn of Fidel Castro.
China’s draft oil-pipeline protection law details pipeline companies’ responsibilities
BEIJING (Xinhua) — Chinese legislators Monday started discussing for the second time a draft law on the protection of oil and natural gas pipelines which spells out the responsibilities of pipeline companies.
According to the draft, companies must take safety measures while constructing pipelines and ensure the quality of materials.
Russia teaches EU a lesson in its Ukraine gas-for-naval base deal
This deal illustrates how Russia deploys hard political and economic power in a way that the EU can never match. Economically speaking, Ukraine is on its knees right now. The prospect of cheaper gas was too enticing to refuse. The Kremlin spotted its chance and went for it.
Iran Says Total, Shell Can Be Replaced in Major Projects
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps said it can fill the gap in the country’s energy sector left by Western oil firms pulling out in the face of U.S. sanctions, the Iranian Labour News Agency reports on its Web site.
IRGC Brigadier General Yadollah Javani, told the ILNA: “Today the revolutionary guards are proud to have the ability and know-how to easily replace large international firms. For example, we can replace Total and Shell in Assalouyeh big projects.”
Inequity in power outages
It seems that Pakistan’s politicians and civil servants seem to have not entirely grasped the concept of the phrase “public servant.” Judging by the unequal way in which electricity blackouts seem to have been divvied up in urban areas, one imagines that they feel that it is some sort of euphemism for ‘ruling class.’
Colombia faces gas shortages on El Nino
BOGOTA (Commodity Online) : Colombia is facing acute shortage of natural gas mainly on droughts caused by the El Niño weather phenomenon.
The phenomenon sent dam levels across Colombia to historic lows, are forcing officials to evaluate deficiencies in the natural gas sector.
Kunstler: A Still Moment
George W. Bush was onto something in the fall of 2008 when he remarked apropos of the Lehman collapse: “…this sucker could go down.”
It’s my serene conviction, by the way, that this sucker actually is going down, right now, even as I clatter away at the keys — perhaps in slow motion, so that not many other bystanders have noticed yet, and the few who have noticed are mostly too crosseyed with nausea to speak.
Herman Daly: Money and the Steady State Economy
We need not go back to the gold standard. Keep fiat money, but move from fractional reserve banking to a system of 100% reserve requirements. The change need not be drastic–we could gradually raise the reserve requirement to 100%. This would put control of the money supply and all seigniorage in hands of the government rather than private banks, which would no longer be able to live the alchemist’s dream of creating money out of nothing and lending it at interest. All quasi-bank financial institutions should be brought under this rule, regulated as commercial banks subject to 100% reserve requirements. Credit cards would become debit cards. Banks would earn their profit by financial intermediation only — i.e. lending savers’ money for them (charging a loan rate higher than the rate paid to savings account depositors) and charging for checking, safekeeping, and other services. With 100% reserves every dollar loaned to a borrower would be a dollar previously saved by a depositor, re-establishing the classical balance between investment and abstinence.
1905 San Francisco: Great City, Low Energy Consumption
A 13-minute film of a cable car/trolley ride down Market Street in 1905 San Francisco reveals much about energy consumption.
Wind, solar groups push U.S. renewable energy standard
(Reuters) – U.S. industry executives from the wind, solar, hydropower, geothermal and biomass sectors pushed on Tuesday for a federal renewable energy standard, which they said would foster growth and create jobs.
Tough UK energy regulation decisions for green future
(Reuters) – Britain faces tough choices on the level of energy sector regulation needed in order to provide secure, affordable, and sustainable energy supplies in the future.
Energy regulator Ofgem called for radical energy sector reforms last week, presenting five policy packages of various levels of regulation, aimed at encouraging long-term investments in energy security, such as gas storage, and renewable energy projects such as wind and back-up power plants.
Mayor’s green-energy goals could be in jeopardy after electric rate battle
The recent fight over electric rates in Los Angeles exacted a political toll on Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and executives with the Department of Water and Power, eroding their influence in the wake of their feud with the City Council.
Although both sides have taken steps to make amends, the dispute could have a lasting effect on one of the mayor’s original 2005 campaign promises: securing at least 20% of the city’s electricity from renewable fuel sources by Dec. 31.
THINK’s Ten Myths About Electric Cars
WASHINGTON — On the 40th anniversary of Earth Day, Richard Canny, CEO of pioneering electric car company THINK, is setting the record straight on electric vehicles. Here are Canny’s top 10 EV myths, busted.
How Bjørn Lomborg deceives the public
As you sift through the piece, you will see that his “key environmental measures” relate almost exclusively to the health and well-being of humans. And, this is what he uses to build a three-fold strategy to deceive the public. First, he equates human well-being with the well-being of the planet as a whole largely ignoring declines in the functioning of the very ecosystems that support human life. Second, he knows that humans are particularly eager to hear good news about themselves, especially when it is wrapped in rhetoric that makes it appear that we are not undermining our environmental support systems. Third, he accuses those who call for blanket curtailment of practices such as the burning of fossil fuels of having no concern for the poor.
Bill McKibben, and his latest prognosis of ‘Eaarth’
Bill McKibben came to the Festival of Books to talk about “Eaarth,” his new book about civilization’s need to learn to cope with a dire environmental reality, but the talk Sunday pivoted more on the crucial point of hope. As in, do we have any?
Water emergency in the West
Change comes hard to Western water policy. The Prior Appropriation Doctrine, interstate compacts, groundwater law, the “law of the river” — all of these seem set in stone in the minds of the region’s policymakers. Of course, the West’s rivers aren’t bound by such a static existence. Indeed, they are changing in fundamental ways, opening a wide chasm between our water policy and our water sources. This is particularly true for the Colorado River Basin.
Climate scientists are predicting a 10-to-30 percent reduction in flow for the Colorado — a stark contrast to the rosy assumptions that underlay the Colorado River Compact when it was signed 88 years ago. Researchers from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography recently predicted that Lakes Mead and Powell have a 50 percent chance of going dry by 2021. These days, Lake Mead is at 45 percent capacity and Lake Powell is at 57 percent capacity.
Farther south, water shortages are predicted for northern Arizona communities, including Flagstaff, by 2050. The Central Arizona Project, which provides water to Phoenix and Tucson, may run short of water as early as 2012.
And farther downstream, Mexico is looking at a disaster along its stretch of the river due to inadequate flows, prompting one Mexican official to declare, “We are clearly on a collision course with a catastrophe,” according to the Los Angeles Times.
Crop institute for protecting Mother Earth
In an effort to brace the looming perfect storm, a confluence of crises involving climate change, food security, energy crisis, poverty and population explosion, ICRISAT works with strategic partners to meet the challenges of semi-arid agriculture, especially in Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. Scientists develop farming systems resilient to shocks, buffering crucial resources like water and nutrients and adapting crops to warmer temperatures and new pest patterns.
Towards this, ICRISAT does research on a range of farming systems to develop options that poor farmers could quickly deploy.
Experts link biofuels to food shortage
The increasing use of biofuels could drive millions of people in the developing world deeper into poverty and hunger, warns a leading humanitarian organization.
London-based charity Action Aid denounced that vast fields in Africa, South America and India are currently dedicated to the production of biofuel crops such as wheat and corn, instead of food for local communities, leaving thousands at risk of starvation.
Future of cellulosic ethanol remains uncertain
“You just can’t get the financing,” said Arnold Klann, who runs California-based BlueFire Ethanol, which is also planning to build a cellulosic plant.
“Besides BlueFire there’s quite a few other companies as you’re well aware that are all trying to build their first plants,” Klann said. “And each one has different barriers, but fundamentally the least common denominator in all those barriers, whether they’re technical or whatever, is the financing.”
Klann said banks consider cellulosic plants too risky. There are small, pilot cellulosic plants operating but nothing on an industrial scale. Klann said lenders aren’t willing to finance them because they’re not sure a large facility will work.
Pakistan: Ethanol and bio-diesel could help in achieving import substitution
LAHORE: Provincial Minister for Population Welfare Punjab Neelam Jabbar Ch. has said that the government is paying full attention to develop the alternative fuels such as ethanol and bio-diesel to overcome the energy crisis in the country.
While talking to various delegations, Neelam Jabbar Ch. said that the world was moving about new fuel technologies and Pakistan could not afford to lag behind and be continued on traditional energy sources.
Shell says Middle East needs to solve “gas puzzle”
KUWAIT (Reuters) – The Middle East needs to solve the conundrum which leaves it sitting on 40 percent of the world’s gas reserves and yet suffering from a supply shortage, a senior executive from Royal Dutch Shell said on Monday.
Natural gas demand in the region was growing at such a rate that by 2015, total consumption in the Middle East would be close to that in major European economies, Malcolm Brinded, Shell’s executive director for international upstream, said in a speech at an industry event.
Middle East gas demand was rising at around 5 percent per year, a rate similar to growth in China, he said.
“Domestic demand is growing, fuelled by economic growth, low gas prices and a gradual switch from oil to gas for power generation. As a result, some Middle East countries face natural gas shortages,” Brinded said.
Oil industry buys time to perfect solar: author
Alberta’s massive oilsands deposits will become a key ingredient for world peace, a stabilizing force in energy markets which are becoming increasingly dominated by nationally-owned firms doing the bidding of their home governments, predicts a researcher and author.
“The sands are a calming, stabilizing force in the world, offering energy security. Perhaps this suggests a kind of fortress North America vision, but what it means is we can’t be held hostage,” said Alastair Sweeny.
Peak oil: Why industry and government should sit up and listen
As CCS potential is brought into question, Jeremy Leggett, chairman of Solar Century, raises the question of why industry and government should see peak oil as a serious risk issue.
The energy complex
While the world is built on energy, a move away from finite fossil fuels to greener, renewable sources of energy is coming. This has the scope to be transformative at the national economic level for resource-rich countries and at the corporate level for those firms that can provide scalable energy solutions and develop new technologies.
Wind power gets high
Creighton never expected to become a military contractor. He got interested in energy for off-the-grid locations after spending a semester abroad in India as a Wisconsin undergrad, where he was overwhelmed by the poverty. “I’ve always been fascinated by the process of development,” he told me. “Where does wealth come from?” It was clear to him the economic development and the availability of energy went hand-in-hand. Later, he studied the idea of peak oil and investigated ways to produce energy with the fewest inputs and the lowest environmental impact. That led him to airborne wind.
Oil: A tale of two cartels
Last week the price of oil once again breached the 18-month barrier to touch $87, sparking fears of another oil price spike, widely anticipated since the Davos face off between Europe’s oil majors and the Saudis early this year.
The price spurt of oil followed the US energy department’s decision to raise stock by an additional two million tonnes creating record stockpiles of 356.2 MT, a 7% rise in US inventory over the five-year average stocks. The build-up was due to International Energy Agency’s consumption forecast of 86.6 million barrels, up by 1.8% from last year. The IEA’s revised estimates was possibly due to a sharp 28% jump in imports of oil by China in January, a reaction to “peak oil” fears set off at Davos.
Why Fuel Economy Still Matters
When ever something isn’t in a state of crisis, it’s easy to forget how ugly it can get and how quickly it can get there. When it comes to gas prices, we should all know better by now.
I’m not a strict disciple of the Peak Oil crowd, but even a skeptic has to admit that their contentions are often nicely supported by the facts. As benign as oil prices seem to be at the moment, the potential for a resumption of the price increases experienced for most of the last decade is all around.
Common Sense in Energy Storage Investing
Oil prices are foremost in our collective consciousness because we all buy petroleum in minimally processed form on a weekly basis. While the changes are less obvious, prices for every major commodity have been following a relentless upward trend for decades with no signs of moderation. In other words, the world’s appetite for everything is growing faster than the ability to produce anything. We’re careening toward a commodity cliff at 180 miles an hour and nobody seems to notice because we can’t take our eyes off the gas gauge. The problem isn’t just peak oil; it’s peak everything.
Oil above $85 on signs US economy improving
“Stronger-than-expected data on order intake and U.S. home sales have kindled hopes that the economic recovery of the world’s largest oil consumer is gaining momentum,” said a report from Commerzbank in Frankfurt.
Gains by the dollar, however, were helping to cap oil prices by making crude more expensive for investors holding other currencies.
Cost of gas stays flat in last 2 weeks
CAMARILLO, Calif. – The average price of regular gasoline in the United States was virtually unchanged over a two-week period, dipping only .42 cents to $2.85.
Oil Contango Soars as Oklahoma Tank Farms Brim With Crude
Oil storage costs are soaring to the highest level in four months as tanks in Oklahoma brim with near-record crude inventories.
Oil for delivery in June cost $1.95 a barrel less than the July contract as of April 21, the biggest gap since Dec. 15 on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The premium for further-out delivery, or contango, mirrors the expense of stockpiling. It emerged after inventories jumped 5.8 percent in the week ended April 16 to 34.1 million barrels in Cushing, Oklahoma, where traders make deliveries for futures, government data show.
Inventories are near the record 35.7 million barrels on Jan. 1 as Canadian imports rise refineries shut for maintenance. Supplies are so plentiful that West Texas Intermediate, or WTI, oil costs less than Brent crude in Europe, a lower quality crude. Brent cost more than WTI three times in the past year.
Iraq oil exports via Turkey resume after sabotage
BAGHDAD—Iraq’s Oil Ministry says it has resumed crude exports through the Turkish port of Ceyhan after repairing a key northern pipeline sabotaged last week.
UK energy production down 6% in 2009
London – Total energy production in the UK in 2009 was 166.8 million tonnes of oil equivalent, 5.8% lower than 2008, according to the Energy Trends and Quarterly Energy Prices report by the Department of Energy and Climate Change.
According to the official data, between 2008 and 2009 coal and other solid fuel consumption fell by 14.2%, while consumption of oil and gas fell by 3.5% and 7.2%, respectively. Primary energy consumption fell for the fifth consecutive year, and at its fastest rate since 1980.
Coal production last year – including an estimate for slurry – was 1.0% down on 2008 at 17.9 million tonnes. Deep mined production was down 7.1% while opencast production was up 3.6%. Imports of coal in 2009 as a whole were 12.9% down on 2008 at 38.2 million tonnes.
Quebec Minister Mulls New Law to Attract Oil, Gas Investment in Province
Quebec wants to build its nascent natural-gas industry by crafting a new law to make it easier for producers to operate in the province, Natural Resources Minister Nathalie Normandeau said.
Normandeau plans to introduce legislation in the fourth quarter to regulate oil and gas production, she said in an interview in Montreal. While Quebec doesn’t yet produce oil or gas commercially, companies such as Talisman Energy Inc., Forest Oil Corp. and Questerre Energy Corp. have begun exploring in the province.
BP Oil Well Leak May Take Months to Close After Rig Sinks
BP Plc said it may take months to drill a well to stop an oil spill under the Gulf of Mexico that threatens to become an environmental disaster.
BP and Swiss drilling contractor Transocean Ltd. began using remote-controlled vehicles yesterday to try to halt the 1,000 barrel-a-day leak. If that doesn’t work, BP may need to pump heavy fluid into a relief well to stop the flow of crude from the seabed.
Iran seeks to woo foreign money as sanctions loom
TEHRAN (Reuters) – Iran is cutting red tape and easing ownership rules to encourage foreign investment in stocks and bonds, state television reported on Monday, as the major oil producer faces further U.N. sanctions over its nuclear work.
Press TV, citing a senior official, said Iran had adopted new regulations to facilitate investment in its capital market.
Shell, BP, Exxon Among Oil Companies Said to Face U.S. FTC Probe, WSJ Says
Royal Dutch Shell Plc, BP Plc, Exxon Mobil Corp., Chevron Corp. and other oil companies are being investigated by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission over employee compensation practices, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing unidentified people familiar with the situation.
The investigation of whether the companies colluded to curb employee wages has been open for several years and includes as many as 12 oil companies, the newspaper said, citing the people. The FTC may never file a lawsuit, the WSJ said. Calls to the FTC’s public affairs office for comment went unanswered.
Korea Electric Loss Narrows on Lower Costs of Fuel Imports, Stronger Won
Korea Electric Power Corp., supplier of most of the country’s electricity, posted a quarterly loss, prompting expectations the government will permit a tariff increase.
Tougher environmental laws pose challenge for mining industry
The one industry that has been a sure-fire generator of sales and property tax revenue and high paying jobs stands imperiled by a confluence of tighter environmental laws and demand for renewable energy facilities that could impact mining output or push some mining operations out of California altogether.
China National Nuclear Starts Building $2.8 Billion Power Plant in Hainan
China National Nuclear Corp., the country’s biggest operator of nuclear power plants, started building a 19 billion yuan ($2.8 billion) generator on the southern island province of Hainan.
The first of two units will start electricity output by the end of 2014, the company said in a statement posted on its Web site today. The plant, a joint venture with top power producer China Huaneng Group Corp., has a capacity of 1,300 megawatts, China National Nuclear said in August 2008.
Enel Signs Preliminary Accord With Inter RAO on Kaliningrad Nuclear Plant
Enel SpA signed a memorandum of understanding with Inter Rao Ues OAO for cooperation in the nuclear power industry, according to a statement released at a meeting between Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and company executives outside Milan today.
How geothermal power could be the key to cleaner fuel
As the world’s biggest geothermal energy conference begins in Indonesia, Katrín Júlíusdóttir, Iceland’s Minister of Energy, Industry and Tourism, explains how geothermal energy presents significant opportunity for renewables.
When the going gets tough, the tough grow food
Now the leadership is coming from the bottom up. Community and neighborhood organizations are being formed to promote our local businesses, energy conservation, water conservation and fresh local food. Sustainability is being written into policy for local governments. I hope there is a trickle-up effect for these good ideas. The one bright spot at the White House is the victory garden has returned to the south lawn.
Grapes of Wrath
How much trouble does climate change mean for agriculture? Just ask the wine industry.
High level of interest shown in on-farm climate change issues
INCREASING numbers of farmers are being grilled by customers about how they are working to combat climate change, according to the Farming Futures group.
The industry-led organisation, which aims to help the farming sector deal with environmental changes, said a quarter of those quizzed had been asked about their green credentials in the last year.
Statoil plans to reduce oil sands carbon emissions
The aim is to reduce emissions by more than 40 per cent by 2025.
In addition, the company is planning to develop its oil sands activities step-by-step. The initial five-year phase will be the start-up and operation of a demonstration pilot facility.
Dollars and Daggers in California’s Energy Battles
In California, a state where government-by-ballot-proposition has been raised to a high art, energy companies are pouring millions of dollars into efforts to protect their interests. The one that has gotten the most attention so far is a push to derail the state’s landmark 2006 law to combat global warming.
Three Texas oil companies have made donations of hundreds of thousands of dollars in an effort to get the measure on the November ballot.
Developing nations want global climate accord by 2011
CAPE TOWN (AFP) – Four major developing countries meeting in South Africa on Sunday called for a global, legally binding agreement on climate change to be finalised by next year at the latest.
Environment ministers from Brazil, South Africa, India and China met in Cape Town to discuss on how to speed up a process of finalising a global agreement that would require rich nations to cut carbon emissions and reduce global warming.
Senators scramble to keep climate bill alive
As thousands of activists rallied on the National Mall on Sunday for federal legislation to curb global warming, Obama administration officials and leading senators worked behind the scenes to rescue a climate bill that appeared close to flat-lining over the weekend.
By day’s end, supporters said its prospects were brightening slightly, with the Republican coauthor of the legislation, Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, again discussing it with Sens. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.) and Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.).
Thousands Gather on the Mall for Earth Day
Tens of thousands of people gathered Sunday on the National Mall in Washington to observe the 40th anniversary of Earth Day and to urge Congress to pass climate and energy legislation.
Can forests thrive in the world of carbon trading?
CNN — So few forests remain in the tiny country of Armenia that the World Bank has warned it could one day become a desert.
For more than 15 years the Massachusetts-based Armenian Tree Project has been replanting the country’s forests lost during its energy crisis in the early 1990s.
Recently the group, like many similar organizations, has considered raising funds by selling carbon credits.
But questions persist over whether applying carbon finance to forestry projects can be good for the environment as well as for the communities where the trees are planted.
Climate researchers slap Canada for lax emissions record
Canada gets special mention for its “unambitious” greenhouse gas emissions cuts in a report that says the planet is in grave danger of overheating.
The greenhouse gas reductions that have been promised by Canada and 75 other countries are so paltry that annual global emissions of carbon dioxide are likely to hit between 48 and 54 billion tonnes by 2020, say leading climate researchers.
Deep Antarctic ocean current found
SINGAPORE – Scientists have discovered a fast-moving deep ocean current with the volume of 40 Amazon Rivers near Antarctica that will help researchers monitor the impacts of climate change on the world’s oceans.
A team of Australian and Japanese scientists, in a study published in Sunday’s issue of the journal Nature Geoscience, found that the current is a key part of a global ocean circulation pattern that helps control the planet’s climate.
Ice-covered volcanoes may answer climate change questions
Eruptions from mountains such as Iceland’s Eyjafjallajokull create rocks that offer scientists clues about global warming.
Admiral: U.S. at risk
Climate change and U.S. dependence on fossil fuels endangers national security, a retired Navy officer told a group of students, faculty and residents last week at LSU.
“Our U.S. military is held at risk because of dependence on oil,” Vice Adm. Dennis McGinn said Thursday.
Arctic Beauty in Black and White: Alaska Before the Effects of Global Warming [Slide Show]
Toward the end of World War II, the U.S. Navy began mapping an area of northern Alaska extending south from the Arctic Sea across the North Slope and down to the forested valleys south of the Brooks Range. In an effort lasting a number of years, surveyors flew low in a small plane, snapping thousands of photographs with a large-format K-18 camera pointed out the craft’s open door.
About 10 years ago, Matthew Sturm of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and his colleagues obtained the images, which were about to be thrown away. By repeating the Navy’s exercise and comparing the old and new photos, the team has documented dramatic changes in the vegetation of the now-warmer region.
