The Oil Drum

U.S. Boosts Iraq Force; Allies Pare Down (AP)

Is a Candu really the answer for Alberta's oilsands?

At first blush it seems like a pretty incongruous idea — to plunk a honking big nuclear reactor in the very heart of Alberta's oil patch, to help steam the raw bitumen from the thick tar sands.

But as of this week, there are two serious oilsands players — Husky Energy Inc. and Total SA of France — who are publicly mulling the nuclear option. As well, four others, according to the biggest proponent of the plan, are quietly thinking about it.

Confronting our addiction to oil

There is a growing consensus amongst geologists that global oil production has either already peaked, or it will within the next few years. The most optimistic forecasts predict the peak to occur absolutely no later than 2035. Thereafter, even if industrial societies begin to switch to alternative energy sources, we will have less net energy each year to do all the work essential to the survival of complex societies. We are entering a new era, as different from the industrial era as the latter was from medieval times.

Justice, Farms and Victory Gardens

In the years immediately before the industrial revolution, it took 6 farming households to support one single doctor, teacher, lawyer or artist and her household.

John Michael Greer: This faith in progress

We have our heaven and our Golden Age, too, but unlike most other cultures we put ours in the future, and tell ourselves that we’re moving closer to Paradise with every day that passes. Other cultures put their faith in gods or stars or cosmic cycles; we put ours in progress.

Independence from the Corporate Global Economy

But what's the alternative? We're taught that there are only two possible economic choices: capitalism—a system in which rich people and corporations have the power, make the decisions, and control our lives; or communism—a system where state bureaucrats have the power, make the decisions, and control our lives. What a choice!

When it comes to real economic alternatives, our imaginations are stuck. Clearly, we need something different, but what would it look like? How do we start to imagine and create other ways of meeting our economic needs?

Jan Lundberg: The Only Hope Is Unity

When people unite to fight a great, imminent threat, as I predict we will, as events and developments accelerate, there will be rapid progress towards addressing problems. This may occur concurrently with desperate and antisocial behavior especially as fuel and food shortages strike. The climate's active distortion seems about to painfully kick many more people "upside the head like a two-by-four," as Julia Butterfly characterized the common stubbornness to overdue change.

Stratfor: Global Market Brief: Europe's Long-Term Energy Proposal

The European Commission on Jan. 10 issued a set of proposals aimed at mitigating Europe's long-standing reliance on third-parties, especially Russia, for energy supplies. The plan, to be presented to all 27 member countries at the EU summit in March, focuses on heightening cross-border cooperation and reducing Europe's dependence on oil and natural gas.

Europe and Energy Security

To pre-empt an energy cut-off by Russia, Europeans need to make huge investments to build new supply lines, reserve supplies and distribution channels.

That would mean a gigantic diversion of money and resources from social sector development programs. Though Europeans have a genuinely hard choice in hand, they have to act quickly.

Chile Protest Dams In Coyaique

The main justification for the dams is their promise to free Chile from dependence on Argentine natural gas and alleviate the current “energy crisis.”

However, as of March 2006, domestic consumption accounts for only 15 percent of national energy, use while industrial use accounts for more than 60 percent. According to ENDESA’s justification statement in 2005, Chile’s demand for electricity will double in ten years and triple in twenty, mainly due to proposed mining projects between 2008-2017. The fact that they mentioned such growth in their original proposal indicates to the Coalition that budding mining projects like that in Pascua Lama are the designed recipients of the dams 2,400 MW, not Chilean households.

No Progress in South Korean Talks on Kidnapped Workers' Release in Nigeria

Officials of a South Korean construction company began negotiating terms Thursday [11 January] for the release of the company's nine South Korean employees who were abducted a day earlier in Nigeria by a group of armed insurgents, but the initial contact ended shortly without any progress, a Foreign Ministry official said. The kidnapped workers remained safe, according to the official. But the official refused to reveal the kidnappers' demands, citing safety concerns.

Analysts: Nigeria May Be Hot Spot For Terrorism in West Africa

While current U.S. military attention is focused on removing possible al-Qaida cells in Somalia, some analysts say terrorist threats from other parts of Africa should also be closely monitored. They say Nigeria's violence-wracked, oil-rich Niger Delta could become a new theater for terrorism.

Energy crunch looms as southern Africa economies boom

JOHANNESBURG - Home to some of Africa's fastest growing economies, southern Africa is on the cusp of an energy crisis that threatens to clip industrial growth and stymie plans to deliver electricity to millions without.

Power utilities throughout the region are struggling to cope with increasingly frequent blackouts that are hampering operations at factories and mines and darkening homes in cities stretching from Cape Town to Kinshasa.

Jordan: Ship laden with 5,700 tonnes of LPG docks at Aqaba Port

The Jordan Petroleum Refinery Company (JPRC) on Thursday said the crisis over a shortage of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) during the past few weeks is over now, following the arrival of an Egyptian ship laden with 5,700 tonnes of LPG from Saudi Aramco.

...The recent shortage of gas cylinders that led to a nationwide crisis was attributed to the JPRC's low production levels and a sharp increase in demand as a result of two cold fronts with heavy rain and snowfall, which closed roads in the southern part of the country and prevented trucks from reaching the capital.

Albania: Prime Minister Berisha blames KESH and ERE for the energy crisis

Prime Minister Sali Berisha put the blame yesterday on KESH - the Albanian Power Corporation (APC) and the Energy Regulatory Entity (ERE) for the recent increased power cuts.

Chevron, Statoil Exposed to Venezuela Push to Control Gas

In 2003, Statoil and Chevron Corp. took advantage of business-friendly natural gas laws to launch multi-billion-dollar offshore projects in Venezuela's Atlantic waters.

Four years later, President Hugo Chavez is changing the rules, demanding majority control of projects they expected to operate themselves. Venezuela hopes to begin exporting natural gas before the end of the decade, but the contract uncertainty will likely slow the development of existing projects and push new licensing rounds off corporate radar screens.

Gartner Urges IT and Business Leaders to Wake up to IT's Energy Crisis

Organisations are under mounting pressure to develop ‘greener’ approaches towards their information technology (IT) practices, and IT and business leaders need to wake up to the issues of spiralling energy consumption and environmental legislation, according to Gartner, Inc. Although technology can help reduce the impact of some environmental problems, its potential harmful effect is receiving increasing attention from environmentalists and policy makers alike.

Energy Costs: 'If You Don't Manage It, It Will Manage You'

As with taxes, everyone seems to complain about "the energy crisis," but no one seems to do anything about it.

Saudi Arabia: Institute Planned to Build Energy Cadre

The institute will meet the growing demand for the right workforce in this vital sector. Abdullah Jumah, the CEO of Saudi Aramco, has said that the global oil industry was now reaping a poor harvest from the shortsighted human resource policies of the past.

2007: Renewable Energy Gets Real, Part One

First and foremost, I think it’s clear that 2007 is the year when renewable energy finally gets real. That is, it will make sense as an investment just on the return alone, no matter what your politics or your view on climate change may be. This tipping point for RE has been awaited for so long that the veterans in the wind and solar businesses (especially) have grown gray and wrinkled, waiting at the altar with a handful of long-dried brown flowers while their beards grew to the floor. But no more. This is it, baby!

Sarich's $500m green dream

Mr Sarich became a household name in the 1970s when he invented his orbital engine, which was 40 per cent lighter, 60per cent smaller and 35 per cent more efficient than standard car engines.

Why it never took off in cars remains in dispute, but the sophisticated fuel-injection and combustion system was developed for use in two-stroke engines and is used today in boat engines, motorbikes, lawnmowers and some small cars.

Jerome Corsi: A 'Switch Grass' Energy Solution?

“Why do people only believe bad news about energy?” This question was often posed by Julian Simon, a now deceased University of Maryland professor of business administration, who had the courage to argue that “peak” theories about energy resources are typically hoaxes.

Unfortunately, President Bush appears to be a “peak oil” believer who has a strong predisposition that using carbon fuels is somehow bad.

Ali Samsam Bakhtiari: Will crude slip further?

One of the sure signs that we have passed peak oil in 2006 is the price during the summer, which is 50% higher than it was during the winter.

Saudi deepens supply curbs

Top oil exporter Saudi Arabia will deepen crude supply curbs to Asian refiners next month to comply with Opec's second output cut, industry sources said yesterday, but the news failed to stem a sharp slide in prices.

A war down memory lane

So why, against all this background, is the US so bent on attacking Iran? Two considerations are probably decisive. One is that President Bush clearly sees his role in the Middle East in messianic terms and will not let does-not-make-sense arguments stand in the way of what he regards as his manifest destiny. The other is oil. Iran holds the world's largest supplies of oil after Saudi Arabia and Iraq, and holds more oil and gas combined than any other country on the planet. As Peak Oil rapidly approaches, the US demand to control the lion's share of what is left - pitifully short-sighted though such a policy is - is now the dominant driving geopolitical force in world politics today.

The Great Emergency: Global Warming, Mass Death and Resource Wars in the 21st Century

The feel good approach Gore pushes is dead wrong: Economic growth and saving life on Earth are not compatible goals. Industrial civilization isn’t harming the Earth, it’s killing the Earth. The system has long since passed the limits of growth - it can’t be sustained.

Resident to discuss Peak Oil at conference

Bill and Sydney Blackwell, founders of Harvard Local, have been working to create community awareness of issues related to fossil fuel depletion, as predicted by Richard Heinberg and other leading experts on the subject.

China's Thirst for Oil Grows

BEIJING -- China imported 14.5% more crude oil last year than in 2005, and imports are likely to continue growing in the double-digits in 2007 as the country's economy shows no sign of slowing down and more of its strategic petroleum-reserve tanks become ready for use.

The data and expectations of continued demand growth add to the worries of global energy and security experts who believe China's growing need for foreign oil to supplement stagnant domestic output is contributing to an unsustainable global energy future.

Exxon cuts ties to global warming skeptics

NEW YORK - Oil major Exxon Mobil Corp. is engaging in industry talks on possible U.S. greenhouse gas emissions regulations and has stopped funding groups skeptical of global warming claims — a move experts said could indicate a change in stance from the long-time foe of limits on heat-trapping gases.

California plans major carbon cut in its gasoline

ow that California is on record as mandating a 25 percent cut in the state's greenhouse-gas emissions by 2020 - a move that made headlines worldwide four months ago - leaders here are starting to lay out how they intend to hit that ambitious mark. First up: requiring transportation fuels sold in California to contain less carbon, a major greenhouse gas.

Tories push for 80% carbon emissions cut

The Government may be forced by MPs to adopt tougher targets to reduce carbon emissions in order to step up its fight against climate change.

Kyoto Protocol: France trims carbon pollution in 2005

Congress to reconsider caps on carbon

WASHINGTON - Potential presidential rivals John McCain and Barack Obama are joining with newly independent Sen. Joe Lieberman on a plan they say would reduce annual global-warming gases by two-thirds by mid-century.

Europe's oil shock ... and opportunity

Strongmen make weak partners, as Europe had to learn again this week. For the second time in a year, Russian leader Vladimir Putin cut off fuel exports to the Continent in a money dispute with a former Soviet satellite that is a pipeline transit state. This is not Europe's idea of energy security or of trusted neighbors.

Oil price worries tanking

Fears of superhigh-priced oil, including petroleum reaching $100 a barrel, are receding, at least for now, as crude's cost continues to plunge.