Energy Jihad

Russia spent last year strenuously denying reports that it was participating in the creation of a cartel of gas suppliers to the EU. Now, however, the idea has received an unexpected boost from Iranian leader Ayatollah Ali Khameni, who called on Russia to create a "gas OPEC" at a recent meeting with Russian Security Council secretary Igor Ivanov. Although a cartel would be unprofitable for Gazprom, an energy union cum geopolitical alliance of Russia, Iran, and Algeria does appear to be in the works.

‘Experts’ say Iran’s nuclear-energy plans in chaos

A number of Western diplomats and technical experts close to the Iran’s nuclear-energy program have said it is archaic, prone to breakdown and lacks the materials for industrial-scale production. They said Iran's efforts to produce highly enriched uranium, the material used to make nuclear bombs, are in chaos and the country is still years from mastering the required technology.

Price of oil on the slippery slope

ONLY five months ago crude oil prices nudged $US80 a barrel amid predictions by informed observers - not apocalyptic ravers - that the commodity would reach the $US100 level.

Since then, oil has tumbled 30 per cent and the contango on futures pricing has disappeared, which means investors aren't punting on a quick recovery.

Give me a child until...

How will we ever get a critical mass of awareness and willingness to change and prepare for a post-peak, post-meltdown, relocalized world when we are all indoctrinated from cradle to grave into supporting and being part of industrial growth culture?

Yes -- Blood For Oil!

The poor dupes were swimming in the oil they hated and didn't even know it.

Housing Fetish - Kunstler

Poor Martha Stewart will be seen as the goddess who failed. Well, she already has, really, having gone to prison and afterward retreated into her omnimedia fortress of corporate refuge (basically joining the enemy). As the middle class chokes and gets crushed under the weight of its unpayable debts and falling standards of living, Martha may be lucky to avoid getting eaten, along with a long list of other celebrity porkchops that an angry and grievance-filled public will turn on.

Jeremy Leggett: Take to the fields

The tipping point of global oil production will be accompanied by a dire energy shock, and we will have to redefine the concept of farming.

Nuclear agency: air defenses impractical

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission concluded Monday that it is impractical for nuclear power plant operators to try to stop terrorists from crashing an airliner into a reactor.

The Nuclear Revival - What's Old Is New Again

The State of the Union Address was a focus of curiosity last week as the President and his party traded opinions and barbs with his ascendant foes, the Democrats. But one thing that they could all agree on was the need to foster a new energy policy-one that is both clean and less dependent on our enemies.

Miners Celebrate Resolutions Encouraging Uranium Projects in Two Key New Mexico Counties

Commissioners in two key uranium-abundant New Mexico counties passed resolutions supporting and encouraging uranium mining in that state. Previously, many wondered if uranium would ever be mined in New Mexico again.

Debunking the Myths About Nuclear Energy

As the U.S. Congress debates energy policy, EIR provides this summary review of the answers to frequently raised objections to the only feasible solution to the U.S. and worldwide power shortage, nuclear energy.

Project Green: This Ecofriendly House

Michele Gries-Haber, 41, a marketing executive in Austin, Texas, composts, recycles and drives a hybrid car. So when she got married last year and decided to enlarge her house—a 1926 Craftsman-style bungalow—it was a no-brainer that she and her husband, Michael Klug, would adopt an ecofriendly approach. There was just one problem. "We had no idea what that really meant," she says. "We thought we'd put up some solar panels."

Biofuel hopes may be too high

Hopes are high for the United States to find ways to become less dependent on gasoline, and later this week U.S. legislators will be debating the prospect of biofuels supplementing or even replacing petroleum. That should be music to the ears of those in the alternative energy industries, but there is growing concern that too much is being expected of still relatively new resources too quickly.

Taiwan: Used cooking oil to be turned into biodiesel

The Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) announced that starting from July each household will be required to recycle their waste cooking oil that will go into the production of biodiesel.

Bush '17 Biofuel Goals Technically Feasible-USDA Official

U.S. President George W. Bush's alternative fuel goals for the next 10 years are "technically feasible", according to U.S. Department of Agriculture's undersecretary for rural development, Thomas Dorr.

"I am confident that these goals can be met," Dorr said Monday in a speech at the Clean Fuel Finance Forum in London.

Idea fosters cost-efficient ethanol production

An engineer looks at refining a byproduct into methane, and using that gas to power the plant.

Energy tops Indo-Russian priority list

The array of agreements signed last week during Russian President Vladimir Putin's visit to India indicates that while India might have warmed significantly to the United States over the past decade and dramatically since his last visit to the subcontinent, the India-Russia relationship hasn't cooled either.

Ghana, Nigeria agree energy supply deal

Nigeria has agreed to supply 80 megawatts of electricity to Ghana as part of a deal to help the country to address its current energy crisis.

China exerting more efforts to save energy and reduce emissions in 2007

China will make more efforts this year to save energy and reduce emission in every sector of the national economy, Zhu Hongren, an official with the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), said Monday.

Africa: Oil, Global Influence Driving Hu Jintao's Trip

China's energy-hungry economy and global influence are driving President Hu Jintao's 12-day tour of Africa which kicks off this week.

It is Hu's second trip to Africa in less than a year.

UN chief seeks climate change summit

Plans for an emergency summit of world leaders to break the international impasse on cutting greenhouse gases are being discussed by Ban Ki-moon, United Nations secretary-general.

Russian Police Search Russneft Offices

The Russian Interior Ministry's Investigative Committee said in a statement that the searches had been conducted after a criminal investigation was opened against the country's seventh-biggest oil company for failure to pay taxes "on an especially huge scale."

Biodiesel: Asia's alternative fuel

ASIA'S big biodiesel producers are starting to secure their green investments by hedging against falling oil prices and rising feedstock costs, but the move may carry even bigger risks for infant players.

Saudis plan further production cut, deny rumors that they are trying to punish Iran by lowering oil prices

Saudi Arabia, which already has aggressively shaved its oil output in a battle to shore up prices, will reduce production by another 158,000 barrels per day beginning Thursday and more cuts are on the way, according to a media report.

Senators to Propose Gas Tax for Road Projects

A bipartisan group of senior state senators intends to offer legislation this week that would rely on a sales tax on gasoline to finance billions of dollars for road construction and maintenance, according to a draft of the plan, which will be presented as an alternative to a precarious compromise proposal for transportation funding.

Shell defies US pressure and signs £5bn Iranian gas deal

Shell has signed an important deal to help Iran develop a major gas field, ignoring growing pressure from George Bush to isolate the country for being part of what he alleges is an "axis of evil".

Fuel stocks run out in Indian state as tanker strike enters sixth day

A two-week window for compromise came as petrol pumps in the state capital Kolkata were almost dry and public transport was severely cut back, with only a quarter of public buses operating in the city of 12 million people.

Falling gasoline prices skid to a stop

The drop in U.S. retail gasoline prices skidded to a stop over the last week, the government said on Monday. President George W. Bush’s plans to expand the country’s emergency petroleum reserve drove crude oil costs higher.

How Much Did the Green Revolution Matter? or Can We Feed the World Without Industrial Agriculture?

While there have long been critiques of the Green Revolution, many, many people assume that without the work of Norman Borlaug and the other scientists who brought us new hybrids and who convinced much of the world to convert to nitrogen fertilizers and pesticides based on fossil fuels, we cannot feed the world. I am suspicious of this claim, and have been musing on it for some time. It is certainly true that grain yields rose dramatically during the Green Revolution, but how much does and did that actually matter?

Oil And Gas Companies Ready Drilling Projects For Newly Melted Arctic

The Arctic region contains a quarter of the world’s remaining oil reserves, experts estimate. It also contains massive natural gas fields in the Barents Sea, including Russia’s huge Shtokman field. “By 2040 or 2050, the Arctic Ocean will be navigable and that will mean significant developments very soon,” said ArcticNet research group head Martin Fortier.

Global Warming: The vicious circle: Key findings of the IPCC's fourth assessment report

Congress begins tackling climate issues

Two private advocacy groups say they have found evidence of political pressure on government climate scientists at seven federal agencies in efforts to downplay the threat of global warming. Their report was expected to be presented to a House committee Tuesday as the Democratic-controlled Congress steps up its examination of the Bush administration's climate policy.