Planting Sugarcane and Reaping Poverty and Eco-Degradation in Brazil

There is concern that while expansion of the ethanol industry may boost Brazil's GDP and some Brazilians will become very wealthy in the process, the majority of the population will not benefit from the ethanol export boom. Given U.S. plans to increase imports of Brazilian ethanol and the alliance slated to be forged during Bush's South America visit in March, it is likely the livelihoods of many Brazilians, especially the rural poor, will be subordinated to maintain U.S. consumption.

John Michael Greer: Round in Circles: a review of David C. Korten’s The Great Turning

My initial take on it – based, I freely admit, on nothing more solid than a few minutes spent flipping through its pages at a local progressive bookstore – was that it was just one more naive utopian fantasy projecting its author’s dream of a world he likes onto the inkblot patterns of the deindustrial future. But I finally made time to read it, and it turns out I was quite wrong. The Great Turning is anything but naive, and though it uses the rhetoric of Utopian fantasy it does so in pursuit of a far more pragmatic agenda.

UK oil in deficit as Browns North Sea taxes bite

BRITAIN will run a deficit on its oil trade for the second year in a row in 2007, dealing a blow to Chancellor Gordon Brown’s forecast of a return to surplus. The development will fuel fresh fears that Brown’s tax hikes on the industry mean that it is now in terminal decline.

Figures from the International Energy Agency (IEA), the world’s energy watchdog, show UK oil production will fall a significant 130,000 barrels per day (bpd) short of expected demand.

Shell Nigeria Says Oil Leak Leads to Output Loss of 187,000 bpd

Royal Dutch Shell said today a major oil spill in a production facility in southern Nigeria had reduced output by 187,000 barrels per day.

Saudi Aramco Resumes Crude Flow To Bahrain Refinery

Saudi Arabian Oil Co., the world's largest oil company by production, has resumed full operations of the AB-1 pipeline transporting crude oil from Saudi Arabia to Bahrain after it was closed for unscheduled maintenance works, a company spokesman said Wednesday.

Premier says gas shortage a wake-up call for Ontario

The continuing gasoline shortage is a reminder of how the province needs to lessen its reliance on imported oil, Premier Dalton McGuinty said yesterday.

He said it is an important reminder to use more ethanol, take more public transit and drive more fuel-efficient cars, because Ontario doesn't have oil in the ground and is dependent on imports.

DOE Defends Bid to Repeal Ultra-Deepwater Research Program

Energy Department officials defended the Bush administration's effort today to repeal the ultra-deepwater oil-and-gas research program but said the program would run on its normal schedule until Congress takes action.

A cost of climate change that can't be counted in dollars - survival

Much of the early public debate about climate change focused on the need to keep the economy ticking over, protect infrastructure, and maintain tourism and recreational facilities. The real problem, though, goes much deeper. Climate change, if not constrained, is ultimately a biological threat. We have been slow to grasp this fundamental point.

What’s So Bad About Big?

Wind, solar and other renewable-energy technologies that were once considered more appropriate for single homes or small communities are reaching levels of scale and centralizing that were formerly the province of coal- and gas-fired plants and nuclear reactors. In other words, green is going giant.

Australia: Green group seeks Afghan refuge

The mining industry is engaged in a bitter row with protest group Rising Tide over an anti-mining website, which the group launched to parody the NSW Minerals Council's latest "spin" campaign.

The council succeeded earlier this week in having the website - miningnsw.com.au - shut down using copyright laws, but it has already sprung back onto the web.

The site is now hosted on servers located in Afghanistan, which could place it outside the jurisdiction of Australian law.

Stampede for Imperial Energy as Siberian reserves are confirmed

Shares in oil explorer Imperial Energy soared nearly 40 per cent to a record peak yesterday as the minnow disclosed that it has 3.4 billion barrels of reserves in Russia, as predicted by The Times.

ExxonMobil to Hand Over Orinoco Reins

ExxonMobil Corp. will cede control of its Cerro Negro operation in Venezuela's oil-rich Orinoco River basin later this year in order to comply with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez's decree last week, the company said Tuesday.

Tanzania: Huge oil, gas deposits wait for investors

President Jakaya Kikwete yesterday called on investors to make full utilization of huge but untapped oil and gas potentials in the East African region.

Germany's E.on Wants to Buy Iranian Natural Gas

German energy giant E.on has confirmed it is in talks with Iran to buy natural gas -- although Germany is currently discussing further sanctions over Iran's nuclear program with its allies.

Beijing ponders new expansion formula

Chinese leaders are seeking a new formula for expansion of the world's fastest-growing economy that addresses the costs of growth such as environmental damage and a widening income gap. They want to switch to a more sustainable mode of development where China consumes and pollutes less.

But they face a quandary. While aware that China's current model of development, driven by investment and exports, is unsustainable, they fear that recalibrating the economy could result in greater unemployment and political instability. As investment growth slows, the adverse social effects might imperil the political legitimacy of the ruling Chinese Communist Party, which took power 58 years ago promising to deliver growth and rising prosperity.

Fuels of the future

'We are on the threshold of a major change and this is going to be very expensive', says the GM boss

Bush says Mexico needs private money in energy sector

President Bush urged Mexico on Wednesday to seek private investment to boost state-run oil monopoly Pemex's efforts to explore for oil in deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico.

Bush, due to visit Mexico next week, said the country would win out from permitting extra investment that could accelerate crude oil production projects to meet growing global demand for energy.

The Energy Report for Thursday, March 8, 2007

The best description of the Department of Energy's weekly petroleum data report from yesterday could perhaps be best described as something out of this world. Once again our nation's crude oil supply is lost in a fog and is causing some traders to experience a foggy mountain breakdown.

Sustainable Living Book Helps Families Save Energy, Save Money

Sustainable Living: For Home, Neighborhood and Community is about using less energy, spending less money, and enjoying it more. It's about how neighbors can benefit from working and sharing together. And it's about how all of a community's neighborhoods and residents can benefit from cooperative effort.

Sustainable Living is not about buying greener things; it's about buying fewer things. It's about spending less money, and getting more out of life--and helping the planet at the same time.

Declare Energy Independence

Fact: All forms of energy are subsidized. Oil. Gas. Coal. Nuclear. Renewables. All of them. No type of energy stands alone in the market, free of tax breaks, research grants or other forms of government help. Fact: Subsidies are ultimately funded by the taxes we pay.

Few except pure libertarians would do away with all government intervention in the energy marketplace. But the salient question is, given the increasing problems connected with conventional energy, which subsidies make sense and which don’t?

It'll take a village to sustain this proposed community garden

Harvested in Maui, sugar cane is sent to a processing plant in Contra Costa County and then to New York for packaging. After that, those tiny C&H sugar packets are shipped all over the United States — including back to Hawaii.

"That means even if you live just a mile from the sugar cane fields, your sugar traveled 10,000 miles."

Yes, Profits Matter

New technology — courtesy of those obscene big oil profits — is proving that the world's fossil fuel is long from running out. Cambridge Energy Research Associates head Daniel Yergin, author of a Pulitzer Prize-winning history of the global oil industry, estimates new methods mean the worlds' total recoverable oil is 4.8 trillion barrels — three times more than what peak oil theorizers suggest.

Emerald greening: Kinsale joins Willits in seeking energy self-sufficiency

Residents of Kinsale, in Ireland's County Cork, are creating projects and working groups to promote energy efficiency and local sustainability. The move, which they hope will wean Kinsale off its dependence on fossil fuels, is being aided by the youthful energies of the area's Permaculture College.

As biofuels boom, will more go hungry?

Using plants to feed our fuel needs may be a great idea, and the biofuel goldrush could be a moneyspinner for several poor countries, but some experts warn people may go hungry as food prices rise.

Fans of biofuels give the impression we could soon be running cars on maize, producing electricity with sugar, and getting power from palm oil.

Even though the biofuel boom is only just beginning, it has already pushed up the cost of staples in places like Mexico where rocketing tortilla prices have sparked angry protests.

Some experts foresee a permanent change in food economics if farmers scent higher profit in fuel crops than in growing plants to feed people.

Tom Whipple - The Peak Oil Crisis: Our 4 Storms

Until last week, a good guess would have been that shortages in oil available for export would impact us first. This would be followed by economic decline, peak oil production, and finally a meaningful reduction in the burning of fossil fuel in response to global warming. News from the last few weeks, however, makes it look like more of a horse race.

Gas tops $3 mark in Calif. Is rest of U.S. next?

Gasoline prices have jumped above $3 a gallon in some parts of California and Hawaii, and may hit that level in other parts of the country when the busy summer driving season approaches.

“It kills me,” said Gloria Nunez, 53, as she filled her Ford Explorer SUV at a San Jose gas station. Nunez, a clerk for a communications company, has started working a couple hours of overtime each week to help soften the blow.

Angola to see $50 billion oil investment: Sonangol

Angola is expected to see $50 billion in investments in its oil industry in the next six years, the head of state oil company Sonangol was quoted on Thursday as saying.

Sonangol Chairman Manuel Vicente made the prediction despite the collapse of two major international energy deals and the possibility of renewed political tension after the main opposition leader said policemen may have tried to assassinate him.

Stocks' Swoon Finally Hits Oil

The past week's disconnect between crude oil prices and the decline of stocks may be starting to unravel as oil traders grapple with a fundamental issue: How sound is China's economy?

China's crude oil imports may rise 10.3% in 2007

China's 2007 crude oil imports are expected to rise 10.3% to 160 million metric tons, equivalent to 3.2 million barrels a day, said the China Petrochemical News Thursday, citing officials from China Petrochemical Corp., or Sinopec Group.

The projected rise would mean another double-digit growth for China's crude imports after last year's 14.4% expansion.