The Oil Drum

Surge in carbon levels shows vegetation struggling to cope

Climate change may have passed a key tipping point that could mean temperatures rising more quickly than predicted and it being harder to tackle global warming, research suggests.

Bristol University researchers say a previously unexplained surge of carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere in recent years is due to more greenhouse gas escaping from trees, plants and soils. Global warming was making vegetation less able to absorb the carbon pollution pumped out by human activity.

Study Sheds Light on Earth's CO2 Cycles, Possible Impacts of Climate Change

A research team, including Kent State Professor of Geology Dr. Joseph Ortiz, tracing the origin of the large carbon dioxide increase in Earth's atmosphere at the end of the last ice age has detected two ancient "burps" that originated from the deepest parts of the southern ocean around Antarctica.

The coal rush

We stand at the beginning of a worldwide "coal rush" led by China, India and the United States, which plan to install 850 new coal plants by 2020, 150 of them in the United States. The CO2 from these plants could easily push the planet past a global warming "tipping point" that would initiate irreversible melting of the Greenland and West Antarctic ice sheets. According to global warming expert James Hansen, NASA’s chief climatologist, this would raise sea levels by 80 feet over about the next couple of centuries and "produce a new planet."

Climate change could lead to global conflict

Climate change could spawn a new era of conflicts around the world over water and other scarce resources unless more is done to curb greenhouse gas emissions, the foreign secretary, Margaret Beckett, warned yesterday.

Total: Able to Meet Republic of Congo Oil Supply Contracts

When asked about market speculation that full production would resume within three weeks, the spokeswoman was skeptical.

"We don't yet know what caused the accident so we would prefer to take all the security measures necessary before giving an indication on when production can resume," she said.

When the Gas is Gone, We'll be Rich!

Last week was just full of unpleasant surprises for natural gas supply.

I’ve been researching the issues and it looks like we have some serious supply issues on our hands, starting now and growing worse over the next 20 years or more.

America Has Oil on the Brain

Lisa Margonelli traveled thousands of miles from her local gas station to oil fields half a world away to try and understand how Americans can buy 10,000 gallons a second without giving it much thought.

Dealer prices gas over $4 in protest - He says tactics used by Shell are unfair to operators

For franchise dealers like Oyster, it is the ultimate irony. At a time when the oil companies are posting record profits, the little guys are struggling to stay in business. And many, like Oyster, are giving up the fight.

Ethanol seen chomping into corn crops

The surging fuel ethanol industry will gobble up 27 percent of this year's U.S. corn crop, challenging U.S. farmers' ability to satisfy food, feed and fuel demand, the U.S. government said Friday.

Even with its projection of a record 12.46 billion-bushel corn crop this year, the Agriculture Department said U.S. stockpiles will run low going into the next crop year when voracious ethanol demand will rise again.

"We keep our head just above water [this year]. We've got to swim that much harder in 2008," said analyst Mark McMinimy of Stanford Washington Research.

Big trucks rule the road

Keena Lewis, a guidance counselor in Lafourche Parish, said she's been driving large frame SUVs since her days in college. Lewis drives a 2000 model Ford Explorer and plans to upgrade to a Ford Expedition in the coming years, she said.

"People wouldn't expect a girl to be driving an SUV like this," Lewis said. "When I drive my SUV, it makes me feel powerful, sexy and in control."

Stealing copper leaves big headaches

The side yard of the Dartmouth apartment building that Dorothy MacAlduff owns and lives in is marred by a deep, rocky pit that still reeks with the stench of heating fuel.

The hole mirrors three other pits on Pinecrest Drive properties neighbouring Ms. MacAlduff’s, where cleanup crews were excavating polluted soil and draining deep ponds of oil-saturated groundwater Friday after thieves cut fuel lines to several residential oil tanks.

The lines were cut Wednesday and Thursday for the copper wiring they contained and at least two tanks worth of oil ended up spilling into the ground.

Saudis: Foiled plot mirrored 9/11 attack

Al-Qaida-linked plotters hoped to reproduce the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, planning to send suicide pilots to military bases and attack the oil refineries that drive the economy of Osama bin Laden ‘s homeland, the government said Saturday.

India: Power cut in Bijoygarh for 14 hrs, locals protest

MORE than 450 people came out on the streets and blocked Bijoygarh Road for over four hours today to protest the daily power crisis in the area. Fed up with the daily outage and low voltage, residents of ward 95 today resorted to a road block from 7.30 am to 12 pm.

Pakistan: Abdullah Haroon Rd shopkeepers burn KESC vehicle, tear gassed

Angry shopkeepers in Saddar set fire to a KESC vehicle, after yet another long power outage in the area, Thursday.

According to the shopkeepers on Abdullah Haroon road, many of the markets had been without electricity all morning, following which at about 2 p.m. most of them decided to close their shops and take to the streets.

Canada: Pump Shock in pictures

NDP MPP Gilles Bisson today invited motorists to fight back against gas-price gouging by taking part in "Pump Shock in pictures" - an NDP campaign that lets everyday Ontarians blow the whistle on Ontario's worst gas-price rip-off artists.

End of the road for Ford?

FORD Australia is reviewing its multimillion-dollar outlay on V8 supercars racing in light of shifting consumer tastes and the company's difficult economic situation.

On the road? - As gas prices rise, many rethink vacation plans

As summer approaches, many families will be making plans to pack their bags and drive to their favorite destinations.

Some of these trips will be forfeited, however, because of high gas prices.

Australia: Families' weekly bill up $175

SOARING costs in groceries, housing, fuel, power and childcare have put a staggering strain on household budgets.

Already battling sky-rocketing mortgages or rent, ordinary Queenslanders will be hit by huge hikes in food prices, big increases in electricity charges and rises in the cost of petrol over the next few months.

Australia: Bowser thefts linked to stolen rego plates

THE huge surge in "drive-off" fuel theft, triggered by skyrocketing petrol prices, is being linked to the underground trade in stolen registration plates in Sydney, which has risen at the same rate as bowser larcenies.

NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research figures show petrol thefts, or service station fraud, has increased by 33 per cent since mid-2004, from 9163 incidents to more than 12,900.

In the same period, the number of number plate thefts rose by a third.

Uranium exploration firms flock to Niger desert

Niger has granted a wave of permits to British, Canadian and Indian mining firms allowing them to explore for uranium in its desert north, the West African country's government said on Saturday.

Monetary Reform and How a National Monetary System Should Work

If this bubbles bursts, much of the middle class wealth that remained after the 1987 stock market crash, the 2000-2002 bursting of the dot.com bubble, and the ongoing decline of the housing market will be gone for good.

Maybe the party is finally over. Maybe at the end of their 300-year reign, starting roughly with the creation of the Bank of England in 1694, the financiers have finally succeeded in doing enough damage to the world economy that the rest of us are willing to take action. Or maybe there will be a sufficient distraction by more war in the Middle East and elsewhere. Maybe peak oil or global warming will intervene with destruction on too large a scale to ignore. Or maybe we’ll just limp along into the sunset.

Dow Chemical, Saudi Aramco Agree to Factories in Saudi Arabia

Dow Chemical Co. agreed to partner with Saudi Aramco, the largest state-owned oil company, to build a chemicals complex in Saudi Arabia that will use low-cost raw materials from adjacent oil and natural gas plants.

The high cost of doing business

"Our customers use a lot more electricity than the average customer in this country. We do a lot of work to explain that to our customers who are used to a much more temperate climate and, more likely than not, their electric bill will increase when they move to Southern Nevada ... because the volume of electricity they're using has changed. Our electricity prices are much lower than they are in Southern California but it takes a lot more to cool your home."

Oil-mageddon

The truth is that without oil, humanity - all six and a half billion of us - would be catapulted back into the steam age. And the results would not be pretty.

Now, a new book says that the age of oil is about to draw to a close and that the post-petroleum era is already upon us.

True Costs Of Fossil Fuels

Cheney revealed the goal of the war in a speech while still the CEO of Halliburton in 1999. To his own question of "Where is the oil going to come from to slake the world’s ever-growing thirst," Cheney answered, "The Middle East, with two-thirds of the world’s oil and the lowest cost, is still where the prize ultimately lies." The "Cheney Energy Task Force" had all eyes firmly fixed on The Prize back at the beginning of 2001. Along with Ken Lay of Enron and a cadre of Oil Men, they knew the only way to start describing victory was "Iraqi Oil Secured"; a main reason the White House has appealed clear to Cheney’s duck hunting buddy on the Supreme Court to keep all aspects of the meeting secret.

Granville students park cars for a day

The day, dubbed Strive Not to Drive, was an effort to get students to use less gas and reduce carbon emissions to help solve the global warming problem and energy crisis.

Global warming, nuclear power: double trouble

The historical coincidence of global warming and a revived nuclear industry magnifies the hazard. For example, resource depletion in some countries because of global warming will jeopardize their nuclear plants' maintenance and health and safety programs. Climate change will also reduce water supplies, which are crucial to avert reactor meltdowns.

Chevron shuts down some Nigerian operations amid rampant violence

Chevron Corp. temporarily shut down some operations in Nigeria's offshore waters Friday as the second-largest U.S. oil company scrambled to protect its workers and equipment from rampant violence that threatens to drive up gasoline prices.

The San Ramon-based company's lockup in the Niger Delta came just a few days after gunmen seized four of its American subcontractors from an offshore vessel amid an outbreak of militant attacks that have disrupted Africa's biggest oil-producing country.

Russia, CAsia leaders agree landmark gas pipeline deal

TURKMENBASHI, Turkmenistan (AFP) - The presidents of Russia, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan agreed a landmark gas pipeline deal on Saturday in a victory for Moscow over European and US plans for the region.

Alaska OKs natural gas pipeline bill

Both houses of the Alaska Legislature on Friday approved a bill establishing a path for a multibillion dollar natural gas project designed to tap a huge heating fuel supply and transport it to the rest of the country.

High octane price vapors

Head for the hills. Gas prices are over $3 -- just make sure you carpool.

That's the message network Chicken Littles are telling viewers as they hype so-called "record prices" and warn of an economic cataclysm tied to $4-, $5- or $6-a-gallon gasoline. Diane Sawyer even linked the prospect of pain at the pump to the idea of another stock market crash.

Ghana: Businesses spend $62m monthly on power plants

Businesses in the country are incurring costs of more than 62 million dollars a month on power plants for their operations.

The services sector including financial institutions spend over 4.4 million dollars, manufacturing industries 37.3 million dollars, mining 17.4 million dollars while the Agricultural sector is spending more than 2.9 million dollars each month on running their power plants.

Energy crisis lurks on Balkans

"The Balkan's countries need as much as 30.000 MWh that are impossible to provide, therefore the region will face a major energy crisis."

Carbon Call

Not realistic from a political standpoint, not realistic because the targets are incredibly expensive—that’s a Yale economist’s take on the multi-trillion dollar strategy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions unveiled April 4 by the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Others find it hard to even imagine...the magnitude of changes, the speed needed to reach the report’s emission peak by 2015, then subsequent reduction of 50%, to level off at 85% of the emissions of 2000. This could cost up to 3% of the world’s gross domestic product. Such economic bloodletting will only happen when imposed by nature, and that could be gruesome.

Billions in Oil Missing in Iraq, U.S. Study Says

Between 100,000 and 300,000 barrels a day of Iraq’s declared oil production over the past four years is unaccounted for and could have been siphoned off through corruption or smuggling, according to a draft American government report.

Using an average of $50 a barrel, the report said the discrepancy was valued at $5 million to $15 million daily.

The report does not give a final conclusion on what happened to the missing fraction of the roughly two million barrels pumped by Iraq each day, but the findings are sure to reinforce longstanding suspicions that smugglers, insurgents and corrupt officials control significant parts of the country’s oil industry.

The report also covered alternative explanations for the billions of dollars worth of discrepancies, including the possibility that Iraq has been consistently overstating its oil production.