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DrumBeat: June 30, 2007
Posted by Leanan on June 30, 2007 - 9:19am
Topic: Miscellaneous
BP economist: World’s oil is plentiful
Drivers might wince at high gas prices, but it's a sign of a well-functioning oil market, not a crisis, Finley said."The world's not running out of oil," he said.
The world has enough reserves to pump oil for 40 years at the current production rates, assuming no new oil sources are found, according to the BP review.
"Reserves have risen 15 years in a row, and I think that's the picture to take out of here," Finley said.
$70 crude is one more holiday hassle
Hot dogs, hamburgers, $3 gas and now crude at $70 a barrel — the list of heartburn-inducing items on the menu this Fourth of July holiday keeps getting longer.And keep the antacid handy, because things could get worse before they get better.
Houston Chronicle snapshots:
● Oil data
● Natural gas data
● Rig count
Extreme weather wakes US up to climate change
US public opinion is rapidly waking up to the threat posed by global warming, despite the best efforts of the Bush Administration and much of industry to deny the problem.
End Of Suburbia (audio)
Andy Barrie spoke with director Gregory Greene.
Iraq Kurds Unveil Oil Blocks, See Oil Law Deal
Iraq's northern autonomous Kurdish government on Friday said it's planning to offer 40 new oil blocks to foreign companies in a sign that it said, reflects its confidence Iraq is close to reaching a final deal on the country's long-delayed hydrocarbons law.
Chavez invites Russians to invest more in his country's oil
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez called on Russian business leaders Friday to boost their investment in his country, criticizing U.S. companies as "vampires" and inviting Russians to help develop a massive oil deposit.
Chevron to Open Office in Turkmenistan
Chevron Corp. is opening an office in Turkmenistan, following the Turkmen government's invitation last month for the U.S. oil giant to work in the energy-rich Central Asian nation, state-run television reported Friday.
Confiscated booze becomes alternative fuel
Smugglers trying to sneak alcohol into Sweden are unwittingly helping fuel the country's public transport system and reducing its greenhouse emissions.Almost all of the 185,000 gallons of smuggled alcohol seized by the customs service last year was turned into alternative fuel and used to power buses, trucks and a biogas train, officials said Friday.
The Hydrogen Economy - Hype or Holy Grail
In the end, the hydrogen economy will be only one of many solutions to US energy independence. It isn’t the Holy Grail, but it’s also not overblown hype.
Two potential nuclear sites chosen
Exelon Nuclear has selected two sites in southeastern Texas as possible locations for a new nuclear plant.
Gas tax money not meeting road needs
Slow growth in the fuel tax - not just in Florida but also nationally - means there will likely be less road-building money available in a fast-growing state where the population is expected to approach 45 million residents by mid-century. In the U.S., gas tax revenues grew by less than one-tenth of a percent this year through April, compared to an annual growth rate of about 4 percent just four years ago."Today, the revenues that are generated do not meet the demands," Clary said.
The need to ration gas in OPEC's second largest exporter of crude oil reveals a major vulnerability of Iran's theocratic regime.
Lebanon: EDL blames theft, heat wave for tight rationing
Lebanon sank deeper into darkness for the past week under rationing that Electricite du Liban (EDL) officials said they were forced to apply because of electricity theft, a heat wave and power-station repairs. Apart from Beirut, most areas experienced more than 12 hours a day of power cuts, according to Daily Star correspondents, prompting citizens, merchants and industrialists to rely
The True Cost of Oil: $65 Trillion a Year?
Quick: What's the most common criticism of renewable energy?Right: That it's not economical. Too expensive compared to cheap oil, coal, natural gas, and nuclear.
And that's true, if you have a calculator that can only add, and you don't count a bunch of stuff.
But that's not the way we do math around here. We like to figure out the real cost of things. It's the only intelligent way to invest!
The Biggest Economic Opportunity of This Century
John Doerr is one of Silicon Valley's more successful and higher-profile VCs, with big wins including early investments in Symantec, Amazon.com, and more recently, Google.This success, I believe, gives his words some weight. So when he says, as he did in November, that global warming is real and that "cleantech" is "the biggest economic opportunity of this century," my ears -- and yours -- should perk up.
Malaysian Oil Earnings Create Economic Crutch
As Asia looks back on the decade since the financial crisis that began in 1997, it is increasingly clear that oil revenue played perhaps the most crucial role in rescuing the Malaysian economy from the financial meltdown that bankrupted companies and sent the government deep into deficit.
A new and improved public transport system vital for Cuba’s development
Making optimum use of the massive resources that the Cuban government is investing in the rehabilitation of the country’s transportation network demands a high level of organization, commitment and efficiency from workers and officials at all levels. This was expressed by Transportation Minister Jorge Luis Sierra at the Cuban parliament on Thursday.
Mexico's Pemex not seeking risk-sharing alliances
Mexico's Pemex is not seeking to pair up with foreign companies in risk-sharing alliances that would require legal changes, a senior executive at the state-owned oil monopoly said.
Pemex to Spud Sixth Deepwater Well in 2007
Mexican state oil company Petroleos Mexicanos plans to drill its sixth deepwater well before the end of this year as the company pushes its exploration efforts further into the Gulf of Mexico, an official said Friday.
Some 80 and 90 people have been working on this value chain, and around NOK 400 million have been spent on the project including external studies. The evaluation shows that though the value chain is technically feasible, it is not commercially viable.
Nuclear demand will outstrip supply: CEO
Uranium spot prices are unsustainable at current levels over the long term, the chief executive of miner Cameco Corp. CCO.TO said on Wednesday, but he also forecast global demand for the nuclear fuel outstripping production for the next eight or nine years.
President: Fuel rationing huge move
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has called the fuel rationing a huge and complex decision that would make Iran invulnerable.He was referring to the government's measure last week, taken to curb the country's growing fuel consumption based on which the fuel needed by the nation's private and public vehicles will be offered only under a quota system.
Ahmadinejad said getting cars to run on natural gas is one of the ways to reduce gas consumption. He added if cars run on gas there would be no need for fuel imports.
OF-LATE, the countrywide electricity shortage has reached an alarming proportion leading to frequent cut downs in supply and breakdowns thus affecting badly the industrial production and causing immeasurable agony to the common man.
Carolyn Baker: Sexual Orientation: When It Matters and When It Doesn't
n the light of these daunting realities, I do not believe that the LGBT community can afford to focus only on the dual issues of gay marriage and HIV/AIDS. I do not oppose concern with these issues, but I cannot help but be appalled that LGBT political leaders have become fixated on them with little awareness or discourse about what I continue to name as The Terminal Triangle of climate change, Peak Oil, and global economic meltdown. While I support the right of every lesbian and gay individual to conceive and birth children, I cringe at what in some instances is an obsession with doing so in the face of earth’s carrying capacity, population overshoot, and the die-off that may occur as a result of the Terminal Triangle’s devastations. In one of the chapters of my book “Tunnel Vision In The Rainbow Nation”, I state that while the LGBT community desires a “place at the table” in the American political discourse, its overall lack of understanding about the nature of that political discourse and the realities of the Terminal Triangle guarantee that its misguided focus on gay marriage and HIV/AIDS assures that it will have a place at the table, but it’s place will be “dinner” for the ruling elite.
Taking the Pledge, One More Time
Berkeley should be embarrassed to allow itself to be fooled by faith-based greenwashed promotional schemes, particularly if they’re promulgated at government expense to promote political careers. Climate change, sometimes equated with global warming, is a serious threat which requires reality-based scientific world-wide solutions.
"Biofuels are going to rip the ears off the food industry" as corn goes not for food but for fuel, said Jim Boyce, the president of Marin French Cheese Co. in Petaluma. He said Friday that his dairy bill increased 58.5 percent from May 2006 to May of this year -- from $1.15 per gallon of milk to $1.83 per gallon.
Well, this is the story of a man named Chavez, poor President barely kept his country fed. Then one day, shooting at some food, up through the ground came a bubblin' crude ... The U.S. Department of Energy estimates Venezuela's reserves at 1.3 trillion barrels, more than all other OPEC members. Yet, the country is now importing 100,000 barrels of Russian crude oil a day.
Sri Lanka hikes fuel prices after ministerial committee fails to solve energy crisis
Sri Lanka has raised fuel prices by around 5 percent almost two months after the last price increase, after allowing petroleum utilities to run huge losses and the national currency to come under pressure.
Last year, pundit Thomas "The World is Flat" Friedman wrote a piece in Foreign Policy magazine in which he posited the First Law of Petropolitics: As oil prices go up, any move toward democracy and freedom in "petro-authoritarian" states goes into reverse.I should like to posit the First Law of Liberal Journalism: The more times any obvious idea is recycled, the more lefty crap gets stuck to it. Please wait for the Canadian "angle."
Yankee tax no threat to business
Gov. Douglas, in response to the veto, put forth his own plan, proposing using $600,000 in state funds -- our tax dollars -- and asking working and poor Vermonters to increase their debt load to make their homes more efficient against exploding heating costs. His minimal energy plan after taking office five years ago, together with tepid support for wind and hydro generation and this latest proposal, a tenth of what H.520 would accomplish, make it apparent he has no vision for dealing with the effects of "peak oil," resulting energy costs or foreign and multinational corporations holding Vermont consumers hostage.
U.S. family tries living without China
She repeatedly struck out trying to buy inexpensive shoes for her son, and even the chic local boutique that sold fancy European labels had gone out of business. So she shelled out $68 for Italian sneakers from a catalogue.Broken appliances gathered dust because the spare parts came from China. And, with the Asian country having a near lock on the toy aisles, her 4-year-old son grew tired of taking Danish-made Legos to birthday parties as gifts.
A. I question whether the supply will be developed to meet those demand expectations. I believe demand is going to be constrained by supply.
Q. Drivers are concerned about rising gas prices. What can American drivers expect to pay at the pump in the short term, medium term and long term?
A. I would like to see gasoline prices decline. However, I believe that is somewhat unrealistic. Energy costs are going to continue to escalate as a result of the cost it takes to add new resources of energy. Q. According to the Department of Energy, the United States will consume 28 percent more oil and 19 percent more natural gas in 2030 than it did in 2005. Where will we find all that oil and gas?
Peak Oil Passnotes: Peak Market Economics
Everybody in the energy complex sees advantage in high oil prices, except the poor countries with no oil production and the poor people in rich countries with no means to avoid the hikes in cost. As long as you have a stake in the game, keeping the balance right works.
Feds OK Oil-Shale Mining in Utah
The federal government issued a lease to a partnership that wants to open an abandoned oil shale mine in eastern Utah.
Norway, Poland agree financing for new pipeline
Polish and Norwegian authorities have fixed the financial terms for a pipeline to channel natural gas from Norway's offshore fields to Poland, which is trying to lessen its reliance on Russian energy, Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg announced Friday.
India to get Iranian gas by 2011
Fuel-hungry India will receive gas from energy-rich Iran via a multi-billion-dollar pipeline through Pakistan in four years, an Iranian oil official said in New Delhi.
EU paper shows options on warming Europe
Water shortages in the Mediterranean, flash floods along the Rhine and summers so hot that nuclear power stations can't cool down. This is what Europe can expect as its climate warms over the next decades, a European Union paper warned Friday, as it laid out options for what governments can do now to prepare for the effects of climate change.
Wireless Real Time Whole House Electric Meter
Connects onto your meter and gives a constant reading inside on a portable display.
http://eshop.macsales.com/item-maillist/Blue%20Line%20Innovations/BLI240...
Neat Toy, err Tool, for those interested.
Best Hopes for Energy Conservation,
Alan
Alan, all such questionable purchases should be weighed against a fine meal or a few of ones favorite beverages. How does it stack up against such competition?
Yes, because if you don't shop at McDonalds, how can the workers get paid?
We have 3 McDonald's in New Orleans. One in a WalMart.
We have 15 James Beard Award winning chefs (1 is retired)
I am CERTAIN that this is the highest James Beard to McDonald's ratio on this planet.
About 10% of the labor force works in restaurants.
In a conversation with a Kentucky Nat'l Guard soldier just after Katrina.
KY NG: I see lots of what looks like restaurants around here as we patrol. Are they restaurants ?
Me: Yes, about 400. 10% of the labor force worked in them before Katrina.
KY NG: I was wondering since I did not recognize ANY of the names.
Worst Hopes for Chain Restaurants,
Alan
Nice try Alan, but the yahoo yellow pages show at least 50 McD's within 10 miles of the center of NO. Plenty of wendys and burger kings also.
I agree about the food in NO (I used to live in Mississippi and went to NO all the time). However, there is NO city in America that isn't covered in fast food restaurants.
Ashland, Oregon! The story is that their only Mickey D's closed down for lack of business.... Apocryphal or not, a great tale.
Carmel, California has none. The chains are Piatti and Il Fornaio.
Beerwah, Queensland, Australia has no golden arches, but it has 2 asian take-away ,a subway, and 2 pizza shops. (and as far as i know there are no plans for one in the next few years)
Beerwah's population is, what, 1500? It barely counts as a town. Just with a brief Google/Whitepages search for Victoria, I found Swan Hill (pop 10000), Portland (8800) and Castlemaine (8700). In all cases the closest Macca's was at least 35km away. Indeed the closest Macca's I could find to Swan Hill was 150 km away in Echuca.
But there are some cities that only seem to have fast food restaurants. I swear Minneapolis has some of the worst food in the world and is limited mostly to franchises (excepting Kramarczuk’s Deli of course!). When I was going to the U there I could not find a decent meal, especially breakfast, for the life of me. It's impossible to find a decent pizza in that town.
Minneapolis does have overpriced food of poor quality in most of its restaurants. The neighboring city of St. Paul, however, has some first-class little-known ethnic restaurants at reasonable prices. Try for example, Cecil's Deli, same location since 1949 near St. Catherine's college on Cleveland Avenue. You won't find many slender or grumpy people there.
There are a number of good Vietmamese restaurants, both in St. Paul and at least two in Minneapolis. If you know where to get freshly caught walleye, you can dine well in Minnesota. Try Tavern on Grand (where the MN governor took Gorbachov for a Walleye sandwich, very resonably priced and utterly scrumptious) in St Paul. Grand Avenue in St. Paul also has several other excellent eateries, most of them modestly priced. For some reasons I cannot figure out, Minneapolis restaurant food tends to be both more expensive and lower quality than that found in St. Paul. The worst food is to be found in Uptown Minneapolis, followed by Downtown. Some of the suburbs have very good hole-in-the wall places that could probably hold their own in New Orleans, especially those that are not afraid to serve distinctive mid-western cuisine.
10 miles gets you into Metairie and the West Bank. Post-WW II Suburbia. NOT New Orleans ! Predominantly white, R voting, much more fried food, different culture.
New Orleans is compact. Do the same search for a 2.5 mile radius (still get some West Bank).
Alan
Donostia, Spain (Donostia is basque, in Spanish it is San Sebastián), pop. 182,930, two McDonalds, three Michelin three star restaurants (56 in the world, 5 in the whole USA), only behind Paris and New York (and I believe, the only city in the planet with an >1 McDonald's-to-Michelin-three-stars ratio). Also, the prettiest city in Spain.
If you like eating, you should go there. And I am not talking just fancy ultramodern does-not-look-like-food stuff.
Yes, well worth the trip !
Best Hopes for Fine Dining,
Alan
A few New Orleans restaurants have the formality that Michelin seems to require, but not that many.
Our local restaurant critic ate at the French Laundry (3 star in Napa Valley) and said that it was as good as the best New Orleans restaurants, and fairly experimental.
Perhaps I should review the stars & reviews of our best.
*I* will not be buying one. Too many charitable and culinary alternatives here in New Orleans.
But for those more deprived, err "isolated", I thought that I would bring it to their attention.
Best Hopes for Doing Good and Eating Well#,
Alan
#Blue Plate Cafe just reopened a few blocks away. I had a brie and fried oyster wrap for lunch yesterday with a friend. Desert was grilled cantaloupe with caramelized sugar a la mode. $20 + tip
A friend of mine from NOLA told me once "Its possible to get a bad meal in New Orleans, but you've got to work at it."
One of the most agravating things about New Orleans people is going out to eat with them in a decent restaurant out of town. They'll sit, and the whole time they're eating, reminice about a fine meal they had in New Orleans. Alan, if I were eating at my computer you'd be guilty of the same thing, darn your eyes and drat your hide. I ate lunch yesterday at Shrimp N' Stuff at 39th and O in Galveston, had the seafood platter, 4 fried shrimp, 4 fried oysters, a piece of fried fish (unidentifiable, but not catfish, maybe whiting), 2 crab balls, slaw,rice and gravy, homemade remoulade sauce and spectacular hushpuppies-$14.00. Its a walk up to the counter joint, no tip. I waddled home and took a nap.
At any rate, come to the ASPO convention in Houston this October and I'll buy you a good meal. Its actually a good eating town, Vietnamese, Mexican, soul food, redneck chicken fried steak-even a few Creole spots. But sadly, bad meals are the norm.
One of the most aggravating things about New Orleans people is going out to eat with them in a decent restaurant out of town. They'll sit, and the whole time they're eating, reminisce about a fine meal they had in New Orleans
This is a fine and long standing tradition in New Orleans !
We talk about food we have eaten and will eat while eating. Kind of a food monomania. Can't argue with the results :-)
Perfect example.
A friend and I were the only patrons in routine need of sunscreen at a local "hole in the wall". I ordered the special of the day; white beans with pig tails. Quite good despite being about the cheapest foodstuff available.
As we ate, I was explaining to him the annual October White Truffle specials at Bacco. The world's most expensive food stuff.
Eating the cheapest, discussing the most expensive. All good and all Naw'lins :-)
Best Hopes for Fine Dining,
Alan
You could be onto something. They say that if you want to buy happiness, you should buy experiences, not things. Like Spock said, having is not so pleasing as wanting. Research suggests that this is true, at least when it comes to material things.
But it doesn't necessarily apply for experiences. People tend to remember events as being better than they actually were. (Otherwise, no woman would have more than one child. ;-) So money spent on experiences tends to be a good investment, when it comes to happiness.
A saying of mine.
"A meal is not over till it is forgotten".
Best Hopes for MANY memorable meals AND life experiences,
Alan
I have never regretted money spent on travels and the great experiences that resulted. I regret the trips that I declined to make. In the end memories are what we have left, any expensive crap that we buy that restrains us from travel and experience is wasted money. My best experiences are those that resulted from spur of the moment decisions with no planned destination or timetable. Motorcycles are fine company for such trips.
Well, heck, that's a crusty old saying: "It's better to regret something you HAVE done than something you HAVEN'T done."
Yeah, that's from a Butthole Surfers song. And by the way, tell your mother, SATAN, SATAN, SATAN. Duh Duh, DUH DUH DUH, Duh Duh...
As long as it is a function of money spent, it will be a status symbol and as such not pursued for its intrinsic value, but to gain rank in the hierarchy. Hoarding experiences is still not a good way to become happy.
So next trip I will hitch-hike and eat grass along the way. Get a life pal.
I travel exactly for its intrinsic value. I seldom share my experiences with anyone. I definitely would not share them with someone that believes travel is a way to gain rank in the heirarchy. I will leave that to Mad Max.
It doesn't have to be a function of money spent. My next trip will probably be a two-hour drive to the coast, where I will stay in a budget hotel, take in a minor league baseball game. and enjoy the ocean. I grew up by the sea, and miss it now that I am inland.
Pretty cool gadget. Quantifying how much electricity one is wasting, err I mean using, is a great step towards leading people to be more conscientious of their energy usage.
Don't become a Buddhist. The world doesn't need more Buddhists. Do practice compassion. The world does need more compassion. -- Dalai Lama
Go one step further and program it with the electric rate per kwh, then display how much money your electricity use is costing. On a great big LED display hanging on the wall. In red.
Just what everyone needs, another always-on load!
I think this runs off of batteries (which are provided by the magical Energizer bunny rabbit, no?) but I take your point.
Don't become a Buddhist. The world doesn't need more Buddhists. Do practice compassion. The world does need more compassion. -- Dalai Lama
Say, by all means strike this post, Leanan, if it breaks a rule, but this prompts me to mention the most magical batteries I've found, "eneloop" brand by Sanyo. The things are insanely good compared with other rechargeables; they're NIMH AA's and AAA's which don't self-discharge. Dramatically better than anything else I've used... and made to recycle after 1000 charges or so. Which may be awhile... they work so well I only charge them a couple times a year.
Not available widely in the US, but amazon has 'em usually with free shipping......
It's unusual for me to gush over a product; I pass this on since I can recommend them...
Yup, the self-discharge rate on those is extremely slow. It does however come at a modest expense to capacity, but for some things, it's a good tradeoff. They can also be had from Thomas Distributing. (For high capacity and reasonably slow self-discharge, Maha Powerex cells of recent manufacture are also good, and there may be others.)
Of course, we don't really get to test the 1000-charge life claim if we use them infrequently, as we'll lose them to theft, or down a sewer grate, first. OTOH, at 5-10 times the cost of alkalines (in AA and AAA sizes), they're cheap enough that it may not matter (but one must also buy the right kind of charger.) Any of the good ones lasts as long as an alkaline, unlike the old nicads that used to poop out right away, so the need to recharge is no longer a major inconvenience (or excuse.)
The only catch is that unlike alkalines, you get very little warning before they go dead. Sometimes that's potentially hazardous. For example, public-utility workers who use flashlights when they enter basements may still be issued new alkalines every day, because the cost of just one twenty-million-plus dollar lawsuit will pay for a boatload of alkalines.
Not to beat this to death, but I'll note that the eneloops I've had hold as much charge as other brands with a much higher 'rated' capacity. In the real world, they beat any high-capacity name-brand NiMH I've tried. You might get more if you're a pro photographer using 2800mah cells the same day you charge them, but for about any other use, the eneloops come out shining.
They are qualitatively different from all other batteries except perhaps the ray-o-vac hybrids, which seem to be similar in concept but not as good.
My brother just got some and snagged 8 AA's for $20, plus 4 more with a sanyo charger for $25... not bad. (amazon)
In theory, you can charge them in any charger, but I've developed such a fondness for them that I only use the sanyo charger.... though I have a solar charger I plan to adapt as well.
Only reason I mention this is that I'm fond of TOD crowd and am passing on the tip...
I don't think it breaks any rules. If we didn't delete Keithster's pump and dumping, I don't see why we'd delete this.
Thanks for the tip. I've added them to my Amazon wishlist. ;-)
Very cool. But any idea how far it transmits? My meter is about 200 feet from my house so I'm not sure this would work. Also, I couldn't find anything on the web site referring to the transmission distance. Also, is there any data showing how much consumers have cut back with this device?
For those utilities that are incentivized to have people cut back on energy, unlike mine which encourages us to use more energy, this might be a good tool for cutting peak demand and the like. Cheaper than building new power plants, I should think.
Anyway, generally speaking, feedback is a good tool whether it be automobiles or entertainment systems. My killawatt meter helped move me from a PC to a laptop.
Also, is there any data showing how much consumers have cut back with this device ?
They say 5% to 20%. Manufacturer's claims. In my case 0% (Kill-A-Watt is all I need).
You might be able to connect it at the house disconnect (where the wire enters the house). I do not know. I would suggest contacting the manufacturer.
Alan
We all talk about conservation, how about if we all turn off the main breaker at the electrical panel and see who can go the longest without grid power? We used no heat or AC in the months of May and June but still used about 13 KWH per day, all energy star appliances, cfl's, where does it all go?
Don't feel bad, I used 22 KWH/day. I am happy that I used a 1/3 fewer kwh in 2006/2007, as compared to 2005. It is amazing the savings you can get with cfl lights. Now when my wife leaves every light on in the house all day, it only uses about 1/5 of the power.