Wharton: The Upside of Global Energy Scarcity

Rising energy demand from China and India has unleashed a worldwide race to secure access to scarce fossil fuel resources, a more difficult proposition with the emergence of national oil companies in the resource-owning countries. While Western companies will likely feel the pain of increasing energy costs, there is a potential upside to global energy scarcity, according to experts from Wharton and The Boston Consulting Group: Renewable and nuclear energy present huge opportunities for investors and entrepreneurs, underscored by concern over a global stalemate surrounding curbs on carbon-dioxide emissions.

Food shortage catastrophe creeping up on the world

The second major new demand factor is the significant push for biofuels in response to climate change and fears of peak oil. As an example, the US ethanol industry alone will use 104 million tonnes of corn next year to produce ethanol. That is 100% of average annual world coarse grain trade and 6.4% of global cereal grain production.

The factors we have described have been discussed by many people, but what will happen has not been fully grasped by anybody. What this means is that demand for cereals is accelerating away from us in a different way — so the global food supply will be significantly different.

Gas Thieves Suspected in U-Haul Explosion

RIVERSIDE -- Authorities believe gasoline thieves are behind an explosion at a U-Haul lot in Cathedral City.

The blast was reported just before 1 p.m. Tuesday at 68075 Ramon Road. Four trucks were destroyed and a nearby storage facility was charred. Damage was estimated at $120,000.

Firefighters found telltale signs of gas siphoning, which included cut-off sections of garden hoses that were left in the tanks of three trucks, according to Cathedral City Fire Chief Mike Hatfield. Gas caps had also been removed from six other trucks - all of which had been drained of fuel, Hatfield added.

Shell sees bulk of US offshore fields back in 2 wks

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Shell Oil, the largest oil producer in the storm-battered Gulf of Mexico, said on Thursday it expects the bulk of its offshore fields back on line within two weeks.

The Gulf of Mexico, home to a quarter of U.S. crude oil production and 15 percent of its natural gas output, has been virtually shut down since late August by back to back hurricanes, Gustav and Ike.

Troubled South taps New Haven gas

For a couple of hours on Monday, a New Haven gasoline terminal was empty.

"It happens from time to time," said Eugene Guilford Jr., executive director of the Independent Connecticut Petroleum Association, of a huge gasoline storage tank at the harbor running dry.

Usually it's because of a late barge delivery, and a fuel dealer said that was the primary cause this time, too. But Guilford said the inconvenience at the terminal -- some fuel trucks had to go to another terminal to pick up product and wait in longer lines -- was also partially the result of fuel being diverted to Southern states still recovering from Hurricane Ike. No gasoline stations went without fuel, he said.

Simple device which uses electrical field could boost gas efficiency

With the high cost of gasoline and diesel fuel impacting costs for automobiles, trucks, buses and the overall economy, a Temple University physics professor has developed a simple device which could dramatically improve fuel efficiency as much as 20 percent.

According to Rongjia Tao, Chair of Temple's Physics Department, the small device consists of an electrically charged tube that can be attached to the fuel line of a car's engine near the fuel injector. With the use of a power supply from the vehicle's battery, the device creates an electric field that thins fuel, or reduces its viscosity, so that smaller droplets are injected into the engine. That leads to more efficient and cleaner combustion than a standard fuel injector, he says.

Six months of road testing in a diesel-powered Mercedes-Benz automobile showed that the device increased highway fuel from 32 miles per gallon to 38 mpg, a 20 percent boost, and a 12-15 percent gain in city driving.

OPEC exports to jump 540,000 bpd to Oct.11 - analyst

LONDON, Sept 25 (Reuters) - OPEC oil exports, excluding Angola and Ecuador, will jump by 540,000 barrels per day (bpd) in the four weeks to Oct. 11, on strong Asian demand and seasonal factors, an analyst who tracks future flows said on Thursday.

Seaborne crude exports from 11 OPEC members, including Iraq, will leap to 24.75 million bpd from 24.21 million bpd in the period to Sept. 13, British consultancy Oil Movements reported.

The head of the consultancy, Roy Mason, said there was no evidence in the latest figures that OPEC had reined in output to comply with a Sept. 10 decision to trim output back to official targets.

"Everything is going East and it's a much bigger increase than we would expect at this time of year. The rise to Asia is at a record high for September," he said.

IEA says no need to send emergency gasoline to U.S.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Even though U.S. gasoline inventories are the lowest since 1967 because of disruptions caused by the recent hurricanes, the head of the International Energy Agency said on Thursday there still was no need for IEA members to release emergency fuel supplies to the U.S. market.

"We don't have to mobilize," IEA Executive Director Nobuo Tanaka told Reuters in an interview. "The market is now taking care of the current situation," he said.

Enbridge lifts force majeure on two Gulf gas lines

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Enbridge Inc's U.S. unit said it lifted force majeure effective late Thursday on its Manta Ray offshore gathering system in the Gulf of Mexico and on its Nautilus pipeline following outages in the wake of Hurricane Ike.

Valero says Port Arthur, Tex refinery in prelim restart

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Valero Energy Corp's 295,000 barrel per day Port Arthur, Texas, refinery was in the preliminary stages of a multi-day restart, the company said Thursday.

"The plant has power and steam, and has secured supplies of fresh water," it said in a press release.

Gulfport resumes partial production after Ike

Gulfport Energy Corp. said Thursday its coastal Louisiana facilities suffered no major structural damage during Hurricane Ike and that partial production has been restored at two of its facilities.

Peak Oil, Power & Potatoes: Balancing Old & New, Big & Small As Money & Energy Decline

To conclude: we are stuck with some difficult and surprising contradictions. Like it or lump it we need concentrated resources - such as lots of money - to do useful things, even though it is quite clear that we so often use such resources for bad things, such as wars and other forms of violence. At the same time, because we are reaching the limits to growth, have exceeded Earthly carrying capacity, and are tipping over peak oil into petroleum decline, we also now need rather urgently to rebuild a system of distributed generation of food, fuel and other vital needs. So we need some big and a lot small, and currently the big gets in the way of the small.

John Michael Greer - Rx: Depression

Counterintuitive though it may seem, furthermore, a serious depression right now may just be the best thing that could happen to the United States. I don’t say this by way of passing judgment, or in the spirit of schadenfreude that seems to surround so many predictions of social catastrophe. Rather, a good many of the dysfunctions that are dragging America to ruin will be immediately unsustainable in a time of depression, and a certain amount of economic suffering now could spare the American people a far worse experience later on. Here are some examples.

Writers discuss covering the peak oil story, in Sacramento

If you had been able to attend the first afternoon of the ASPO-USA conference in Sacramento yesterday, you could have listened to six writers, most of them working as print journalists today, sharing their insights as to how members of the media cover the peak oil story. The two panels didn’t offer breaking news but rather some modest wisdom for attendees. Some take-aways...

Federal agency opposes open-loop LNG for Gulf

MOBILE, Ala. -- Federal fisheries officials have recommended that the Coast Guard deny a company permission for an open-loop liquefied natural gas terminal in the Gulf of Mexico, about 63 miles south of Fort Morgan on the Alabama coast, citing potential threats to marine life.

Coal, a Tough Habit to Kick

COAL, the “dark fuel,” may be the most visible villain of global warming, but its use is up and projected to go higher.

“In the short run, demand for coal is going to increase,” said Joel Darmstadter, a senior fellow at Resources for the Future, a nonprofit foundation in Washington. “Demand for electricity is increasing, and there are really no alternatives.”

Pickens: Natural gas, Warren Buffett could ease nation's woes

(CNN) -- Billionaire hedge fund manager T. Boone Pickens spoke about the beleaguered U.S. economy, a prospective bailout and natural gas Thursday, a day after reports that his energy-related hedge funds lost $1 billion this year.

GM to sell Hummer and French factory

DETROIT (AP) -- General Motors Corp.'s treasurer said Wednesday that the automaker is planning to put its Strasbourg, France, manufacturing operation and its Hummer truck brand up for sale, and it may announce more asset sales later this year.

A green credit crunch?

If Wall Street’s implosion can feel remote on the West Coast, where green tech startups largely rely on Silicon Valley venture capital, there may be no escaping the fallout from the credit crunch.

Earth Friendly Cooking Without Spending a Bundle

Food cut into bite-size pieces cooks more quickly than large chunks. During a fuel shortage 3,000 years ago, the Chinese learned that food cooked very quickly if they cut it into bite-size pieces. They also learned that cooking in a pot shaped in a half sphere was especially fast.

Here are a dozen ways to save water and energy by changing the way you cook.

Why Climate Change Could Wither Santa Barbara Agriculture

The problem Givens and other regional farmers face is that in a climate that’s already golden, change is unwelcome. Unfortunately, a new report by the federal government says change is coming regardless. In The Effects of Climate Change on Agriculture, Land Resources, Water Resources, and Biodiversity in the United States, a 203-page review of existing studies issued last May, a team of scientists working for the U.S. Climate Change Science Program (CCSP) warn that global warming is going to seriously upset American agricultural production, damaging the Western states most.

Areva, Duke Energy To Jointly Develop Biomass US Pwr Plants

PARIS -(Dow Jones)- French nuclear operator Areva (CEI.FR) and U.S. energy company Duke Energy Corp (DUK) Thursday announced the creation of a joint venture, called Adage, dedicated to the development of green biopower energy solutions for U.S. customers.

Ban Near on Diverting Water From Great Lakes

The House began debate Monday on a sweeping bill that would ban almost any diversion of water from the Great Lakes’ natural basin to places outside the region.

The measure is intended to put to rest longstanding fears that parched states or even foreign countries could do long-term damage to the basin by tapping into its tremendous body of fresh water.

...“People realized that Great Lakes water is a finite resource and that death by a thousand straws is a real threat,” said Jordan Lubetkin, a spokesman for the National Wildlife Federation. “There is a perception that because the Great Lakes are so vast, they are immune from harm. That is not the case.”

Post-Ike gas shortage may take weeks to end: The current gas crisis is worse than the 2005 shortages after hurricanes Katrina and Rita, say some experts.

Atlanta - The effects of hurricane Ike largely emptied two critical gasoline pipelines that feed much of the South, leading to widespread panic-buying, shuttered pumps, and even some fistfights as motorists vied for precious drops of gas from Anniston, Ala., to Asheville, N.C.

Although public officials called for calm, promising quick relief, experts such as Atlanta gasoline distributor Tex Pitfield said it could actually take another two weeks for supplies to ramp up.

That's because the widespread flooding and power outages that shut down 15 Houston-area refineries are not the only reasons why some 75 percent of gas stations in the region have plastic bags over their pump handles.

Getting supplies back on track has been made more difficult by more perennial problems – a shortage of regional refineries, an energy policy that demands nearly 200 boutique fuels to meet air quality standards, and a tangled middleman distribution system of gasoline "jobbers" seen as a weak link in the government's ability to control the economy's critical fuel link.

Government officials can’t ease fuel shortage

Local governments on Wednesday said they had no immediate plans to limit the price of gasoline or the amount being sold. State law allows for such action only during an emergency.

The federal government can’t step in because the shortage is not a nationwide problem. Gas rationing under mandate from the federal government was common during the oil embargo in the 1970s.

The shortage in Western North Carolina and other pockets of the South isn’t a threat to public safety, government leaders said.

Gas woes may linger into October

Relief could come to the region when the South Carolina terminal gets a shipment of gas today and suppliers start trucking in fuel from other locations.

But with the main pipeline supplying the region still operating at a reduced flow for at least another week, local and state officials said outages and long lines are likely to persist into October, though they may not be as severe as they have been.

North Carolina Drivers Pour Into Tennessee

With stations in North Carolina and Tennessee running out of gas between deliveries, drivers are hunting for stations where they can get a fill up. A high volume of cars are even making the trip from North Carolina to the Tri-Cities in search of gasoline.

First in flight, but apparently last to get gas. Tarheels are running on ‘E’.

Some N. Texas Gas Stations Running On Empty

FORT WORTH, Texas -- Some gas stations in North Texas have run out of gas because of tight supplies, but suppliers said the shortage will be only be temporary.

..."That's really, really scary for no gas," one woman said. "What would we do? We wouldn't be able to do anything. We couldn't go to work, we couldn't do anything."

EPA Waiver Allowed Gas, But Supply Was Quickly Depleted

Gov. Phil Bredesen took advantage of a waiver from the Environmental Protection Agency, allowing middle Tennessee to start using a winter blend a couple weeks earlier than normal, yet the gas supply was still being quickly depleted.

We, gas hogs, are a big part of shortfall

Blame Mother Nature and hurricanes Ike and Gustav for Atlanta’s long lines at the gas pump. Throw in an angry word for the governor’s office for not acting sooner to ease the shortage.

But be sure to flip down the sun visor in your car and take a good look in the vanity mirror, too. Stories abound of panicky metro Atlanta motorists topping off tanks for good measure, or failing to abide by limits imposed by service stations to keep enough gas on hand for everybody. Distributors say there’s enough gas provided motorists take what they need and leave some for everyone else. Atlantans also need to drive less to save fuel.

Gas shortages reportedly critical in western N.C.

Hundreds of cars lined streets this morning as motorists in the Charlotte metro region tried to cope with an ever-worsening gasoline shortage situation.

Some motorists waited up to five hours, and fights were reported as people accused other customers of cutting in line.

Some gas stations that opened this morning with what they thought were ample supplies ran out within a few hours.

Gas lines lengthen overnight in western Carolinas

"I was just hoping to get to South Carolina and get it a little cheaper," said Jim Cook, a North Carolina furniture salesman passing through town on his way to Columbia.

Instead, Cook and dozens of others drove away empty-handed, hoping for a better result at the next station. The Petro Express ran out of gas early Tuesday and an employee wasn't sure when supplies would be replenished.

The shortages were acute in the Asheville area, where some schools have closed today because of the lack of fuel.

Scarce gas sends commuters to buses and train

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - One result of the gasoline shortage that had Nashville-area drivers scrambling for fuel has more people taking public transit.

US House lifts 27-year ban on coastal drilling

The figures could be misleading. Nicholas Pardi of the US Department of the Interior's Minerals Management Service notes that much of the area under moratorium hasn't been surveyed since the 1970s, when sub-seafloor detection technology was still in its infancy. "We estimated there were 9 billion barrels in the Gulf [of Mexico] in 1987 and now estimate 45 billion barrels there. With better technology we're able to see reserves that we weren't able to before."

Analysis: Democrats absorb a defeat on drilling

WASHINGTON (AP) — For Democratic leaders, it's a striking defeat as they agree to allow expanded offshore drilling in waters they once called sacrosanct, giving Republicans a rare victory on energy policy six weeks before the election.

In a matter of months, Republicans turned offshore oil drilling from a non-issue — even one feared as a political liability by many Republicans in Congress — into political gold as anger over high gasoline prices made voters receptive to calls for more domestic energy production.

The Plan by Edwin Black: reviewed

Only read The Plan by Edwin Black if you want to understand the energy crisis and find a solution. Ignore it if you wish to remain ignorant and support America-hating petroleum producers like Iran and Venezuela.

Yes on Prop. 10: Speed the transfer to cleaner-burning vehicles

Each year, we send more than $700 billion overseas on imported oil to power outdated vehicles that are pouring toxic, asthma and cancer-causing chemicals into our air every day. As gasoline prices rise and our need for clean and renewable sources of energy rises, the politicians in Sacramento and Washington, D.C., continue to do nothing about our energy future.

This November, we have the opportunity to take action and make the most aggressive investment of public funds in clean and renewable sources of energy in our nation's history. Proposition 10 will provide $5 billion to move us forward toward our energy future.

Why Prop. 10 is a boondoggle

The bulk of the bond proceeds would be doled out as subsidies for vehicle buyers. A high-mileage, gas-burning hybrid would mean a $2,000 subsidy for a buyer, even though these cars are already selling briskly. The measure would sweeten the deal to $10,000 for a car powered by natural gas and up to $50,000 for a long-haul truck.

These may sound like smart inducements. But why single out natural gas for special favors when other technologies are in their infancy? These fields are drawing private investors who haven't asked for a Pickens-sized bond measure.

Solar Projects Draw New Opposition

WHAT’S not to like about solar power? Sunlight is clean, quiet and abundant. If enough of it were harnessed and turned into electricity, it could be the solution to the energy crisis. But surprisingly, solar power projects are running into mounting opposition — and not from hard-nosed, coal-fired naysayers, but from environmentalists.

The opposition is particularly strong in Southern California. Aside from abundant sunshine and virtually cloudless skies, the California desert has altitude, so there is less atmospheric interference for the sun’s rays, as well as broad swaths of level land for installing equipment, and proximity to large, electricity-hungry cities.

But it is also home to the Mojave ground squirrel, the desert tortoise and the burrowing owl, and to human residents who describe themselves as desert survivors and who are unhappy about the proliferation of solar projects planned for their home turf.

Casual Dining Feels Oil Bounce Pressure, Says Dr. Joe Duarte

One of the most reliable relationships in the stock market is the inverse interaction of crude oil prices and restaurant stocks. When crude rises, the restaurant sector usually falls.

The logic is pretty simple. People have to make choices about disposable income. If they have to spend more on gasoline, they are less likely to drive to restaurants. And restaurants, which are also feeling the pinch of higher fuel prices embedded into commodities, are also raising prices.

Transportation news: Major steps are needed to remedy oil and gas situation

Another option for reducing fuel costs and conservation is increasing productivity within truck fleets by trucks with multiple trailers up to 330,000 pounds 525 feet long, according to Tim Radbourne, President of Radbourne Consulting in Adrian, Mich.

“This is the silver bullet we have, if there is the political will to do it,” commented Radbourne. “It would substantially cut the rates shippers pay for loads. If you have one truck pulling two trailers, theoretically the rate per pallet or truck load would be about half as much. Shippers would stand to benefit, as they are the ones paying a huge amount in the form of fuel surcharges.

Oil makes the world go ‘round—and ‘round

“There is a continuous energy crisis of the 21st century,” Economides stated. “I am the guy who predicted $100 a barrel oil three years ago. And it did go below $100 but it won’t go far below $100.” However, he pointed out the price does not have to be that high. “Headlines rule. You can’t rationalize (the price). It should be selling for $60.

“One reason for this is many have lost control,” he stated. “OPEC likes $100 oil. Venezuela is a basket case—50 years behind the times. Nigeria is one of the most corrupt countries. Iraq has stabilized but we are paying Al-Qaeda's allies—the Sunnis. If we took all that oil (from Iraq), it would take 100 years to pay for the war. China has gone berserk—no country has ever increased their oil consumption by 20%. And Saudi Arabia has emerged as the world’s regulator.

“When in 1984 President Reagan put pressure on the Saudis, that brought prices down, Russia collapsed,” he continued. If they [Saudis] were to over-produce now, it would bring oil down to $70. And with oil at that price, Iran and Venezuela would be reduced from 800-lb gorillas to monkeys. The key is to push Saudi Arabia to increase and sustain oil production; that would enable history to repeat itself (removing Iran and Venezuela as menace states).”

Russia wants to influence global oil price - minister

PETROPAVLOVSK-KAMCHATSKY, Russia (Reuters) - Russia wants to influence global oil prices through output forecasts and mothballing deposits for future development, Energy Minister Sergei Shmatko said on Thursday.

Shmatko said Russia's policy would not involve coordinated action with OPEC states, although he said Russia admired OPEC's influence on prices and should do its part to smooth the oil price "roller coaster ride" of recent months.

"We think that since we have such a significant position in the high society of world oil, a Russian factor should appear. We want to formulate our approach," Shmatko told reporters.

"We think we should be more actively engaged in the market ... From the point of view of forecasts we could express our view, perhaps even actively engage in that in a practical way," Shmatko said. "The idea of mothballing oilfields seems very interesting to me."

Mexico curbs oil output, cites US refinery damage

MEXICO CITY: Mexico's state oil company said it is temporarily reducing oil production because U.S. refineries damaged by Hurricane Ike have canceled or delayed shipment orders.

Petroleos Mexicanos, or Pemex, said it lowered output by 250,000 barrels a day on Tuesday. But the company said Wednesday that it expects production to be back to normal by the end of the week as refining capacity along the Texas Gulf Coast recovers.

Pemex produced an average of 2.75 million barrels a day in August, the latest available output figure.

The reduction comes as Pemex is already struggling with sagging production. Falling output helped cut exports to 1.43 million barrels a day during the first eight months of 2008, down 16 percent from the year-ago period.

Oil income makes up about 40 percent of Mexico's annual budget.

House votes to end offshore drilling ban

WASHINGTON - The House, responding to growing public demand for more domestic energy, voted Wednesday to end a quarter-century ban on oil and natural gas drilling off the Atlantic and Pacific coasts, giving Republicans a major victory on energy policy.

An extension of the ban for another year was left off a $630 billion-plus stopgap government spending bill that President Bush had threatened to veto — possibly shutting down the government — if the anti-drilling measure were included.

The bill was approved 370-58 and now goes to the Senate, where it is likely to be approved within the next few days, also without the drilling ban.

Shell Shuts Gasoline Unit at Pernis Refinery on Fault

(Bloomberg) -- Royal Dutch Shell Plc was forced to shut a gasoline-making unit at Pernis, Europe's largest oil refinery, after a fault occurred last night, pushing up prices of the motor fuel.

A so-called catalytic cracker ``tripped because of a mechanical fault and went offline,'' Shell spokesman Wim van de Wiel said today by telephone from The Hague, where the company is based. Production of gasoline and its components has been halted, he added, without saying when the unit would resume output.

Chavez says has enough oil for all customers

BEIJING: Venezuela's plans to triple oil shipments to China over the next several years will not mean a cut in supplies to the United States and other countries, President Hugo Chavez said Thursday.

Speaking at the end of a three-day visit to the Chinese capital where he signed deals for increased energy cooperation and to buy military jets, Chavez said Venezuela had enough oil capacity to meet everyone's needs.

Nine oil companies invest in Colombia oil exploration

BOGOTA (AFP) - Colombia has signed contracts with nine oil companies worth 500 billion dollars to explore for oil near the border with Venezuela, the National Oil and Gas Agency has announced.

The companies include oil giants Shell and Exxon Mobil, Australian mining and primary resources company BHP Billiton, and the Korean National Oil Company, as well as companies from Canada and Peru.

StatoilHydro Plans to Spend $8 Million on Oil-Sands Research

(Bloomberg) -- StatoilHydro ASA, Norway's largest oil company, will spend 45 million kroner ($8 million) during the next five years to research more environmentally-friendly ways of exploiting oil sands.

``We are working with heavy oil in several places around the world and this is an important issue for us,'' company spokesman Kai Nielsen said today by phone from London. ``We want to do it in the best possible way for the environment.''

Is Eni Becoming Gazprom's European Twin?

Italian oil and gas major Eni (E) (30% state-owned golden share) has recently given clear signals it is aiming to become a European sibling to Russia's Gazprom (OGZPY.PK). Actually, some consider the Italian company to be Gazprom's Trojan Horse in Europe. Given the recent developments, this seems to be true. In fact, Eni has concentrated most of its business and acquisitions in the gas sector recently.

Hurricanes Ike, Gustav take toll on Gulf of Mexico output, Nexen says

Nexen Inc. said it expects significantly lower production volumes from its Gulf of Mexico operations for the rest of the third quarter, due to damages caused by Hurricane Ike.

The Klare Choice: Michael T. Klare argues for energy independence.

What do you think of Barack Obama's and John McCain's energy policies?

Neither is adequate because neither of them addresses the fact that we need a radical change in our energy behavior both to deal with the fact that we're reaching the end of the petroleum age and we're facing the catastrophic heating of the planet.

That said, Barack Obama will do a lot more than John McCain will do, so I favor Obama over McCain for that reason.

When the Betting Goes Bad: review of Kevin Phillips' Bad Money: Reckless Finance, Failed Politics, and the Crisis of American Capitalism

Compounding these problems, Phillips contends, are the perils of petro-dependency. He believes that peak oil is real and that its consequences are dire. Rising demand for fuel and skyrocketing oil prices, he argues, expose the weakness of the oil-linked U.S. dollar, deepen the economic woes brought on by speculative finance, and threaten to embroil the country in increasingly messy geopolitical confrontations.

Gore urges civil disobedience to stop coal plants

"If you're a young person looking at the future of this planet and looking at what is being done right now, and not done, I believe we have reached the stage where it is time for civil disobedience to prevent the construction of new coal plants that do not have carbon capture and sequestration," Gore told the Clinton Global Initiative gathering to loud applause.

EU lawmakers snub big carmakers over carbon curbs

BRUSSELS - European Union lawmakers rejected a bid to delay planned limits on carbon dioxide emissions from cars in a surprise backlash on Thursday against the motor industry's efforts to ease its burden in the fight against climate change.

"This was a big surprise," German Green group member Rebecca Harms said. "There was a big fight with industry and governments, and the Germans and French were adding a lot of pressure."

Global carbon emissions rising rapidly - study

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Global carbon emissions rose rapidly in 2007, an annual study says, with developing nations such as China and India now producing more than half of mankind's output of carbon dioxide, the main gas blamed for global warming.

The Global Carbon Project said in its report carbon dioxide emissions from mankind are growing about four times faster since 2000 than during the 1990s, despite efforts by a number of nations to rein in emissions under the Kyoto Protocol.

UN: Reducing climate change can lead to more jobs

Efforts to reduce climate change could lead to millions more jobs worldwide, according to a report released Wednesday by the U.N.

The global market for environmental services and products is projected to double from $1.37 trillion to $2.74 trillion by 2020, according to a study cited in the U.N. Environmental Program report.

Colorful study probes climate change, fall foliage

UNDERHILL, Vt. - Could climate change dull the blazing palette of New England's fall foliage? The answer could have serious implications for one of the region's signature attractions, which draws thousands of "leaf peepers" every autumn.

Biologists at the University of Vermont's Proctor Maple Research Center will do some leaf peeping of their own to find out — studying how temperature affects the development of autumn colors and whether the warming climate could mute them, prolong the foliage viewing season or delay it.

WHO says climate change poses health risks

MANILA (AFP) - The World Health Organization on Wednesday warned Asia Pacific countries that they could be vulnerable to health risks and food shortages as a result of climate change.

Climate change is among the topics being discussed in a regional WHO conference being held in Manila, and governments are being pushed to put health issues in their national climate change mitigation plans, officials said.

EU must keep climate plans despite economic crisis: Brussels

BRUSSELS (AFP) - Europe must not water down its plans to tackle global warming despite the current financial crisis, EU Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas said on Wednesday.

"There is an economic crisis, a financial crisis, an energy crisis and there is a climate crisis," Dimas told reporters after talks with Poland's environment minister.

"The climate crisis is permanent. All the other crises today, tomorrow, I hope will pass but the climate crisis is a permanent threat for the globe.