The Oil Drum

Bush's only big ally on warming shifts stand

Australian prime minister now willing to look at carbon trading

SYDNEY, Australia - Australia’s leader said Tuesday he wants to consider an international carbon trading system to fight global warming, signaling a shift toward a part of the Kyoto agreement that he has steadfastly refused to ratify.

Russia faces gas shortfall, leaked report claims

Russia's future as an energy superpower has been called into question by claims that it will not produce enough gas next year to satisfy both foreign and domestic demand due to years of under-investment.

Russia boasts 26.6 per cent of the world's gas reserves and Gazprom, the state-controlled energy giant, is the world's largest producer of gas.

But a leaked report from Russia's Energy Ministry says gas is not being extracted as quickly or efficiently as it should be and next year, for the first time, there will be a small shortfall.

Bodman Concerned Russia Slow to Develop Oil Reserves

U.S. Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman expressed concern Monday that Russia, an important non-OPEC oil producer, was developing its oil reserves at too slow a pace.

Not a proponent of the "peak oil" concept that postulates world oil production will soon reach its peak, Bodman said he was increasingly concerned that global oil reserves weren't being developed at a pace that could comfortably keep up with growth in global oil demand.

Blair faces revolt over C02 targets

Tony Blair faces a major Commons revolt over his refusal to commit Britain to annual cuts in the amount of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere.

The opposition parties and more than 200 Labour MPs have demanded that the Climate Change Bill, which will be announced in this week's Queen's Speech, include a promise to reduce C02 emissions by 3 per cent each year.

"No greater legacy" for Bush than climate deal: UK

Report to offer climate change evidence

NAIROBI, Kenya - A long-awaited report by an international scientific network will offer much stronger evidence of how man is changing Earth's climate, and should prompt balky governments into action against global warming, the group's chief scientist said Monday.

No magic bullet for carbon pollution, says IEA chief

NAIROBI - The world's economies have no alternative to boosting energy efficiency and lowering carbon emissions to tackle global warming, as clean energy lies decades away as a mainstream source, the head of the International Energy Agency (IEA) has said.

France nuke waste shipment reaches Germany

GORLEBEN, Germany - A shipment of reprocessed nuclear waste arrived at a German storage site early Monday after a more than two-day journey from western France disrupted by protesters.

Surviving the Future: Peak oil piques interest at Boston conference:

There were beards and dreadlocks, jeans and business suits, academics, environmentalists, entrepreneurs and others concerned about what the future will look like at the end of cheap oil.

The Second Annual 2006 Boston World Oil Conference was the draw, attracting 500 people, including college students and senior citizens worried about the future of their grandchildren.

A Green Future

Some critics of the sustainability movement assert that the issue will be rendered moot when fossil fuel prices revert to previous low levels. The historical pattern, such critics assert, is for fuel prices to settle back to affordability. For that and other reasons, several leading institutions, including some full university systems, have yet to adopt sustainability resolutions. Critics seeking to stall green initiatives are playing a dangerous game. It is risky to predict fuel prices based on past history. Several researchers, for example, believe that the world has reached peak oil production, which means that wider recognition of a finite supply could lead to stockpiling, hoarding, even wars — all developments counter to the what-goes-up-must-come-down argument.

Byron W. King - 2006 Boston ASPO: The Canadian tar sands

Forgive me if I call them tar sands, dear readers. I know that the marketing people want to call them "oil" sands, because it is better for the real estate values. After all, would you rather have oil on your land or tar?

U.S. politicians not ready for the future

Another problem is Iraq, Peak Oil and the future of the dollar. These three interwoven problems threaten America’s economic future like nothing else.

We have to ask ourselves if the invasion of Iraq was the first currency war. Was it for oil or against the Euro? And will Peak Oil become the death knell for the American century and our industrial civilization?

Post-election compromise, or a tin ear in Detroit?

Since the late 1980s, in the aftermath of the 1985 oil price crash, Detroit and Congress have seemed joined at the hip in a mutual suicide pact. Detroit promises to pound out larger and faster vehicles, and key members of Congress swear they will sideline any effort to tighten fuel efficiency standards.

Jim Kunstler: Democrats and 'Energy Independence'

The day after the impressive Democratic election victory, Senate Majority Leader-to-Be Harry Reid declared that a top priority for the new congress would be policy leading to "energy independence" for America. The time of jubilee will certainly come, but not in the way Harry Reid thinks it will - nor in the way the rest of the country imagines this idea.

U.S. Power Industry Deregulation Flawed, Buffett Says

Warren Buffett's nuclear ante

A cursory history of the world's attempts to control nuclear weapons would essentially encompass two chapters: Before Sept. 11, 2001, and after Sept. 11, 2001.

Pump fiction: Prop 87 - The right outcome for the wrong reason

Malaysia's biodiesel output can double by end-2007

Will Mexico be ready when oil runs dry?

From a 2004 peak output of more than 2.1 million barrels of oil a day, Cantarell is down to 1.8 million b/d today, and will continue to diminish in the coming years. And its waning only seems to underscore the challenges facing the country's monopolistic state-run oil giant, Petroleos Mexicanos.

El Paso Says Repairs Underway to Damaged Pipeline

Nato fears Russian plans for ‘gas Opec’

Nato advisers have warned the military alliance that it needs to guard against any attempt by Russia to set up an “Opec for gas” that would strengthen Moscow’s leverage over Europe.

A confidential study by Nato economics experts, sent to the ambassadors of its 26 member states last week, warned that Russia may be seeking to build a gas cartel including Algeria, Qatar, Libya, the countries of Central Asia and perhaps Iran.

GE, Hitachi to join nuclear-power businesses

BOSTON/TOKYO - U.S. conglomerate General Electric Co. and Japan's Hitachi Ltd. said Monday they planned to pool their nuclear units in a $2 billion enterprise they hope will capture more contracts as power suppliers gear up to build a new generation of plants.