Gasoline prices see abnormal rise

Refinery maintenance and tight supplies drove the uncharacteristic mid-November surge as the price of a gallon of self-serve regular gasoline in California rose 3.1 cents to $2.495, the third straight weekly increase, according to the Energy Department's weekly survey of filling stations. The price was 4.2 cents higher than in the same period in 2005.

Inch by inch, car by car: Incremental improvement isn't sexy, but when you turn it into a way of life, you can achieve astonishing results.

Fast Company senior writer Charles Fishman wrote a very good book about Wal-Mart (excerpted in Salon) and, more recently, a feature about Wal-Mart's plans to push compact fluorescent lightbulbs that caught the imagination of the entire enviroblogosphere. Now he has a new story, on how Toyota unflaggingly works to constantly improve its manufacturing processes, that is likely to be of interest to How the World Works readers.

Company vows to take ethanol to next level: Iowa plant will use not just corn kernels, but stalks and leaves

Stover to fill part of ethanol goal

Estimates of 5 billion gallons of fuel per year from stalks and cobs fall well short of 60 billion gallons by 2030.

BIO Releases New Report On Sustainable Agriculture To Support Growing Biofuel Industry

Urban railway, not highway, is Lehigh Valley's future

First, world oil production has probably peaked, and in 2030 may be 30 percent less than today. Alternative fuels like bitumen and ethanol, which will have to make up the difference and meet increased demand, are energy-intensive and will not be cheap substitutes for conventional gasoline. People will continue to drive cars as long as they can afford it, but it's not certain that individuals or society will be able to afford it much longer (i.e., 10 to 20 years).

Nigeria: Gunman seize seven from Italian vessel

PORT HARCOURT, Nigeria - Gunmen have seized seven hostages from an Italian oil supply vessel off the coast of southern Nigeria, police and company officials said Wednesday.

Opec quota pledges lift oil price

Oil prices are back above $59 a barrel, after confirmation from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) that it will follow Saudi Arabia and cut output next month.

Fighting KWs on the Balkans

Bulgaria’s EU accession threatens to grow into an energy catastrophe for the Balkans – as Romania will be the only one to win from that. The Balkan states are expecting the planned closing of two units of Kozloduy nuclear power plant on Dec. 31st with anxiety. Today, the plant, which was built with the help of the former Soviet Union, supplies electricity to the whole Balkan Peninsular and no one knows yet how these supplies will be compensated.

Twin pipeline to Turkey rendered useless, says minister

The twin pipeline which once used to carry more than 1 million barrels of Iraqi crude oil to terminals in Turkey is no longer of any use, according to Oil Minister Hussein al-Shahristani.

Repeated rebel attacks and lack of repairs have rendered the pipeline useless, he said.

Global copper thefts on rise. Also...peak copper?

Jeffrey J. Brown: A Tale of Four Predictions – Hubbert, Deffeyes, Yergin & Jackson

Environmental cost of Sweden's imported food

Zimbabwe launches campaign to save energy

Harare - Energy-starved Zimbabwe has launched a campaign to save electricity, urging locals to switch off lights, hot water tanks and computers to stave off more frequent power cuts, it was reported Wednesday.

Putin says 370 arrested in energy sector anti-crime operation

The main goals of the operation are to prevent tax crimes committed by oil and gas companies, as well as economic and corruption crimes among federal, regional and local authorities.

U.S. report raps Chinese energy tactic

OTTAWA -- China is increasingly challenging U.S. interests around the world with its aggressive effort to lock up foreign energy resources for its rapidly growing economy, a report from a congressionally appointed commission says.

Africa Seen as Potential Leader in Biofuel Production

NAIROBI, Kenya -- For a number of reasons, including an agricultural sector that enjoys relatively low land and labor costs, many see sub-Saharan Africa as well suited to pioneer the development of biofuel as an alternative energy source for the continent and the world.

More cities reject coal-fired power

In forsaking their largest power source, the cities will be gambling on the availability of adequate alternative energy from cleaner sources by 2027, after their current contracts with the Utah facility expire.

Africa: Carbon Credit Trade Already Worth $5 Billion

Developing nations could earn as much as $100 billion annually by 2050 from selling carbon credits, according to an analysis released by the World Bank at the United Nations conference on climate change that ended in Nairobi last week.

The New World Oil Order, Part 1: Russia attacks the West's Achilles' heel

Russia has found the Achilles' heel of the US colossus. In concert with its oil-producing partners and the rising powerhouse economies of the East, Russia is altering the foundations of the current US-led liberal global oil-market order, insidiously working to undermine its US-centric nature and slanting it toward serving first and foremost the energy-security needs and the geopolitical aspirations of the rising East.

All this is at the impending incalculable expense of the West. What is increasingly at stake is secure US access to global energy resources - strategic US energy security - because the West's traditional control respecting those global resources is seriously faltering in the face of the compelling strategies undertaken by Russia and its global partners.

Tom Whipple - The Peak Oil Crisis: Picking the Peak

Last week Cambridge Energy Research Associates (CERA) who characterize themselves as "a leading advisor to international energy companies, governments, financial institutions, and technology providers," sent out a press release announcing that they had a new report on peak oil for sale. For some time now, CERA has been the leading debunker of the notion that world oil production might just peak in the near future, so their reports are always of interest.

Survey: 3 Out of 4 Americans Want Detroit and Washington to Impose 40 MPG Fuel-Efficiency Standard

Fully 78% of Americans want Washington to impose a 40 mile per gallon (mpg) fuel-efficiency standard for American vehicles, according to a new Opinion Research Corporation (ORC) national opinion survey released by the nonprofit Civil Society Institute (CSI).