UN: Climate change threatens agricultural crisis

Immediate steps are needed to avert a potential catastrophe as climate change dries up water resources in drought affected areas, hitting poor farmers, a United Nations report said on Thursday.

The vast majority of the world's malnourished people, estimated at about 830 million people, are small farmers, herders and farm laborers, pointing to devastating effects from global warning and requiring a tripling of yearly farming aid to poor countries.

"Climate change threatens to intensify water insecurity on an unparalleled scale," the annual U.N. Human Development Report said.

Polar ice cores show "bipolar seesaw" climate link

Comparison with cores from Greenland proves a strong north-south link and also highlights the role of the meridional overturning circulation (MOC) -- the so-called Atlantic Conveyor -- in the process of heat transfer.

"It is really astounding how systematic this process worked also for smaller temperature changes in the Antarctic," said team leader Hubertus Fischer from the Alfred-Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research in Bremerhaven, Germany.

Kuwait to double oil refinery upgrade plan

Kuwait Petroleum Corp. (KPC) is set to add 110,000 to 150,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude processing capacity at its existing refineries by 2012, nearly double its initial upgrade plan, a company official said on Thursday.

China, Egypt reach nuclear energy agreement

BEIJING (AFP) - China and Egypt agreed to co-operate on the peaceful use of nuclear energy, state media said, in a development that could rile the United States, a traditional Cairo ally.

Clean energy is 'cost effective'

Using cleaner and more efficient energy not only helps the environment but also makes economic sense, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA).

Saudi Aramco Sr. Vice President discusses energy market volatility, energy security

In a speech yesterday addressed to the Korean Forum for Progress, an influential business group, Abdulaziz F. Al-Khayyal, Saudi Aramco's Senior Vice President of Refining, Marketing and International, offered his insights into some of the forces contributing to global energy market volatility, as well as addressing how best to approach the issue of energy security.

The 'dark matter' of American politics

The "dark matter" of American politics is the physical world--the climate, the air, the water, the minerals, the energy resources--upon which all of our political, social, cultural and economic life depend. The state of our physical world exerts a kind of hidden gravitational pull on the important issues of the day. And yet, to listen to the rhetoric of the most recent election campaign, you would conclude that the ecological underpinnings of our civilization are in such good condition that they require virtually no attention.

The Peak Oil Crisis: Exxon & Peak Oil

Every now and again, a senior oil company executive speaks optimistically to some august gathering about all the oil that is left. This time the honor fell to Stephen Pryor, president of ExxonMobil Refining. Speaking to a conference in Houston, Mr. Pryor stridently asserted that "energy resources are adequate to sustain growth— we are not peak oil people."

India: Huge oil, gas reserves lie untapped

According to him, scientific advancements are required in four broader technology areas which include source rock identification, based on regional geological studies, trap mapping based on seismic technology, seal mapping based on regional picture and analogs and reservoir quantification based on attribute mapping to successfully tap the country's estimated oil shale of 2.6 trillion barbells of recoverable oil which, according to him, is equal to the world's proven oil reserves.

Byron W. King - 2006 Boston ASPO: Peak Oil

Editor Greg likes to call me the Agora Financial "Peak Oil correspondent." That is just fine with me. I have been a "Peak Oil guy" for something like 30 years, starting with meeting the legendary "father of Peak Oil," M. King Hubbert, when he gave a rather poorly attended talk at Harvard back in 1977.

Bush’s Chernobyl economy; hard times are on the way

The only thing keeping the economy from collapsing entirely is the sudden drop in oil prices that “conveniently” coincided with the midterm balloting.

This won’t last. According to industry analyst Matthew Simmons the world production of oil may have already peaked, setting the stage for a leveling-off period before the inevitable decline. Simmons has data to show that “world supply of oil has declined to 83.98 million barrels per day in the second quarter after hitting 84.35 million bpd in the forth quarter of 2005.” Oil production is going backwards not forwards.

Saudi Aramco executes integrated materials supply plan

The vice president noted that growth in developing nations such as China and India is being mirrored by growth in Arabian Gulf countries, due to the rise in demand for energy. This has led to unprecedented levels of demand for equipment and raw materials essential to Saudi Aramco as it engages in the largest expansion program in its history, and enormous challenges in reserving materials, manufacturing capacity, on-time material delivery and containing costs.

Netherlands Moves to Make Biofuels use Mandatory

China closes coal mines

TAIYUAN -- North China's Shanxi Province, the country's biggest coal-producing base, will close 900 more coal mines by June 2008 amid concerns over safety, environmental protection and resource conservation.

Moscow: Winter Energy Crunch Looming

Built on Lenin's order in 1920, the Shatura station survives -- like the rest of the electricity sector -- on aging turbines that suffer from a severe lack of investment. And, like most of the country's power stations, Shatura runs on gas -- a precious commodity that state-run Gazprom is increasingly supplying abroad even as customers at home again face the threat of shortfalls this winter.

Ontario energy use drops

"It's the first time in the history of Ontario that I've ever heard the destruction of 136,0000 manufacturing jobs described as an energy-efficiency, energy-conservation program," [NDP Leader Howard] Hampton said. "If you shut down the rest of the paper industry -- and the McGuinty government's well on the way -- you'll reduce electricity consumption by another 1,000 megawatts."

Murmansk's oil and metals bonanza

Up to a quarter of the world's oil and gas reserves are also said to lie dormant in this Arctic wilderness, just waiting to be extracted and fed to the energy-hungry global markets.

Iraq: Kurdish Oil Law Poses Problem For Baghdad

"The Kurds have submitted a draft petroleum act to be adopted that gives them the right to control oil, regardless of the government in Baghdad. The Oil Ministry has submitted another completely different draft that gives the authority to the ministry, not regions. It's the main issue of the conflict: oil and Kurds."

China rents out oil reserve

China has rented out a third of the storage space at its first strategic oil reserve to state-run refiner Sinopec, reinforcing fears that Beijing may use its emergency stocks more readily than Western nations.

Energy programs around the globe: Many countries are implementing various programs to improve energy efficiency.

Wave-powered 'ducks' could purify seawater

Ocean waves could provide an energy-efficient way to desalinate seawater, say UK researchers. While conventional purification plants have high energy demands, the rocking motion of floating buoys could be used to drive a pump system for desalination.

Alternative Energy and Clean Technology: A Changing Climate

Potluck puts focus on local food

Susan Ornelas is inviting you to the potluck she is helping organize, but don't bring any chocolate, bread or mustard.

The potluck, co-sponsored by Ornelas' Peak Oil Action Group and the Humboldt State University Campus Center for Appropriate Technology, aims to showcase foods grown and produced within 250 miles of Arcata.

Oil above $60, supported by OPEC and U.S. stocks draw

Oil rose almost a dollar to more than $60 a barrel on Thursday, supported by OPEC supply cuts and a drop in fuel stockpiles in top oil consumer the United States.

OPEC is lowering output and some members have said the group may cut supply further in December. The cutback comes as oil demand is nearing its seasonal peak in the northern hemisphere winter.

Blackout puts outdated power grid in spotlight

European regulators have launched an enquiry over the power cut that briefly left 10 million people in the dark last week-end. But the outing also raised questions about the grid's ability to cope with the addition of renewable energy sources.