News from April 2008

ANALYSIS – Bush drilling plan wouldn’t have eased pump prices

WASHINGTON, April 29 (Reuters) – The Bush administration says the United States would be less addicted to foreign oil and fuel prices would be lower if Congress had only opened up Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to drilling. But that claim doesn’t reflect the long lead time to develop the refuge’s huge oil reserves, which [...]

X Prize: $100 Million for Clean Fuels

In a bid to speed innovation, the foundation plans awards for breakthroughs in biofuels and other alternative-energy fields The X Prize Foundation made its name handing out $10 million awards for cutting-edge innovation in promising but thinly financed fields of research. But now the Santa Monica (Calif.) foundation is targeting one of the most-crowded contests [...]

Peak Everything: Learn About Peak Oil

Why is everything running out at the same time? The first in a series where we look at why those basic things that we take for granted, like water, food and fuel are getting expensive and scarce, all at once. In 1956, American geophysicist M. King Hubbert calculated that the rate of production of fossil [...]

Gas to Hit $7 a Gallon

Oil is currently priced in U.S. dollars. The Federal Reserve has feverishly tried to calm credit markets in recent months with lower interest rates, which are a kind of Valium for bankers. As interest rates drop, so does the value of the dollar.

wired.com

Oil to hit $200 a barrel despite rising supply

Qatar’s energy minister is the latest Middle Eastern expert to predict fuel prices will hit new records Qatar, the resources-rich nation, has added its voice to warnings that the price of oil will hit $200 a barrel despite record levels of production among Gulf countries last month. Qatar’s energy minister, Abdullah bin Hamad al-Attiyah’s comments [...]

‘Hypermiling’ drives savings as fuel costs soar

PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) – As U.S. gasoline prices hit records on almost a daily basis, an increasing number of motorists are following a radical driving technique designed to eke out every last mile from a tank of fuel. Known as ‘hypermiling,’ the method can double gas mileage, even in gas-guzzling vehicles that would normally get less [...]

Higher energy costs from climate bills

WASHINGTON – People will be paying higher energy prices under a Senate bill to limit greenhouse gases, but how much will depend on how well the country can shift away from burning fossil fuels, an Energy Department analysis said Tuesday. The Energy Information Administration said annual energy costs could increase on average of as little [...]

Canada oil firm probed as hundreds of ducks die

CALGARY, Alberta (Reuters) – Hundreds of dead and dying ducks could cost Canada’s biggest oil sands producer C$1 million ($990,000) after the migrating waterfowl landed in a pond of oily, toxic sludge in northern Alberta. Syncrude Canada’s operations were under investigation by environmental regulators on Wednesday after as many as 500 birds landed in the [...]

Now we know why the automakers weren’t screaming over the CAFE rules

When Transportation Secretary Mary Peters announced the first round of new CAFE rules last week, there was nary a peep from the automakers who had complained so vociferously about the the 35mpg standard in the first place. Now there is a clue as to why they have been so quiet. Until now, the fuel economy [...]

USGS/NOAA Abrupt Climate Change: Synthesis and Assessment Report

(From Executive Summary) For this Synthesis and Assessment Report, abrupt climate change is defined as: A large-scale change in the climate system that takes place over a few decades or less, persists (or is anticipated to persist) for at least a few decades, and causes substantial disruptions in human and natural systems. This report considers [...]