News from February 2010

In Japan, the Hummer Is Now Officially Green

TOKYO By cutting slack for imported vehicles, Tokyo is responding to criticism, particularly from Detroit automakers, that recent tax breaks and subsidies designed to spur sales of fuel-efficient cars in Japan have unfairly excluded foreign brands. No U.S. cars were eligible under Japan

Saudi launches solar energy program

Saudi Arabia said it has begun building the first solar-powered water desalination plant, the first step in a three-part program to introduce solar energy into the Kingdom. The program, launched by the King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST), aims to help stabilize future power and water supplies inside Saudi Arabia through the creation [...]

Family values

Every debate has its blind spots and the one about community in peak oil circles is no exception. It is fascinating to see how little discussion there is about what is, after all, the most basic community in all human society : family. There are, of course, good reasons for that. Few among us have [...]

Our other addiction: the tricky geopolitics of nitrogen fertilizer

We burn through more of it per capita than any other country; and our appetite for it can only be sated with massive imports. No, not oil In a sense, the answer to the question of where our food comes from is not some vast Iowa cornfield or teeming North Carolina hog factory. It

Medvedev backs tighter oil controls, no action yet

OMSK, Russia (Reuters) – President Dmitry Medvedev lent support to the idea of tightening state control over oil and refined products exports but stopped short on Friday of adopting proposals that would have effectively restored the Soviet-era monopoly. “I support (Deputy Prime Minister) Igor Ivanovich Sechin on issues of supply control,” Medvedev said at a [...]

The Magic of Technology and the President's Biofuels Working Group

A report was recently issued by The President’s Biofuels Interagency Working Group regarding the status of advanced biofuels. As I read through this report, I couldn Bear in mind that the advanced biofuel mandate for 2010 was 100 million gallons. The report admits that the shortfall will almost certain exceed 90% (as I have been [...]

National Review: National Security Goes Green

The 2010 Quadrennial Defense Review report gives unprecedented attention to the issue of climate change. Previous QDR reports did not identify climate change, global warming, or other environmental issues as major concerns for U.S. security. The 2010 QDR, by contrast, dedicates three of its 105 pages (plus executive summary) to the issue, highlighting it (along [...]

US EPA Seeks RFPs for 2010 Methane Projects

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) The total estimated amount for this competitive funding opportunity is up to $5 million. EPA expects to award up to thirty-five cooperative agreements through this announcement, at $100,000 to $750,000 per award. The project period for awards resulting from this solicitation will begin in October 2010. Proposed project periods [...]

National Energy Emergency as Dam Runs Dry in Venezuela

CARACAS, Venezuela “The president mentioned several energy plants that will be ready by June this year. And also said that with them, we would have 600 megawatts (MW) of [additional] electricity with plants in Falcon, Apure, Portuguesa, Barinas, without telling the country that the actual deficit of 1600 MW,

EnCana, Shell to sponsor energy camps for local students

Local educators announced more than $100,000 in grants to start “energy camps” for local students this summer. “It doesn’t matter how many resources we have in the ground if we don’t realize the human capital needed to extract those resources,” said Jim Henderson, chancellor of Bossier Parish Community College. The EnCana oil and gas company [...]