Peak Oil News

Permafrost thaw threatens Russia oil and gas complex: study

(AFP) MOSCOW � Thawing permafrost caused by global warming is costing Russian energy firms billions of dollars annually in damage control and shrinking Russia's territory, Greenpeace warned in a new study Friday.

According to the report by the environmental watchdog, up to 55 billion roubles (1.9 billion dollars) a year is spent on repairs to infrastructure and pipelines damaged by changes in the permafrost in western Siberia.

Climate change causing 'corrosive' water to affect Arctic marine life:

Scientists have uncovered a large expanse of "corrosive" water in the Canadian Arctic that is putting the marine food web at risk.

The waters have been so altered by climate change and melting sea ice that plankton, shellfish and fish may have trouble building their protective shells and skeletons, an international team reports Friday in the journal Science.

America's Pending Collapse

In an essay, written by Richard Heinberg entitled �Should We Prop-up a Dying Economy� (19 October 2009), he argues that the economists and the people who follow physical science disagree sharply about where this economy is going. Peak Oil, whether it is present now or just years away, will mean that the economy will contract. The economists state that growth can happen in any environment, yet it is apparent that when oil prices spiked in 2008, the auto industry and the airline industry almost went belly-up. Shrinkage of energy means shrinkage in the economy, we have all been under the notion that we can borrow against a growing economy. The facts are that if the economy does not grow, there will be very little in the growth of capital to repay debts that are leveraged at an average of an average of 350% of debt to GDP ratio. Where will new capital come from?

With fuel demand week, refineries shutting down

WILMINGTON, Del. -- Refineries from New Mexico to New Jersey are under severe economic pressure because of falling demand for fuel, with a number of facilities shutting down in recent months.

Valero Energy Corp., which shuttered a major refinery over the summer, said Friday it would permanently close its Delaware City oil refinery and layoff 550 workers.

Matt Simmons: Water and Energy Crisis Looms on Horizon

Ocean Energy Institute founder and energy investment banker Matthew Simmons gave an hour-long keynote address at the Island Institute's 2009 Sustainable Island Living conference on Saturday morning at the Strand Theatre in Rockland. Simmons titled his talk "The Gulf of Maine: What Lies Beyond the Fossil Fuel Horizon," but his presentation ranged far outside the Gulf to encompass the globe.

Sporting a delicate windmill as a lapel pin, Simmons started off by reflecting on the concept of sustainability, a current buzzword among energy development experts. "More and more people around the world are beginning to wonder, "Does the globe have a sustainable strategy?'" Simmons said. "It's all about sustainability. Sustainability means protecting or improving our living standards. And without abundant water and energy, we are not sustainable," he said. "There's no question that our oceans are energy's last frontier."

Cuba tries to keep the lights on

Cuba gets plenty of oil from Venezuela. So why is it adopting "extreme measures" to avoid blackouts?

...Cuba is one of more than a dozen nations in the region that receive oil shipments on favorable credit terms as part of the PetroCaribe agreement. Cuba pays Venezuela back for some of the oil shipments by sending more than 30,000 doctors, nurses and other professionals to work in social programs created by the Chavez government.

But just as Cuba�s petroleum trade has soared, revenue is plummeting from other key exports like nickel, pharmaceuticals and tobacco products. Foreign trade is down 36 percent this year, as the global recession and $10 billion in damage from three 2008 hurricanes have drained Cuba�s finances.

Industrialized Nations Unveil Plans to Rein in Emissions

With less than three weeks remaining before negotiators gather in Copenhagen to hammer out a global response to climate change, a rapid-fire succession of countries are unveiling national plans that serve as opening bids for reining in heat-trapping emissions.

�The list of what is on the table is rather long,� said Yvo de Boer, executive secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the sponsor of the meeting, which runs from Dec. 7 to 18 in Copenhagen.

A Dim View of U.S.-China Electric Car Plan

Should the United States and China be teaming up on clean urban transportation systems instead of clean cars? After the announcement of a suite of new energy partnerships between China and the United States, I sought feedback on the electric vehicle project from Lee Schipper, an energy and transportation specialist who splits his time between the University of California, Berkeley, and Stanford. He�s quite worried that the program is looking at cars mainly from an energy-efficiency context, instead of how they will shape and affect China�s fast-expanding cities in a larger sense. �Creating a zero-carbon car for China tomorrow won�t solve the much bigger problems of urban congestion, traffic fatalities and the paving over of once-beautiful cities to make room for more cars,� Dr. Schipper said. �The discussions should back up. Energy is only a means to an end. What are the ends, urban access and mobility, or cars for a small minority?�

U.N. Report Calls for More Environmental Protection in Wartime

A report released this month by the United Nations Environment Program and the Environmental Law Institute calls for stronger international laws to protect the environment during times of war.

The report found that although existing laws of war � including aspects of the Geneva Convention � address environmental protection, their wording is imprecise. Strengthening, enforcing and clarifying existing legislation could help protect �natural assets� during wars, the study says.

Utility shut-offs soar for poor PG&E customers

The number of low-income households cut off by Pacific Gas and Electric Co. after they fell behind on their utility bills jumped 75 percent this year, according to a state report released Thursday.

For the 12 months that ended in August, 91,393 low-income households lost their utility service, compared with 52,202 in the previous 12-month period. Most soon paid to have service restored.