Latest Consumption Headlines

The controversy over peak oil, oil prices & technological advances

Much has been made in the past few years of the triumph over peak oil theorists, courtesy of the higher prices, which made the extraction of a higher proportion of oil in place possible, and also provided incentives for a robust unconventional petroleum industry to develop and flourish. Canada’s oil sands projects have been [...]

Easter Islanders killed virtually every fish

Geologically one of the youngest inhabited territories on Earth, Easter Island was, for most of its history, the most isolated. Its inhabitants, the Rapanui, have endured famines, epidemics of disease and cannibalism, civil war, slave raids, various colonial contacts, and have seen their population crash on more than one occasion. The ensuing cultural legacy has [...]

Highlighting the Role of Fertilizers, Crop Nutrition and Soil Health in Global Agriculture

Last week, the global fertilizer industry cooperating organizations announced the “Roots for Growth” campaign to highlight the important role that fertilizers play in addressing global food security responsibly, efficiently and sustainably. Much of the campaign highlights agricultural achievements through the use of processed fertilizers and the ambitious goals that must be met to feed a [...]

IEA: Global oil demand growth accelerating

After posting near-zero annual growth in the fourth quarter of 2011, global oil demand growth will gradually accelerate throughout 2012, culminating in an increase of 1.2 million b/d by this year’s final quarter, the International Energy Agency said in its latest monthly oil market report. Global oil consumption is set to rise by 800,000 b/d [...]

Want World Peace? Try Super-Smart Farming

A lot depends on the world’s ability to expand agricultural production over the next 30 years. As the grain price spikes and resulting food riots of 2008 and 2010 attest, nothing less than geopolitical stability is at stake. The world’s population, currently 7 billion, is expected to rise to 9 billion by 2050. Already a [...]

The end of fish

Want to see how severely we humans are scouring the oceans for fish? Check out this striking map from the World Wildlife Fund’s 2012 “Living Planet Report.” The red areas are the most intensively fished (and, in many cases, overfished) parts of the ocean — and they’ve expanded dramatically since 1950: To measure how intensively [...]

E15 Could Put Some Engines at Risk

More on the potential risk to America’s car and truck fleet posed by E15 – gasoline containing 15 percent ethanol that has EPA approval: Just-released research indicates that more than 5 million existing cars and light trucks, which EPA says are OK for E15 use, could develop engine problems as a result. Why this discrepancy? [...]

Israel becomes lab for electric car network

Israeli entrepreneur Shai Agassi has begun rolling out the world’s first nationwide electric car network. Now, will the drivers come? After more than $400 million in outlays and months behind schedule, dozens of electric cars have hit the road in Israel, the test site Agassi chose for his Better Place venture. Four stations where the [...]

Why Are Gas Prices Going Up When Demand Is Going Down?

The price of crude oil—and more importantly, gasoline—has climbed to painful levels once again. As of early April, the quote for Brent crude, the international yardstick, was about $126 per barrel—only some $16 below the $142 peak seen in the summer of 2008. But domestic West Texas Intermediate crude is only getting $107 per barrel—a [...]

Japan trades nuclear power for fossil fuels

Energy is the lifeblood of modern economies and there’s no more amazingly useful form of energy than electricity. That’s why I was initially startled to read the recent news that the last of Japan’s 54 nuclear power plants has been shut down, a turn of events that makes Japan the first major economy of this [...]

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