Archive for the 'Energy' Category

Exxon’s Founding Family Calls for Change

Published by
Gene Shinai
May 12, 2008 in Business/Finance, Energy, Human Interest/Society, Newz, Resources, The Environment and sci-tech. 0 Comments

From Celsias:

 If necessity is the mother of invention, it can also be the catalyst of change. Public Radio International reports that the Rockefeller family is taking on the CEO of Exxon Mobil, the company founded as Standard Oil by their great, great grandfather John D. Rockefeller in 1870. And this rare public engagement of the family in the inner workings of Exxon is not about current profitability, for which Exxon can boast record highs, but about lack of transition to renewable sources of energy. In fact, according to the Times Online, the press release from the Rockefellers came the day before Exxon Mobil was expected to unveil a $12 billion quarterly profit, the biggest in U.S. corporate history.

 

 The Rockefeller family is calling for a reduction in the power of the current CEO, Rex Tillerson, and the addition of an outside chairman. Their primary concern is one of economics; Exxon needs to start looking at alternative sources of energy because it is going to run out of oil. Currently Exxon is selling oil faster than they are replacing it. Volatility and nationalism in the Middle East and other oil producing countries will only increase the difficulty in doing so. The Rockefellers point to Exxon’s lack of research and development vis a vis its competitors in areas like wind and solar technology as a key source of frustration. The family, which holds a significant minority stake in the company, is not alone among shareholders in their frustration with Exxon’s position on renewables and the climate crisis in general. Robert Monks, one of Exxon’s shareholders, is quoted in the American Public Media story saying, “Exxon is enabled to go in public discourse and say the science is unsettled. Well the science is unsettled, because Exxon paid to have it unsettled.” (See here, here and here.)

 

 Article Continues @ Sourced Site.

Share This

Gas Prices Send Surge of Riders to Mass Transit

Published by
Gene Shinai
May 11, 2008 in Economy, Energy, Gas Prices, Human Interest/Society and State/Local Government. 0 Comments

From The New York Times:

 

DENVER — With the price of gas approaching $4 a gallon, more commuters are abandoning their cars and taking the train or bus instead.

 

Mass transit systems around the country are seeing standing-room-only crowds on bus lines where seats were once easy to come by. Parking lots at many bus and light rail stations are suddenly overflowing, with commuters in some towns risking a ticket or tow by parking on nearby grassy areas and in vacant lots.

 

“In almost every transit system I talk to, we’re seeing very high rates of growth the last few months,” said William W. Millar, president of the American Public Transportation Association.

 

“It’s very clear that a significant portion of the increase in transit use is directly caused by people who are looking for alternatives to paying $3.50 a gallon for gas.”

 

Some cities with long-established public transit systems, like New York and Boston, have seen increases in ridership of 5 percent or more so far this year. But the biggest surges — of 10 to 15 percent or more over last year — are occurring in many metropolitan areas in the South and West where the driving culture is strongest and bus and rail lines are more limited.

 

Here in Denver, for example, ridership was up 8 percent in the first three months of the year compared with last year, despite a fare increase in January and a slowing economy, which usually means fewer commuters. Several routes on the system have reached capacity, particularly at rush hour, for the first time.

 

“We are at a tipping point,” said Clarence W. Marsella, chief executive of the Denver Regional Transportation District, referring to gasoline prices. 

 

 

 Article Continues @ Sourced Site. 

Share This

World oil price hits new high

Published by
Gene Shinai
May 6, 2008 in Energy, Jobs, Newz and The Markets. 0 Comments

From AFP Via Rawstory:

World oil reached a new record price near 121 dollars a barrel as concerns over the United States economy eased, analysts said Tuesday.

New York’s main oil futures contract, light sweet crude for June delivery, reached an all-time high of 120.93 dollars a barrel during Asian hours before dropping back in late afternoon trade when it was three cents lower at 119.94 dollars a barrel.

The contract crashed through the symbolic 120-dollar ceiling for the first time on Monday and closed at a record 119.97 dollars on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Brent North Sea crude for June delivery was 24 cents higher at 118.23 dollars a barrel, after settling at a record 117.99 dollars on Monday in London. The contract had earlier hit an intra-day high of 118.58 dollars.

Oil futures prices on both sides of the Atlantic have nearly doubled in a year and have continued to soar since the benchmark New York contract broke through 100 dollars at the start of 2008.

Latest US economic data have given oil prices a fresh boost, said Victor Shum, senior principal at Purvin and Gertz energy consultancy in Singapore.

On Monday, the Institute of Supply Management said its index for the vast US service sector rose to 52 percent in April, above the level of 50 that means expansion, and better than expected by private analysts.

That report followed official data on Friday which showed that the US economy shed 20,000 jobs in April, far fewer than the 75,000 expected by the market.

 

Article Continues @ Sourced Site.

Share This

Updated: Oil strikes new record near $120

Published by
Gene Shinai
April 28, 2008 in Business/Finance, Energy, Labor, Newz, Terrorism and The Markets. 0 Comments

From The International Herald Tribune:

 PERTH: Oil struck a record high at $119.93 a barrel on Monday, extending the previous session’s rally, as a strike closed a major oil pipeline and as new violence in Nigeria reignited supply fears.

 

Simmering tensions between the United States and Iran also helped boost oil prices.

 

U.S. light crude for June delivery rose 88 cents to $119.40 by 2324 GMT, after striking a lifetime high of $119.93 a barrel shortly after electronic trading resumed after the weekend.

 

London Brent crude rose 66 cents to $117.

 

“Supply side concerns underpinned the oil price,” David Moore, a commodity strategist at the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, said in a note to clients.

 

“Oil supplies from Nigeria have been disrupted by militant attacks and a strike by some oil workers. A strike at the Grangemouth refinery in Scotland has caused significant disruption to supplies from the North Sea,” he said.

 

The 700,000 barrels per day (bpd) Fortis pipeline, which carries nearly half of Britain’s oil, was closed on Sunday as a strike over pensions began at the neighbouring 210,000 bpd Grangemouth refinery in Scotland, operator BP said.

 

The refinery, owned by international chemical company Ineos, produces a tenth of Britain’s petrol and diesel but also supplies vital steam and power to BP’s Kinneil plant that processes the crude oil coming ashore from 70 North Sea fields.

 

The government has said that there will be no overall shortages of fuel but conceded that there may be some local supply problems, particularly in Scotland and northern England. 

 

Article Continues @ Sourced Site. 

Share This

Peak Coal as Early as 2025

Published by
Gene Shinai
April 26, 2008 in Energy, Newz and Resources. 0 Comments

From Clean Technica:

With dwindling fossil fuel supplies, coal has been viewed as the energy source of last resort. This outlook is changing as estimated global coal supplies seem to have been severely inflated. Is coal’s future in doubt?

Many experts are saying yes. Professor David Rutledge of CalTech believes that world coal reserves are grossly overstated and could be substantially exhausted this century. This is in stark contrast to earlier forecasts.

Coal Reserves InflatedIn the last 20 years, official coal reserves have fallen by 170 billion tons. To put this number in perspective, global coal consumption in 2007 was 6 billion tons. Reserves figures are dropping far more quickly than actual extraction.

The European Commission’s Institute for Energy in 2000 estimated global supplies of coal to last 277 years. In 2007, that number was lowered to 155 years.

This forecast may sound like plenty of time to adjust to meeting our energy needs in from other sources, but how accurate are these numbers really? The National Academy of Sciences Report on Coal, from June 2007 isn’t very encouraging.

“Present estimates of coal reserves are based upon methods that have not been reviewed or revised since their inception in 1974, and much of the input data were compiled in the early 1970’s. Recent programs to assess reserves in limited areas using updated methods indicate that only a small fraction of previously estimated reserves are actually minable reserves.”

To make matters worse, some countries, such as Vietnam and China have not changed their official reserves figures for decades. This seems suspicious because billions of tons of coal have been mined during this period.

New Coal Discoveries Unlikely

Article Continues @ Sourced Site. 

Share This

Oil nears $120

Published by
Gene Shinai
April 22, 2008 in Energy, Gas Prices, Newz and Resources. 0 Comments

From CNN Money:

 NEW YORK (AP) — Light, sweet crude for May delivery rose to a new trading record of $119.90 before retreating to settle up $1.89 at a record $119.37 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The record run (three straight days of record settlements) was supported by a weak dollar, concerns about crude supplies from some key producers and the end of the May contract.

 

Gas prices also pushed further into record-high territory Tuesday, with retail gas reaching a national average of $3.51 for the first time as the dollar fell to a new low against the euro.

 

At the pump, the national average price of a gallon of regular gas rose 0.8 cent Tuesday to $3.511, according to a survey of stations by AAA and the Oil Price Information Service. Prices for diesel - used to transport most food, industrial and commercial goods - also rose overnight to a new record of $4.204 a gallon.

 

Gas prices are nearly 66 cents higher than last year, when they peaked at a then-record of $3.23 in late May, and have prompted many analysts to raise their estimates of where gas is going to go.

 

“I wouldn’t rule out the possibility that we could get to $4,” said Antoine Halff, an analyst at Newedge USA LLC.

 

Article Continues @ Sourced Site. 

Share This

Stripping Mountains to Power D.C.

Published by
Gene Shinai
April 21, 2008 in Business/Finance, Energy, Environmental Disaster, Government, MountainTopRemoval, Newz and Resources. 0 Comments

By David A. Fahrenthold

Washington Post Staff Writer Sunday, April 20, 2008; Page A01

 MUD, W.Va. — This is a place where “moving mountains” is no longer a figure of speech. Here, among the steep green Appalachians, mining companies are moving mountains off their pedestals to get the kind of coal that Washington needs.

 

It happened here, on a ridgeline called Sugar Tree Mountain, where locals once hunted for squirrels and puckery-sour grapes. Then the top was scraped off to expose the black seams in its innards, leaving a rock-strewn plateau.

 

“It used to be West Virginia,” said Vivian Stockman, an environmental activist. “And now it’s Mars.”

 

Though this isolated mine is more than 400 miles from Washington, the two places share a powerful connection: coal. The D.C. region, with its need for electricity skyrocketing, has been burning steadily more coal, buying almost a third of its supply from this part of Appalachia.

 

And that, analysts and environmentalists said, means that Washington’s air conditioners and iPods have helped drive the region’s “mountaintop” mining.

 

The coal industry and the Bush administration say the benefits of these mines, measured in jobs and energy, outweigh the damage.

 

But in West Virginia, where mining opponents can face back-roads intimidation, some neighbors say that Washington area residents might not know the true cost of their power.

 

“We have to go through a lot for them to get their electric,” said Lucille Miller, who picked grapes on the vanished mountain.

 

The links that bind the cathedral-ceiling suburbs of Washington to the blasted-out mines of West Virginia can be traced through federal energy records. The Washington Post analyzed almost four years of data, showing where the six coal-fired power plants across the D.C. region bought their supply.

 

The records make one thing clear: The plants have been buying a lot more coal. Total purchases were more than 40 percent higher in 2006 than in 2004. The increase came as the Washington region’s demand for electricity grew 18 percent since 2001, driven by population growth and an increasingly wired culture. D.C. area plants do not send their electricity straight to local homes but feed it into the multi-state regional power grid.

 

Records also show that about 32 percent of the coal the plants bought came from one kind of mine in this corner of Appalachia — a “surface” operation, where miners do not have to tunnel.

 

The region, where southern West Virginia meets western Virginia and eastern Kentucky, is home to the vast majority of mountaintop mines in the United States. 

 

Article with Photo Gallery Continues @ Sourced Site.

Share This

Oil prices headed toward $125/barrel: Pickens

Published by
Gene Shinai
April 18, 2008 in Energy, Gas Prices, Newz and Resources. 0 Comments

By Chris Baltimore

 WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Crude oil prices are still headed upward and could top $125 a barrel in the near-term, legendary oil investor T. Boone Pickens said on Thursday.

 

“It will go up,” said Pickens, who heads the BP Capital hedge fund with over $4 billion under management. “Oil is moving to a substantially higher level — say above $125 a barrel.”

 

U.S. crude futures hit a record $115.54 on Thursday. Oil prices have more than quintupled since 2002, propelled higher by soaring demand from emerging economies like China alongside slow increases in global production capacity.

 

Despite new production from the Canadian oil sands and elsewhere, Pickens said global crude oil production is unlikely to rise above its current rate of about 85 million barrels per day, while global demand will likely hit 87 million bpd in the third quarter of 2008.

 

Pickens also expects U.S. natural gas prices to rise from current levels near $10 per million British thermal units to $12-$14 this upcoming winter.

 

 Article Continues @ Sourced Site.

Share This

Man Invents Air-Powered Motorcycle in Garage

Published by
Gene Shinai
April 17, 2008 in Energy, Newz, The Environment and sci-tech. 0 Comments

From Ecogeek:

We love backyard inventors. Sometimes, we have to take things we hear from them with a grain of salt, though. Like, if someone told me that they made a motorcycle that was powered by air, I might not immediately believe them. But looking at this bike, there is absolutely no doubt in my mind that it :
  1. Was built in someone’s garage
  2. Works exactly as described
  3. Is powered 100% by air

Of course, when I say “works exactly as described” the description isn’t all that exciting. The top speed is about 18 mph, and it can only go 7 miles before the air pressure runs out. But this is, after all, a guy in his garage…a lot more power could probably be pulled by tweaking his configuration.

Jem Stansfield, a University of Bristol graduate with a degree in aeronautics, created the bike by strapping two high-pressure tanks onto the side of his Puch moped. The tanks are basically scuba tanks. He uses the (yes, mostly coal-fired) electricity from his house to fill the tanks. The power is then “stored” there, much like a battery, ready for use.

 Article Continues @ Sourced Site.

Share This

Oil price crosses 115 dollars for first time on supply jitters

Published by
Gene Shinai
April 17, 2008 in Economy, Energy, Foreign, Gas Prices, Human Interest/Society, Middle East and Newz. 0 Comments

From AFP via Rawstory:  

Oil prices streaked into new record territory for the second straight day Wednesday, boosted by a decline in US energy reserves and as the weakening dollar drew investments in commodities.

New York’s main oil futures contract, light sweet crude for delivery in May, crossed 115 dollars a barrel for the first time on its way to an intraday record high of 115.07. It settled up 1.14 dollars at a record close of 114.93 dollars.In London, Brent North Sea crude for June struck an intraday record high of 112.79 dollars a barrel before closing at a record 112.66 dollars, a gain of 1.08 dollars.

Both futures contracts had hit record highs Tuesday during trading and at the close as the market worried about tight supplies.

Those concerns were brought to the boil Wednesday by the weekly report from the US Department of Energy (DoE) that showed US energy stockpiles tumbled in the week ending April 11.US crude inventories slumped by 2.3 million barrels last week compared with analysts’ consensus forecast for a drop of 1.8 million.

US crude stocks now stand at 313.7 million barrels, in the lower half of the average range for this time of year, the department said.”The crude import data showed little sign of recovering after last week’s steep decline,” said Eric Wittenauer, an analyst at AG Edwards.

The DoE said that gasoline stocks fell by 5.5 million barrels, considerably more than market expectations for a fall of 1.8 million barrels, while distillate stocks such as heating fuel and diesel rose by 100,000 barrels, against predictions for a 1.5 million barrel decline.

 

Article Continues @ Sourced Site. 

Share This

« Previous Entries

  • Support The H.O.R.N.

    Monthly Subscriptions
    Rock ($10 USD)
    Paper ($25 USD)
    Scissors ($50 USD)
    Hammer! ($100 USD)
  • To donate by mail

On Air!



Streaming and Archives made possible by
The White Rose Society

Chatroom


  • One Billion Bulbs The Head On Radio Network Bulbs Change Statistics


  • H.O.R.N. Widgets




    • Subscribe

    Subscribe to my RSS Feeds

    Archives

    Categories

    Close
    E-mail It