Clipmarks | JICWyllie's Energy - Peak Oil collection

A geopolitical tsunami: Beyond oil in world civilization clash

Mon, 01 Sep 2008 18:17:43 GMT

clipped by: JICWyllie

Samuel Huntington (1993; 1996) proposes the idea of an emerging fragmented world. He argues that there is a likely intercultural and inter-religious conflict looming between future world powers, each superpower cohered from within through culture and religion. The new world order will be a multi-polar world. Huntington rejects the idea that the world will continue to acquiesce to Western homogenizing forces of globalization, which many critics suggest have been mounted to serve Western interests, and so displace the interests of both Eastern and Islamic peoples. But we may be about to see these non-Western peoples aggressively pursue their vested interests

civilization can be defined as the broadest level of cultural identity of an individual, ethnic group or nation, or even group of nations. He highlights three major civilizations of influence: Christian Western, Islamic-Arabic, and Chinese.

post-globalization world which fragments along civilization fault lines.

Tags: culture, civilisation, i-breakdown, i-forecast

The Next Oil-Price Shock Will Be At Christmas

Fri, 29 Aug 2008 17:56:27 GMT

clipped by: JICWyllie

Clip Source: www.fleetstreetinvest.co.uk

A two-pronged attack that bombed nuclear facilities and cut off benzene supplies could easily get the US exactly what they want in Iran.

It could destroy any chance of Iran getting the bomb and force Ahmadinejad out of office. It won’t take much to convince the current US administration to come along to this particular party.

So, the world is gearing up for action in Iran. The plan has been made. The warships have practiced. The will is there.

I think Israel will bomb suspected Iranian nuclear facilities and a US-led task force will block the Straits of Hormuz.

All this is likely to happen sometime in the US interregnum period around Christmas. If it does, the oil price will go utterly ballistic.

Up to 40% of the world’s oil supplies pass through the Straits of Hormuz. It is one of the most strategically important waterways in the entire world.

The Americans want to block the Straits of Hormuz to stop Iranian imports of benzene. This will cripple the country’s economy.

Tags: energy, oil, i-prices, i-increase, i-forecast, politics, i-policy, i-war, i-consequences

Pinching pennies like your grandparents

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 12:13:40 GMT

clipped by: JICWyllie

Clip Source: www.msnbc.msn.com

the skyrocketing cost of everything from cereal to eggs is prompting some Americans to turn to traditional techniques for stretching a dollar or a meal.

The food inflation is clearly affecting American lifestyles. An April survey by market researchers NPD Group found that more than half of adults who described themselves as “financially challenged” were trying to use up leftovers more often and prepare more meals at home than they did a year ago.

Americans are still eating out but are choosing cheaper restaurants

more people are choosing grain-based foods, such as pizza and pasta, over meat-based meals.

Clip Source: www.msnbc.msn.com

For those people who are trying to shop and eat more like their grandparents did, the change in behavior isn’t just a matter of time management. Accustomed to years of drive-through restaurants and pasta in a box, many simply don’t know how to cook from scratch.

Tags: economy, consumers, i-spending, i-decrease, i-consequences

Revealed: the massive scale of UK's water consumption

Wed, 20 Aug 2008 19:09:32 GMT

clipped by: JICWyllie

Clip Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Each Briton uses 4,645 litres a day when hidden factors are included

The scale of British water consumption and its impact around the world is revealed in a new report today, which warns of the hidden levels needed to produce food and clothing.

The UK has become the sixth largest net importer of water in the world,

Only 38% of the UK's total water use comes from its own resources; the rest depends on the water systems of other countries, some of which are already facing serious shortages.

Average household water use for washing and drinking in the UK is about 150 litres a person daily, but we consume about 30 times as much in "virtual water", used in the production of imported food and textiles;

People in poorer countries typically subsist on 1,000 litres of virtual water a day;

A meat and dairy-based diet consumes about 5,000 litres of virtual water a day while a vegetarian diet uses about 2,000 litres.

Tags: environment, fresh water, i-demand, i-increase, i-record, i-consequences

E.P.A. Declines to Reduce the Quota for Ethanol in Cars

Sat, 09 Aug 2008 15:23:48 GMT

clipped by: JICWyllie
clipper's remarks: Let them eat gas. At least, cake can be eaten.

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

The Environmental Protection Agency rejected on Thursday a request to cut the federal government’s quota for the use of ethanol in cars, concluding, at least for now, that the national goal of reducing oil use trumps any effect on food prices from making fuel from corn.

The agency’s administrator, Stephen L. Johnson, said the mandate was “strengthening our nation’s energy security and supporting American farming communities,” and that the mandate was not causing “severe harm to the economy or the environment.”

Recently, high oil prices have led to even more ethanol production than the quota required. On the other hand, rising corn prices made some ethanol operations unprofitable, especially as oil prices started to fall.

“The food inflation that you’ve seen now, at least in the meat and poultry sector, probably is mild compared to what may be coming in the future,” said Joel Brandenberger, president of the National Turkey Federation.

Legislators from farm states applauded the ruling.

Tags: energy, renewables, biofuels, i-policy, i-subsidy, i-consequences

Oil falls to three-month low

Tue, 05 Aug 2008 16:47:42 GMT

clipped by: JICWyllie

Clip Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Oil slid to $118 a barrel as investors predicted that demand from the US and Europe was waning, at a time when some oil-producing countries have increased supply.

supply from Opec, the group of major oil-producing nations, rose for a third consecutive month in July driven by increased output from the world's top exporter, Saudi Arabia. Opec's members produce two in every five barrels of oil.

Angus McPhail from investment firm Alliance Trust said prices could fall to about £100 a barrel - still high by the standards set in recent years - if economic data remains weak.

Changes in the oil prices often takes six to eight weeks to hit the petrol pump.

Tags: energy, oil, i-supply, i-increase. i-price, i-decrease

Don't make the consumer pay for these inflated fuel prices

Sun, 03 Aug 2008 15:01:23 GMT

clipped by: JICWyllie

Clip Source: www.guardian.co.uk

If you want to criticise the free market, look at the design of Britain's energy markets, particularly the wholesale market for gas where the big companies buy and sell to one another. As gas prices shadow every movement in oil price, other European countries have carefully built a substantial infrastructure to hold sufficient reserve stocks of gas in their systems to smooth price changes. Not in free-market Britain.

Amazingly, as North Sea gas production declines and we become more dependent on imports, we have capacity to store only 13 days' worth of gas. Germany has 99 and France 122.

So as wholesale gas prices have risen, the British system has offered no buffer to smooth the impact.

The so-called London loophole, created by the Labour government, excuses the London oil market from independent and transparent oversight.

Speculation is part of the oil price rise, and most of it is rooted in out-of-control London.

Tags: energy, natural gas, i-supply, i-prices, i-policy, i-failure

South Stream Russia-Europe Pipeline to Cost $20B

Thu, 31 Jul 2008 15:46:21 GMT

clipped by: JICWyllie

Clip Source: www.rigzone.com

Russia's Energy Ministry has announced a preliminary cost assessment of the South Stream pipeline project, a major gas export route to Europe, at $20 billion,

The pipeline, which according to plan should carry 30 billion cubic meters of natural gas per year to Europe starting in 2013, will be built jointly by Russia's gas export monopoly OAO Gazprom and Italy's Eni SpA.

The initial assessment of the project cost, reported by Eni at the beginning of 2008, was about $10 billion.

The pipeline is to extend under the Black Sea, from Russia's southern port of Novorossiysk to Bulgaria, and then onwards to Austria and Italy.

It is meant to become a gas transportation route bypassing Turkey and Ukraine, which pose potential transit risks for Gazprom.

Analysts regard the cost increase as negative for Gazprom. Construction of the pipeline would mean a 3% increase in Gazprom's capital expenditure from 2010 to 2013, which would lower the company's fair value by about 1.5%,

Tags: energy, oil, pipelines, i-cost, i-increase, i-record

China's Cars, Accelerating A Global Demand for Fuel

Thu, 31 Jul 2008 15:19:06 GMT

clipped by: JICWyllie
clipper's remarks: The only hope is that the Chinese will learn faster than Americans and Europeans did, that big cars are inappropriate status symbols.

Clip Source: www.washingtonpost.com

"In China, size matters," says Zhang, the 44-year-old founder of a media and graphic design company. "People want to have a car that shows off their status in society. No one wants to buy small."

Zhang grasps the wheels of his Hummer, called "hanma" or "fierce horse" in Chinese, and hits the accelerator.

Car ownership in China is exploding, and it's not only cars but also sport-utility vehicles, pickup trucks and other gas-guzzling rides. Elsewhere in the world, the popularity of these vehicles has tumbled as the cost of oil has soared. But in China, the number of SUVs sold rose 43 percent in May compared with the previous year, and full-size sedans were up 15 percent. Indeed, China's demand for gas is much of the reason for the dramatic run-up in global oil prices.

China alone accounts for about 40 percent of the world's recent increase in demand for oil, burning through twice as much now as it did a decade ago.

Tags: energy, oil, i-demand, i-increase, i-accelleration, i-record

Oil falls futher ahead of inventories data

Wed, 30 Jul 2008 18:53:49 GMT

clipped by: JICWyllie

Clip Source: www.ft.com

Oil prices continued their three-week slide on Wednesday as traders waited for weekly US oil stocks data, released later in the session, to give the market firmer direction.

Analysts expect US crude stocks to fall this week, while they predict gasoline and distillate inventories to rise. Any numbers sharply below or above the consensus forecasts could prompt a sharp move in energy prices.

Oil prices have fallen more than 17 per cent since their peak above $147 a barrel on July 11. Fears that global demand is slowing have dominated since then, though analysts were divided on where oil prices would go from here.

Tags: energy, oil, i-prices, i-decrease, i-reported

Schools Look to Save Money With Four-Day Week

Tue, 29 Jul 2008 17:25:10 GMT

clipped by: JICWyllie

Clip Source: www.voanews.com

American schools are looking for ways to save money on bus transportation because of high fuel prices. More children may have to walk, ride their bikes or find other ways to get to school.

But, as another effect of the high prices, they may not have to go to school as often.

Some schools, especially in rural areas, are changing to a four-day week. That means longer days instead of the traditional Monday through Friday schedule.

But he sees other benefits, too. Students get more instructional time. And activities that used to interfere with classes are now held on non-school days.

He says that in the future, the growth of online classes could make it possible to require even fewer days in school. High fuel prices are driving college students to take more online classes. And in some states, high school students can take them, too.

Tags: energy, oil, i-price, i-increase, i-consequences, i-behaviour change

Will clotheslines turn dryers into relics?

Tue, 29 Jul 2008 17:19:59 GMT

clipped by: JICWyllie

Clip Source: www.chicagotribune.com

nothing made such a dent in our power bill as abandoning the dryer. That simple change dropped our average monthly bill by more than $100.

Dryers use nine times the energy of a washing machine. And a heat-generating appliance is obviously the wrong direction to turn on a hot summer day.

Why haven't we heard more about this? Because no organized interest profits from line drying.

Tags: energy, electricity, i-prices, i-increase, i-consequences, i-behaviour change

How to get oil from Canada's Tar Sands

Sun, 27 Jul 2008 15:20:20 GMT

clipped by: JICWyllie

Clip Source: www.guardian.co.uk

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irst, buy several dozen 797B Caterpillar heavy hauler mining trucks. Each of these machines can carry up to 400 tonnes of sand, which can produce 200 barrels of oil

Photograph: John Vidal /Guardian

Tags: energy, oil, tar sands, i-extraction, i-process

UK scientists hit out at new coal station plans

Sun, 27 Jul 2008 15:16:25 GMT

clipped by: JICWyllie

Clip Source: www.guardian.co.uk

In a letter to The Observer, some of Britain's leading scientists claim that government plans to build new coal-fired power stations - without technology to cut emissions - will accelerate global warming.

unless Britain acts with urgency, it risks losing a world lead in carbon capture technology to other nations, including Canada, Germany and the US.

The furore over carbon capture reveals how coal power has become a key new target of UK environmentalists. Next Sunday, thousands will descend on Kingsnorth coal plant in Kent and try to shut it down.

Tags: energy, coal, i-policy, i-sequestration

'It feels like a sci-fi film' - accidents tarnish nuclear dream

Sat, 26 Jul 2008 18:52:00 GMT

clipped by: JICWyllie
clipper's remarks: As the sites age, accidents will increase. There are also more accidents and unexpected delays while new generation plant are built when people really don't know the unknowns.

Clip Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Last month an accident at the treatment centre during a draining operation saw liquid containing untreated uranium overflow out of a faulty tank. About 75kg of uranium seeped into the ground and into the Gaffiere and Lauzon rivers which flow into the Rhône.

after the incident there was a ban on drinking the groundwater, using it to water fields - as all local farmers do - or swimming or fishing in local lakes and streams.

"I always trusted that nuclear was totally secure. But now I wonder, have there been other accidents in the past we haven't been told about?"

there were 86 level-one nuclear incidents in France last year and 114 in 2006.

Tags: energy, nuclear, i-safety, i-accidents, i-reported