Rediscovering Natural Gas By Hitting Rock Bottom
In recent years, natural gas producers in the United States have struggled, mostly in vain, to be taken more seriously in the energy world. Big oil companies like Exxon had concluded that natural gas reserves in the United States were not sufficiently abundant to warrant big investments in exploration and drilling. When small independent gas producers argued otherwise, they were often ridiculed.
“I once had to tell the Exxon people in front of a congressional committee that I respectfully disagreed with every single thing they had presented,” recalls Robert Hefner, 74, a veteran gas producer from Oklahoma.
But the natural gas folks now have numbers on their side due to new successes in getting gas out of shale rock. Geologists have always known that shale rock, often found in combination with coal and oil deposits, holds substantial amounts of natural gas. If a piece of shale rock is broken and lit with a match, it will actually burn for a few moments with a small flame.
Petrobras Pre-Salt Stake Appropriate Size, Rousseff Says
(Bloomberg) — Brazil’s Cabinet Chief Dilma Rousseff said a bill in congress to reserve a 30 percent stake of pre-salt oil fields for state-controlled producer Petroleo Brasileiro SA is in “line with best practices.”
Iran, Venezuela plan to build refinery in Syria
TEHRAN – An Iran-Venezuela joint oil company plans to build a refinery in Syria as its first international venture with a capacity of 140,000 barrels of oil per day, Iran’s Oil Ministry website SHANA reported on Tuesday.
Total’s Chief Says Oil Is Overvalued Based on Current Supply
(Bloomberg) — Total SA Chief Executive Officer Christophe de Margerie said recent gains in oil prices reflect market anticipation of a supply shortfall within five years rather than current demand.
“If it was purely offer and demand, prices would be lower than the $60 we are seeing,” de Margerie said today in a Bloomberg Television interview in New York. “The market is anticipating in the long term there won’t be enough oil, some people would say speculating.”
Saudi Oil Minister Expects to Maintain Current Output Level
Despite all the unused capacity, Mr. Naimi also said the kingdom was committed to investing heavily in the oil sector going forward. He reiterated that Saudi Arabia was interested in diversifying its energy resources into alternative industries like solar power, but that it was committed to its traditional investment in fossil fuels.
“There is no let up in our investment in traditional energy sectors,” Mr. Naimi said. Saudi has most recently committed to spending $60 billion over the next five years in oil-field and other energy infrastructure.
“We are continuously investing because we believe that it is the right thing,” Mr. Naimi said. Many analysts say much of this investment will go toward maintaining output at existing fields and not toward building new capacity.
Refitted to Bury Emissions, Plant Draws Attention
NEW HAVEN, W.Va. — Poking out of the ground near the smokestacks of the Mountaineer power plant here are two wells that look much like those that draw natural gas to the surface. But these are about to do something new: inject a power plant’s carbon dioxide into the earth.
A behemoth built in 1980, long before global warming stirred broad concern, Mountaineer is poised to become the world’s first coal-fired power plant to capture and bury some of the carbon dioxide it churns out. The hope is that the gas will stay deep underground for millennia rather than entering the atmosphere as a heat-trapping pollutant.
The experiment, which the company says could begin in the next few days, is riveting the world’s coal-fired electricity sector, which is under growing pressure to develop technology to capture and store carbon dioxide. Visitors from as far as China and India, which are struggling with their own coal-related pollution, have been trooping through the plant.
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – Chinese President Hu Jintao announced new goals on Tuesday to slow the growth in his country’s carbon dioxide emissions while U.S. President Barack Obama warned time was short to act on global warming.
Obama warns recession makes climate change fight harder
UNITED NATIONS (CNN) — President Obama warned Tuesday that the global economic recession could hinder the ability of countries to take necessary steps to combat climate change.
Hummer Owners Claim Moral High Ground To Excuse Overconsumption
Hummer drivers believe they are defending America’s frontier lifestyle against anti-American critics, according to a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research.
…”As we studied American Hummer owners and their ideological beliefs, we found that they consider Hummer driving a highly moral consumption choice,” write the authors. “For Hummer owners it is possible to claim the moral high ground.”
The authors explain that Hummer owners employ the ideology of American foundational myths, such as the “rugged individual,” and the “boundless frontier” to construct themselves as moral protagonists. They often believe they represent a bastion again anti-American discourses evoked by their critics.
Kuwait Oil Field, World’s 2nd Largest Needs IOCs
Production from the world’s second-largest oil field in Kuwait may decline without the help of international oil companies to boost crude output, a member of Kuwait’s Supreme Petroleum Council said.
Kuwait, which pumps about 2.2 million barrels a day of oil, has failed to renew service agreements with several international oil companies, including BP PLC (BP.LN) and Chevron Corp. (CVX), raising concern about the future output from the country’s largest fields.
Kuwait’s Burgan field, the world’s second-largest oil field after Saudi Arabia’s Ghawar field, supplies a big slice of the country’s current production. Many of Kuwait’s fields have been in operation for 60 years.
Six Questions for Peter Maass on the Violent Twilight of Oil
Is the American lifestyle, based on cheap fossil fuels, coupled with the political power of corporations like Chevron and ExxonMobil, enough to prevent the U.S. from significantly reducing its dependency on petroleum?
This lifestyle is going to change, whether we want it to or not, whether Chevron and Exxon want it to or not (and for what it’s worth, I think Big Oil’s power is on the wane). The question is whether this lifestyle will change with extreme disruption when the price of oil returns to triple digits and goes beyond the $147-a-barrel record set in 2008, or when global warming means a portion of Manhattan is under water, or–and this is what I hope happens–our society truly recognizes these threats and begins the painful and costly adjustments necessary for radical shifts toward renewable energy as well as conservation and efficiency.
Oil Nationalism in Latin America
Latin America is endowed with 132 billion barrels of “proven” oil. Venezuela, Brazil, Mexico, and Ecuador have significant reserves and strong state involvement in the exploration and production of oil through their nationalized companies Petróleos de Venezuela (PdVSA), Petrobras, Pemex, and Petroecuador, respectively. There have been several notable legal developments this year in all four nations, which will have consequences for U.S. energy policy and thus its relations with oil providers overseas.
The last chart shows how remarkable all of this is. Despite the fact that the U.S. economy has more than doubled in size since 1980 and the population has increased by some 35%, we consume about the same amount of oil today as we did back then. That’s a truly remarkable fact: U.S. oil consumption has not changed on balance for the past two decades.
Oil prices risk rising above $100: Total CEO
“The reserves of oil are there but if you don’t invest they don’t come on the market.” Margerie said oil producers, including the world’s second biggest Saudi Arabia, needed help from non-producers. “You cannot ask those countries which also are facing the (economic) crisis … you cannot ask them to continue to invest for a potential recovery of the demand and in between doing this for the benefit of the rest of the world,” said the Total chief. “We cannot put all the responsibility on producing countries (…) Now we have to sit and discuss… if we don’t move (on investment) there will be a problem.”
Saudi Aramco Commits to More Gas Exploration
Saudi Arabian Oil Co., the world’s biggest oil company, will continue exploring for natural gas resources in the country as it seeks to meet rapidly rising demand in the Middle East’s largest economy, its top executive said Tuesday.
“The kingdom is committed to further natural gas exploration because the kingdom needs more gas” for its own internal consumption and demand, Saudi Aramco’s chief executive Khalid Al Falih said, speaking at the new King Abdullah University for Science and Technology campus, located north of Jeddah on the Red Sea coast.
Russia said confident of $2bn Saudi arms deal with Russia
Saudi Arabia appears on the verge of signing a groundbreaking, US$2 billion (Dh7.3bn) arms deal with Russia.
Although the Saudis refuse to confirm or deny that negotiations are going on, the Russians appear confident the deal will go through in the coming months, sending a shiver through the ranks of conservative commentators in the United States.
Venezuela Aims to Build an $80/Barrel Floor on Oil Prices
Venezuela aims to double its oil production to more than 6 million barrels a day by 2030, Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez said Tuesday.
Speaking at a heavy crude oil conference, Ramirez said current production in Venezuela stands at about 3 million barrels a day, but that by 2015 the government aims for production to reach 4.7 million barrels a day. By 2030, production could reach 6 million barrels a day, he added.
To reach these goals, Ramirez said state oil firm Petroleos de Venezuela aims to “build a floor” on oil prices at $80 a barrel.
API’s President Urges Administration to Support Offshore O&G Devt
American Petroleum Institute President Jack Gerard made the following comments on the closing of the Minerals Management Service’s five-year plan comment period:
“In about a week’s time, we will mark the one-year anniversary of the end of the moratoria for new oil and natural gas leasing in federal waters off our Atlantic and Pacific coasts. Despite the public’s clear desire for more domestic energy development and the industry’s years of experience operating offshore in an environmentally sensitive way, this administration repeatedly has slow-pedaled this plan which would benefit all Americans, especially in these tough economic times. New oil and gas development could create thousands of jobs, add over a trillion dollars to government coffers, strengthen America’s energy security and encourage our economic recovery.
Special Report: OGJ100 firms log increases in 2008 earnings, capex
Oil & Gas Journal’s survey of the 100 leading oil and gas producers based outside the US shows that most of these firms posted improved financial results from a year earlier. Higher operating costs offset strong oil and gas prices, though, for some of the companies.
Exxon to Expand Chemicals Business in Bet on China
(Bloomberg) — Exxon Mobil Corp., the world’s biggest maker of chemicals used in plastic bottles, is boosting investment in Asian plants on expectations Chinese demand will increase faster than sales of gasoline and diesel.
Competing Projects in Alaska on Schedule But Bumps Lie Ahead
Competing projects to build a $30 billion-plus North Slope natural gas pipeline are on schedule to complete cost estimates and hold open seasons to solicit customers next year, managers of both consortiums told an energy conference in Anchorage.
Both groups expressed concerns over progress of talks with First Nation groups in Canada.
Kyrgyzstan: The rotating outage is effective again as of October 1
As of October 1, Kyrgyzstan launches rotating outages of electricity. This was announced on September 22 by Ilias Davydov, the Minister of Industry, Energy and Fuel, at the session of the committee for fuel and energy sector and subsoil use of Jogorku Kenesh (the parliament of Kyrgyzstan), 24.kg news agency reports.
The time of general rolling blackouts is 24.00-5.00 except for such social targets as schools and hospitals and small and medium enterprises.
Growing shortage of materials causes great hardship
SEPTEMBER 22ND, 1941: Facing into the third winter of the second World War in 1941, a government minister, Seán MacEntee, warned people to expect greater hardship because of growing shortages of materials that were outside the country’s ability to produce, chiefly oil and coal. The extent of those hardships could be gauged from the existing difficulties catalogued in the same newspaper in a letter from Mary Frances Keating, later a columnist with the paper, listing the conditions of some people in the Portobello and North Frederick Street areas of Dublin.
Trailing Indicators: Out of a Job, Some Decide to Take a Hike
NoBos and SoBos are reminiscent of the hobos of the Great Depression, though there aren’t so many of them this time. Moreover, they’re a throwback to a simpler economy, where swapping short-term labor for food and shelter was common.
That barter system remains today. Dozens of “Trail Angels” provide free meals and lodging to hikers who are short of cash. “I was shooting pool in Duncannon, Pa., with a hiker named Big Camera. I heard a guy at the bar offering $12 an hour to clean his yard,” recalls Jack Magullian, a 55-year-old through-hiker whose trail name is Archaeopterix.
States Can Sue Utilities Over Emissions
A two-judge panel of a federal appeals court has ruled that big power companies can be sued by states and land trusts for emitting carbon dioxide. The decision, issued Monday, overturns a 2005 District Court decision that the question was political, not judicial.
Diesels in America – 3 decades of amnesia
During our first energy crisis, General Motors tried a shortcut solution to its sorely underdeveloped engine program. It took a 350 CID Oldsmobile V-8 gasoline engine and diesel-ized it — with predictably disastrous results. (Remember all the stalled New York taxicabs?)
To divert attention from its engineering failure and the resulting massive lawsuits, the 14th floor of the old GM building directed its PR machinery to declare diesel yesterday’s technology. In those days, GM enjoyed enormous marketing clout with its roughly 50 percent market share, and it didn’t take long before other manufacturers pulled their diesel engine programs and the gas stations pulled their diesel tanks, leaving consumers to go hunting for truck stops.
Largely because of that, we Americans have had a frozen image of diesel-powered vehicles unalterably etched on our brains ever since: They were slow, noisy and smelly.
Dubious Green Schemes: The Solar Roadway
Those issues notwithstanding, Solar Roadways is engineering PV panels to withstand 40-ton vehicles going 80 miles an hour over them day and night for decades. How much more does it cost to make solar panels–already a bit pricey–totally indestructible? We’re guessing a lot. And this all so we can avoid putting them someplace sensible, like on all those empty rooftops in America’s sunnier climes, where cars and trucks don’t drive and where there also happens to be an existing electrical grid for them to hook into.
Should the U.S. Build Its Next Coal Plants Underground?
Might burning coal thousands of feet below the surface be the secret to making coal climate friendly?
That’s what fans of underground coal gasification will be saying this week at several sessions and in the keynote speech at the International Pittsburgh Coal Conference, which goes through Wednesday. Momentum is growing worldwide to look closely at the idea, a 150-year-old technique of igniting seams of coal deep under the ground to produce electrical power or chemicals. It’s a proven technology: Joseph Stalin launched the first national research program into the idea in 1928 and the Soviets used it for 40 years to produce power. Since then, cheap natural gas and shallow, easy-to-mine coal burned in traditional power plants have prevented the technique from taking off. (graphic courtesy Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory)
Tiny technologies could produce big energy solutions
(CNN) — Forgot to charge your cell phone last night? Imagine that you could power it by walking. Weirder still, you might be able to just spray a new battery on.
Saudi Aramco Sees Idle Oil Fields Through 2010 on Weak Demand
(Bloomberg) — Saudi Aramco, the state-run oil monopoly, sees little chance of pumping crude from idle fields next year because a recovery in world demand has yet to begin, its chief executive officer said.
Saudi Arabia has idled about 4 million barrels a day, or about one third of its crude-oil production capacity, according to the oil ministry. The Dhahran-based company, the biggest exporter of unrefined crude oil, is spending $90 billion to develop new reserves and refineries over five years to 2012.
The world’s most influential oil producer is leading OPEC members cutting a record 14 percent of daily output, contributing to the 56 percent rally in crude prices since December. Global demand for oil is expected to rise by 1.27 million barrels a day, or 1.5 percent, next year, according to the International Energy Agency, not enough for Saudi Arabia to resume all of its idled fields.
Driving habits alter during recession, Census reports
The share of households having one car or no car at all rose to 42.2% from 41.8%.
Last week, Michelle and Justin Forkner of Indianapolis traded in both their cars — her 2006 Mini Cooper and his 2004 Honda Accord — and bought a 2009 Toyota Highlander hybrid.
“We work within five minutes of each other and attend law school at night, so we really didn’t need two cars,” Michelle Forkner says, adding that the changes “clearly make economic sense.” They also find satisfaction in having a new hybrid vehicle.
Some of the decline in car ownership may be driven by younger people putting off getting their driver’s licenses or buying their first cars, Goldberg says. “We’ve seen a cultural shift.”
Is globalization’s day in the sun over?
Any discussion of “post-globalization” worth its salt must include a dash of peak oil and hyper-complexity talk. James Kunstler, author of “The Long Emergency” and “The Geography of Nowhere,” envisions a not-too-distant future when natural resources are scarce and transporting cheap goods over long distances will become impractical, if not impossible.
Under such a scenario, “post-globalization” doesn’t represent some esoteric changes in banking regulations; it’s a real change in the way we live, eat, and consume energy.
THE Shire of Yarra Ranges has been divided over the need for a peak oil contingency response plan.
Lyster Ward councillor Samantha Dunn called for the plan at a council meeting recently.
The plan is expected to cost more than $20,000.
Cr Dunn said the issue had recently been raised at a Municipal Association of Victoria (MAV) conference, alerting local government to the trends in peak oil and the issues of declining supplies across the world.
She said at worst oil supplies would start to diminish by 2013 and at best 2020. “I see this as a really critical issue for council considering we use oil in a range a ways in the shire… whether it’s meals on wheels or repairing roads there is a whole lot of different ways it will impact on us,” Cr Dunn said.
But councillors Richard Higgins, Graham Warren and Chris Templer disagreed, saying it wasn’t council’s responsibility to plan for such contingencies.
Ambitious? Impossible? Pie-in-the sky? Or an issue that we need to seriously explore?
Producing more food in the city is the aim of Harvest Brighton and Hove, a new project launching on Monday 21st September. Brighton and Hove aims to become the growing capital of the UK – encouraging residents to start growing fruit and vegetables wherever there is an empty space – on balconies, rooftops, by the side of roads, on housing estates and in public spaces. The project will last for three years and is a Beacon project funded by the Big Lottery’s local food fund. The project is led by the Brighton and Hove Food Partnership working with partners across the city including Food Matters, the University of Brighton, the City Council and the NHS Brighton and Hove.
INTERVIEW – Naimi does not expect 2010 OPEC cut
JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia (Reuters) – OPEC does not need to cut output next year, according to the latest oil supply and demand estimates, the oil minister of top exporter Saudi Arabia told Reuters on Tuesday.
Demand for Saudi crude was increasing, and this was evidence the world’s economy was recovering from recession, Ali al-Naimi said in an interview on Tuesday.
China increases appetite for oil
China’s apparent oil demand rose 2.9% in August from a year earlier, the fifth consecutive rise, as refiners kept production at robust rates and proactive economic policies continue to propel industrial activities.
The August rate, on a high base a year earlier when implied oil demand jumped 7%, offers fresh evidence that fuel demand in the world’s second-largest energy-consuming country is recovering further.
Opponents ask Salazar to halt offshore drilling
WASHINGTON – Opponents of offshore drilling — including some dressed as salmon and a polar bear — delivered more than 250,000 postcards and letters to the Interior Department Monday on a proposal to open vast waters off the Pacific and Atlantic coasts to oil and gas drilling.
Interior Secretary Ken Salazar invited public comments on a sweeping blueprint for expanded offshore drilling that was initially proposed in the final days of the Bush administration. He didn’t rule out expanded offshore drilling. But he criticized “the enormous sweep” of the Bush proposal, which envisioned energy development from New England to Alaska, including lease sales in areas off California and in the North Atlantic that have been off-limits for a quarter century.
China’s largest oil producer vows for another 50 yrs prominence
Daqing Oilfield, China’s largest oil producer, vows for another 50 years prominence in the country’s petroleum industry.
Wang Yongchun, general manager of Daqing Oilfield Co Ltd, said Tuesday the oilfield would remain an important energy base and continue to contribute a large proportion of China’s energy supplies up to 2060.
Wang said factors such as adequate underground fossil resources, scientific progress and well-trained personnel would help achieve this end.
DNO Share Suspension Extended Amid Kurdistan Dispute
(Bloomberg) — DNO International ASA, the first foreign company to pump oil in Iraq since the 1970s, will be suspended from Oslo trading through tomorrow after Kurdish authorities halted operations amid dispute over a stock sale.
Turkmenistan to talk gas with Russia
Russia and Turkmenistan will hold another round of talks soon aimed at restarting supplies of Turkmen gas to Russia, Turkmen President Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov said.
Supplies stopped in April after a pipeline explosion but the link has been repaired, he said at a government meeting shown on state television late yesterday.
Former Pariah Qaddafi’s U.S. Trip Seals Courtship of Libyan Oil
(Bloomberg) — The families of Americans killed in the bombing of a jetliner over Lockerbie, Scotland, in 1988 will protest Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi’s visit to New York this week. His United Nations counterparts may be more welcoming.
Qaddafi, who speaks at the UN tomorrow, has cemented ties with countries that shunned him for three decades and are now lured by Africa’s biggest oil reserves and a 150 billion-dinar ($123 billion), five-year government infrastructure-investment plan.
Russia to Resume State Asset Sales to Bolster Budget
(Bloomberg) — Russia will resume asset sales as the government struggles with its first budget deficit in a decade, First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov said.
The government has about 5,500 enterprises that can be converted into joint stock companies and sold starting as early as this year, Shuvalov said in an interview with Bloomberg Television in Washington. Russia may also sell part of its stakes in companies that are already publicly traded, including OAO Rosneft, the country’s biggest oil producer, he said.
Venezuela to pay off $4.6bn debts
Venezuela will pay off more than $4.6bn (£2.8bn) in debts owed by its state-run oil producer in an attempt to boost its slowing economy.
President Hugo Chavez said Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) will pay the debts it has accumulated with oil contractors by the end of the year.
Amaranth Advisors Seeks at Least $350 Million From Touradji
(Bloomberg) — Amaranth Advisors LLC, the hedge fund that lost $6.6 billion three years ago this month, sued Paul Touradji and his employees, seeking at least $350 million for claims including breach of contract and misappropriation of trade secrets.
Heating Oil Margins May Double to $10, Merrill Says
(Bloomberg) — Refinery profits from producing heating oil may double to $10 a barrel as the global economy recovers, Banc of America-Merrill Lynch said in a report.
Demand for distillate fuels, which include heating oil and diesel, is rising as car sales pick up and industrial activity accelerates, Merrill said in a report dated Sept. 18. Refiners will soon need to produce more distillate after curbing output when profits were weak, the bank said.
China’s Coal Imports Fall on Costs, Local Supply
(Bloomberg) — China, the world’s largest coal user and producer, cut imports of the fuel for a second month after global costs rose and domestic supplies increased.
Purchases fell 15 percent to 11.77 million metric tons last month from July, data from the customs office showed today. Imports are still higher than the 3.79 million tons reported a year earlier.
Aussie oil spill set to continue leaking: company
SYDNEY (AFP) – The company at the centre of a massive oil spill off Australia’s northwest said Tuesday it was still about two weeks away from plugging the leak, which has already been gushing for more than a month.
An estimated 400 barrels of oil has spilled daily into the Timor Sea since the West Atlas drilling rig began leaking on August 21, forcing the evacuation of 69 workers, according to Bangkok-headquartered PTTEP Australasia.
“Low rolling resistance tires represent the most environmentally-focused development in tire technology today,” said John Rastetter, director of tire information, Tire Rack. “Every gallon of gasoline saved not only reduces each driver’s personal fuel costs and America’s dependence on foreign oil, but it also releases 20 fewer pounds of CO2 gas into the atmosphere from the tailpipe. Our tests proved that vehicles equipped with these tires can achieve better fuel economy.”
While the low-tech ways of achieving lower tire rolling resistance has usually traded off wet traction and/or treadwear, further controlled testing at Tire Rack’s test track has also shown that the newest high-tech, fuel-efficient tires have achieved it without compromising traction thanks to the introduction of new tread compounds, tire designs and weight optimizing manufacturing processes.
Rolls-Royce expanding fuel cell research in Ohio
NORTH CANTON, Ohio – Rolls-Royce says it is expanding its fuel cell research division in Ohio.
Company officials say they will invest $3 million in processing and testing equipment at Stark State College of Technology in North Canton, where Rolls-Royce Fuel Cell Systems established its North American headquarters in 2006.
GE Appears to Stress Windmills Over Nuclear Power, Senator Says
(Bloomberg) — General Electric Co., the biggest maker of power-generation equipment, appears to be focused on renewable energy sources such as windmills rather than the nuclear power needed to combat global warming, Senator Lamar Alexander said.
The Tennessee Republican is a nuclear-power booster who has called for 100 reactors in the next 20 years as the Senate weighs legislation to cut greenhouse gas emissions. Fairfield, Connecticut-based GE said it remains committed to nuclear energy.
U.K. Power for October Falls to Record as Spare Capacity Grows
(Bloomberg) — U.K. power for October 2009 declined to a record low as increasing power generation availability boosted the margin of spare production capacity.
October baseload power fell as much as 0.7 percent to 34.10 pounds ($55.63) a megawatt hour and was at 34.15 pounds as of 10:15 a.m. in London, according to GFI Group Inc. Baseload electricity is delivered around the clock.
BOLI Commissioner Awards $127,713 in Sex Harassment Case
(PORTLAND, Ore.) – State Labor Commissioner Brad Avakian has issued a final order in the sexual harassment case against From the Wilderness, Inc. (FTWI) and Michael Ruppert of Ashland.
In addition to awarding lost wages, Comm. Avakian ordered $125,000 in mental and emotional suffering damages paid to Lindsay Gerken for the workplace harassment and retaliation she suffered during her less than three months of employment at FTWI. The damage award reflects the egregious conduct of Ruppert as well as the reinvigoration of civil rights enforcement by Commissioner Avakian.
Canada should put oil sands on hold: climate change expert
MONTREAL – Canada should be doing much more to tackle climate change, and consider closing down the oilsands projects in northern Alberta, the head of an international scientific panel on climate change said Monday.
Canada should follow the European Union, which has pledged to cut its greenhouse gas emissions by 25% below 1990 levels by 2020, said Rajendra Pachauri, head of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
Fake NY Post draws attention to global warming
NEW YORK – A day before a U.N. summit on climate change, an activist prankster group distributed copies of a fake newspaper mimicking the New York Post to draw attention to global warming.
The front-page story in the newspaper parody Monday warned of “massive climate catastrophes” and “public health disasters.”
So, how do we comply with MRR? Do we cobble together statistics and spreadsheets and load them into the system the EPA is building for electronic capture of this information? Do we buy a bare-bones system to help us track the data and report automatically? Do we buy a large system that helps with the MRR but also provides assistance in getting a better handle on the larger issue of carbon management in the context of the looming cap and trade regime?
U.N. seeks momentum in climate talks as Obama, Hu speak
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – China and the United States, the world’s top greenhouse gas emitters, will try to ignite efforts on Tuesday to secure a U.N. global warming pact as worries grow of a “dangerously close” deadlock in talks.
On Global Warming, an Ambitious Agenda
The United Nations’ commitment to securing an international climate deal will be on full display Tuesday, as world leaders come together in New York to discuss how best to address global warming. But the event, arranged by Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, highlights both the possibilities and obstacles Ban and his deputies face in orchestrating the historic pact.
As U.N. Meets on Climate, Momentum on Pact Is Elusive
The world leaders who are meeting at the United Nations to discuss climate change on Tuesday, are faced with an intricate challenge: building momentum for an international climate treaty at a time when global temperatures have been stable for a decade and may even drop in the next few years.
Business chiefs urge ‘robust’ climate change deal
LONDON (AFP) – The chiefs of more than 500 global companies called on Tuesday for an “ambitious, robust and equitable” climate change deal, in the spotlight in New York ahead of a landmark meeting in Copenhagen.
The business leaders from over 50 countries including Brazil, Britain, China, Japan, Russia and the United States said measures to spur recovery from the global downturn must be environmentally sustainable.
Airlines vow to cut carbon output by 2050: report
LONDON (AFP) – The aviation industry is set to make a dramatic pledge to slash carbon dioxide emissions in half by 2050, as key climate change talks get underway at the United Nations, a report said.
British Airways chief executive Willie Walsh will unveil an agreement between airlines, airports and aircraft companies to cut emissions to 50 percent below 2005 levels by 2050, the Guardian said.
Population growth driving climate change, poverty: experts
PARIS (AFP) – Unchecked population growth is speeding climate change, damaging life-nurturing ecosystems and dooming many countries to poverty, experts concluded in a conference report released Monday.
Unless birth rates are lowered sharply through voluntary family-planning programmes and easy access to contraceptives, the tally of humans on Earth could swell to an unsustainable 11 billion by 2050, they warned.
