Archive for the 'Energy' Category
More Drivers Running Out Of Gas
April 23rd, 2011Wow. Some people are in so much denial about gas prices, and not wanting to think about filling up, that they are simply driving until they run out of gas. This is a fantastic lesson in cognitive dissonance. Think about this for a minute. If increasing numbers of people are in denial about their fuel […]
China: Thousands of Truck Drivers Riot in Shanghai Over Fuel Prices
April 21st, 2011ZeroHedge is right: China is now between a rock and a hard place: will it continue happily importing Bernanke’s inflation exports or finally retaliate. Unfortunately for its economy, the appropriately called “nuclear option” of revaluation, will leave it export economy flailing. So the real question: is China ready to migrate from an export-led to a […]
China Halts Fuel Exports to Ensure Domestic Supply
April 21st, 2011Some context is necessary on this story. China is a huge net oil importer. This is from the U.S. Department of Energy: China’s net oil imports reached about 4.3 million bbl/d in 2009, making it the second-largest net oil importer in the world behind the United States and for the first time surpassing Japan’s imports. […]
Britain: Secret Memos Expose Link Between Oil Firms and Invasion of Iraq
April 19th, 2011Via: Independent: Plans to exploit Iraq’s oil reserves were discussed by government ministers and the world’s largest oil companies the year before Britain took a leading role in invading Iraq, government documents show. The papers, revealed here for the first time, raise new questions over Britain’s involvement in the war, which had divided Tony Blair’s […]
Fukushima: Fuel Rod Fragments at Bottom of Reactor Vessels
April 16th, 2011Flashback: Arnie Gundersen: How Fukushima’s Fuel Rods Melted and Shattered And now… Via: Japan Times: Melted fuel rod fragments have sunk to the bottoms of three reactors at the Fukushima No. 1 power plant and could theoretically burn through the pressure vessels if emergency water-pumping operations are seriously disrupted, the Atomic Energy Society of Japan […]
Intense Light Passing Through Non Conductive Material, ‘Can Generate Magnetic Effects That Are 100 Million Times Stronger Than Previously Expected’
April 15th, 2011Intense light can cause glass to exhibit strong magnetic properties. Wow, this is a weird one. The buzz kill occurs when you read that the light needs to be focused to 10 million watts per square centimeter to realize the effect. The researchers are looking for materials that work at lower intensities. Via: PhysOrg: A […]
Japan: Encasing Reactors Will Be More Difficult Than Chernobyl
April 14th, 2011Via: Reuters: Encasing reactors at Japan’s Fukushima nuclear plant in concrete would present much more of a challenge than Chernobyl, according to an executive of the firm whose pumps are helping cooling efforts there. “In Chernobyl, where a single reactor was encased, 11 trucks were in action for a number of months. In Fukushima we’re […]
Arnie Gundersen: “This is about a thousand times worse than ever anticipated by the nuclear planners.”
April 14th, 2011Fukushima Accident Severity Level Raised to ‘7’: Gundersen Discusses Lack of US Radiation Monitoring Data from Fairewinds Associates on Vimeo.
Fukushima: Temperatures Rise in Spent Fuel Storage Pool
April 13th, 2011Nuclear engineer Arnie Gundersen demonstrates how Fukushima’s fuel rods melted and shattered from Fairewinds Associates on Vimeo. Via: NHK: The Tokyo Electric Power Company, or TEPCO, says the water temperature in the spent fuel storage pool at the No. 4 reactor in the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant has risen to about 90 degrees Celsius. It […]
Chinese Mining Operations in Australia
April 12th, 2011So it goes… Via: Guardian: China is leasing huge areas of land in Australia to secure a vital source of mineral resources, the latest sign of its acquisitive approach to the commodities trade. No longer satisfied with buying iron ore and coal from Australian mining companies, Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton, China is developing its […]
