Archive for the 'Energy' Category
How Iran Has Bush Over a Barrel
June 13th, 2008“The Iranian strategic military plan for engaging the United States must include crippling oil exports from the Persian Gulf. Iran is (probably) in a position to close the Strait of Hormuz, the most strategically important waterway in the world.” —Cryptogon, 7/15/2006, The Strait of Hormuz: It’s Not That Bad, It’s Worse FYI: Robert Baer, the […]
Spanish Shoppers Stockpile Food and Fuel as Protests Cut Off Supplies
June 11th, 2008Via: Reuters: Spanish drivers and shoppers stockpiled fuel and food on Tuesday, fearing shortages after lorry drivers blocked deliveries across the country for a second day of an indefinite protest at the high price of fuel. Cars queued at petrol stations — 40 percent of which had run out of fuel in the worst affected […]
Lab Drives Car to 100 MPG
June 10th, 2008As the predictably lame article tells us: Clean energy is expensive. Far more interesting than the story about the tricked out Prius is the annual budget of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. I’ve already written this commentary: The U.S. spends more on the war in Iraq in one day (about $300 million) than it does […]
Britain: Emergency Procedures Activated Ahead of Tanker Driver Strike
June 10th, 2008Via: Guardian: Downing Street today urged motorists not to indulge in panic-buying as the government confirmed that it had activated emergency procedures in preparation for a planned strike by tanker drivers. The prime minister’s spokesman said that it was “disappointing” that the four-day strike, which is due to start at 6am on Friday and which […]
OIL SURGES $11 to RECORD $138
June 7th, 2008This was an insane move. I’ll have some charts up next post. Earlier, I wrote, “Gold, oil and the U.S. Dollar Index are all rangebound slop now. Know that your indicators contain more noise here.” That was midway through the session. With this weekly candle in, the picture is substantially different now. We’ll look at […]
China Buying Time at $2.49 Per Gallon
June 6th, 2008In short: The Chinese government is massively subsidizing gasoline prices. Via: Forbes: Beijing is holding down many prices–including oil–with a cumbersome price-control scheme. Consider the following: Since January 2007, global crude oil prices have risen by 109%; gasoline prices in the U.S. have risen by 77% (roughly apace); gasoline prices in China have risen only […]
NZ Blackouts Coming: Absurd, Totally Unnecessary, Hold Politicians Accountable
June 6th, 2008Kiwis, what’s about to happen is ridiculous. Contact your MPs. Ask them why we don’t have net metering. Ask them why incentives for individuals to set up small scale generation are so pathetic. Ask them why more effort hasn’t gone into developing baseload capacity from geothermal and wave/tidal sources. Turn them on to Charmaine Watts […]
Electric Car Industry Start-Up For NZ?
June 5th, 2008It will be interesting to see how the government snatches defeat from the jaws of victory on this one. Via: Scoop: New Zealand could soon be building its own electric cars. Talks are underway in the UK now to set up a manufacturing consortium, New Zealand’s daily carbon market news service, Carbon News, reveals this […]
British Government Calling for Bids to Build Up to 25 Gigawatts of Offshore Wind Turbines
June 4th, 2008Via: Reuters: The government opened a major new phase on Wednesday in its drive for renewable energy, calling for bids to build up to 25 gigawatts of offshore wind turbines, triple the amount in the pipeline. The announcement by the government agency, the Crown Estate, which owns the seabed surrounding the country was welcomed by […]
“Geothermal Sources Could Supply Germany’s Electricity Needs 600 Times Over”
June 4th, 2008Imagine my shock. Via: Renewable Energy World: Electricity from geothermal sources is set to soar in Germany — and all thanks to a law that has made drilling wells deep enough to hit the hot temperature water, which is needed to produce electricity, financially viable. Less than 0.4 percent of Germany’s total primary energy supply […]
