Insight and inspiration in turbulent times.
Lisa Merkl A breakthrough in thin film solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) is currenty being refined in labs at the University of Houston, which they say could lead to distributed power generation from natural gas.
A few months ago waves of information about a theory called “Peak Oil” started to reveal a potential nightmare upon my computer desktop.
Eight US states have joined forces to file law suits against five giant power firms challenging their gas emissions.
Queensland Energy Resources, which runs the demonstration plant, says it will be placed into care and maintenance around September. The controversial project has been plagued by environmental issues.
The Venezuelan government said Wednesday it may suspend oil shipments to the United States in case of an eventual conflict with that country.
Lawsuits could be a means to convince major power companies they need to make a real effort toward lowering greenhouse gas emissions.
BUENOS AIRES (Dow Jones)–Argentina and Venezuela will extend this year’s fuel-for-food accord over the coming years, giving Argentina the option to continue importing diesel and gasoil from its South American neighbor, if current gas and power shortages remain a problem.(Adds comments from Planning Minister De Vido’s spokesman saying this year’s $ 240 million fuel contract deal would be renewed in 2005.)
The U.S. occupation of Iraq officially ended on June 28, 2004 , in a secret ceremony in Baghdad . Officially, “full sovereignty” was handed from the Americans to the Iraqi Interim Government. But it was clear from the start that this was sovereignty in name, not in deed.
The House Financial Services Committee in the United States plans to begin a hearing Wednesday on the oil reserve scandal at Royal Dutch/Shell, a move that is sure to expose the company to more public criticism, and could provide additional fuel to class-action suits.
President Bush and his Democratic opponent John Kerry are both for “energy independence”—like every other president for a generation. That elusive, but ultimately pointless, quest has been a central feature in American politics and policy for the past 30 years, ever since the October 1973 embargo on oil exports to the United States launched by Saudi Arabia, Algeria, Bahrain, Abu Dhabi, and Libya.
Wind energy’s erratic performance as a power source means the more it forms part of a power system, the more back-up supply is required and the less cost efficient it is, according to a report on renewable energy produced for Britain’s House of Lords.
China’s power shortages show no signs of easing, state media said Wednesday, as the company in charge of the nation’s power grid threatened to cut off factories that fail to conserve energy.
