Energy / Energy-General

• On Again, off Again Trans-Afghan Natural Gas Pipeline Revives

  The ongoing saga of the proposed $7.6 billion, 1,040 mile-long Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) natural gas pipeline has more twists and turns than Vishnu has arms. On 25 January TAPI was one of the main topics of discussions between Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov and Afghan President Hamed Karzai, who arrived in Turkmenistan on a working visit. The two leaders met at the Caspian seaside town of Turkmenbasy. Altyn Asyr (Golden Age) TV reported that the pair reaffirmed the interest of both Turkmenistan and Afghanistan in increasing the tempo of implementing the project, highlighting the importance of the work of the TAPI Technical Working…

• Obama Calls on Energy Companies to Disclose the Ingredients of Fracking Fluid

  President Obama during the State of the Union address Tuesday night said his administration would require energy companies working in shale gas plays in his country to disclose the ingredients of hydraulic fracturing fluid. That's becoming something of a common practice in the United States, a country described by Texas oil magnate T. Boone Pickens as the Saudi Arabia of natural gas. Yet, advocacy groups complain the chemicals in so-called fracking fluid threaten the environment. State regulators, and most of the energy companies, counter that fracking is safe if done correctly. So was Obama's message Tuesday to the energy companies…

• Rossi’s Ex-Partners to Release an Improved Version of LENR for Testing

  The Praxen Defkalion Green Technologies Global Ltd. (PDGT) firm that was and then wasn’t a partner with Andrea Rossi in marketing the E-Cat LENR reactor has announced the permitting of third party evaluations of their product named “Hyperion”.  PDGT had for a time an opportunity to learn what Rossi has accomplished and since is proposing they have a different take on LENR and are now ready to cooperate with recognized and reputable scientific and business organizations to test and evaluate the Hyperion reactor. Back at the end of November PDGT offered news that a series of third party tests on…

• Can Iran Survive Now That Europe Has Also Agreed to Boycott it's Oil?

  The European Union threatened Iran on Monday with cutting off petroleum imports into the 27 EU member states, and announced sanctions on Iranian banks and some port and other companies.Iran sells 18 percent of its petroleum to Europe, and Greece, Italy and Spain are particularly dependent on it. Europe also sells Iran nearly $12 billion a year in goods, which likely will cease, since there will be no way for Iran to pay for these goods. Some in Europe worry that the muscular anti-Iran policy of the UK, France and Germany in northern Europe will worsen the economic crisis of…

• How the Smart Grid will Evolve in 2012

  Aging grid infrastructure, rising energy costs and demand, and new and pending government legislation are some of the factors motivating consumers and utilities alike to seek more energy efficient, sustainable solutions. Smart grid technologies are the key to addressing these challenges and bringing energy management to the masses. 2012 will prove to be another exciting year to watch the smart grid market evolve. Here are a few top trends to expect next year: 1) Distributed Automation takes centre stage Many utilities are preparing to leverage smart grid technologies to deliver improved reliability through increased automation.  Distributed Automation (DA) is a key element…

• Is the Carbon Bubble About to Pop?

  Internet, housing, banking, we have come across quite a few bubbles in the past decade, but now we are faced with the unfolding of possibly the biggest bubble of them all. The carbon bubble, created and sustained by the systematic over valuation of carbon intensive firms and their assets. Energy firms populate the top echelons of most of the world’s indices due to valuations largely determined by the fossil fuel assets they hold. Yet scientists are constantly warning us of the dangers of climate change, and governments are continuously bringing out new legislation to enforce their climate policies. It is…

• Something's Fishy in Tripoli

  Way back in early 2011, members of the U.N. Security Council had no problem getting a resolution through that authorized military force in Libya ostensibly to protect civilians from attacks by forces loyal to strongman Moammar Gadhafi. The year before, lawmakers on both sides of the Atlantic were bickering over who did what and why in terms of the cancer-stricken Lockerbie bomber. This Scottish decision to release him, depending on which U.S. lawmaker you spoke with, was tied to a BP deal to drill for oil in Libya. Despite fractures in the new interim government in Tripoli and reports of…

• How to Become Rich: Buy Low and Sell High

  It's a strategy that works for individuals, and can work for the entire nation as well. If you can figure out a way to find resources whose value in their current use is not very great-- in other words, if you buy low-- and redeploy them somewhere else where their value is much greater-- in other words, sell high-- then you will not only add to your personal wealth, you will be creating new wealth for society as a whole. The process of allocating resources to their most efficient use is the heart of what drives economic growth. The fact…

• Wild Swings Characterize Obama Energy Policy

  When it comes to energy policy, President Obama has an unfailing capacity to undermine his own declared intentions. If he were driving a car  the way he's driving energy policy, he'd be sobriety tested. The president’s latest decision to defer a decision on TransCanada's Keystone XL oil pipeline is a sudden swerve to the left, after his sharp right turn in curbing the enthusiasm of the Environmental Protection Agency for limiting electric utility emissions. Similarly Obama has supported some new drilling for oil, but not in all the areas the industry would like to drill. He's in the middle of…

• Environmental Politics: Keystone XL Rejected Until After the Election

  The decision by President Obama to reject the Keystone XL pipeline designed to bring Canadian oil to US Gulf Coast refineries was a surprise to no one.   Officially, the State Department said it rejected the project because the Republicans in Congress imposed a deadline of 60 days for review and decision on the project that was insufficient to allow consideration of the issues.  The rejection letter also invited the project sponsors to re-file their application—after the election!Growth Forecast of US Shale Gas by US EIA For the politicians this is a pure win-win.  All sides can score points on the…