oil Archive

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  Thoughts on the IEA’s World Energy Outlook 2009

  
  
  
  The latest from the IEA is hot of the press. I’m curious to see what they have to say this time around, because their stance on oil supplies has shifted quite a lot recently. They used to believe oil supplies would last for a long long time, but are now saying 2020 will be the [...] read more
  November 11, 2009 4:21 pm - 10 Comments
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  How would you like one of these in Doubtful Sound?

  
  
  
  This oil rig has been spewing oil into the sea for eight weeks. Eight! At 400 barrels per day! The company at the centre of the oil spill, PTTEP Australasia, will have its third attempt at intercepting and plugging the leak tomorrow. Good luck guys! Look out for whatever’s causing that big plume of smoke! More at abc.net.au The [...] read more
  October 21, 2009 5:22 pm - 4 Comments
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  NZ Govt risks apostrophe war in archipelago

  
  
  
  Someone wise once said that the word is more powerful than the sword, and today’s Government statement could be seen as a desperate and venal attempt by the New Zealand Government to provoke Indonesia. read more
  October 18, 2009 5:39 pm - 12 Comments
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  Procurement: which costs are saved?

  
  
  
  The Government has just announced it is to review and reform state sector procurement. The Government Procurement Reform Agenda is based around four key themes: ·         Cost savings. ·         Building procurement capability and capacity. ·         Enhanced business participation. ·         Improved governance, oversight and accountability. Cost savings:  just to the Government’s expenditure or also saving costs to our natural capital? After all, [...] read more
  June 11, 2009 11:55 am - 4 Comments
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  General Debate, June 4, 2009

  
  
  
  Serious allegations swirl around the head of a fallen National Party Minister. The healthy food in schools debate runs hot, but civil on a highjacked thread. Oil hovers in the mid-sixties, a harbinger, if my earlier predictions were correct, of the beginning of an economic recovery, at least as the growth-worshippers measure it. Your thoughts on these and [...] read more
  June 4, 2009 9:22 am - 21 Comments
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  Hasta la pasta!

  
  
  
  Biogas from municipal waste is the Stockholm transport authority’s preferred fuel for the future of buses in their city. They’re aiming for a carbon neutral public transport system by 2025. It featured in a recent advertising campaign on the buses, billed “Thanks for the Food”, which said: Thank you for eating cannelloni and gravadlax [...] read more
  May 14, 2009 3:00 pm - 7 Comments
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  Scientific Megalomania?

  
  
  
  The Education and Science Select Committee carries out financial reviews of Crown Research institutes which is a fascinating process, not so much the glossy balance sheets but reading between the lines. We also get to speak with the heads of these bodies and ask questions about the work. Yesterday we meet with Geological and Nuclear [...] read more
  May 1, 2009 9:40 am - 21 Comments
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  Powering our farms with sunshine not oil

  
  
  
  Graham Harvey, the author of The Carbon Fields, has a good opinion piece here, where he talks about our lack of food security: Our food supply is now more dependent on globally traded grains than at any time in our history. This makes it inherently unstable and vulnerable to the kind of catastrophic meltdown that threatened [...] read more
  November 5, 2008 3:06 pm - 15 Comments
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  The big Oil Crunch within five years

  
  
  
  A report released last week says the crunch will be upon us very soon, and Shell oil agrees. From the Guardian: The report was issued today by the recently established UK industry taskforce on peak oil and energy security, a group of eight companies including transport firms Virgin, Stagecoach and FirstGroup, engineers Arup, architects Foster and [...] read more
  November 4, 2008 10:54 am - 46 Comments
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  IEA´s unnaproved draft oil report

  
  
  
  For those who follow the oil game, the IEA´s announcement last May that their complete review of the world oil supply situation wouldn´t come out until the week after the US Presidential election came as no surprise. The last thing that any American administration would want to do is spook the markets just prior to [...] read more
  October 30, 2008 10:31 am - 17 Comments