oil Archive

• 

  Car Free Day, 22 September - by frog

  
  
  
  Yup, it’s coming again.  Last year Hamilton offered all it’s citizens free bus rides during Car Free Day. And there are guaranteed to be interesting, innovative and freedom promoting things happening in towns and cities around NZ again this year. (In fact why not let us know what’s happening in your town in the comments [...] read more
  September 11, 2008 8:51 am - 6 Comments
• 

  Peak Oil and Climate Change for Armchair Warriors - by frog

  
  
  
  I have written a lot about the twin challenges of peak oil and climate change facing humanity. So has the IPCC, our own Kiwi climate scientists and a whole host of pundits out there. Nothing however, is as compelling as live, up to the minute reporting and projections. StormPulse lets you watch as the third [...] read more
  September 10, 2008 4:23 pm - 32 Comments
• 

  Kiss your gas goodbye - by frog

  
  
  
  It was a clever name for a very serious event in Sebastopol, California. Sponsored by the Post Carbon Institute, it was a launch of their Ten Steps for Individuals programme for weaning ourselves off of our oil addiction. The key message is one familiar to kiwis and frogblog readers – localise! While the programme was [...] read more
  September 10, 2008 10:24 am - 4 Comments
• 

  Fossil fuels are the bottled water of energy - by frog

  
  
  
  There’s a tidy little metaphor at the Huffington Post describing fossil fuels as the bottled water of energy because of the energy and water it takes to manufacture, ship and discard the product.It gives three reasons: Like bottled water, fossil fuels are mined from countries around the world, processed, shipped and then, finally, consumed. This [...] read more
  September 8, 2008 9:12 am - 11 Comments
• 

  Oil politics backfire on the US - by frog

  
  
  
  Open Democracy’s Paul Rogers notes that as China looks to secure oil for it’s increasing consumption it is becoming a strategic power in the Middle East in exactly the way the US would not have intended or wanted. Three transnational oil companies – Shell, BP and Exxon Mobil – were all expected to complete deals [...] read more
  September 6, 2008 9:50 am - 6 Comments
• 

  Oil dips as economies wane - by frog

  
  
  
  Let the gyrations begin. As economies reel from the explosion in oil prices over the last couple of years, demand is dropping and with it, prices. As I write, oil is at $109.54, up slightly after yesterday’s significant low. Hurricane Gustav had pushed prices up a bit, but markets are heaving a sigh of relief [...] read more
  September 3, 2008 1:38 pm - 23 Comments
• 

  Kaukapakapa gears up for a fight - by frog

  
  
  
  Residents of Kaukapakapa northwest of Auckland are gearing up for the fight of their lives in an effort to stop Genesis from building a 480 MW gas turbine generating station in the middle of their paddocks. I understand through the grapevine that John Key, after public pressure in the House, has finally agreed to meet [...] read more
  August 19, 2008 5:57 pm - 103 Comments
• 

  Oil drops again, to $118.77 - by frog

  
  
  
  Oil fell through another $10 level yesterday, bringing much needed relief to all and sundry. So dependent are we on the black stuff that virtually no one and no human process can claim to be immune to the changes in price. Some are speculating that Tropical Storm Edouard, having missed the big oil producing areas [...] read more
  August 6, 2008 9:41 am - 14 Comments
• 

  MIT makes energy breakthrough - by frog

  
  
  
  Scientists at MIT have figured out a way to mimic a plant’s energy storage using ordinary materials in ordinary conditions. While the article suffers from the usual this-discovery-will-save-the-world hyperbole, it is nevertheless an important breakthrough. The ability to cheaply electrolyse water into hydrogen and oxygen means we can store solar power more readily without the [...] read more
  August 1, 2008 3:54 pm - 16 Comments
• 

  Putting it on the national credit card - by frog

  
  
  
  The trade deficit hit $1.9 billion today.  Which using one of those ‘bringing it down to a scale you can comprehend’ metaphors means that you owe someone overseas $475 dollars for the stuff you bought this year. You can add that debt to the rest of the money you own from similar size debts you [...] read more
  July 28, 2008 3:18 pm - 18 Comments
• 

  Second generation nuclear a bigger scam that the first. - by frog

  
  
  
  It seems that even America’s most pro-nuclear department is admitting that the economics of nuclear power simply do not stack up. I started to write a rant, then realised that Harvey over at The Smirking Chimp had said it all, and well: A devastating blow to the much-hyped revival of atomic power has been delivered [...] read more
  July 28, 2008 12:26 pm - 15 Comments
• 

  Save Rotuma from fossil fuel dependency - by frog

  
  
  
  I have become used to daily reports in the press about fuel shortages all around the world. Asia in particular is suffering from acute diesel shortages in part because their electricity systems are inadequate and everyone is relying on generators to do business. This article, however, made me cringe. It seems the tiny Pacific island [...] read more
  July 24, 2008 9:14 am - 8 Comments
• 

  Get ready for the last oil war - by frog

  
  
  
  As you would expect, such a title had to pique my interest. But this article over at Energy Bulletin proved irresistible, despite its dense language. While I am not entirely convinced that an all-out total war for oil, centred around Iran and triggered by their nuclear ‘crisis’ is inevitable, it is hard to articulate a [...] read more
  July 20, 2008 3:16 pm - 15 Comments
• 

  Oil drops a dime, Matthew Simmons says ‘just wait’ - by frog

  
  
  
  Since I have a habit of reporting whenever oil hits a new $10 level, I thought it only fair that I wade in and report when it has dropped as much. As I write, oil is sitting at US$130, and NZ oil companies have mercifully dropped petrol prices by 4 cents a litre. This is [...] read more
  July 18, 2008 12:37 pm - 8 Comments
• 

  Electrifying the Rails – a Peak Oil Silver BB? - by frog

  
  
  
  Everyone agrees that there is no single technology, no single silver bullet to solve the challenges we face because of peak oil. However, across the bigger ditch in the US, a very relevant debate is brewing about a key technology plank in the response to peak oil – electrified rail. This topic is particularly pertinent [...] read more
  July 15, 2008 3:10 pm - 62 Comments
• 

  Mercedes to stop building petrol cars - by frog

  
  
  
  Rich petrol heads, beware. This could be the beginning of the end of the automobile as we know it. Jaymi Heimbuch at EcoGeek reports on the Mercedes makeover: In less than 7 years, Mercedes-Benz plans to ditch petroleum-powered vehicles from its lineup. Focusing on electric, fuel cell, and biofuels, the company is revving up research [...] read more
  July 12, 2008 2:17 pm - 50 Comments
• 

  Fuel for thought – the future of transport fuels: challenges and opportunities - by frog

  
  
  
  Such is the name of a report released today by the Future Fuels Forum, an initiative led by the Australia’s CSIRO Energy Transformed Flagship. The Age summarises the bad news: PETROL prices could reach $8 a litre [~NZ$10 per litre] within a decade if oil production peaks and Australia is not ready to shift to [...] read more
  July 11, 2008 2:07 pm - 61 Comments
• 

  The oil diet - by frog

  
  
  
  Richard Heinberg, world renowned Peak Oilologist, has, as you would expect, been worrying about rising oil prices.  (Luckily world oil prices dropped significantly yesterday but don’t expect that to start a trend just yet). Anyway, Heinberg reckons he has a solution: an oil diet. Reducing demand will reduce the price: But there’s a problem to [...] read more
  July 9, 2008 9:25 am - 5 Comments
• 

  AFS Trinity claim 150 mpg - by frog

  
  
  
  AFS Trinity Power Corporation claim to have developed a hybrid technology that gets 150 miles per gallon. That’s mighty impressive given that the US light vehicle fleet averages in the low 20s. What really presses my button about this particular claim is that they have done it with off-the-shelf parts. This means that the new [...] read more
  July 6, 2008 5:01 pm - 25 Comments
• 

  Oil breaks another record on IEA statement and Iran - by frog

  
  
  
  Rumours of a dress rehearsal for an Israeli strike against Iran and European cash rate rises have been blamed for yesterday’s new record oil price. (US$145.85)  However, the International Energy Agency’s (IEA) statements earlier on Tuesday are the real peak oil news of the week and underpin the growing consensus that oil prices are not [...] read more
  July 4, 2008 9:39 am - 41 Comments