Watt's Going On?

Norway to Play a Key Role in Maintaining Balance of Future Oil and Gas Demands of the World

2008-11-18T19:02:26Z

Norway will play a key role in ensuring that the world's oil and gas supplies remain diversified according to a statement made by the International Energy Agency's chief economist.
IEA's Fatih Birol said, at a conference in Oslo, that expectations from the OPEC to produce an ever increasing share of global oil made every drop of oil from Norway very important in maintaining a diverse energy mixture.
To read the complete article click here.

British Energy's Earnings Fall Owing to Shut Down of Nuclear Facilities for Repairs

2008-11-18T18:59:03Z

The half year earning of British Energy has fallen by 49.7% (almost half) owing to the shutdown of its nuclear power plants.
Just last month, British Energy agreed to be taken over by French energy company, EDF, in a £12.5billion deal. The energy corporation, which owns eight nuclear stations in the UK, has seen a reduction of 27% in its nuclear output since September after it closed 2 of its power stations for maintenance and repair work.
Their deal with EDF, which is 85% owned by the French government is still pending shareholder and regulatory approval.
The French company plans on building four more nuclear generators in the UK thus expanding British Energy's share of domestic the market.

Oklahoma in Race to Emerge as Leader in Renewable Energy Industry

2008-11-13T18:27:50Z

Oklahoma is geared to become a leader in the renewable energy industry. With a huge wind corridor in western Oklahoma and lots of investments being made in the development of perennial native grasses as biofuels, Oklahoma is quite focussed on adhering to President- elect Obama's visionary goals to make America, energy independent in the years to come.
The state has the potential to generate 40,000MW of wind energy in their western region. With Obama's administration planning to introduce wind energy into the national grid, Oklahoma could profit a lot if they develop their wind energy industry.
Added to this, their plans to convert perennially growing switchgrass into a biofuel, could find Oklahoma emerging as a leader in the renewable energy sector even as the whole world attempts a meteoric shift towards making their economies run on renewable energy.
To read the complete article on the Forbes website click here.

EU Seeks to Completely Cut its Dependence on Russian Gas

2008-11-13T12:38:00Z

The Europan Union is desperately seeking to cut its dependence on Russian gas and is planning on harnessing more energy from the wind, the sun, the sea as well as identifying new sources in Africa and the Caspian, to do so.
Since energy prices have risen by around 15 percent in the EU last year, leaders are urgently searching for a permanent solution to this problem.
Pricing disputes with Russia, interruption of supplies by transit states and Russian invasion of Georgia have all contributed towards pushing the 27- nation organisation towards reducing its dependence on Russian gas.
The European Commission's Strategic Energy Review has stated that they will seek to finalize gas supply commitments from Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan and will look at creating a consortium to buy Caspian gas. However, since the EU has set a target to cut their reliance on fossil fuels to reduce EU emissions by 2020, they are hoping that their imports will considerably reduce by then.
Information: Article by Pete Harrison for Reuters on the Gardian website. To read the complete article click here.

$26 trillion Needed to Avoid Energy Shortage in the Future - IEA Report

2008-11-13T12:09:12Z

The International Energy Agency has warned in its global energy outlook that falling oil prices will lead to supply shocks in the future which in turn will give rise to higher prices. This statement, however, failed to have an effect on global oil markets as prices continued to plummet closing at $56.16 US a barrel in New York on Wednesday when this statement was made.
Despite this dismal trend of falling prices, Paris based IEA warned that the current supply and consumption trend was quite unstable and that pretty soon prices would surge back up to more than $200 US a barrel without efforts being made to identify new oil reserves.
The IEA report suggests that a $26 trillion development package is needed to develop new energy sources. However, deteriorating economic conditions may delay these investments.
Existing oil fields are getting depleted at a very fast rate adding to the instability of the world's energy situation. More than half of the world's energy comes from oil fields almost half a century old.
Nobuo Tanaka, the group's executive director gave a simple analogy to illustrate how growing oil demands could not be supported by existing resources. He said that even if oil demand was to remain flat, roughly four times the current capacity of Saudi Arabian fields would need to be built by 2030 just to offset the effect of oilfield decline.
This does not imply that the world will run out of resources. The IEA estimates that there are around 1.3 trillion barrels of proven reserves enough to keep the planet going for 40 years at current consumption rates. However there's no guarantee that people who own those resources would be willing to exploit them quickly.

To read the complete article by Shaun Polczer on the Calgary Herald website click here.

Exelon Corp. Aggressively Bids for NRG Energy Inc.

2008-11-12T18:10:44Z

Exelon Corp. is set to become the largest utility operator in the U.S. if it succeeds in acquire NRG Energy Inc. The smaller company formally turned down Exelon's initial stock- swap offer earlier this week. In fact, late Tuesday, NRG Energy's management urged its shareholders to take no action on the proposal by the larger corporation. The Princeton, New Jersey based company was offered a premium of 10 percent over its closing price by Exelon on Tuesday. While NRG Energy shares fell 2 percent to $22.66 on Wednesday, Exelon shares declined by 2.5 percent to $50.66.
After NRG Energy repulsed their offer, Exelon has turned aggressive by taking their offer directly to NRG shareholders.
Exelon chairman and CEO John Rowe stated that NRG Energy rejected their proposal without any discussion as to the merits or structure of their proposal thus leaving them with no choice. The corporation is even pursuing a lawsuit against NRG and its directors alleging a breach of fiduciary duty for their failure to even consider the merger deal.

Intelligent Living Corp. Adopts Green Building Practices For All it's Projects

2008-11-12T17:56:06Z

Intelligent Living Corp. a leading automation and technology solutions provider that has begun implementing green building practices in its projects recently announced that was going to adopt green practices for all of its current and upcoming projects. The company which offers institutional, industrial, commercial and multi- unit constructions as well as takes up major renovation projects will now offer green building practices as part of its suite of product offerings.
Green buildings conserve electricity, water, materials and land by ensuring that they are used more efficiently in the construction and maintenance of the buildings than in buildings that have been built as per norm. Green buildings try to set in place techniques and practices that help reduce the impact of buildings on the environment.
To read more details about the article click here.

Solar Energy as Cheap as Energy from Fossil Fuels Could be Possible Soon

2008-11-11T18:25:19Z

A new solar- cell system designed by engineer John Paul Morgan, could revolutionize the solar energy industry making solar energy as cheap as energy from fossil fuels. Morgan, who worked as an engineer for JDS Uniphase Corp after completing his degree from the University of Toronto, has created a new type of solar panel made from lower cost materials with a very simple design thus paving the way for solar energy to become very affordable. All that's left to be done is to prove that the whole design is reliable.
The Information for this post was gathered from an article by Tyler Hamilton for The Star website. Click here to read the inspiring story of John Paul Morgan's life.

Harnessing Marine Energy

2008-11-10T12:57:44Z

Marine energy, an often spoken about substitute to the conventional and more polluting form of energy production is being given a new lease of life after factors such as global warming, energy security and rising oil prices have put pressure on governments around the world to come up with sustainable alternatives.
Ocean energy is a reliable and abundant source of energy that can supply up to 10 percent of the world's electricity needs. Like all forms of renewable energy, the cost to set up a marine energy plant is quite considerable. However, the marine energy sector is trying to reduce its cost in order to achieve grid parity.
Countries in Europe have already begun investing in this technology. The United Kingdom, Ireland and Portugal are rich in marine resources and have already begun investing in marine energy technology.
Within Europe, the UK has emerged as a leader in the marine energy industry. Researchers estimate that 20 percent of the UK's total energy requirements could be harnessed from the ocean.
Information from the marketwatch website. To read the complete article click here.

Pic courtesy martapiqs from flickr.com

Kazakhstan to Reduce Export Tariff on Crude Oil

2008-11-10T12:39:57Z

Oil rich Kazakhstan is planning to cut tariffs on the export of crude oil by one third in order to help domestic producers, energy minister Sauat Mynbayev said today.
In a move to reduce soaring oil prices in their domestic market, the Kazakh government had introduced an export tariff in May. This way they boosted their state revenue while helping their domestic fuel market. However, with the drop in oil prices, the tariff started eating into the profit margins of domestic producers.
As per the proposal by the energy minister, the government is considering dropping the duty to $139 per ton from the current levy of $210 per ton.
The duty is adjusted every quarter to keep pace with the fluctuations in global prices. Mynbayev has said that this may change with revisions of tariff taking place as often as on a biweekly or monthly basis.
Kazakhstan has some of the world's largest oil reserves, concentrated in the western parts of the country.
Information from The Associated Press website.

Creation of New Energy Security Council on the Cards for America

2008-11-07T14:56:15Z

Barack Obama is seriously debating creating an Energy Security Council within the White House that would operate in tandem with other Whitehouse entities, especially the Council on Environmental Quality. The creation of the new council is based on a white paper written by former President, Bill Clinton's, Chief of Staff, John Podesta, who is overseeing the President's transition.
To read the complete article on mlive.com click here.

Pic courtesy jmtimages from flickr.com

Finland Geared to Meet EU's Climate Change Goal for 2020

2008-11-07T14:28:03Z

Finland is gearing up to meet the European Union's climate change goals for 2020 by trying to reduce power consumption and by increasing the percentage of renewable energy they produce. They have stated that their priority in the years to come would be to build a zero or low emission energy economy. They would also focus on increasing the efficiency of energy consumption in the areas of housing, construction and transport.
EU countries agreed last year to cut emissions that contribute to global warming by 2020 since greenhouse gas emissions by the year 2020 were projected t be 20 percent more than what it was in 1990. Apart from this EU countries are also committed to use 20 percent of renewable energy sources in power production and 10 percent biofuels from crops in transport by the same date.
It will be an uphill task to achieve this aim. Government officials admitted as much by saying that, on paper, their goals could be met only if growth in their energy consumption could be reversed. To supplement energy production from renewable sources the Finnish government is planning on building more nuclear power plants.

To read the complete article by Brett Young on The Guardian website click here.

IEA Warning - Oil Prices Set to Skyrocket in the Years to Come

2008-11-07T14:22:22Z

The International Energy Agency (IEA) has predicted that the era of cheap oil is over. They warn that crude oil prices will soon skyrocket above $100 a barrel and that by 2030 this will double with fields in the North Sea and in other areas of the world getting depleted faster than expected.
The IEA, which acts as an energy policy advisor to 28 countries, was founded during the oil crisis of 1973-74. It says that more than $26 trillion of investment would be needed over the next few years to help countries of the world achieve energy independence.
At the moment, market fluctuations have caused prices to fall but this trend will not last long.
On a brighter note they categorically stated that it wasn't that the world was running out of resources, the risk to supply was that there was a lack of investment in the right areas. Total world oil production isn't projected to peak before 2030 but the more easily accessible sources of crude or conventional oil will most likely plateau towards the end of that period. Besides that, energy sources are concentrated with a few people, largely being confined to the OPEC producer's cartel. It is Non- OPEC oil production that is projected to decline by the middle of the next decade.

Information from The Guardian website.

Massachusetts Ahead of the Rest of America in Implementing Obama's Green Policies

2008-11-06T17:37:44Z

Massachusetts is ahead of the rest of America in implementing the president- elect's energy plan which focuses on combating climate change and becoming independent of oil. The states energy and environmental policies already attempt to improve energy efficiency, use more renewable energy and create more green jobs.
To read the complete article that details the advantages, disadvantages and obstacles that lie in the path of the state in adhering to such a plan by Erin Ailworth on boston.com click here.

ECOtality All Praises for Obama's New Policies

2008-11-06T17:34:21Z

President- elect Barack Obama's clean energy policies to alleviate America's dependence on foreign oil find favor with several clean energy industries.
ECOtality Inc, a leader in clean electric transportation and storage technologies praised Obama's paln to make the U.S. a leader in climate change by providing people more jobs in the renewable energy industry with targets such as, that of putting 1 million Plug- In Hybrid cars on the road by 2015 and of converting ten percent of electricity generation sources into renewable sources by 2012.
To read the whole article on the marketwatch website click here.