Concerns over reports Monday of a declining Asian economy helped push crude oil prices down for the second straight trading day. The World Bank downgraded its growth expectations for the Asia-Pacific region, where the Chinese economy is showing signs of flattening. In Europe, meanwhile, trouble continued, though leaders there agreed to set up a $648 billion recovery fund. Though the IMF praised Middle East economies for maintaining a watchful eye on global oil markets, the slide in energy prices continued into the second week of October. The…

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For centuries navies used a renewable energy form as a means of propulsion. The wind. Now the U.S. Navy is investigating another potentially limitless fuel source to produce JP-5 jet fuel – seawater. The U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) is developing the chemistry for producing jet fuel from renewable resources in theatre. The process envisioned would catalytically convert carbon dioxide and hydrogen directly to liquid hydrocarbon fuel used as JP-5. And how exactly would this alchemic sleight of hand be performed? By…

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Among the obstacles in the way of the triumph of renewable energy, one stands out: the lack of cheap, efficient means to store power. Now, it could just be starting to crumble.Solar, wind and other renewables are booming as never before. On the face of it, there’s nothing to stop them becoming the dominant source of our electricity sometime during the course of this century.Except for one big, black fly in the ointment. Our limited ability to store the electricity they generate. Energy storage is the holy grail for renewables, since many…

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Gasoline prices in California are usually 30-40 cents a gallon higher than the rest of the country. About 20 cents of that is due to higher gasoline taxes in California and much of the rest from the fact that we use a higher quality of gasoline in order to reduce air pollution. But the average retail price of gasoline in California jumped 50 cents a gallon last week, even as the price elsewhere in the country was heading down. The average price in the Golden State on Friday was $4.64 a gallon. That compares with a California high of $4.38 reached…

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Yesterday, the New York Times described a “looming financial disaster” for China’s clean energy industry: “Though worldwide demand for solar panels and wind turbines has grown rapidly over the last five years, China’s manufacturing capacity has soared even faster, creating enormous oversupply and a ferocious price war.” This development offers three important lessons for U.S. clean energy advocates.1. Green Mercantilism is not a long-term sustainable clean energy strategy. China’s clean energy policies…

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Many people dismiss the risks associated with oil depletion and climate change–even many who accept the two issues as problems. They judge those risks to be small or at least manageable. Since no one can know the future, we cannot be sure whether they are right or wrong. But even if they are right, should we be so sanguine? As we examine this question, keep in mind that we are talking about probabilities and the level of risk, not absolute knowledge which none of us can have about the future.One reason that so many people discount the risks of…

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In a new report, Ofgem, the UK energy regulator, has warned that in as little as three years time the nation could start experiencing black outs and higher energy bills as a result of the faster than expected phase out of coal-fired power stations.Others fear that the rapid decline of coal power stations could lead the government to pursue a ‘dash for gas’ which will increase carbon emissions for decades to come.Ofgem have predicted that the current spare capacity of 14% could fall to just 4% by 2015, meaning that a spike in demand…

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Hugo Chavez, the president of Venezuela, has just celebrated another comfortable election victory which will cement his status as one of the dominant figures in modern Latin American history.A record 80 percent of the population voted in the elections, helping Chavez’s claims of democratic rule, despite critics who claim he is an autocrat who bullies private corporations and silences political foes.Tens of thousands of supporters hit the streets to celebrate Chavez’s victory over his opponent Henrique Capriles, which he achieved by…

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In his latest speech, which he gave to his party in a conference on Monday, George Osborne, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, gave hope to the UK shale gas industry.He stated that, “we are today consulting on a generous new tax regime for shale so that Britain is not left behind as gas prices tumble on the other side of the Atlantic.”Shale gas in the UK needs all the help that it can get. Due to difficulties that arise from mineral rights, population density, and environmental regulations, only a few wells have been drilled so far, far…

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Saudi Arabian Oil Company (Saudi Aramco) has chartered another four very large crude tankers to carry oil to the Gulf of Mexico in October. So far this year the oil giant has sent four tankers a month to refineries in the Gulf, but following rumours that a large refinery will soon be reopened, they have decided to double their crude export, transporting for an extra 16 million barrels a month.The 600,000 barrel a day Motiva Enterprises LLC refinery in Texas, owned by Royal Dutch Shell and Saudi Aramco, had to shut down one of its 325,000 barrels…

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