tagged w/ Natural Gas
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Consumers express renewed interest in natural-gas vehicles:
High oil prices, increased domestic natural-gas production, and a well-publicized push from a former oil man have all boosted interest in natural-gas vehicles in the United States lately. This spring, the natural-gas equivalent of a gallon of gasoline was selling for about $1.50 less than gasoline on average nationwide. And in some places like Utah, where vertical integration of natural-gas utilities keeps prices unusually low, the difference is even larger.
Energy independence enthusiasts in and out of Congress are (naturally) gassed about the possibilities. Right now, the U.S. only imports some 2 percent of its natural-gas supply and new drilling techniques that extract natural gas from shale deposits have analysts predicting a sustained boom in domestic production for years to come. However, a dearth of natural-gas pumps at gas stations is a major hurdle to increased use of the cleaner cars; less than 1 percent of U.S. gas stations carry natural-gas pumps for vehicles. Another infrastructure problem is the lack of commercially available natural-gas vehicles. Honda's Civic GX is the only model currently available, though GM has said it might also get into the biz.
Consumers express renewed interest in natural-gas vehicles:
High oil prices,... more
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A Southern California man uses the natural gas he gets at home to fill his car. According to the story, the range and price for fuel would be the equivalent of getting gas for as low as $1.25 per gallon.
There are some problems, though. The car can only go about 200 miles, and there aren't a whole lot of natural gas fueling stations in the US. (there just hasn't been a need, so nobody's making them)
While I prefer a fossil-fuel free mode of transportation, I'd say that this might be a step in the right direction, or at least a band aid to get us through to even cleaner energy in our daily lives.A Southern California man uses the natural gas he gets at home to fill his car.... more
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Well that didn’t take long. Russia’s military incursion into Georgia, home to a key oil and gas pipeline, stoked fears that the West would have a harder time convincing Central Asian countries to defy Russia and take part in future pipeline projects that would reduce dependence on Russia. Now, some countries seem to be bailing out of the existing ones.
Kazakhstan is considering diverting its oil exports away from the BTC pipeline that runs through Georgia, and using Russia instead. The reason? “Security concerns,” brought about by Russian military intervention. From Turkey’s Hurriyet:
"Kazakhstan is considering pumping its oil through Russia as an alternative to the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline due to increased security concerns over the clashes in the Caucasus, a Turkish daily reported on Thursday. A high level Kazakh official told Turkish business daily Referans that question marks now hang over the security of the BTC pipeline. “We could reconsider our decisions on sending Kazakh oil to the world market. Changing the (export) route is in our agenda now,” the official was quoted as saying by Referans."
That’s a blow to the existing BTC pipeline, not to mention any others the U.S. and Europe plan to build. It was meant to be expanded to handle additional oil coming from the big Kashagan fields in Kazakhstan. Turkish Energy Ministry officials told the newspaper “expansion of the BTC line would only be possible with the supply of Kazakh oil.”
The big worry about the Russian-Georgia conflict was that it heralded a new “iron curtain” in the region that could affect oil supply lines. The big surprise is how quickly that appears to be coming true.
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Click on the link to access in-text links.
See also: http://current.com/items/89210784_while_the_world_s_attention_was_focused_on_the_crisis_in_georgia
So now, counting its ally Iran, Russia has a near-monopoly and control of the Caspian Sea Basin oil and natural gas. Well done, Bush, Cheney Rice, McCain, and Saakashvili!
Well that didn’t take long. Russia’s military incursion into Georgia,... more
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Naomi Klein on disaster capitalism.
"Corporations are built to be opportunistic. That's their mission. If there's an opportunity, they must take advantage of it, and it's in the interests of their shareholders, and they shouldn't be sentimental about it. So that's what capitalism is supposed to do: take advantage of opportunities. What I'm talking about, and what I mean by disaster capitalism, is a political strategy."
Naomi Klein is an award-winning journalist, syndicated columnist and author of the international and New York Times bestseller The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism. Klein's previous book No Logo: Taking Aim at the Brand Bullies was also an international bestseller. Klein is a former Miliband Fellow at the London School of Economics and holds an honorary Doctor of Civil Laws from the University of King’s College, Nova Scotia. For more information on The Shock Doctrine visit http://www.naomiklein.org/mainNaomi Klein on disaster capitalism.
"Corporations are built to be... more
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...Russia took control of Turkmen (world?) natural gas. No, not violently or threateningly, but through a bona fides business deal that gives Russia control of most of the world's natural gas for the next twenty years.
Who said the Russians couldn't play chess?
...Russia took control of Turkmen (world?) natural gas. No, not violently or... more
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Tougher to win than the lottery? Mob, move in yet? Big Oil has got to be there... It pays to be a geologist!Tougher to win than the lottery? Mob, move in yet? Big Oil has got to be there... It... more
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Combustion Engines are a problem. Even hydrogen ones. Hydrogen is being touted as the new oil, but I have some questions:
Where Does Hydrogen Come from?
Hydrogen comes from water or from fossil fuels.
* Electrolysis of water - Using electricity, it is easy to split water molecules to create pure hydrogen and oxygen. One big advantage of this process is that you can do it anywhere. For example, you could have a box in your garage producing hydrogen from tap water, and you could fuel your car with that hydrogen.
* Reforming fossil fuels - Oil and natural gas contain hydrocarbons -- molecules consisting of hydrogen and carbon. Using a device called a fuel processor or a reformer, you can split the hydrogen off the carbon in a hydrocarbon relatively easily and then use the hydrogen. You discard the leftover carbon to the atmosphere as carbon dioxide.
What happens when we use up all of our water?
Has anyone posed that question?
We're searching all over the Universe for signs of water.
So what's our brilliant new plan for energy so we can drive and heat our homes?
Lets use up the source of life........ water...... ?
And there's an problem with the math when it comes to electricity to produce the hydrogen.
Where will the electricity for the electrolysis of water come from?
Right now, about 68 percent of the electricity produced in the United States comes from coal or natural gas. All of that generating capacity will have to be replaced by renewable sources in the hydrogen economy. In addition, all of the fossil fuel energy now used for transportation (in cars, trucks, trains, boats, planes) will have to convert to hydrogen, and that hydrogen will be created with electricity, as well. In other words, the electrical generating capacity in the country will have to double in order to take on the demands of transportation, and then it will all have to convert from fossil fuels to renewable sources. At that point, and only at that point, will the flow of carbon into the atmosphere stop.
In the United States, about 20 percent of the power currently comes from nuclear and 7 percent comes from hydroelectric. Solar, wind, geothermal and other sources generate only 5 percent of the power -- hardly enough to matter.
We recall that hydrogen combustion does resolve the environmental problems of fossil fuels due to excessive emission of carcinogenic substances and carbon dioxide. However, hydrogen combustion implies the permanent removal from our atmosphere of directly usable oxygen, a serious environmental problem called oxygen depletion, since the combustion turns oxygen into water whose separation to restore the original oxygen is prohibitive due to cost. We then show that a conceivable global use of hydrogen in complete replacement of fossil fuels would imply the permanent removal from our atmosphere of 2.8875x107 metric tons O2/day. Fuel cells are briefly discussed to point out similarly serious environmental problems, again, for large uses. International Hydrogen Energy Forum 2000, Munich, Germany, September 11-15, 2000 http://www.citebase.org/fulltext?format=application%2Fpdf&identifier=oai%3AarXiv.org%3Aphysics%2F0009014
Please join the conversation by commenting below.Combustion Engines are a problem. Even hydrogen ones. Hydrogen is being touted as the... more
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IT'S TIME TO STOP AMERICA'S ADDICTION TO FOREIGN OIL
America is in a hole and it's getting deeper every day. We import 70% of our oil at a cost of $700 billion a year - four times the annual cost of the Iraq war.
Watch this video and see this solution. Then join if you agree
To view full website and join click here http://www.pickensplan.com/index.php
IT'S TIME TO STOP AMERICA'S ADDICTION TO FOREIGN OIL
America is in a... more
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Aijaz Ahmad: What would a rational American foreign policy look like? Part 6
Based in New Delhi, Aijaz Ahmad is The Real News Network's Senior News Analyst; Senior Editorial Consultant, and political commentator for the Indian newsmagazine, Frontline. He has taught Political Science, and has written widely on South Asia and the Middle East.Aijaz Ahmad: What would a rational American foreign policy look like? Part 6
Based... more
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Consumer organisations attacked energy companies today for not doing enough to protect poorer people from the worst effects of spiralling gas prices .
The comments came after a report warned that gas prices could soar by up to 70% in the next two years and stay high. Annual gas bills could rise from around £600 a household to more than £1,000, according to the independent report commissioned by Centrica, which owns British Gas.
It said gas prices in the UK would be more strongly influenced by the soaring cost of oil, which has jumped above $140 a barrel this year - twice as high as a year ago. This is because declining output from the North Sea makes Britain more reliant on imports.
"The energy companies could do more to shield vulnerable people from the worst effects of rising energy prices," said Cassie Higgs, energy expert at the National Consumer Council. "An effective response would be for the companies to offer low-cost 'social' tariffs to vulnerable households, such as low-income families and elderly people. Some energy companies are doing well in this area, but others are offering schemes that are inadequate - often rationed and applied inconsistently."
Jake Ulrich, managing director of Centrica Energy, admitted that gas price rises were likely to lead to a "potentially significant" rise in the number of people in fuel poverty. He predicted that people would have to change their habits to deal with higher prices. "I do think we will see people change their behaviour," he said. "I think people will use less energy and I hate to go back to the Jimmy Carter days in the US but maybe it's two jumpers instead of one."
Energywatch, the gas and electricity watchdog, called on the government to act to reduce the pressure on wholesale gas prices and force the industry to deliver affordable energy for the less well-off.
"The government is right to say that the link to oil is a cause of the problems but wrong to say there is nothing that can be done," said chief executive Allan Asher. "The local impact is so catastrophic it should be leading the international drive to end the hugely damaging and entirely unjustifiable link between the prices of gas and oil.
Gordon Lishman, director general of Age Concern, said higher energy bills were hitting pensioners particularly hard. "Price rises on this scale would mean well over three million pensioner households - more than one in three - would be in fuel poverty," he said. "It is totally unacceptable that because of price hikes many older people may feel forced to cut back on their heating, which could put their health at risk."
Consumer organisations attacked energy companies today for not doing enough to protect... more
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India will soon sign an agreement with Iran and Pakistan to construct a multi-billion dollar gas pipeline, its petroleum minister has said.
The pipeline will transport gas from Iran to India through Pakistan, and is seen as crucial to Indian energy needs.
In April, Iranian President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, had told the Indian Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, that all obstacles holding up the long-delayed project would be resolved within 45 days.
The 2,600-km pipeline would initially transport 60 cubic meters of gas (2.2bn cubic feet) a day. India will soon sign an agreement with Iran and Pakistan to construct a multi-billion... more
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Over 35,000 motorists in Peru have installed a natural gas tank in their vehicle and equipped it to run on compressed natural gas (CNG), reported El Comercio daily on Monday.
With each passing day this number increases, said El Comercio. An estimated 70 to 80 people have a natural gas tank installed in their vehicle every day, thus, giving them the option to choose between gasoline and CNG.
Why choose natural gas? "it contaminates less," said El Comercio, explaining natural gas emitted 97 percent less toxic gases than conventional fuels.
Furthermore, the daily explained that motorists who chose to use gasoline were contaminating the environment 32 times more than people that used natural gas.
The daily quoted the new minister of health Antonio Brack and advised citizens to consider their health, assuring that 13,000 Peruvians died every year because of air pollution.
Upon listing the advantages of CNG, the daily added that it was 70 percent cheaper than gasoline and 50 percent under the price of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG).
On the other hand, it was reported that there needed to be more CNG fueling stations to meet the demand of rising natural gas motorists.
There are currently 33 natural gas stations in Lima, Peru
http://www.livinginperu.com/news-6640-miningenergy-70-80-motorists-peru-switch-natural-gas-daily-35-000-cng-users
Over 35,000 motorists in Peru have installed a natural gas tank in their vehicle and... more
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The Bolivian government has taken full control of a key gas pipeline company after talks with the foreign firm that held a controlling stake broke down.
President Evo Morales said Transredes had been seized after US company Ashmore Energy International failed to agree to a share buy-back.
Transredes transports Bolivia's natural gas to clients in Brazil and Argentina.
President Morales said Ashmore had agreed to sell some of its 25% share in the firm but that these talks had not led to a deal.
It is the latest move in the Bolivian president's recent effort to nationalize key industries.The Bolivian government has taken full control of a key gas pipeline company after... more
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This crater in Turkmenistan, was created by an accidental explosion as a result of natural gas exploratory drilling in 1986.This crater in Turkmenistan, was created by an accidental explosion as a result of... more
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US energy giant ExxonMobil said Tuesday it would seek regulatory approval for a floating liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal to help meet the growing energy needs of New Jersey and New York. It would be anchored some 20 miles off the coast of New Jersey, away from shore recreational and shipping lanes.US energy giant ExxonMobil said Tuesday it would seek regulatory approval for a... more
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Hydrogen as an everyday, environmentally friendly fuel source may be closer than we think, according to Penn State researchers.Hydrogen as an everyday, environmentally friendly fuel source may be closer than we... more
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