Powering up for a hydrogen economy

Sooner or later the world is going to have to make the switch away from fossil fuels, says Keith Guy. In this week's Green Room, he explains what needs to be done to make the vision of a global hydrogen economy a reality.
n increasing global population, rising standards of living and more industrial production mean the amount of energy the world consumes could rise by 50-60% over the next 25 years.

Today, the biggest forms of energy are fossil fuels - oil, gas, coal. Read More

Wolves and bears circle energy security

Energy security cuts both ways, we are told. It is not only the gas-guzzling American motorist who needs comforting, but also the bloated petrocrats of the Gulf. At the Opec summit meeting in Riyadh this weekend, the talk will not be of supply insecurity, but of demand collapse. Even as truckers threaten mass meetings in Britain to protest about the price of diesel, the risk is seen on the downside from the perspective of the producers. Algerians attending the Rome World Energy Congress this week were less than impressed by the screeching about $100-a-barrel oil and shortages.

“What do you think the American economy will be doing next year?” was the comment of Chakib Khelil, the Algerian Oil Minister. “If there is a recession, then we won’t have a supply problem.” No need to pump more crude, then. Read More

Baker Institute Study Shows Big Five Oil Companies Limit Exploration

Houston TX (SPX) Nov 14, 2007
A study released today by Rice University's Baker Institute for Public Policy finds that the "Big Five" international oil companies (IOCs) are spending less money on oil exploration in real terms despite a four-fold increase in operating cash flow since the early 1990s. On the flip side, the study, "The International Oil Companies," finds that second-tier oil companies are spending more in exploration, positioning themselves to be in better shape when it comes to future oil reserves.

The analysis is based on Baker Institute research on investment expenditures by the IOCs, the next 20 largest U.S.-based oil firms and national oil companies (NOCs). Data were culled from U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filings going back to 1995 and, in the case of NOCs, to news reports and other public data.

The study found that the Big Five (ExxonMobil, Royal Dutch Shell, BP, Chevron and ConocoPhillips), used 56 percent of their increasing cash flow on share repurchases and dividends, which were good for investors in the short term but put at risk the companies long-term oil reserves.

"The handwriting is on the wall. The oil majors are not replacing reserves," said Amy Myers Jaffe, co-author of the report and the Wallace S. Wilson fellow for Energy Studies at the Baker Institute. "It's as if they are slowly liquidating their long-term asset base. They may see a declining rate of production over time and eventually that is bad news for both their shareholders and consumers." Read More

India: Deora moots agenda for energy security

Wants enlarged cooperation with African nations

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Envisages hydrocarbon cooperation agreements

Investment opportunities for public, private cos.

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NEW DELHI: Upbeat about the positive outcome of the India-Africa hydrocarbon conference held earlier this week, Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister, Murli Deora, has mooted an eight-point agenda for India envisaging enlarged cooperation, including major investments and acquisitions in the oil and gas sector with the African nations in its aim to seek energy security for the country. Read More

Energy poses major 21st century crisis: scientists

Paris (AFP) Oct 22, 2007

Energy poses one of the greatest threats facing humanity this century, the world's leading academies of science warned Monday, highlighting the peril of oil wars and climate change driven by addiction to fossil fuels.

Nations must provide power for the 1.6 billion people who live without electricity and wean themselves off energy sources that stoke global warming and geopolitical conflict, the scientists demanded.

"Making the transition to a sustainable energy future is one of the central challenges humankind faces in this century," they said.

Their report, "Lighting the Way: Toward A Sustainable Energy Future," is published by the InterAcademy Council, whose 15 members include the national science academies of the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Brazil, China and India. Read More

Steep decline in oil production brings risk of war and unrest, says new study

· Output peaked in 2006 and will fall 7% a year
· Decline in gas, coal and uranium also predicted

Monday October 22, 2007

World oil production has already peaked and will fall by half as soon as 2030, according to a report which also warns that extreme shortages of fossil fuels will lead to wars and social breakdown.

The German-based Energy Watch Group will release its study in London today saying that global oil production peaked in 2006 - much earlier than most experts had expected. The report, which predicts that production will now fall by 7% a year, comes after oil prices set new records almost every day last week, on Friday hitting more than $90 (£44) a barrel.
Read More

Report links energy crisis to security

October 11, 2007 -

An energy crisis could pose security risks for Australia by pushing fragile states in the region towards collapse, a report has warned.
The Australian Strategic Policy Institute said in the report that such a threat should be factored into foreign and defence policy.
It said the increasing dependence of the world on energy from unstable regions like the Middle East meant obtaining an adequate supply of affordable energy would become a bigger part of most nations' security plans.
"Australia's self-sufficiency in oil products is declining markedly, and like most other Asia-Pacific states, Australia will become increasingly dependent on imports from the Middle East in the next decades," the document said.
The institute said that Australia's smaller neighbours would be most vulnerable if energy supplies were threatened.
"Most of the fragile states in the Asia Pacific are completely dependant on energy imports, and would have little economic resilience in the face of such a major shock. Read More