OPEC and large Asian oil consuming countries led by Japan, India and China met on Sunday for the third Asian Ministerial Energy Roundtable. The group’s goal is to To foster dialogue between Asia’s resource producers, primarily Middle East countries, and consumers, such as China and India, and to send a message to the world that […]
Florida’s Republican-controlled House of Representatives supported a measure yesterday to allow drilling in state waters. It is a major change in policy as supporting such legislation even just a few years ago would have almost been political suicide as so many citizens in the state feared for the cleanliness of the their beaches. The likelihood […]
Shanghai, often recognized for its free-market tendencies and environmental leadership, is introducing China’s first municipal trading mechanism as a means to curb pollution. Last Friday, in advance of a major carbon trade industry event taking place in Beijing this week, word began surfacing in the Chinese media that Shanghai plans to pilot an emissions trading […]
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart, Yulia Tymoshenko, are set to meet on 29 April. The meeting comes nearly four months after disagreements over gas prices led to a standoff between the two nations, leaving a good portion of the continent without gas supplies in the dead of winter. Fortunately, the price […]
The Waxman-Markey bill signals Washington’s intentions to pony up to fund deforestation prevention as part of overall climate legislation. But will climate scientists, C-15 negotiators, developing countries and environmental groups agree on an international forest protection program that everyone, including the trees, can live with? Scientists and climate policy makers now agree that saving forests […]
In one of the most candid assessments of the direction of US energy/environmental policy, Anadarko chief James Hackett blasts the current focus on carbon dioxide reduction. (Financial Times – registration required). The histrionic and maniacal focus on carbon dioxide is intellectually repugnant to me. He added that it is “taking the economy into a tailspin.” […]
Hong Kong magnate Stanley Ho is at it again. Not formulating a “Ho Plan” for Hong Kong energy security that centers around wind power, as the growing similarities between him and T. Boone Pickens might suggest. Stanley Ho’s investment du jour, while on par with his recently established eco-trend, will not be in Asia. Rather, […]
The world is swimming in oil. This coming less than one year after record high oil prices and when the world was running very low in spare capacity (the difference between what can be produced and the amount demanded and the linchpin to lower prices). US inventories are at record levels. Tankers are sitting off […]
Secretary began a four-city tour this week to discuss ideas for harnessing the energy potential of offshore areas. He has made broad claims regarding resources offshore such as windpower off the coasts can produce the energy of 3,000 coal-fired plants as he boasts about offshore’s energy potential. He is likely to face resistance in opening […]
Former President Bill Clinton and Mayor Bloomberg appeared at a press conference on the Empire State Building’s 80th floor today to announce a cooperative initiative between the Clinton Climate Initiative and other partners to help green New York’s 78-year old signature building. This phase of renovation, expected to take about 18 months. Under the plan, […]
Senior US Representatives Henry Waxman (D-Calif) and Ed Markey (D-Mass) today released draft cap-and-trade legislation that would reshape US energy and climate policy through drastic cuts in emissions in the next 20 years and significant increases in renewables by 2025. The American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 (ACES), intended to “create jobs, help […]
The Los Angeles Times captures some of the excitement around the stimulus package and the opportunity for it to create jobs. In the bleak economy, such enthusiasm (in addition to federal funding) can help create opportunities. But the sustainability of the of the government largess is questionable unless it can create a market through incentives […]
Last week’s news of a sizable and unprecedented subsidy for solar installations in China generated noteworthy commotion in the market, as Chinese solar companies’ share price soared as investors’ rush to snatch up solar stocks, followed by confusion over the terms of the subsidies, disenchantment at the likelihood of eligibility restrictions, and finally malaise as […]
The Wall Street Journal last week highlighted the growing role that water shortages are playing in the decision about building power plants. A lack of water in 2001 reduced energy in Brazil, which relies on hyrdopower, questioning its reliance on water for such a high proportion of its energy needs. But its not just dams. […]
In a rare admission of China’s strategic petroleum reserve capacity, a senior industry executive acknowledged that all four state-owned emergency oil reserve tanks – holding a total 100 million barrels – are filled to the brim. Revealing that China’s current stockpiles have already exceeded the capacity of the first phase of facilities, which the government […]