In an update to the previous post, Russia is already accusing China of trying to fix market prices for the new Skovorodino-Daqing. That’s very shocking, I know. Business Insider posted an article stating that the Russian government owned pipeline company Transneft is not only accusing the Chinese National Petroleum Company (CNPC) of violating the terms […]
In the last installment of the two part “Trading with the Enemy” Series, this blog looked a serious issues of contention affecting Sino-American trade-relations, cyber-espionage and hacking. Now we will examine a little discussed area of discomfort, trade between China and it’s very large northern neighbor, Russia. Over the last two decades, the Sino-Russo “Cold […]
In the post below, I wrote about the recent and instantly controversial study from Cornell that calls into question the greenhouse gas advantage that natural gas was assumed to have over coal and oil. This BBC article, for instance, points out what may seem like the obvious: As one very involved British geologist says “By […]
You may be entirely aware by now that the controversy over shale gas resources and their extraction by hydraulic fracturing heated up last week with the publication of an important paper in Climatic Change, a well-respected scientific journal. (Here is a great little video on what exactly the heck hydraulic fracturing is – aka hydrofracking […]
Someone broke the embargo (shame on whomever it was) on a Congressional report detailing the substances used in hydraulic fracking to produce natural gas. So, we get the news a bit early. The press release on the report starts: “Today Energy and Commerce Committee Ranking Member Henry A. Waxman, Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Edward […]
Florida’s political bigshots spent part of the week-end at the country’s first hybrid solar/natural gas power plant. Florida Power and Light’s Martin Next Generation Solar Energy Center has more than 190,000 mirrors that cover about 500 acres (202.34 hectares). The mirrors track the sun during the day to focus the sun’s rays onto water-filled pipes. […]
I’ve said this any number of times: Environmental protection is much more about public health than it is about the natural environment. Every time you hear somebody tear down the EPA or some other environmental protection agency, just remember that sometimes they may be the only thing standing between you and lung disease, cancer and […]
(Here’s a great graphic from DOE’s Energy Information Administration that shows how we deploy energy in the US. Gas is a big factor.) I caught this comprehensive but succinct item at the NYT recently: Time to Tap the Bounty of U.S. Natural Gas. It lays out the fact of the astonishing ballooning of new, proven […]
The Financial Times had another blockbuster special report on energy out a couple of weeks back. Some highlights: US policy: A nation in thrall to the power of oil in which we learn that federal policy has been generally a failure for decades – no news there, I’m afraid. “The only really successful federal policy […]
In a move that signals a huge departure from standard practice, the Indian government announced plans to move closer to market-driven fuel prices.
I attended this recent biannual conference examining key and emerging environmental issues in the EPA Region 2 area. It was organized by Columbia Law School’s Center for Climate Change Law (CCCL). There was a lot of interesting discussion of climate change and air pollution, including some of the critically important ins and outs of litigation […]
The Rolling Stones knew it years ago.* Now we’re catching up. I’ve written about natural gas a few times, basically to the effect that it’s got enormous potential as a transition fuel for many purposes as we wend our way, sooner rather than later, toward a renewable future. This is what the prophetic Barry Commoner […]
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