Major Oil Companies Investments in Biofuels
Posted on November 7, 2009
The status quo isn’t a problem for big oil companies, who seem to be constantly breaking their own record profits. However, these corporations know that they must also look to the future and sustain their competitive edge.
The competitive landscape of the future is not clear for the oil industry, with financial, political, and environmental considerations coming into play.
The technologies and processes behind various renewable energy sources are improving, and may eventually lead to a renewable product that is cost competitive with oil.
Even if no renewable source is strictly cost competitive, the overall cost to society may be deemed lower because of the carbon pollution associated with oil. This will lead, and is already leading to political pressure and regulations. And it’s not just the price of renewables coming down that oil companies have to worry about, but also the price of oil going up as global energy demand rises.
Oil companies have been aware of these forces for some time now, and have been investing in a range of renewables.
Recently, major oil companies seem to be sharpening their focus and concentrating on commercially viable biofuels. This pragmatic approach may spring from a recessionary mindset, but also speaks to the evolution of biofuels to the point where there are commercially viable alternatives on the near horizon.
The specific competencies and competitive advantages that have made oil companies successful are easily transferable to biofuels.
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Changing Arctic Affecting Air, Ocean, And Everything In Between
Posted on November 7, 2009
Despite the fact that summer 2009 had more sea ice than in 2007 or 2008, scientists are seeing drastic changes in the region from just five years ago and at rates faster than anticipated. The findings were presented October 22 in the annual update of the Arctic Report Card, a collaborative effort of 71 national and international scientists.
“The Arctic is a special and fragile place on this planet,” said Jane Lubchenco, Ph.D., under secretary for oceans and atmosphere and NOAA administrator. “Climate change is happening faster in the Arctic than any other place on Earth — and with wide-ranging consequences. When I visited the northern corners of Alaska’s Arctic region earlier this year, I saw an area abundant with natural resources, diverse wildlife, proud local and native peoples and a most uncertain future. This year’s Arctic Report Card underscores the urgency of reducing greenhouse gas pollution and adapting to climate changes already under way.”
Among the changes highlighted in the 2009 update to the report card were:
- A change in large scale wind patterns affected by the loss of summer sea ice,
- The replacement of multi-year sea ice by first-year sea ice,
- Warmer and fresher water in the upper ocean linked to new ice-free areas,
- A continued loss of the Greenland ice sheet,
- Less snow in North America and increased runoff in Siberia, and
- The effect of the loss of sea ice on Arctic plant, animal, and fish species.
» Filed Under Climate, Global Warming | Leave a Comment
Chocolate Goes Green: Kraft Rolls out Sustainable Sweet Treats
Posted on November 4, 2009
Kraft Foods recently announced it is launching a type of chocolate derived from sustainable cocoa farming. The premium dark chocolate, Cote d’Or, contains cocoa from farms that meets Rainforest Alliance Certified standards.
Partnering with various businesses, organizations and associations, the Rainforest Alliance encourages the use of sustainable cocoa farming practices which not only help the environment, but help with working conditions. Certification is awarded by an independent international company based on 10 specific ecological, social and economic criteria. Kraft has been working with the Rainforest Alliance since 2005.
More than 3,000 cocoa farmers in six communities have learned sustainable agricultural practices.
» Filed Under Food Industry, environment | Leave a Comment
Electricity That’s Cheaper Than Free
Posted on November 4, 2009
Would you believe that there are places and times when power companies generate so much renewable energy that they give it away?
In west Texas and Illinois, when the wind blows at night and nuclear plants run around-the-clock, power generators produce more electricity than people need. This oversupply “has forced electricity prices into the negative range,” an expert explains—meaning that some customers are paid to use electricity.
The expert is Terry Boston, and he knows what he’s talking about. Boston is the CEO of PJM, the company that manages the electricity grid that serves 51 million people in 13 mid-Atlantic states and Washington, D.C. It’s not an everyday occurrence but when demand exceeds supply, “cement manufacturing plants can get paid to take electricity,” he says.
It sounds crazy, but there’s a perverse economic logic at work. Owners of the wind turbines collect aproduction tax credit of 2.1 cents per kilowatt hour when they generate electricity, so they don’t want to shut the turbines down. So long as they pay customers less than the subsidy to consume power, they make money. Put simply, taxpayers dollars pay the wind companies who pass along a portion to their customers.
“It is not sustainable to have large negative prices for long periods of time,” says Boston. No kidding. Think about how you would behave if you were paid to use electricity. You can be sure no one at the cement company is chasing around turning the lights off.
One solution to this problem (aside from fixing the incentives) is energy storage, which would deliver other benefits as well. Ever since Thomas Edison invented the light bulb, people have been looking for cost-effective ways to store lots of electricity.
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Dell Plants Solar Trees in the Parking Lot
Posted on November 3, 2009
Dell is doing it again, this time on-site, with a series of solar trees that will not only help power its headquarters in Round Rock, Texas, but also serve to charge electric vehicles parked there. Of course, there aren’t currently any electric vehicles parking in the Dell lot, but hopefully that will change in the next few years.
The solar trees were put in place by Envision Solar, who’s work we’ve seen at Google headquarters previously. The Dell installation will provide 130,000 kW/h per year and shades the parking spots of the 56 employees who get to the lot first. Everyone else gets punished for being late by having to park in the sun.
» Filed Under solar powered | Leave a Comment
Australia’s Emissions Fall as Economy Slows
Posted on November 3, 2009
Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions fell in the year to June, the first decline since an greenhouse inventory started in 1998, as the economy slowed due to the global financial crisis.
Australian National Greenhouse Accounts released estimated the country emitted 544 million tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) equivalent in the year — a fall of 1.2 percent compared with the year earlier.
“This is the first time the annual emissions growth has been negative since the series commenced in September 1998,” said the Australian government’s greenhouse gas inventory report.
Australia’s average annual emissions growth rate since 1998 has been 1.5 percent, said the report.
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Samsung Blue Earth: More Than Just a Gimmick
Posted on November 3, 2009
As it does with most trends, Samsung is pursuing eco-friendly cell phones with vigor. It already gave us the Samsung Reclaim, and now we finally have a chance to review the Samsung Blue Earth. Like the Reclaim, the Blue Earth’s shell is made from recycled materials–specifically, plastic water bottles–but it goes a giant step further with solar panels on its rear face. The solar panels actually work and can charge the phone in a pinch.
The Blue Earth is also free of harmful materials like polyvinyl chloride, and you can minimize battery use by adjusting the display settings.
» Filed Under Eco Freindly, Green Technology, recycling, solar powered | Leave a Comment
Global Warming Cycles Threaten Endangered Primate Species
Posted on October 30, 2009
Two Penn State University researchers have carried out one of the first-ever analyses of the effects of global warming on endangered primates. This innovative work by Graduate Student Ruscena Wiederholt and Associate Professor of Biology Eric Post examined how El Niño warming affected the abundance of four New World monkeys over decades.
Wiederholt and Post decided to concentrate on the way the oscillating weather patterns directly and indirectly influence plants and animals in the tropics. Until the research by Wiederholt and Post, this intricate network of interacting factors had rarely been analyzed as a single system. “We know very little about how climate change and global warming are affecting primate species,” explains Wiederholt. “Up to one third of primates species are threatened with extinction, so it is really crucial to understand how these changes in climate may be affecting their populations.”
The scientists focused on the large-bodied monkeys of South America, which are highly threatened. Choosing one species from each of the four genera of Atelines, Wiederholt and Post examined abundance trends and dynamics in populations of the muriqui (Brachyteles hypoxanthus, formerly B. arachnoides) of Brazil, the woolly monkey (Lagothrix lagotricha) in Colombia, Geoffroy’s spider monkey (Ateles geoffroyi), which was studied on Barro Colorado Island in Panama, and the red howler monkey (Alouatta seniculus) in Venezuela.
For each species, long-term research projects carried out by other teams over decades have documented the abundance and feeding patterns of these primates. By studying the different species, Wiederholt and Post hoped to highlight the importance of the response to changing climate conditions of the trees that provide the dietary resources for the monkeys. All the species live in social groups and spend most of their time in the trees of tropical forests, using their limbs and prehensile tails to move around or to suspend themselves from branches.
» Filed Under Climate, Global Warming | Leave a Comment
Hybrid Automaker Fisker to Buy GM plant in Delaware
Posted on October 28, 2009
US hybrid car maker Fisker Automotive Inc. said it has signed a letter of intent to purchase a former General Motors assembly plant in Wilmington, Del., for $18 million.
The startup electric car company said it will work with the United Auto Workers union to organize the new plant. “Our intent is to work with the UAW,” said Russell Datz, a Fisker spokesman. He declined to say if the company would give preference in hiring to former GM workers or whether it would negotiate a similar contract to the pattern agreement at GM and Chrysler. “That is really too far off,” Datz said.
The UAW issued a statement praising Fisker.
“It gives me great pride to give UAW Local 435 workers the opportunity to partner with Fisker Automotive to create a greener America by building a plug-in hybrid car that will compete globally,” Gary Casteel, the UAW director responsible for the plant, said in a statement released.
The Irvine, Calif., electric car startup is buying the 3.2 million-square-foot plant, which was commissioned in 1947 and until this summer built the Pontiac Solstice, Saturn Sky and Opel GT models.
It will spend $175 million over three years retooling the plant, which will start assembling vehicles in late 2012 — and will build 75,000 to 100,000 annually by 2014 — and export more than half of the vehicles.
It plans to create 2,000 factory jobs by 2014 at the plant, Datz said. The sale is expected to close after a four-month due diligence period that will include a site evaluation to review possible environmental hazards.
» Filed Under Green Technology | 2 Comments
EU Urged to Raise Bar on Climate Financing
Posted on October 28, 2009
European Union leaders were told they have to find 15 billion euros a year to help developing countries fight global warming if this week’s summit is to be deemed successful.
European Union leaders were told they have to find 15 billion euros a year to help developing countries fight global warming if this week’s summit is to be deemed successful.
Leaders from the EU’s 27 member countries are split into three camps going into a summit starting Thursday at which they will try to agree a common line to take into United Nations negotiations in Copenhagen starting on December 7.
Britain is among those who are willing to commit to funding, while a wait and see bloc is headed by Germany — and eastern European nations with Poland at their head only want to help “based on their means,” according to diplomats.
“There are two questions up for discussion: the amount of money and burden-sharing,” said a European Commission source who asked to remain anonymous.
“Success would be agreement to come up with 15 billion euros (22.5 billion dollars) per year from 2013 to 2020 and 1.5 billion euros per year between 2010 and 2013,” for so-called ‘fast-start’ funding in the period leading up to a replacement for the existing global climate deal, the official said.
» Filed Under Climate, Global Warming | Leave a Comment
