There is a popular belief in the Middle East that Washington’s foreign policy, particularly as it relates to this precarious region, is largely driven by America’s dependency on, and insatiable appetite for Arab oil. One can make a good argument for that. Had Syria been a major oil producing country chances are the US would have already dispatched military forces to impose a pax Americana and to put a stop to the horrific fighting that has been slowly, but without any doubt, ripping Syria apart and dismantling the infrastructures…

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A number of major US companies are taking energy into their own hands, harnessing solar power to cut costs and improve the bottom line. Iconic brands are now being equated with the power of the sun, and retail giants are leading the trend. A recent report published by the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) shows that 42 companies have installed upwards of 320 megawatts of photovoltaic (PV) capacity at more than 750 locations across the US. The top 20 companies account for almost 280,000 kilowatts of solar-electricity generating capacity,…

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Liquefied natural gas is an odorless, colorless, non-toxic, non-corrosive and non-flammable form of methane. As fuels go, it's pretty cool.Actually, LNG is colder than Antarctica on winter solstice. Methane is chilled to about minus 260 degrees — a temperature that transforms it from a vapor to a liquid, compressing its volume 600 times to make it more economical to store for later use or to ship long distances from countries endowed with natural gas to those starved for the fuel.That's the broad story of LNG — a case of Adam Smith…

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The bioethanol global market crisis will create a strong price increase of the product for the next year and maybe more. This is due to a number of factors affecting the two main world producers: Brazil and the United States. This situation, however, offers a number of opportunities for ethanol projects in Europe, as we’ll show below.In Brazil, the last three sugarcane crops were close to catastrophic. This year for example, excessive rains in April generated a one-month delay in the start of the harvest period, as the crop cannot be harvested…

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No doubt you've heard people speak of an energy transition from a fossil fuel-based society to one based on renewable energy--energy which by its very nature cannot run out. Here's the short answer to why we need do it fast: climate change and fossil fuel depletion. And, here's the short answer to why we're way behind: History suggests that it can take up to 50 years to replace an existing energy infrastructure, and we don't have that long.Perhaps the most important thing that people don't realize about building a renewable energy infrastructure…

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At a recent conference, Iraq’s Deputy Prime Minister for Energy, Dr. Hussain al-Shahristani, announced that his government plans to invest around $500 billion in the energy sector and linked industries by 2030.They hope that $80 billion will be provided by the private sector, and believe that the investment will “generate about $6 trillion in revenues for the government, mostly from oil exports,” and create 250,000 new jobs.Iraq boasts the world’s fourth largest oil reserves and is currently producing more than 3 million…

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The Solar Industry Award 2012 for Excellence in Innovation was recently presented to the PV solar manufacturer Silevo for its market leading solar cell technology, called Triex. The Triex technology allows the production of PV solar cells that have a very high efficiency for a much lower cost than previously possible.Silevo won the award after it announced that its product achieved a conversion efficiency of greater than 21 percent “with its Triex solar cells at its high volume manufacturing facility—one of the highest across the solar…

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Britain is the world leader in the offshore wind farm market, accounting for 60% of all offshore wind farms in Europe.Yet the shocking reality is that, according to a recent survey, British companies only own 12.3% of all UK offshore wind farms.The largest offshore wind farm in the world is the London Array which is being developed just off the coast of Kent. Chris Randle, the project manager for the giant scheme, is probably one of the few Englishman actually involved in the construction, and he admits that he is deeply conscious of the lack of…

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ConocoPhillips has announced that it will sell its stake in Kazakhstan’s giant Kashagan oil field.Kashagan was declared commercially viable 10 years ago and is the largest oil discovery since Prudhoe Bay in Alaska back in the 1960’s. The field will be developed by the North Caspian Operating Company (NCOC), which is owned by a consortium of oil companies including; KazMunaiGas, Eni , ExxonMobil , Royal Dutch Shell, Total, Inpex, and ConocoPhillips.Sauat Mynbayev , the Kazakh Oil and Gas Minister, said that ConocoPhillips are looking…

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Finding an efficient method for storing energy is vital for the future success of the renewable energy industry, as energy storage enables the variable nature of renewable sources to be levelled out. Excess energy produced during times of low demand can be stored and delivered when demand is high. Peter Dearman, an inventor from Hertfordshire, England, designed a method for storing energy by turning air into liquid.The company Highview Power Storage was created to turn Mr Dearman’s idea into a product that can be used on a utility scale.The…

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