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Archive for December, 2013
Mexico embraces shale. Has Europe missed the boat?
Posted by Christian Science Monitor: Nick Grealy on December 22nd, 2013
Christian Science Monitor: In the UK, some investors would have us, or their clients, believe that the UK planning system is such an immutable force that it would prevent, now until the end of time, the development of any onshore oil and gas industry.
Another side of the narrative is to reinforce the idea that shale is only a US phenomenon, one which we shouldn’t worry our pretty little European heads with. The UK doesn’t have a constitution of course, but a country that does is Mexico.
I’ve noted before that Texas’s...
A Tale Two Rushes: There’s Gold In Them There Wells
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on December 22nd, 2013
Economist: WHEN his neighbour discovered gold in a Californian river in 1848, Sam Brannan could have kept quiet about it. Instead, he filled a jar with gold dust and rushed around the streets of San Francisco shouting "Gold! Gold! Gold!" He had good reason to incite a gold rush: he owned a shop nearby. He became California's first millionaire by selling picks, shovels, beans and bacon to the horde of prospectors who heeded his call.
Gold fever spread fast. The lure of buried treasure "sucked nearly every...
Can new land acquisition bill facilitate India’s shale gas progress?
Posted by Global Times: Manish Vaid on December 22nd, 2013
Global Times: Heated debates on energy security are inevitable in an energy-thirsty nation like India, where the gap between supply and demand for energy resources is constantly growing.
Domestic energy supply constraints mean India has ever increasing imports in the form of crude oil and coal. These strain the country's finances, and consequently the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas feels the need to dig deep to find untapped natural gas resources, in particular, non-conventional fuels like shale gas...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on Can new land acquisition bill facilitate India’s shale gas progress?Australia gives environmental nod to $5.7B coal project
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on December 21st, 2013
Agence France-Presse: Waratah Coal on Saturday, December 21, welcomed the Australian government's approval of its Aus$6.4 billion (US$5.7 billion) Galilee coal project, as conservationists warned the decision threatened the environment. The proposed coal mine, rail and infrastructure development in Queensland received approval for its environmental impact statement on Friday, December 20. "The project has been approved subject to 49 strict conditions to avoid, mitigate and manage impacts to matters of national environmental...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Australia gives environmental nod to $5.7B coal projectIf Managed Properly, Coastal Fish Farms Can be Sustainable: NOAA
Posted by Nature World: James A. Foley on December 21st, 2013
Nature World: As long as coastal fish farms are appropriately located and managed properly, their presence leads to minimal-to-no harm to the coastal ocean environment, according to a new report issued by NOAA's National Ocean Service.
The study focuses on coastal finfish farms. The term finfish is used to distinguish the farm's product as true fish, as the term fish is often used in the fisheries industry as a collective term for mollusks, crustaceans or other harvested aquatic animals.
After analyzing...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on If Managed Properly, Coastal Fish Farms Can be Sustainable: NOAAUnited Kingdom: Fracking protests head north as activists mass on proposed Manchester shale gas exploration sites
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on December 21st, 2013
Telegraph: Gathered under the banner of Frack Free Greater Manchester, militant activists last week pledged to do everything they could to disrupt the search for new sources of energy. Portraying themselves as representing local opinion, they have been involved in a series of demonstrations around Manchester against test drilling by a number of companies which hope to begin commercial exploitation of shale oil and gas. But The Telegraph can reveal that the leading campaigners against "fracking' in the North...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on United Kingdom: Fracking protests head north as activists mass on proposed Manchester shale gas exploration sitesIn drought-prone Texas, a threat to the energy supply
Posted by Dallas Morning news: None Given on December 21st, 2013
Dallas Morning news: At the height of the 2011 drought, the worst one-year drought in Texas history, the president of the Electric Reliability Council of Texas wrote to the head of the Public Utility Commission warning of unusual stresses on the power grid, “even for a Texas summer.” Demand for electricity was at an all-time high because of the heat, and the water needed to cool the state’s coal, nuclear and gas power plants was in short supply. In some places, water levels had dropped below intake pipes; in others,...
Hundreds of conditions attached to Northern Gateway route’s approval
Posted by EnergyWire: Elana Schor on December 21st, 2013
EnergyWire: In a decision that could shake up the political battle over the Keystone XL pipeline, a joint review panel steered by the Canadian National Energy Board yesterday attached more than 200 conditions to its recommended approval of a 525,000-barrel-per-day oil sands crude route to the nation's West Coast.
The joint panel's asterisk-ridden thumbs-up to the $7.4 billion Northern Gateway, a combination of pipelines and tankers aimed at opening new Asian markets for Alberta's emissions-heavy fuel, includes...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Hundreds of conditions attached to Northern Gateway route’s approvalThe U.S. has acted before, it can again on climate change
Posted by Express News: None Given on December 21st, 2013
Express News: During the 1980s, the United States and the world faced an urgent environmental challenge. Scientists warned strongly that chlorofluorocarbons, known as CFCs, were destroying the ozone layer.
If not stopped, this would wreak havoc on public health -- increasing cancer rates, cataracts and worse -- and on ecosystems that are essential for agriculture and marine life.
The scientists made it clear: Humans caused this problem and humans must fix it.
Under then-President Ronald Reagan's leadership,...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on The U.S. has acted before, it can again on climate changeSustainability goes mainstream
Posted by US News and World Report: David Brodwin on December 21st, 2013
US News and World Report: The face of sustainability is changing, according to a new report by Boston Consulting Group and MIT Sloan Management Review. In a worldwide survey of more than 1,000 executives and managers, BCG and Sloan took the pulse of sustainability efforts. Their research shows that sustainability is steadily growing in importance and is being integrated into the mainstream of corporate strategy. Most importantly, the key drivers of sustainability are evolving.
Customer preference leads the way.
In the...