Energy Roundup: Bumps Equal Energy, World's Oil Appetite Falls, and More

MIT students turn bumpy roads into energy — Undergraduate students at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology invented a shock absorber for cars and trucks that captures energy with every bump in the road and turns it into electricity. The new shocks, which can improve fuel efficiency by 10 percent, are being tested on Humvees and will be marketed to the U.S. military and companies with fleets of heavy vehicles. [Source: Earth2Tech, MIT]

Global oil demand to fall on lagging U.S., China consumption – The International Energy Agency lowered its forecast for global oil demand by 1.2 percent, making it the largest annual drop since 1982. Paris-based IEA suggested China’s slowing economy and a decline in U.S. consumption will push demand down to 84.7 million barrels a day in 2009. [Source: WSJ Environmental Capital, International Energy Agency]

Funding will be found for California’s largest solar project — Tight credit markets will not slow financing for the largest proposed solar power contract in California’s history, according to SoCal Edison and BrightSource Energy executives. The proposal calls for Oakland, Calif.,-based BrightSource to own and operate a series of solar-thermal plants in the Mojave Desert and deliver 1,300 megawatts of power to SoCal Edison by 2016. [Source: Environment & Energy News]

Anadarko cuts capital spending, forecasts rise in sales — Anadarko Petroleum, which recently made three offshore oil discoveries near Brazil and the Gulf of Mexico, said it will cut its 2009 capital spending program by as much as $900,000 from last year’s $4.9 billion spending level. The independent oil exploration and production company says it plans on raising its sales volume by 6 million barrels of oil. [Source: Forbes]

GE scores $1 billion turbine order from Saudi Arabia — GE will supply nearly a $1 billion worth of turbines for a project in Saudi Arabia aimed at improving power capacity and preventing summer energy shortages. A rise in electricity demand in the Middle East has helped GE, the world’s biggest power-plant turbine maker, secure $2.5 billion in orders from Saudi Arabia in the past three years. [Source: Bloomberg]