Energy Industry Archive

Massive offshore drilling proposal delayed for further review — The Obama Administration this week continued its effort to undo some of President Bush’s last-minute drilling and environmental decisions. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar on Tuesday stalled a five-year drilling plan that would affect some 300 million offshore acres. Salazar hasn’t scrapped the proposal altogether....

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Green technology star of cell phone industry show– Solar panel cell phones, eco-friendly packaging and energy efficient chargers will be among the latest green technology applications featured this week at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain. A number of products have been unveiled at the industry show, which kicked off Monday, including Samsung’s Blue Earth phone — the...

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Those who believe the oil industry interferes with renewable energy finally have solid evidence for their fears, but not against the major Western companies like Exxon and Shell that usually take the blame. The Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC) has come out against the policy of other governments on climate change and renewable energy in a newly-released study. OAPEC...

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T. Boone Pickens’ famous idea of using compressed natural gas as a vehicle fuel is slowly gaining currency in parts of the western United States. Local news stations near Salt Lake City, Utah are reporting that the nearby interstates are getting more CNG filling stations, led by Questar Gas, which is tapping into government subsidies to build the stations. Utah was one of the few places...

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Big Solar didn’t stay away for very long. While the recession had a dampening effect on plans for large installations of wind, solar and other alternative energy forms, including pushing back groundbreaking on T. Boone Picken’s wind farm and likely delaying the world’s largest solar panel installation, solar thermal startup BrightSource Energy and the utility Southern...

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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...

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BP CEO Tony Hayward this week urged the the world’s oil industry to focus on the fundamentals and continue to invest in exploration and development despite crude oil’s $105-slide since July. But for many companies, the prospect of pouring money into search and development in the midst of a slumping economy and low global demand for oil is a dim one. In a world of $40-a-barrel...

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Google has just made a foray into the smart grid, according to the New York Times, announcing a new service called PowerMeter that will help track energy usage in homes and businesses. The search giant wants to extend its information-management expertise into electricity management, and appears to have broken the news through the NYT and a few other choice outlets in an effort to make a big...

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UTS gives Total bid cold shoulder – The board of Canadian oil-sands explorer UTS Energy called the unsolicited $506 million bid from energy giant Total “inadequate,” “opportunistic” and recommended its shareholders reject it. Total, the world’s sixth-largest energy company, has said it plans to invest $10 billion to $15 billion to develop oil sands in...

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The stimulus bill currently inching its way through Congress and Senate is intended to quickly add jobs, by pouring money into projects that can get underway immediately. Yet with over $800 billion poised to flood into the economy, it’s surprising how hazy the details are. Most of the money is simply set aside in blocks that will later be distributed by the Federal government’s web...

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