Energy Industry Archive

(NOTE: This item is the second in a three-part series on clean-coal technology. For links to other parts of the series, see the end of this item.) Changing U.S. environmental policy has upped the ante on what constitutes “clean coal.” Although the power industry has made great strides in cleaning up emissions of mercury, sulfur, nitrogen and other air toxins, the trick now is to also reduce...

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Petroleos Mexicanos, the state-owned oil and gas company of Mexico, isn’t known for aggressive spending or resource development. Yet it has newly budgeted over $12 billion for exploration during 2009-12, and plans to spend $19.5 billion this year alone on exploration, refining and chemicals, according to Bloomberg. The company is attempting to offset rapidly dropping reserves at its main...

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Iran pushing Total out of South Pars project — Iran, calling Total a procrastinator influenced by U.S. pressure, says it will push out the French energy giant and take on a new unnamed partner to work on the current phase of its South Pars gas fields. The decision to take Total off the project could slow Iran’s goal to develop its liquid natural gas industry in eight to 10 years....

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(NOTE: This item is the first in a three-part series on clean-coal technology. For links to other parts of the series, see the end of this item.) Al Gore and his cohorts think that “clean coal” is an oxymoron. But the U.S. government and industry have poured billions into R&D to clean up emissions from burning coal in power plants. So some coal and utility companies believe there may be...

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John Browne, a former CEO of oil giant BP, doesn’t sound like the most likely person to support climate-based governmental regulations. Yet the career engineer and member of the House of Lords was once an enthusiastic backer of government-mandated carbon trading, helping to initiate the first scheme while still an oil executive. Ever ahead of his time, Browne is now backtracking on his...

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Royal Dutch Shell upped its investment in the biofuels industry with its increased stake in Codexis, a biofuel technology company that develops super enzymes, which help turn organic materials like switchgrass and wood chips into sugar that can be used to make fuel. Shell has been dabbling in the biofuel industry for awhile now including a partnership with HP Biopetroleum to develop...

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New Holland puts hydrogen fuel cells to work in new tractors — New Holland is developing a tractor that runs on a hydrogen fuel cell instead of gasoline and hopes to have a production model ready by 2013. The NH2, which has no gears and would be emission-free, will be an expensive proposition for cash-strapped farmers. The company is marketing the pricey tractor as an investment that...

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Solar panels tend to be demanding devices. They’re a certain shape (rectangular), need to be put on roofs on particular configurations and have to face the sun at specific angles. So not only does it take a professional installer to place them, they also just don’t make sense for some rooftops. That’s especially true in Japan, where the houses are often small and crowded...

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There have been plenty of articles lately on the uncomfortable predicament of the coal industry, but this one from MSNBC carries more detail than most: In recent weeks, a group of rural Montana electric co-ops abandoned a partially built 250-megawatt coal plant, ending a four-year legal campaign by environmentalists to stop the project … Other plants are moving forward in Montana and at...

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Ethanol producers hit Capitol in bid to increase blend – U.S. ethanol producers pressed the Obama administration to raise the limit on ethanol in fuel to 15 percent, a move they said would create as many as 136,000 new jobs and reduce imports. Growth Energy, an ethanol trade group, submitted a request to the Environmental Protection Agency on Friday to boost the blend rate. [Source:...

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