Energy articles from June 2004

Energy archives from June 2004

Investments for petroleum? Don't count on it.(Editorial)
June 22, 2004... It's pretty clear at this point everybody is scratching their heads over the world's petroleum predicament. The conflicting stresses and strains, contradictory pronouncements and solutions are enough to leave your head spinning. How and when...

What the heck happened? The August 2003 blackout highlights problems endemic across the continent.(Electricity)
June 22, 2004... The blackout that occurred in the northeastern U.S. and southeastern Canada August 14, 2003 was but the tip of the iceberg of troubles facing the high voltage transmission grid in North America. The blackout highlights problems that are endemic...

Reinventing the grid: the electrical distribution grid is an antiquated hodgepodge. How do we restructure it?
June 22, 2004... In today's partially deregulated industry the grid serves a multiplicity of roles. First, it continues to provide redundancy and reserve-sharing for the system as a whole. In this role, the grid must be planned and controlled to place limits on...

Are global oil, gas reserves cause for panic? Analysts keep downsizing oil and gas reserves. Are we really running out?(Supply)
June 22, 2004... Much has been written in the press recently about the high-profile downward reserve revisions and re-categorizations at, among others, the Royal Dutch/Shell Group and El Paso Corp. According to John Thieroff, an analyst for Standard and Poor's...

Looking for more: a study says exploration will gain by 9 percent this year.(energy and petroleum)
June 22, 2004... The midyear update to the Lehman Brothers Original E&P Spending Survey indicates that the nearly 350 companies plan approximately a 9 percent increase in global E&P expenditures for 2004, compared with a 4 percent gain forecast in our December...

Dual battery always delivers.(In the news: transportation)(Reserve Power Cell, LLC)(Brief Article)
June 22, 2004... Reserve Power Cell, LLC, (474 SW 12th Ave., Deerfield Beach, FL 33442; Tel: 954/ 571-7728, email: hhelfand@reevespr.com) has introduced Intellicell, an intelligent dual battery system. Intellicell incorporates a main and reserve cell design...

Vehicle among future trucks.(In the news: transportation)(GAIA brand Hybrid Electric Vehicle (HEV) battery)(2004 Future Truck Competition)(PennState University)(Brief Article)
June 22, 2004... Using a GAIA brand Hybrid Electric Vehicle (HEV) battery from Lithium Technology Corp. (LTC, 5115 Campus Drive, Plymouth Meeting, PA 19462; Tel: 610/940-6090, Fax: 610/940-6093), PennState University's Future Truck Team placed second in the...

Ovonic provides peak power.(In the news: transportation; Cobasys)(hybrid vehicles)(Brief Article)
June 22, 2004... Cobasys (1250 Maplelawn Drive, Troy, MI 48084; Tel: 248/637-7470, Fax: 248/637-7407, email: info@cobasys.com) has developed a propulsion system for a hybrid vehicle that has an integrated propulsion system that consists of a hydrogen powered...

Better control for HEVs.(In the news: transportation; Hybrid Electric Vehicles)(battery equipment)(Brief Article)
June 22, 2004... Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. (3-1-1, Yagumonakamachi, Moriguchi-Shi, Osaka 570, Japan; Tel: +81-06-906-4943) and Toyota Corp. have jointly developed a battery device for controlling input to and output from a battery pack. It...

Honda Hybrid gears Up.(In the news: transportation)(2005 Accord V6 Hybrid)(Brief Article)
June 22, 2004... American Honda's (1919 Torrance Blvd., Torrance, CA 90501-2746, Tel: 310/783-2000) 2005 Accord V6 Hybrid may not look much different, but the new vehicle packs a lot of technology under the hood. Using what Honda is calling a "next-generation...

Oxonica and BASF Collaborate.(In the news: transportation)(Brief Article)
June 22, 2004... Oxonica (Oxford, UK) subsidiary Cerulean International has signed an agreement with BASF to co-operate in the further development and commercialization of a new fuel borne catalyst, Envirox, that has been shown in independent laboratory tests...

Japan's struggle: the world's second largest energy importer is also grappling with supply problems.(International)
June 22, 2004... Japan is the world's fourth largest energy consumer and second largest energy importer (after the United States). Over the past decade, Japan has been experiencing a period of slow economic growth, and has taken important steps towards economic...

Pipeline safety: a report looks at the nations gas and oil distribution grid.(Distribution)
June 22, 2004... A new report from the National Academies' Transportation Research Board examines safety issues related to energy transmission pipelines, which transport virtually all of the nation's natural gas and two-thirds of its petroleum each year. The...

China sends pollution across Asia.(Environment)
June 22, 2004... China's broad campaign to build more coal-fired power plants is reversing years of improvements in controlling pollution and is fouling the air of the nation's neighbors, writes The Far Economic Review. The increase in power-plant construction...

Are enviros wrong on groundwater threat?(Environment)
June 22, 2004... Claims by environmental groups that a technology used to extract natural gas could contaminate groundwater in the West are completely unfounded, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). After an exhaustive multi-year study...

ICF advises controls postponement.(Environment)(ICF Consulting Inc.)
June 22, 2004... In late June, ICF Consulting www.icfconsulting.com) announced that in light of the European Union's (EU's) Large Combustion Plant Directive 2001/80/EC (LCPD), it advises coal-fired power stations in Member States to weigh carefully their...

California tackles climate change.(Environment)(Brief Article)
June 22, 2004... In a recent rulemaking before the Public Utilities Commission of the state of California, a California administrative law judge issued an Order Instituting Rulemaking to Promote Policy and Program Coordination and Integration in Electric...

Lightning harms wind turbines.(Alternatives)
June 22, 2004... Wind could provide 10 percent of the world's electricity needs by 2017. Already, nearly 30 million Europeans use wind power and the U.S. has the potential to generate up to 40 percent of its electrical needs through wind within 20 years....

Power plants will not cause mercury "hot spots".(Electric Utilities)
June 22, 2004... Scientists at the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) have concluded that mercury emissions from power plants will not result in areas of increased deposition (sometimes referred to as "hot spots") under either set of mercury regulations...

Construction begins for NY HTS cable.(Electric Utilities)
June 22, 2004... Intermagnetics General Corporation's Energy Technology subsidiary, SuperPower, Inc. www.igc-superpower.com, has launched the construction phase for a 350-meter high-temperature superconducting (HTS) cable that will run between two Niagara...

GE to increase China's power grid.(Electric Utilities)(Brief Article)
June 22, 2004... In late June, GE Energy (www. gepower.com) announced that it will provide two 500 kV series compensation systems to the China Southern Power Grid Co. to increase the power transfer capability of its Louping-Baise-Mawo transmission corridor in...

Integrating local power into existing systems.(Electric Utilities)
June 22, 2004... A solid state technology now being developed by the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) with primary support from Con Edison addresses the challenges faced by utilities as new sources of power are introduced to existing transmission and...

IMF wants Africa to cut oil dependence.(Petroleum)(International Monetary Fund )(Brief Article)
June 22, 2004... The head of the International Monetary Fund is urging countries in Central Africa to reduce their dependence on oil in return for financial assistance and support in winning debt relief, reports Reuters. Rodrigo Rato, on the second stage of an...

Storing C[O.sub.2] in partially depleted oil wells.(Petroleum)
June 22, 2004... A new approach that is one of the first to successfully store carbon dioxide underground may have huge implications for global warming and the oil industry, says a University of Alberta researcher. Ben Rostron is part of an extensive team...

World Bank shifts to natural gas.(Natural Gas)
June 22, 2004... The World Bank plans to shift more of its investment focus to natural-gas projects that better fit its poverty-fighting mission. During the next three to five years, the bank says it aims to increase spending on gas projects to between 30 and...

Yucca dump radiation standards overruled.(Nuclear)(Brief Article)
June 22, 2004... On July 9, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ruled that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) illegally set its radiation release standards for groundwater for the proposed high-level radioactive waste dump at Yucca...

Nuclear Plants to go off Internet.(Nuclear)
June 22, 2004... The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has determined that certain security information formerly included in the Reactor Oversight Process will no longer be publicly available, and will no longer be updated on the agency's Web site. "The...

Coal-based methanol "least expensive" option.(Coal)
June 22, 2004... Mining Week, published by the National Mining Association, reports that methanol produced from coal "is likely to be the least expensive" option for providing hydrogen in fuel cell vehicles, according to a new study produced for the Georgetown...

Curbing Russian Plutonium: efforts to shut down weapons era plants face roadblocks.(Nuclear)(department of energy)
June 22, 2004... During the Cold War, the United States and the Soviet Union built a total of 27 nuclear reactors to produce weapons-grade plutonium for nuclear weapons. Although all nuclear reactors produce plutonium as a byproduct of their operation,...

mPhase to market nanograss.(In the news: technology; microbatteries)(Brief Article)
June 22, 2004... mPhase Technologies (587 Connecticut Avenue, Norwalk, CT 06854; Tel: 877/674-2738, email info@mphasetech.com) has entered into a broad sales, marketing and development partnership with Lucent Bell Laboratories to commercialize nanotechnology...

Flywheel protection.(In the news: technology)(Brief Article)
June 22, 2004... Caterpillar Inc. (Power Generation Systems, 9280 Sky Park Court, MZ SP3-Q, San Diego California, 92123; Tel: 858/694-6677, Fax: 858/ 694-6715) announces the availability of the uninterruptible power supply 1,200 kVA/960kW 60 HZ System with...

TI offers smallest IC.(In the news: technology)(Texas Instruments Inc)(Integrated circuit )(Brief Article)
June 22, 2004... Giving portable designers the ability to extend battery life in smaller designs, Texas Instruments Inc. (TI, 14950 FAA Blvd., Ft. Worth, TX 76155; Tel: 800/477-8924) is offering the industry's smallest, most efficient, high-accuracy, step-down...

Catalysts designed for fuel cells.(In the news: technology)(Author Abstract)
June 22, 2004... With the goal of evaluating the feasibility of using platinum/multi-wall carbon nanotubes as fuel cell catalysts, a team of researchers from the Wuhan University of Technology (Wuhan, China) has synthesized and characterized the materials....

Waste or resource: what's the point of extracting coalbed methane in Wyoming?(Alternatives)
June 22, 2004... A report subjects the proposal to expand coalbed methane (CBM) extraction in the Powder River Basin of Wyoming and Montana to qualitative precautionary economic analysis. The outcomes of this analysis must be incorporated in action that upholds...

Switching to [H.sub.2]: replace current fuels with hydrogen. Maybe. But investments would be vast.
June 22, 2004... Proposals to construct a new hydrogen energy system on the scale of the power grid are coming to the forefront. U.S. costs alone are estimated at $200 billion-$500 billion. Such vast investment implies other energy pathways not taken, with...

Energy funnies: when they throw out money by the bucket--what comes back?(Contrarian's View on Energy...)
June 22, 2004... When it comes to throwing out money by the bucket-full, politicians of all nations always seem to be careful to choose (or to have chosen for them) beguiling terms to fool the uncritical public. Thus, for example, the U.S. Department of Energy...

Calendar.(Calendar)
June 22, 2004... September 29-October 1, 2004, 17th World LP Gas Forum, Hotel InterContinental, Berlin, Germany Contact: 17th World LP Gas Forum Organizing Secretariat; Tel: Tel: +33 1 44 64 15 15; Fax: +33 1 44 64 15 16; E-mail: worldlpgas@colloquium.fr:...