Saturday February 11, 2006

Volkswagen may cut 20000 jobs

news.yahoo.com :

Volkswagen may cut up to 20,000 jobs in the next three years at its core VW brand in a sweeping restructuring program that could also lead to a reduction in production capacity. "In the next three years up to 20,000 direct and indirect employees within the Volkswagen Passenger Car brand could be affected by this restructuring program," the company said in a statement.

Chief Executive Bernd Pischetsrieder told reporters later though he had no plans to shut any plants or cancel VW's in-house wage agreement that protects the 100,000 highly-paid workers at its six western German plants from layoffs through the end of 2011. The carmaker has already promised to make thousands of German jobs redundant, but only through early retirement and voluntary termination packages that could lead to hundreds of millions in restructuring costs.

See also :

1. DaimlerChrysler cuts 8500 jobs at Mercedes
2. DaimlerChrysler to chop 6000 administrative jobs, trim management by 20%

(2006-02-11 08:28:32 SGT) [Biz] Permalink

Solar thermal starts to shine in world's deserts

peakoil.com -> news.yahoo.com :

People will soon cool their homes with power from the searing desert sun. Deserts are becoming hot spots for solar thermal power in which futuristic troughs concentrate the sun's rays and create steam to run power-producing turbines at power plants. It is a different technology than rooftop solar panels. As oil, natural gas and electricity costs soar, companies are racing to build commercial solar thermal plants that are the size of conventional power plants.

International Automated Systems signed an agreement to install a $150 million, 100-megawatt power plant in Nevada. Solargenix will break ground on a 64 MW, $100 million solar thermal plant called Nevada Solar One which will be the first U.S. commercial solar thermal plant, coming online in 2007. Burghard von Westerholt, head of thermal solar for private German specialty glass company SCHOTT, said SCHOTT will provide parts for 500 MW of solar thermal in Spain by 2010.

The best places for solar power are Australia, the United States, Spain, the Middle East and North Africa, which could export power from the sun to Europe on high-tech power lines, according to a report. Solar thermal at present costs about 12 to 15 cents per kilowatt hour, compared with natural gas power which costs 10 cents per KWH. But as production grows, solar companies expect costs to slip to 8 cents per KHW in five years. Fred Mayes, an alternative energy expert at the U.S. Energy Information Administration, said that solar thermal is more reliable than wind power during the day - the time of peak prices. And unlike biomass fuels, it emits no greenhouse gases.

See also :

1. World's largest solar photovoltaic project to be built in Nevada
2. The Solar Tower Project

(2006-02-11 08:26:16 SGT) [Energy] Permalink

Peak Oil in the U.S. Congress

peakoil.com -> energybulletin.net :

Mr. BARTLETT of Maryland. Mr. Speaker, sometime ago, our Department of Energy commissioned a study with SAIC, Science Applications International Corporation, to do a study on the peaking of world oil production, impacts mitigation, and risk management. This very prestigious scientific organization took some time to complete this study; and when they completed it, they made a recommendation to the Congress and to the Department of Energy. Part of what they said in their recommendation is included here:

"The peaking of world oil production presents the U.S. and the world with an unprecedented risk management problem."

See also :

1. Congressman Bartlett's Peak Oil speeches (3 May 2005, 19 Jul 2005, 7 Sep 2005, 26 Sep 2005)
2. US Senate on Peak Oil
3. Robert Hirsch : Shaping the peak
4. The Hirsch Report

(2006-02-11 08:00:29 SGT) [Energy] Permalink

Are Big Oil's tanks running dry?

peakoil.com -> tmcnet.com :

The world's big private oil companies are reporting record profits on the back of high oil prices. Exxon Mobil enjoyed $36 billion in net profit in 2005, the largest of any American company ever. Shell reported $23 billion, a UK record. However, the oil wells that generate the big bucks are drying up. Shell's profits came despite a decline in its oil production; Exxon also suffered a small decline. Shell replaced only 70-80% of the oil it pumped with new reserves. In 2004 the replacement rate was even lower (under 50%) - and the firm suffered a scandal over the misreporting of its reserves. BP replaced 95% in 2005 according to a formula set by the SEC. Exxon replaced 83% by the same measure.

Replacing reserves is one of the most pressing problems facing the world's leading oil firms. Production from fields in the North Sea, the Gulf of Mexico and Alaska is in decline. The companies have had to search further a-field, including West Africa, the Caspian and other out-of-the-way places. Most of the world's oil is located around the Persian Gulf, but this is the preserve of giant state-run producers. And President Putin's dismemberment of Yukos led to a cooling of relations with western oil companies, which are now all but shut out of Russia.

The big oil firms are also suffering from Chinese and Indian oil firms which are snapping up smaller rivals around the world to satisfy their economies' seemingly ever-growing demand for energy. And unlike Exxon, Shell and the like, they don't have to answer to inquisitive shareholders.

The western oil firms do still have some advantages. The technological advances forced upon them as they seek out oil in difficult places may help with the exploitation of unconventional hydrocarbons, such as Canada's tar sands. And they also have the capital and know-how needed to extract and transport natural gas in liquefied form. But if the big western firms lose the battle to replace reserves, the era of mega-profits will come to end - however high the price of oil climbs.

See also :

1. Record oil company profits (Exxon Mobil, Shell, BP)
2. Shell Lacks Oil Sources
3. Shell Bombshell
4. Oil Majors Hitting Peak Production Within 48 Months
5. Big oil is getting pushed around

(2006-02-11 07:49:31 SGT) [Energy] Permalink

Big oil is getting pushed around

peakoil.com -> iht.com, peakoil.com -> rigzone.com :

Exxon Mobil's biggest competitor in the quest for oil reserves is not BP or Royal Dutch Shell. It is the governments of China, South Korea and India. Chevron and Exxon Mobil lost an auction for Nigeria's most promising oil and gas fields last year to companies controlled by South Korea. In Venezuela, Royal Dutch Shell's bid to develop an offshore gas deposit collapsed when Brazil's state oil company stepped in.

The world's biggest publicly traded oil producers are losing reserves to state-run companies willing to pay higher prices for energy needed to fuel growing economies. Petróleo Brasileiro, Cnooc of China and Oil & Natural Gas of India have all bought reserves in the past year. The increasing competition for oil and gas fields is driving up costs, hurting corporate profits, while bolstering crude oil prices by inflating the cost of production. In the early 1990s, less rivalry for fields existed because countries like China produced more oil than they consumed and prices were lower.

More than half the oil and gas reserves that changed hands since 2003, through corporate acquisitions or the sale of drilling rights, went to state-owned companies, BP's chief executive, John Browne, said in a speech in Singapore in November. "Energy is an issue of national security in which governments, and the state companies that they have established, are likely to be involved for a long time," Browne said.

See also :

1. The Kremlin and the world energy war
2. Venezuela oil fields back in state control
3. China, Iran sign biggest oil & gas deal

(2006-02-11 07:18:31 SGT) [Energy] Permalink

Scientist predicts 'mini Ice Age'

peakoil.com -> upi.com :

A Russian astronomer has predicted that Earth will experience a "mini Ice Age" in the middle of this century, caused by low solar activity. Khabibullo Abdusamatov of the Pulkovo Astronomic Observatory in St. Petersburg said that temperatures will begin falling six or seven years from now, when global warming caused by increased solar activity in the 20th century reaches its peak, RIA Novosti reported.

The coldest period will occur 15 to 20 years after a major solar output decline between 2035 and 2045, Abdusamatov said. Dramatic changes in the earth's surface temperatures are an ordinary phenomenon, not an anomaly, he said, and result from variations in the sun's energy output and ultraviolet radiation.

See also :

1. Failing ocean current raises fears of mini ice age
2. Global warming - or cooling?
3. Meltdown Blamed For Big Freeze

(2006-02-11 07:08:32 SGT) [Env] Permalink

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