First gas/petrol bi-fuel vehicle conversion in Singapore

simontay78.wordpress.com -> motoring.asiaone.com.sg :

Singapore-based Scantruck Engineering has done a gas conversion on a petrol engine vehicle, which according to the National Environment Agency (NEA), is the first petrol and natural gas Bi-Fuel conversion here. A Mercedes Benz Vito 113 was chosen, courtesy of owner Mr Lim Sin Leng.

The gas conversion kit comprises of a multiple sequential injector module, dedicated ECU with spark advancer, regulator and a 60L gas tank. The most basic set up (regulator and mixer only) costs $2,498 including parts and labour. Mr Lim is paying $10.50 for a tank of gas, which can cover 160 - 180 km. Travelling the same distance using petrol would have cost up to $28. There is a slight power loss in gas mode, but a switch on the dashboard permits you to choose between gas and petrol. For the time being, there is only one refilling station operated by Sembawang Gas which is located in Jurong Island. NEA plans to have 3 more on the mainland by the end of this year.

- I had to practically rewrite the article in order to have a summary of satisfactory standard. My project leader pointed out this piece of news to me earlier, and Simon Tay has also blogged about it, but I put it off due to the backblog, and also due to my suspicion that, given the writing style, the article was more of an "advertorial".

Like Simon, I wonder about the utility of changing from one fossil fuel to another, although at the moment, it is forecast that Peak Gas supposedly arrives slightly later than Peak Oil. The bad thing is, as peakoilers should know, when gas peaks, the supply "falls off a cliff" (drops rapidly), unlike oil which has a more gradual profile of decline.

Also, do not forget that natural gas supplies 80% of Singapore's electricity. Do you want gas-based vehicles to compete with our power stations? A somewhat related issue has been raised in the international peak-oil community regarding cars using diesel - do you want diesel-run cars to compete for the same fuel with trucks carrying vital food and medical supplies in times of crisis?

(2006-07-31 23:56:17 SGT) [Energy] Permalink

ASEAN holds energy talks amid soaring oil prices

peakoil.com -> antara.co.id :

ASEAN energy ministers gathered in Vientiane, Laos to address energy concerns as oil prices continued to rise on the back of escalating tensions in the Middle East and soaring global demand. The 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), which controls 40% of oil and natural gas resources in the Asia-Pacific region, will discuss oil stockpiling, renewable power and regional energy cooperation. The ASEAN ministers will also discuss the negative impact of rising oil prices on the region's economy, which has a market of 500 million people.

To cope with sudden oil supply disruption, Joon Beom-Lee, head of research at South Korea's state-run Korea National Oil Corporation, said oil stockpiling is the most effective countermeasure. South Korea currently runs nine oil stockpiling facilities along its coast and plans to build three more soon.

(2006-07-31 23:47:38 SGT) [Energy] Permalink

Oil sands: burning energy to produce it

energybulletin.net :

Everything about the Alberta oil sands development is impossibly big. Monster-sized trucks and giant excavators are carving up hundreds of square kilometres of land, thousands of kilometres of pipelines and roads have been laid, and millions of litres of water are being super-heated to process millions of tonnes of rock and sand.

Producing oil from oil sands uses impossibly large amounts of energy. The mining-extraction process requires about 750 cubic feet of natural gas for every barrel of bitumen. The "in situ" process that pumps super-hot steam 1,000 metres underground requires 1,500 cubic feet of natural gas to produce a single barrel of oil. 2 Bcf (billion cubic feet) of gas will be needed for the entire oil sands operations by 2012 - almost enough gas to heat every Canadian home. Due to the enormous consumption, local sources of natural gas are declining and will not be sufficient to meet future needs of the oil sands development. Other future energy sources being considered include the building of several nuclear power plants or coal bed methane plants.

Producing one barrel of oil from oil sands emits three times more greenhouse gases (GHG) than production of conventional light or medium crude oil. Oil sands currently pump out 23 megatonnes of such emissions, and are the fastest rising source of greenhouse gases in Canada. Oil sands mining and refining have also dramatically increased the levels of air pollutants such as sulphur dioxides, nitrogen oxides, particulate matter and volatile organic compounds.

- I continue to refrain from supporting tar sands companies via buying their shares. There is an ongoing recommendation from my investment guru on one such company - its shares have been knocked down 50% in the May/Jun crash. Normally my trading instincts will say to buy and make 100% or more on the rebound, but in this case I refuse to do so on ethical grounds. There are other, better candidates for achieving 100%.

Exploiting tar sands is a desperate last resort. Burning cleaner-burning, high-quality natural gas to extract polluting, low-quality oil smacks of craziness. The proposal to build nuclear power plants to help extract the oil from tar sands instead of using the enormous amount of generated power directly reeks of insanity.

Merger mania

It looks like there is a developing story arc regarding the recent wave of mergers and acquisitions. One of the things that some in the peakoiler community have been trained to do is to examine major business activities such as M&A's and to try to determine the underlying causes. What are the factors driving these mergers? Intense sector competition? To attain "growth"? To counter rising costs due to high energy prices? Corporations looking to survive by pooling their resources ahead of a looming recession/depression?

A quick search brings up the following recent mega-mergers (billion-dollar range) :

1. AT&T, BellSouth shareholders OK $67 billion merger
2. HCA enters into $33 billion merger agreement
3. Mittal Steel to acquire Arcelor in $32 billion merger
4. AMD agrees to buy ATI for $5.4 billion
5. HP to buy Mercury Interactive for $4.5 billion
6. Duquesne Light, investment group announce $1.6 billion merger
7. SanDisk to buy Msystems for $1.55 billion
8. Venture moves to take over GES in near-$1b deal

(2006-07-31 13:12:10 SGT) [Biz] Permalink

Venture moves to take over GES in near-$1b deal

business-times.asia1.com.sg :

Venture Corp said it wants to buy computer related products maker GES International in a $1 billion deal that would be the largest all-cash purchase of a Singapore tech company since 2000. Venture said it will offer $1.25 a share for GES shares, 19% above GES's closing price of $1.05 on Tuesday. Venture said that if its offer succeeds, it will apply to delist GES from the Singapore Exchange (SGX). Taking into account outstanding options, Venture will have to pay $980 million for GES. Venture said it expects the proposed purchase - to be funded through cash and borrowings - to be completed in the fourth quarter.

Based on market capitalisation, Venture and GES are the two biggest players in the electronics manufacturing services and original design and manufacturing (ODM) segment here. Besides synergistic benefits, Venture expects to reap cost savings. GES is the major ODM partner for IBM's POS machines. The success of the GES-IBM partnership has led to global blue-chip company NCR being a client.

- Looks like the current wave of merger mania has hit Singapore too.

(2006-07-31 12:58:39 SGT) [Biz] Permalink

Singapore civil service hits lower headcount target

business-times.asia1.com.sg :

The civil service has achieved a planned 9% cut in manpower more than a year ahead of schedule, having reduced its headcount by 7,400 people - or 9.4% - over the past two fiscal years. Under the Manpower Mangement Framework (MMF) framework, ministry groups - ministry HQs, their departments and statutory boards assessed as a group - were to try to reduce their total headcount by 3% a year in FY04, FY05 and FY06, or a total of 9% over three years. The framework does not apply to the Ministry of Defence or to teachers. Ministries that do not reduce their headcount may face a 'headcount surcharge' of $10,000 a year for each officer above the 3% line.

In his 2006 Budget speech, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said the government would continue with the MMF until FY06, after which it would put in place a headcount freeze for three years - FY2007-FY2009. This was part of the government's efforts to remain lean so it could fund new spending priorities in areas such as health care, education and training, and R&D. 'We will continue to exercise tight control on headcounts in the public sector, and ensure that every post is fully justified,' Mr Lee said in his speech.