Air Force to try out a new kind of jet fuel

The B-52 bomber, built in the 1950s when jet fuel cost a quarter a gallon, guzzles 47,000 gallons in a single mission - that's a $100,000 fill-up. The Air Force will begin test flights that could represent a major step in the Pentagon's plan to find less costly sources of fuel. A B-52 will take off with two of its engines burning a new blend that may eventually replace the oil-based kerosene formula that has powered jet engines since they were invented.

The test flight, which will be observed by top military officials and airline executives, will mark the first time a U.S. aircraft will attempt to fly using fuel not refined from oil. The fuel being tested is a 50-50 blend of traditional crude-oil based jet fuel and a synthetic liquid, which is made from natural gas but eventually will be refined from coal mined in the U.S.

Gary Gamino, director of investor relations for the fuel producer, Syntroleum, said the company would not know the actual cost of the fuel until a full-scale production plant was built. But he added that the business could achieve acceptable returns if crude oil prices were higher than $50 a barrel. For its part, the Air Force wants to help create a commercial market for the fuel and envisions purchasing up to 100 million gallons of the fuel by 2008. It has bought 100,000 gallons so far for testing. By 2016, the Pentagon hopes to get about half of its aviation fuel from alternative sources.

(2006-09-18 18:11:39 SGT) [Energy] Permalink

Weak oil and gold weigh on resource stocks

news.yahoo.com :

Oil prices came within a whisker of retesting a near six-month low of $63 on Friday as supply worries eased, knocking gold to three-month lows and dragging resource shares lower. Oil slid to $63.02 a barrel as bulging U.S. inventories offset geopolitical worries and spot gold fell to a low of $572.10 - a level last seen on June 23 - before clawing back to $575.40.

"It looks like the good time has stopped. The momentum is weak enough that people start selling," said Tobin Gorey, a commodities analyst at Commonwealth Bank of Australia in Sydney.

(2006-09-18 16:30:21 SGT) [Biz] Permalink

Plan B 2.0: Rescuing a Planet Under Stress and a Civilization in Trouble

peakoil.com -> earth-policy.org -> earth-policy.org :

Just came across this online book by Lester Brown - "Plan B 2.0: Rescuing a Planet Under Stress and a Civilization in Trouble". It is an updated edition which explains the "2.0" part of the title. It's a good read, and free for online reading and download - you could also purchase a paperback or hardback version if you like.

I'd suppose the doomers will have an issue with this, but some of the points being made are : 1. we have big problems - peak oil, water shortages, climate change, biodiversity loss (ok so what else is new?) 2. being centers of commerce, capital, technology and such, cities will continue to exist 3. cities will be re-designed, and technology will help.

Yup, I think the doomers will have quite an issue with this. But then they have an issue with everything except a global collapse of civilization, a dieoff of 5 billion people, and a return to bare subsistence farming and perhaps living in caves, wiping out a hundred if not a thousand years of progress.

Well, perhaps I will take a read and see what he's got to say. I'm still a moderate, by the way. Rome wasn't built in a day and neither did it fall in a day. It continues to exist today, too, and is still popular with the tourists - personally, I found the Colosseum to be of interest. People come and go. So do empires and civilizations.

(2006-09-18 13:24:26 SGT) [Env] Permalink

Oil in Cuba? Chavez says Fidel is OPEC-Bound

peakoil.com -> turkishpress.com :

Cuba, which for decades has struggled with crippling energy crises, has black gold and could be OPEC-bound, Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez said with a smile. "Fidel is headed for OPEC ... I hope it will be the case," Chavez joked at a meeting of developing countries in Havana. If Cuba were to achieve energy independence, the Cinderella-story shift could flip regional geopolitics upside down, potentially turning Castro's cash-strapped, oil import-dependent regime into a crude exporter able to fund itself well into the future.

The Gulf's waters are divided into economic exclusion zones of the United States, Mexico and Cuba. Recent deep-water studies have been promising. India's state-run oil company has signed a deal with Cuba for oil exploration in the Gulf of Mexico. Officials of the state-run Cuba Petroleos (CUPET) say a total of six companies have signed exploration deals for 16 blocs in the Gulf of Mexico.

See also :

1. US cut off from Cuba's oil rush

(2006-09-18 12:57:28 SGT) [Energy] Permalink

Ford to cut 14000 jobs, close 16 factories

news.bbc.co.uk :

Ford is cutting 14,000 white-collar jobs in North America as it tries to turn round its flagging business. It is also to close 16 factories by 2008, instead of shutting 12 by 2012 as previously announced. It said these measures would help it reduce annual costs by about $5 billion by the end of 2008.

Ford had earlier said it would offer redundancy and early retirement packages to all of its 75,000 unionised US blue-collar workers. When it first floated its redundancy programme the troubled firm said it was prepared to make individual buyout offers of up to $140,000. The firm also now says its US plants will not see profit until 2009. Ford will also suspend its share dividend payout as part of the cost-cutting.

Ford currently operates the Ford, Land Rover, Mercury, Lincoln, Jaguar, Volvo and Aston Martin brands, and has a joint operation with Japan's Mazda. Around the globe Ford employs a total of 300,000 workers.

(2006-09-18 12:50:00 SGT) [Biz] Permalink

India seeks LNG from Algeria

zeenews.com :

After seeking more crude and gas from Nigeria and Qatar, India has now sought liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Algeria and has also evinced interest in upstream activities in that country. Algeria, an OPEC member, is in the process of developing its LNG capacity, which is currently 26.5 bcm/year. India on the other hand has been scouting for new gas sources to satisfy its power plant requirements.

Over the last few years, significant oil and gas discoveries have been made in Algeria, largely by foreign companies in partnership with state-owned Sonatrach. India too can benefit from the under utilised oil and gas resources in the Arab country.

(2006-09-18 12:42:33 SGT) [Energy] Permalink

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