The truth behind low oil prices

By Chris Nelder (EnergyandCapital.com)

Two key factors are slowing the pace at which the industry is developing the new oil and gas projects that are so critical to our future supply.

The first is simply price. As oil prices crashed from $147 this summer to around $50 today, developers withdrew their commitment to drilling new wells and building new distribution and refining projects. Under a rule-of-thumb production cost for a new, marginal barrel at around $65 today, it simply doesn’t make sense to throw millions of dollars at drilling new wells when oil futures are selling for $50.

A second, more insidious factor is quietly eroding hopes for our future oil and gas supply however, and that is the continuing global credit crisis. As banks remain reluctant to lend each other money—even money freely given to them by Stammerin’ Hank at the Treasury for that very purpose!—credit has also become hard to come by for anyone trying to start a capital-intensive project. And all energy projects need a great deal of capital.

The rest of the article can be read at EnergyandCapital.com

Geothermal energy for 2012

By PaceToday.com

Australian company Hot Rock Limited, (ASX-HRL), is preparing developments for its first geothermal exploration power station next year, in a quest to provide a cleaner, greener energy source.

Hot Rock is the largest single holder of geothermal exploration permits in Australia, and its four permits in the area have a total area of 18,294 square kilometres and extend for approximately 270 kilometres along the South Australian coastline and inland.

The rest of the article can be read at PaceToday.com

 .. http://www.pacetoday.com.au/Article/Geothermal-energy-for-2012/432101.aspx

Ohio River Clean Fuels receives final air permit

By Coal Gasification News

The Ohio EPA awarded the final air permit for the Ohio River Clean Fuels project to Baard Energy. The Ohio River Clean Fuels LLC (ORCF) project is a 53,000 barrel alternative fuels coal-to-liquids project that will be located near Wellsville, Ohio. The estimated cost of the plant is $5 billion.

The rest of the article can be read at CoalGasificationNews.com

Taranaki, New Zealand, billed as a top spot for wave energy

By Wave Energy Today

Taranaki in New Zealand has been described as a prime location for wave-powered energy projects.

Dr John Huckerby from Power Projects said Taranaki was one of the top spots to develop wave and tidal energy resources.

Prime locations for the renewable energy resource is the coastline from Cape Farewell at the top of the South Island to Opunake, reported www.stuff.co.nz.

The rest of the article can be read at WaveEnergyToday.com

.. http://social.waveenergytoday.com/content/taranaki-billed-top-spot-wave-energy

Geothermal dreams gain steam with leases

By George Bryson (Anchorage Daily News)

Want to buy some hot water? A lot of hot water? Maybe even enough to supply Anchorage with cheap, clean, reliable geothermal energy for years to come?

That’s essentially the proposition Alaska land managers floated recently while trying to lease geothermal rights to state land on the south slope of Mount Spurr, Anchorage’s neighboring volcano. The response was heartening.

The rest of the article can be read at Anchorage Daily News

Crow tribe signs deal for Coal-to-Liquids plant

By Coal Gasification News

The Crow Nation signed a 50 year agreement with the Australian-American Energy Co. to build and operate a coal gasification Coal-to-Liquids plant on the reservation near Billings, Montana. Many Stars Coal-to-Liquids project will be a win-win project for the Crow Nation, the State of Montana and Australian-American Energy. The project is the Many Stars Project and is expected to cost $7.4 billion.

The rest of the article can be read at Coal Gasification News

Geothermal energy leaves the window open for Iceland’s economy

By Stephen Lacey (RenewableEnergyWorld.com)

Drive around Iceland’s capital city of Reykjavik on any cold night and look at the houses and apartment buildings lining the streets. The first thing you may notice is how many windows are wide open, allowing the frigid outdoor air to mix with the warm indoor heat. In most places, the scene may seem a bit strange. But in a city that hosts the world’s largest geothermal district heating system, it’s a normal occurrence.

The rest of the article can be read at RenewableEnergyWorld.com

Potential of geothermal energy in Jharkhand state of India

By Nitish Priyadarshi (Environment and Geology)

Jharkhand has the good reservoir of geothermal energy in its earth’s interior, whose surface manifestations are the steaming grounds and hot springs. The hot springs in Peninsular Shield of Jharkhand are located along a zone running more or less parallel to Damodar Valley Coalfield, i.e. along faulted boundaries.

In Jharkhand the thermal springs are found in Tatta- Jarom of Palamau district and Surajkund, Duari, Bagodar of Hazaribag district. The Tatta spring occurs within the Gondwana rocks and Jarom occurs within Proterozoic rocks. The temperature of the thermal discharge at Jarom is 50 degree c. (centigrade) to 57 degree c. while at Tatta it varies from 61 degree c. to65 degree c. in different spouts. All the thermal springs in Hazaribag district are grouped in Damodar valley graben geothermal province.

The rest of the article can be read at nitishpriyadarshi.blogspot.com

Severn Tidal Power Reef

By www.evans-engineering.co.uk

The Severn Tidal Reef Project is a totally new concept in tidal power generation with
the prospect of being environmentally benign while still allowing the passage of ships
and generating as much or even greater amounts of electricity than the mammoth
Cardiff-Weston barrage.

Unlike other monolithic tidal barrages designed to hold back the full height of the tide
(the second highest in the World) the ‘Reef’ works with only two metres of fall (head
difference) but ‘slices off’ the power over a much longer generation period that is
much easier to match to the peaks in electricity demand.

The rest of the article can be read at www.evans-engineering.co.uk

Australia enacts world’s first regulator framework for CO2 capture and geological storage

By Green Car Congress

The passage of the Offshore Petroleum Amendment Bill by the Australian Senate last week established the world’s first regulatory framework for CO2 capture and geological storage (CCS).

The rest of the article can be read at www.greencarcongress.com