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Posts in May 2008

• Climate Change Threatens Alpine Resorts

  Andy Rowell

  May22

  It may not be the ski season, but alpine skiing and snowboarding may be under greater threat from climate change than scientists have previously thought, new research suggests. A study of snowfall spanning 60 years has indicated that the Alps’s entire winter sports industry could grind to a halt through lack of snow.

• Nigeria: Shell & Exxon to Pay Billions?

  Andy Rowell

  May22

  More bad news for Shell in Nigeria. Nigerian President Umaru Yar’Adua has ordered the state-run oil firm NNPC to recover payment arrears of some $2 billion from Shell and ExxonMobil. The sum supposedly represents outstanding payments on the Production Sharing Contracts (PSC) on the Bonga and Erha oilfields, accounting for about 20 percent of Nigeria’s…
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• First Came Heavy Oil Now its “Unconventional Gas”

  Andy Rowell

  May21

  As energy prices rise on a daily basis, anything becomes possible. First unconventional heavy oils from tar sands to oil shales have become economical, now it’s the turn of “unconventional gas”. Just as we blogged that natural gas supplies are beginning to dry up, so energy companies are starting to exploit this new resource.

• UK Told to Rethink Aviation Policy

  Andy Rowell

  May21

  The British government should completely rethink its aviation policy and shelve plans to expand Heathrow and Stansted airports, according to its own influential advisory body. The Sustainable Development Commission, chaired by leading environmentalist Sir Jonathon Porritt, said there were big question marks over the environmental and economic arguments underpinning the proposals for British airport expansion.

• EU: Keep the Temperature Rise Well Below 2 Degrees

  Andy Rowell

  May21

  Global temperature rises should be kept well below the European Union’s target of 2 degrees Celsius to avoid costly damage to people and their lifestyles, according to a new European Parliament report. European consumers must be given better information about the “carbon footprint” of goods they buy, including products imported from outside the 27-nation bloc,…
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• US Begins to Break Foreign Oil “Addiction”

  Andy Rowell

  May20

  The US is starting to break its “addiction” to foreign oil as high prices, more efficient cars, and the use of ethanol significantly cut the share of its oil imports for the first time since the late seventies. According to a report in today’s Financial Times, the country’s foreign oil dependency is expected to fall…
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• 1 in 8 Birds Threatened Due to Climate

  Andy Rowell

  May20

  Nearly every day we get another warning over the impact climate change is having on the world’s wildlife. As the predictions get ever gloomier, soon species will become extinct before the world has acted. The latest assessment is on birds. Climate change is “significantly amplifying” the threats facing the world’s bird populations, a global assessment…
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• Iraq “Has Largest Oil Reserves”

  Andy Rowell

  May20

  As the world rapidly runs out of oil, one place seems to be swimming in the stuff, and no prizes for guessing who that is … Iraq has dramatically increased the official size of its oil reserves after new data suggested that they could exceed Saudi Arabia’s and be the largest in the world.

• Now the Gas Dries up…

  Andy Rowell

  May19

  Two different stories from separate parts of the world, but one underlying trend that signals just how bad the energy crunch has become. It may be the price of oil that is grabbing the headlines but you should also keep an eye on what is happening to gas. The Emirates may have been built on…
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• UK Demands Repayment of Climate Aid

  Andy Rowell

  May19

  Never trust a politician over climate change, that’s the lesson of this story. Britain’s £800m international project to help the poorest countries in the world adapt to climate change has come under fire after it emerged that almost all the money offered will have to be repaid with interest.