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a community peak oil portal
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| EU’s first enlightened move on energy efficiency |
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 Today EU Energy Ministers decided to ban incandescent light bulbs in Europe as of 2010. The move comes few days before the lift of anti-dumping duties on energy saving lamps imported from China, which takes effect on 18 October. Both decisions are a positive move towards energy savings within the EU, says WWF, the global conservation organisation.
WWF regrets, however, that the European Union has not committed yet to a binding target reducing primary energy consumption by 20% by 2020 to boost energy conservation in all sectors. Although it was discussed by the European Council in 2007, so far this objective is only applied by European countries on a voluntary basis.
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| Nature loss 'dwarfs bank crisis' |
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 The global economy is losing more money from the disappearance of forests than through the current banking crisis, according to an EU-commissioned study.
It puts the annual cost of forest loss at between $2 trillion and $5 trillion.
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| Oil's Drop Squeezes Producers |
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 Graeme writes: Big oil-producing countries are showing signs of distress as the global credit crunch and falling crude prices begin to squeeze government budgets and delay projects.
A study released by Bernstein Research of New York this week argues that oil prices will remain linked to the cost of producing supplies from difficult but crucial fields deep offshore and elsewhere, a cost the research firm puts at between $75 and $80 a barrel. By 2012, the firm said, that cost likely will have jumped to $105 a barrel.
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| Arctic stormier as Earth warms, study finds |
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Pace of sea ice also quickens, which could help climate by churning ocean
The Arctic has become more stormy in the past 50 years due to the warming climate, which in turn has quickened the pace of drifting sea ice, a new NASA study finds.
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| U.S. ethanol profits stay weak on poor fuel demand |
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 NEW YORK, Oct 10 (Reuters) - Average U.S. ethanol distillers profits rose a few pennies this week on softer corn prices but remained weak overall on poor motor fuel demand, analysts said on Friday.
"Those companies that are able to keep costs under control continue to do okay. Those that can't are in a world of hurt," said Rick Kment, analyst at DTN in Nebraska.
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| Venture capital looks to new sources of biofuels |
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SAN FRANCISCO, Oct 9 (Reuters) - Corn-based ethanol is yesterday's news for venture capitalists who, these days, are betting on everything from wood chips and algae to turkey guts and trash as potential sources of next-generation biofuels.
Corn ethanol caught the imagination of U.S. policymakers as a way to fix multiple problems: rising oil prices, dependence on foreign oil and fossil fuel pollution. But the use of corn for ethanol is now embroiled in controversy, being held responsible by critics for recent spikes in food prices that spurred riots in some countries.
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| Russia would not cut off gas to Europe -US envoy |
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ROME, Oct 10 (Reuters) - European dependence on Russian gas is dangerous partly because of future supply shortfalls, not because Russia may cut off supplies over tensions with the West, the U.S. envoy for Eurasian energy diplomacy said on Friday.
"I don't think it would do that (cut off supplies). It hasn't done that to Western Europe in the past and I don't think it's going to do it intentionally," C. Boyden Gray said.
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| Will cheap gas mean return to gas-guzzling ways? |
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 DENVER (AP) — Prices at the pump are dropping fast, and gas could fall below $3 a gallon in a matter of weeks, if not sooner. Does that mean Americans will return to their heedless, gas-guzzling ways?
Experts say no because most drivers assume the dip in prices will be short-lived, and motorists have adjusted their habits accordingly.
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| Alternative energy outlook clouds up |
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 Credit squeeze, falling crude may hamper startups, researcher says
As hot as the alternative energy sector is, the international credit crunch coupled with falling oil prices could squeeze investment, particularly for startup companies, an analyst said Thursday.
"The concept of alternative energy has a lot of momentum," said Dan Pickering, head of research for Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co. Securities in Houston. "But lower oil prices make it harder to justify investment. At $50 a barrel, a lot of that investment will die."
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| Alaska pollock fishery near collapse: Greenpeace |
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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Stocks of Alaska pollock, a staple of the U.S. fast food industry, have shrunk 50 percent from last year to record low levels and put the world's largest food fishery on the brink of collapse, environmental group Greenpeace said on Friday.
Taina Honkalehto, a research fishery biologist with the U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service, said pollock biomass in U.S. waters was down to 940,000 tons from 1.8 million tons last year.
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| Gas price fall may lure travelers off planes |
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CHICAGO (Reuters)- So far, U.S. airlines have coped well with a painful economic downturn, but a sharp decline in gasoline prices soon may lure travelers off planes and into cars for short-haul trips.
That would be a departure from a long-held public perception that flying -- while increasingly expensive -- still makes sense because the cost of driving is almost as bad and driving takes longer.
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| Doubts cloud outlook for Libyan oil bonanza |
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RABAT (Reuters) - Majors oil companies are pouring money into Libya, home to Africa's biggest petroleum reserves, but it is unclear whether the desert country can achieve its goal of almost doubling output within four years.
Tripoli wants to increase output to 3 million barrels of crude oil per day by about 2012 from 1.7 million now, raising extra revenues to help rebuild infrastructure that is crumbling after years of sanctions.
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| Diesel shortages in Western Canada |
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| Repent writes: CALGARY, Alberta (Reuters) - Planned and unplanned refinery outages have combined to create a shortage of diesel fuel in Western Canada, leaving some truck stops with no supplies, industry officials said.
Among companies with units off line are Petro-Canada (nyse: PCZ - news - people ) , whose Edmonton, Alberta, refinery has been in a major turnaround since this summer, and Suncor Energy Inc (nyse: SU - news - people ), whose oil sands plant is currently pumping none of the fuel, officials with the refiners said.
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| OPEC May `Tear Apart' If Saudis Shun Supply Cut, Bernstein Says |
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| (Bloomberg) -- OPEC divisions could ``tear the organization apart'' as its biggest producer, Saudi Arabia, pursues a more moderate course than other members calling for supply cuts to revive oil prices, a London analyst said.
``Saudi Arabia has not joined the OPEC hawks, led by Venezuela and Iran, in calling for another supply cut, and we think we could be witnessing the beginning of the end for the organization,'' Neil McMahon, a London-based analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein & Co., wrote in a report today.
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| Oil plunges to 13-month low on global slowdown |
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| NEW YORK - The stunning collapse in oil markets accelerated Friday, with a barrel plunging below $78 as investors grow more pessimistic about a mushrooming global economic crisis.
A barrel of oil hasn't been this cheap in 13 months — a rare silver lining for consumers amid a rapidly imploding financial landscape.
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