Gasoline Advances as Inventories Fall to Lowest Level Since May

Aug. 31 (Bloomberg) -- Gasoline futures advanced after the Energy Department reported inventories of the motor fuel fell to the lowest level since May as drivers filled their tanks before Hurricane Irene.

Futures rose as much as 1.3 percent as gasoline stockpiles fell 2.8 million barrels to 208.6 million last week. Imports to the U.S. East Coast declined 28 percent to 591,000 barrels a day, during the week ended Aug. 26 as Hurricane Irene approached the region, department data showed.

U.S. government seeks biofuel partnership

WASHINGTON, Aug. 31 (UPI) -- The U.S. Navy, Department of Energy and Department of Agriculture are forming a public-private partnership to develop drop-in advanced biofuels.

A request for information laying out the administration's goals, assumptions, and tools and requesting from industry specific ideas for how to leverage private capital markets to establish a commercially viable drop-in biofuels industry has been issued by the organizations.

A nuclear fuel bank to secure peaceful atomic energy

Kazakhstan is ready to play a key role in global security by hosting an international nuclear fuel bank under the auspices of the International Atomic Energy Agency, writes Kanat Saudabayev, the country's secretary of state, in an exclusive commentary for EurActiv.

"Since regaining independence in 1991, Kazakhstan has been committed to the global process of non-proliferation and reduction of nuclear weapons. After the Soviet Union's collapse, we gave up the world's fourth-largest nuclear arsenal and the infrastructure of the old Soviet nuclear test site in Semipalatinsk was completely dismantled, starting in 1991.

Time for smart energy policy is now

WASHINGTON — For decades, securing our nation’s energy future has been a national priority — yet policymakers still have not reached consensus on a long-term, comprehensive platform that will ensure our energy, economic and national security.

Instead, we’ve endured a roller-coaster ride of spiking energy prices that cripple our economy and further compromise our national security.

U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon: Clean energy top priority

Providing clean, renewable energy to the 1.4 billion people who are living without electricity is the No. 1 priority of the United Nations, the secretary general of the U.N. Ban Ki-moon said during a visit to the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory.

NREL, through its numerous partnerships with the U.N ., is playing a crucial role in making that happen and building a sustainable world, Secretary General Ban Ki-moon told a crowd of researchers assembled at NREL's Research Support Facility "When we put a priority on renewable energy we address job creation, we address climate change, women's empowerment and food security," Ban said.

China's Pending Energy Crisis

As mature economies like the U.S. and Europe sputter postrecession, China has caught the world's attention as an economic power. The country's nearly double-digit growth is the envy -- and the concern -- of the traditional economic powers of the world.

One thing China needs to keep its economy clicking is fuel -- lots and lots of fuel. And for China, that's becoming an increasingly dangerous problem.

Military radar deal paves way for more wind farms across Britain

Thousands more wind turbines can now be built across Britain after energy companies struck behind-the-scenes deals to overcome military objections to wind farms.

New mobile radar systems, each costing about £20 million, are being purchased from a US defence contractor to ensure Britain's early warning systems remain effective in detecting enemy aircraft and missiles.

Tests show that wind turbines, whose spinning blades are about the same size as a passenger jet wing, disrupt the radar systems currently in place around the UK coastline.

Natural gas boom is the real deal

"Now we have runs on the scoreboard," says John Hanger, former head of Pennsylvania's Department of Environmental Protection, regarding the natural gas opportunity. Hanger was responding to the updated estimate for natural gas reserves by the United States Geological Survey, which was revised upwards from 2 trillion cubic feet in 2002 to 84TCF this year. Hanger characterizes the current estimate as conservative, and the previous estimate as extremely conservative. "We've already produced 2 trillion TCF from the Marcellus [Shale]. So we've already exceeded [the estimate] from 2002," Hanger explains. "And Pennsylvania alone, over the past 12 months, has produced close to 1 trillionTCF and that was just 1600 wells," Hanger adds for emphasis. Many more wells are coming Hanger says and that is only going to increase production.

UN Chief Calls For Clean Energy Revolution

United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Thursday called for a ‘clean energy revolution’ to transform the global economy.

Ban, during a visit to the United States, underlined the importance of clean energy to put the world on a cleaner, safer, more equitable path, adding that those countries that move quickly into developing clean energy will be the economic powerhouses of the 21st century.

CO Energy Needs: Business as Usual or a Clean Energy Vision?

DENVER - Where should Colorado and 10 other western states turn for energy needs in the future? That's the focus of a report released Wednesday which contrasts the economic, environmental, security and public-health consequences of a "Clean Energy Vision" versus "Business as Usual."

Former Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter says the Clean Energy Vision's reliance on lowering demand and using renewable resources can be an economic growth engine for states such as Colorado.

Renewable Energy – Energy for future

Introduction
Global warming and its increasing effects have shed light on the many global environmental issues. Our planet's fragile ecosystem is under attack on many fronts as a result of industrialization and our growing transportation and infrastructures. Change is needed in order to avert catastrophe, adaptation and development of alternative energy sources is absolutely necessary. Although, renewable energy will take a long time to gain popularity due to economics associated with the use of conventional fossil fuels and associated traditional habits. Nevertheless, renewable energy is the answer to reducing the effects of climate change and help save environment.

U.S. Navy contracts for solar power

HONOLULU, Aug. 25 (UPI) -- Three Hawaiian companies have been contracted by the U.S. Navy for power generation at military installations throughout the state.

The contract from the U.S. Naval Facilities Engineering Command Pacific was given to Island Pacific Energy LLC, Pacific Energy Solutions LLC, and Photon Finance LLC.

Testimony: Port terrorist attack could cripple energy sector

A terrorist attack on the Houston Ship Channel would be catastrophic for the nation's energy sector, international trade and economy, witnesses testified during a congressional hearing Wednesday at the Port of Houston Authority.

As testimony was under way at the port's executive offices, a Government Accountability Office issued a report finding that the nation must take further measures to secure the maritime energy supply.

Report: Excelsior Energy could run out of gas

DULUTH, Minn. (AP) — Excelsior Energy, once hailed as an innovative project that would bring jobs to Minnesota's Iron Range while cleanly tapping America's abundant coal supply, is in danger of running out of gas if it can't attract additional investments from the public or private sector soon, the Duluth News Tribune reported.

While significant work has gone into planning, engineering and garnering permits, Excelsior has yet to move a shovelful of dirt or find a customer for the power it would produce, the newspaper reported in a two-part series this week .

IAEA seeks safety checks in all atomic energy states

(Reuters) - The U.N. atomic agency will carry out at least one safety inspection in each country with nuclear power plants in the coming three years under proposals aimed at preventing any repeat of Japan's nuclear crisis.

The draft document from the International Atomic Energy Agency, a revised version of a plan presented to IAEA member states this month, outlined a series of steps to help improve global nuclear safety after the Fukushima accident in March.

Smart Grid- The Best Approach to Put America Back to Work

The Smart Grid increases our energy security by reducing dependence on oil that only gets more costly to extract or protect. The Smart Grid improves our economic security with a 21st century energy infrastructure that allows us to cost-effectively participate in competitive global markets. The Smart Grid also creates new domestic white collar and blue collar jobs. Building the Smart Grid benefits us at local, state and national levels in the USA, but the effort will require workforce education, employee reskilling, and services to assist job seekers in finding their best career transition points.

Expert: Greece in better pipeline position

ATHENS, Greece, Aug. 22 (UPI) -- Greece's move to privatize its incumbent natural gas distributor could help it gain leverage in still-fluid southern energy corridor plans, a U.S. expert says.

Alexandros Petersen, an adviser to the European Energy Security Initiative at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, wrote Saturday in the Athens daily I Kathimerini that, until now, Greece, though its state-owned gas company DEPA, was committed to the proposed Interconnector Greece-Italy pipeline -- one of three southern corridor pipelines on the drawing board.

Thar coal to be fully exploited: Sindh CM

KARACHI : Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah on Saturday said the government is fully  committed for development of Thar coal which has the potential of turning the country’s economy around.

The Sindh CM said this while presiding over the 13th meeting of Thar Coal and Energy Board (TCEB), at the CM House here.

Can the Fracking Industry Self-Regulate?

A new report from the Department of Energy calls for the creation of a shale gas production organization -- a private sector agency that would set safety standards and address environmental concerns.

The boom in natural gas extracted from shale rock through new technology holds out great transformative promise for the future: for consumers in lowering energy costs, for workers in creating domestic jobs, for the environment as a substitute for coal, for balance of trade as we may export more than we import and for energy security as we become less dependent on foreign oil and gas and reduce the influence of nations like Iran, Russia and Venezuela.

U.S. Promotes LEU Fuel Reserve Stockpile

The United States is making available to commercial atomic energy reactors a stockpile of low-enriched uranium fuel that was blended down from excess weapon-grade uranium, the U.S. National Nuclear Security Agency announced on Thursday (see GSN, Dec. 7, 2010).

The American Assured Fuel Supply stockpile is intended to encourage growth in the civilian atomic power field in a manner that does not promote proliferation. Unlike highly enriched uranium that is still used at atomic reactors around the world, LEU fuel is not suitable for use in a nuclear weapon.

U.S. Army to Invest $7.1 Billion in Renewable Energy Projects

The U.S. Army takes energy security seriously, planning to invest $7.1 billion into private sector sourced renewable energy infrastructure on Army land.

The U.S. Army is recruiting… private sector renewable energy companies that is. The Army is taking a lesson from its brothers in the Navy (who are engaging in an aggressive biofuels campaign) and actively pursuing renewable energy options to power bases and operations, breaking the chain of dependence on foreign oil. The Army plans to actively seek out private sector renewable energy companies to develop $7.1 billion worth of renewable energy projects on Army land.

Fukushima plant owner Tepco reports $7.4bn loss

Tokyo Electric Power (Tepco), the owner of the Fukushima nuclear plant damaged in March's earthquake and tsunami, has reported a quarterly loss of 571.8bn yen ($7.4bn; £4.5bn)

The loss includes 400bn yen put aside by Tepco to compensate victims of the disaster, which forced 80,000 people to be evacuated from the area around the Fukushima plant.