It seems that even crooks have jumped on the renewable energy bandwagon.
The Oregon State Police says about a half-dozen solar panels have been stolen in the past year from changeable message signs.
Those are the kind that warn drivers about things like icy roads or construction zones. The solar panels allow the signs to be placed in remote locations without easy access to electricity.
Oregon State Police Lieutenant Greg Hastings says the crimes appear to be pre-meditated.
Greg Hastings: “Someone would need to probably pull up in a pick-up or a utility type of a truck. It’s not something that you would take off and then walk down the highway unnoticed by anyone as you carry it away.”
The panels are four feet wide and are worth about a thousand dollars. Hastings says no one has been caught.
The latest theft was Sunday night on a road approaching Mount Hood.
In Clark County, Washington last spring, solar panels were stolen from electronic warning signs along Interstate 5.
- Seems like renewable energies are not suitable for public use. Thanks Lowem for the heads up on this news!! That means DO NOT LEAVE YOUR SOLAR PANELS in public!!
Interestingly this video shows that the theory of “Peak Oil” had officially acknowledge as FACT by American Politican
Thank you Groovy Green for this information! It’s what I had in mind for the future in sustainable lifestyle.
Let me list down my suggestions for sustainable living for the future.
Support laws for higher mileage vehicles or incentives for fuel conservation transportation
Support Public Transport
Support Park and Ride incentives (bigger & cheaper car parks near MRT, Busstops)
Support alternative energies research in private and public sectors
Support education and mass publicity on the fact of Peak Oil together with Global Warming.
Support better understanding for higher cost in the future to avoid mass protest.
Support full fledge energy conservation projects instead of using higher “market pricing” deregulation to curb demand.
Support localization of food supply.
Support incentive to recycle used products, pay people to recycle per item.
Support creative ideas and inventive mind to solve energy crisis.
So far this is some general suggestions for the public and policy makers.
I do have many ideas to tap energies from mother earth such as wind, solar, waves, geothermal and others best kept as trade secrets for now. Key tips, any waste energy around you that are dispersed into the environment lately?
Let’s look into various energies…kinetic energy, gravitational energy, magnetic energy, sound vibration energy, heat energy, expansion and contraction of elements in different temperature, bodily movements, wind, sun, waves, atoms, pressure, body fluid, lightning, static, high radio frequencies to break water into Hydrogen, magnetic induction boiling, chemical reaction using acid and metals and many many many many ideas that can potentially save man from addiction of fossil fuels.
Many are almost brainless and can be implement almost immediately if you have the money and free time. Most don’t give a damn to save the world and continue to waste precious energies.
To give some broad examples of wasting of energies (I believe I still recovering from shock when I know that I am wasting energies to do my work)
Buying a product made from oil
Using Transportation that consume fossil fuels directly or indirectly
Eat food that are imported thousands of miles away
Not switching off electrical equipment completely off when not in use even for 10 minutes
Eating vegetables that are using non-organic fertilizers (natural gas) and pesticides (oil)
There are simply too many examples to put the list in full details. The only way I can put it across to readers are simple, just close your eyes imagine that there are no more oil and electricity…what are the things that will be missing when that happen.
I will put a fictional imaginary story below to show you the horror of PEAK OIL Happening in it’s full effects by 2012 to 2020.
By Jan 2013, Oil prices had spiked above $200 per barrels and the world are fighting each other for land and resources. Major war breaks out in the middle east for the very fuel that fuel the economies of major countries.
By then there are no more super power countries but of countries of densely populated hell on earth where neighbors hunt your pets for food and beggars are all over the place lining up at those “kitchen soup” centers set up by charitable churches.
It had all started as in a peaceful protest by the workers to increase wages and against hike in fuel prices, when that obviously didn’t work they turn violent. Home made weapons are used against the police whom very existence is to maintain peace and stability of economy of the country.
Then the stocks and shares begins to collapse and the population suddenly becomes broke and cannot afford imported food anymore, looting started to spiral out of control in supermarket and shopping centers that resembles war zones. The rich that are desperate joined gangs to seek protection of property of stores and their life.
Anger, frustration, starvation, fear, greed, and other emotions take hold of the community when state of emergency had been declared after weeks of violent protest.
Telephone, Internet, news broadcasting stations are all shut down by the military and a media silence will be strictly enforced as soldiers maintain the peace in the streets by terrorizing everyone and start a violent criminal investigation to those who “protested”.
As the protesters are rounded up and some may be brutally executed by accident or deliberately by soldiers or “secret police”, many protester vow revenge and start their own uprising against the government.
All these happened as electricity is only reserved to the super rich and the government buildings. The cost of LNG imports had skyrocketed ever since oil prices spikes to unseen levels forcing the world to switch to natural gas imports, with LNG to be the key fossil fuel for electricity generation for some countries.
Black markets spring up everywhere selling fuel hoarded previously at inflated prices with over 500% profits but the now some traders are simply asking for food in exchange instead.
People are regretting why they never recycle those plastics bottles, aluminum cans, and investing in renewable energies.
Those who own a solar panels are basically the king of the community that are protected by thugs with AK47 smuggled via corrupted routes. Even the police are depending on these renewable energies to sustain their telecommunication via short wave radios by charging those electricity sucking walkie talkies.
The hospitals are low on antibiotics and electricity to run the electronic equipments, many patients died while in surgery during the frequent black outs even though the military had the given highest priority to give electricity to hospitals.
Sectarian violence breaks out everywhere as the cities are cut into many turfs owned by several self proclaim war lords and goes by creative names that everybody fear.
The peace keepers from other countries are recalled back to solve their own problems in their own countries.
Religious fanatics and misguided believers march their way to mass suicide believing in the end of the world and coming of the savior to send them to heaven. Fake prophets cannibalized offerings by believers and live lavish lifestyle protected from harm by big group of strong believers.
In another country in the same year a different scene emerged, they call their country eco-friendly city or transition city.
Almost all the roof tops of multilevel car parks are filled with solar panels and any exposed roof are covered with renewable energies ranging for PV solar, Sterling Motor powered by reflected heat from the sun and wind turbines.
Super Long double level Electric Bus zoomed pass carrying maximum load around the country.
Recycling machines spit out food vouchers for recycling anything that can be recycled.
High rise green house buildings are nearing their harvest and hundreds of tired but happy farmers collected their fair share of their income and get 3 meals a day.
Dozen of rabbit farms had been up and running to collect their natural dump for organic fertilizers for growing organic vegetables.
Many people starts to come out of their house and interact more with each other and form community against crimes and exchange harvest for survival.
New jobs are created for renewable energies technologies, many electricians are wiring up batteries and solar panels everywhere. Other business allow workers to work from home and have more than one office to cater to less transportation cost.
Telecommunication WIFI nodes are maintain by private sectors and individuals to keep the internet alive for trade and communication.
People understands their country limits to control hikes in prices and evolve themselves to move into sustainability mode of course thanks to the massive education programs by the government in the year 2009 to 2010 when oil prices went crazy.
Eventually when the world war ends with half the world population gone, the equilibrium of demand and supply of oil starts to stabilize and oil prices drop dramatically but it matters no more as by 2020, 90% of the combustion engines vehicles are abandoned by unwilling owners as they had no longer able to afford to drive these “cars” then.
The above story are merely a piece of my own imagination and combined with some recent important events in Iraq, Burma, Paris, Zimbabwe and many other sources to construct a possible future after peak oil.
It’s currently a fantasy fictional story but it may become true one day…
My previous post on the “withdrawal” effect on the drop in oil prices and predicted the “Tsunami” that comes after a drop unfortunately became reality.
Oil prices spike up within a single day to $95 and might be continuing to climb up. I won’t be surprise if it hit $100 per barrel if this keeps up. Sigh.
Something tells me there is something big happening now at this very moment.
SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Oil prices rebounded by over $1 a barrel on Thursday, after an explosion and fire at an oil terminal in Minnesota shut down most of the main pipeline that delivers Canadian crude to U.S. Midwest refineries.
U.S. crude rose by $1.11 to $91.73 a barrel by 0435 GMT, recouping some of the previous session’s loss of $3.80, or 4 percent.
Brent crude climbed 96 cents to $90.77 a barrel.
Enbridge Inc said it had shut down on Wednesday, four of its main pipelines near its Clearbrook, Minnesota, terminal that supply over 2 million barrels per day (bpd) of Canadian oil to the U.S. Midwest due to the explosion and fire.
The company did not give further details about the total line capacity that had been shut down and said it was unable to say when the line might be able to restart, while a county official said the fire may burn for three days.
“This is a fast reaction to the accident, and it will be good news for bull players,” said Tetsu Emori, fund manager at Astmax Futures Co.
“Oil prices may rise further if the accident is proven as a big supply disruption.”
- Oil prices will never be the same during these times, every little news will affect the overall picture. Is it time for alternative energy? YES.
NEW YORK (AP) — Oil prices tumbled almost $4 a barrel Wednesday, after the government reported an increase in supplies at the Nymex delivery terminal in Cushing, Okla., which is closely watched by traders as a benchmark of oil inventory tightness.
Anemic growth in demand and a jump in refinery activity also weighed on prices, which have dropped sharply in recent days on concerns about the economy and expectations supplies will grow.
“The report … added to the bearish sentiment in the market,” said Eric Wittenauer, an energy analyst at A.G. Edwards & Sons. “It comes at a period in time when OPEC is boosting production … and considering another increase in production.”
Light, sweet crude for January delivery plunged $3.80 to settle at $90.62 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange following Tuesday’s drop of $3.28 a barrel.
That was crude’s second largest two-day price decline since the Nymex introduced a futures contract in 1983. On Oct. 19 and 22, 1990, crude prices dropped $8.42.
The latest price is $8.67, or 8.7%, below the record price of $99.29 set last week.
While analysts caution that futures could still rebound and again threaten to reach $100 this year, most feel that’s becoming less likely. Many market observers have long argued that prices were driven higher by speculators and have predicted that futures would fall sharply at some point.
At the pump, meanwhile, gas prices rose 0.5 cents overnight to a national average of $3.096 a gallon, according to AAA and the Oil Price Information Service. It was the second increase in as many days, though prices remain 1.6 cents below their most recent peak.
Analysts say gas prices are likely to remain flat or even fall unless oil rises to $100 or higher. Gas prices hit an all-time record of $3.227 a gallon in May.
Demand for gasoline continues to rise, but at a slow pace, analysts say. Gasoline demand rose last week by 134,000 barrels, and is up 0.4% over the last four weeks compared with the same period last year, the Energy Department’s Energy Information Administration said in its weekly inventory report. That’s well below the historic average year-over-year growth rate of 1.5%, analysts say.
“There’s just more and more evidence every week that we’re already seeing … demand deterioration due to high prices,” said Jim Ritterbusch, president of Ritterbusch & Associates.
Overall demand for petroleum products fell 487,000 barrels last week.
As demand for gasoline is slowing, supplies are rising. Gasoline inventories last week jumped 1.4 million barrels, more than double the 600,000 barrel increase analysts surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires had expected. That increase came despite a 289,000 barrel decline in gasoline imports to an average of 835,000 barrels a day.
December gasoline futures dropped 9.73 cents to settle at $2.2757 a gallon on the Nymex on Wednesday.
Overall crude supplies fell during the week ended Nov. 23 by 400,000 barrels, in line with the 500,000 barrel decrease analysts had expected. But that decline was overshadowed by a 600,000 barrel increase in inventories in Cushing, Okla. Cushing inventories are up 13.4% in two weeks.
Activity at the Cushing terminal is studied closely by oil traders because it is the physical delivery point for Nymex crude. Falling supplies there are seen as a symptom of a tight market, and those concerns ease when Cushing inventories rise.
Crude supplies were helped by imports, which rose last week by an average of 534,000 barrels a day to 10.4 million barrels a day.
Prices were also pressured by a surprising jump in refinery activity last week of 2.4%, to 89.4% of capacity, much more than the 0.6% rise analysts had expected. That increase explains the unexpected jump in gasoline supplies and a surprisingly small 100,000 barrel decline in supplies of distillates, which include heating oil and diesel. Analysts had expected a 1 million barrel decline.
- And I happened to be monitoring this historic event of the largest 2 days drop of oil prices since 1983!. The problem now is what happen after the previous large drop of oil prices? Does it goes back up slowly or sharply up? This may need some hardworking journalist to find past records to report it!! It will be a big news if that previous drop in oil prices cause any sudden hike in oil prices.
China previously have wide spread diesel rationing due to suppression of pump prices causing lost of profits to refiners resulting in shortage of diesel. This might had reduced some of the world demand of crude oil for a while however China going to increase their supply soon and will this demand might hit the crude prices further down the road maybe in a few weeks ahead?
Oil Prices “Withdraws” back into below $91 per barrels today 2.15am 29 November 2007 (+8 GMT Singapore Time)
I call this “Oil Withdrawal” or “Negative Waves” that precede any “Tsunami” that follows. Currently, My prediction that the current oil prices might go down further until the meeting of OPEC on 5th December to see what will be the outcome of the “story” on supply hikes.
The prediction will be sudden spike in oil prices or a substantial increase over a few days.
Given the sensitivity of the event, disclaimer have to be put out that I am not responsible for any loss of life or money or property in any event my prediction don’t come true.
It’s great to see oil prices at lower range, it may also signify a sudden change of heart of traders to support lower oil prices? However, the coming winter demand and political tension might change all these within minutes. Let’s pray for peace then and we all shall have more time to implement future alternative energy supplies.
LONDON (Reuters) – Representatives of six world powers trying to curb Iran’s nuclear ambitions will meet in Paris on Saturday, British foreign office minister Kim Howells said in parliament on Wednesday.
The meeting between the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council — China, France, Russia, the United States and Britain — plus Germany will come one day after talks in London between the European Union’s foreign policy chief Javier Solana and Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili.
Iran said on Tuesday it would put forward “new initiatives” at the meeting with Solana on Friday but that it would not suspend sensitive nuclear work as demanded by the United Nations.
An Iranian refusal to modify its stand could bring a third round of tougher sanctions closer. The United States is pressing for sanctions but Russia and China are resisting such a move.
Two sets of mild sanctions have been slapped on Iran so far.
Howells was speaking to the British parliament’s foreign affairs committee, which also heard from the Iran coordinator at the Foreign Office that Iran had been surprised by the two previous rounds of sanctions.
“That unity (within the group of world powers) is something that we will be working hard to protect within the E3+3 (group of six) this weekend,” Anthony Phillipson said.
The United States and its European allies say Iran must suspend uranium enrichment, a process with both military and civilian uses, to enable negotiations on a solution that would include trade benefits for Tehran or face further penalties.
- This Saturday, 1st December is crucial as whatever outcomes might affect what the OPEC might do next in their OPEC meeting on 5th December in Abu Dhabi. There are several kinds of events might happen and some are unthinkable.
We shall not speculate what might happen if a harsher sanctions are slapped on Iran that will actually hurt. However there are many counter attacks that can be performed by IRAN…
Everyone knows about oil and Iran’s borders near straits of Hormuz which is an narrow but essential route for about 20% of the world oil supply. Iran’s “untested” long range missiles might have conventional warhead that can reach as far as Israel, US Military Bases in Iraq and possibly EU.
The ultimate threat might be the “push” to covert the currencies used to sell oil away from US Dollars causing an immediate collapse of USD. This will affect the world economies as many countries hold USD as a reserve currencies in their respective central banks.
Internet giant Google is expanding from search and advertising to try developing cheap energy alternatives to coal.
The initiative, Renewable Energy Cheaper Than Coal, will focus initially on solar, geothermal and wind energy.
Google (GOOG) will use its vast resources to buy companies and hire engineers to see this initiative through.
“Our goal is to produce one gigawatt of renewable energy capacity that is cheaper than coal,” Google co-founder Larry Page said Tuesday. “We are optimistic this can be done in years, not decades.”
One gigawatt can power a city the size of San Francisco, with 750,000 residents, Google says.
- I applaud google’s efforts to start their own renewable energy research, I do wish that they can succeed in what they are doing to solve United State’s addiction to oil by converting the whole fleet of vehicles to electric-hybrid or pure plug-in electric. They must do it quickly and not delay any more.
(MENAFN) The Saudi Arabian oil minister Ali Al Naimi said that the world’s top oil exporter had raised output to nine million barrels per day (bpd) in line with the agreement by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec), Reuters reported.
Al Naimi also said the kingdom was now pumping nine million bpd, which would be about 200,000 bpd higher than the survey estimate for October, the month before the group implemented its rise.
Opec agreed in September to pump an additional 500,000 bpd from November 1, but that increment has failed to stop oil prices from surging to record highs near $100 a barrel.
The group will meet on December 5 in Abu Dhabi to decide whether to make a second increase to help meet peak winter demand, heeding the call of consumer nations to prevent record energy costs from damaging an already fragile US economy.
- If you read the title in the original site, you might be mislead to believe Saudi are “boosting” oil output by 9 million barrels but in fact it’s just 200,000 bpd above the original survey “estimate”.
We shall monitor December 5 carefully on the meeting of OPEC and see what is the outcome of the meeting.
TEHRAN, Iran – Iran’s military said Tuesday it has manufactured a new missile with a range of 1,200 miles capable of reaching Israel and U.S. bases across the Mideast, the official news agency IRNA reported.
- This news did come timely to escalate the situation indeed.
Analysts believe Iranian military production has benefited from assistance from Russia, China and other countries, but many of Iran’s weapons development claims have not been independently verified.
In Israel, there was no official reaction to Iran’s statement. But missile expert Uzi Rubin, formerly head of the Arrow anti-missile project in Israel’s Ministry of Defense, said the announcement had long been expected.
Rubin said Israel already was in range of other Iranian missiles, so “the people who need to be really worried about the new missile are in Europe.”
- Now that the oil prices had briefly fallen below $94 per barrel and comes Iran proclaiming the he had missiles that can reach their enemies. This is rather strange to claim a missile capabilities even BEFORE it’s being tested at it’s development stage, my analysis is that the missile had already been secretly tested but possibly not test fired by Iran.
My small conspiracy theory goes to how come the president of United States announced that few countries are axis of evil and the most recent missile test by one of them.
Any confrontation in Iran and other oil producing countries does push the oil prices higher, but looking at the current situation…it seems to be inevitable. However, I may be wrong as the chance of a “silencing” of more media release may solve the crisis just as Turkey suddenly gone silent on the possibility of invading into northern Iraq hunting the elusive 3,000 PKK.
