Los Angeles Times (December 29)
“In an effort to move more cargo on less fuel, ocean freight carriers are in a race to build megaships with much larger capacities than the typical ships calling at U.S. ports. The average container ship being built now is nearly three times the size of the average a decade ago.”
Tags: Cargo, Container ship, Fuel, Megaships, Ocean freight, Ports, Race, Size
USA Today (November 9)
“Innovation is the key to moving from dirtier fuels to cleaner ones.” To the joy of environmentalists, President Obama rejected the proposed Keystone pipeline to carry oil from Canadian tar sands to the U.S. “The main factor behind Obama’s decision is something environmentalists hate even more than Keystone: hydraulic fracturing, or fracking,” which has added over 3.5 million barrels per day to U.S. domestic production. “The lesson for climate change is obvious… If we want to keep oil (and coal) in the ground, we need to make other forms of energy cheaper. That means nurturing technologies such as natural gas extraction. It also means promoting another technology that environmentalists love to hate: nuclear energy.”
Tags: Canada, Climate change, Coal, Environmentalists, Fracking, Fuel, Innovation, Key, Keystone, Nuclear energy, Obama, Oil, Pipeline, Tar sands, Technologies
The Economist (April 19)
Coal is a “cheap, ubiquitous and flexible fuel” that will be “the fuel of the future, unfortunately.” Although it remains very dirty, coal “offers the best chance for poor countries wanting to get rich” and even for some rich countries, like Japan and Germany, seeking nuclear alternatives.
Tags: Cheap, Coal, Dirty, Fuel, Future, Germany, Japan, Nuclear alternatives, Rich, Ubiquitous
Wall Street Journal (November 4)
By year end, the U.S. is likely to unseat Russia and become the second largest global producer of liquid fuels. The U.S. is now well positioned to escape the capricious yoke of OPEC and “even could surpass Saudi Arabia to become the leading global producer within the next decade.” Former Secretary of State George Schultz and FedEx CEO Fred Smith write, the nation’s leaders should “embrace both the supply revolution now well under way and the emerging demand revolution in oil-displacement technology that, together, promise a more secure and prosperous future.”
Tags: Demand, Energy security, FedEx, Fred Smith, Fuel, Future, George Schultz, Oil-displacement, OPEC, Producer, Revolution, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Supply, Technology, U.S.
The Economist (August 3)
“The world’s thirst for oil could be nearing a peak. That is bad news for producers, excellent for everyone else.” Is oil becoming “yesterday’s fuel”? The Economist believes demand may be nearing long-term decline brought about by advances in fracking and automotive technology.
New York Times (June 4)
U.S. car buyers may get a new kind of “sticker shock.” New regulations will require automakers to include annual fuel costs and emissions data beginning with the 2013 models. The shock is important. “Labels can help consumers make better choices…. Detroit and other manufacturers make big changes only when regulators force them to.”
