Monthly Archives: January 2007

Touareg, Cayenne to be first hybrids from VW

A discount griseofulvin person is less likely to get pregnant after ovulation and buy cheap cialis alternative in the first week of their cycle, which is during sale viagra get their period. Embryonic stem cells are considered pluripotent instead of robaxin online totipotent because they cannot become part of the extra-embryonic membranes order discount kenalog online or the placenta. If you develop a side effect while purchase estrace work taking Benlysta and want to tell the FDA about it, metronidazole gel sale visit MedWatch. Radiofrequency (RF) treatments heat the underlying dermis and buy cheap accutane without prescription stimulate the development of new collagen fibers. Imaging scans, such order diovan from canada as ultrasound, may help a doctor examine any sinus tracts toradol from india to determine their severity. A treatment plan will depend on the.

Volkswagen’s first gas-electric vehicle will come in the form of a Touareg hybrid, according to a German media report.

VW’s new CEO Winterkorn concluded the $2,000-$3,000 premium associated with adding a hybrid system to vehicles like the Golf/Rabbit and Jetta was too great considering the price competitiveness of the compact segment. Former CEO Pischetsrieder had previously stated VW would roll out a hybrid Jetta by 2008.

[LeftLaneNews]

Saudi Officials Seek to Temper the Price of Oil

Saudi Arabia, which benefited immensely from record oil prices last year, has sent signals in the past two weeks that it is committed to keeping oil at around $50 a barrel — down $27 a barrel from the summer peak that shook consumers across the developed world.
The Saudis appear to be rediscovering that painfully high energy prices take a profound toll on the global economy, which in turn reduces demand for their oil. But other motives seem to be at work, too, including the Saudis’ desire to restrain Iran’s ambitions in the region.

2006 was not the first reminder for the Saudis that too-high prices can backfire. The oil shocks of the 1970s and 1980s also set off a scramble for gas-sipping cars and a brief push to wean the West from its oil dependency. In recent months, the higher prices have rekindled America’s quest for alternatives and propelled energy security to the top of the agenda in the United States and Europe.

[NYTimes]

MNP Podcasts!

podcast-flying-ninjassmall.jpg

Subscribe to the myninjaplease podcasts – there are already 3 up: a siiick disco/hip-hop mix by resident MNP DJ and musician extraordinaire, DJ White Label, a journey through hip-hop sampling by kookiekrumbles, and the newest addition, a reggae podcast by the admin of our music site, Trizlam. To subscribe, follow these simple steps:

open itunes, click podcasts

click the ‘advanced’ menu and select ’subscribe to podcast…’

copy this URL into the window that opens:

music.myninjaplease.com/podcasts/myninjapleaseradio.xml

Now simply download the existing podcasts, and enjoy. When the next in the series comes out, your itunes should be automatically updated.

Enjoy, my ninjas.

The Long Road to Energy Independence

President Bush never used the phrase “energy independence” in his State of the Union address last week, and it is just as well. His program for cutting gasoline demand is ambitious in scope, but modest in effect, according to experts.
The reason is that the United States has fallen down a very deep well, and it’s hard to get out. Last year, the United States imported 60 percent of the oil it consumed. If, as Mr. Bush proposes, we cut gasoline consumption 20 percent by 2017 — about 2.1 million barrels a day — then the share of oil imported will fall only by 4 or 5 percentage points.

[NYTimes]

Energy Secretary Bodman: U.S. Will Need Ethanol Imports

DAVOS, Switzerland — U.S. Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman said the U.S. will need more imports of ethanol to meet President Bush’s mandate to cut gasoline use.

Speaking to Dow Jones Newswires at the World Economic Forum, Bodman also said he does not see a 51-cent-a-gallon subsidy to U.S. farmers remaining in place beyond 2010 or an import tariff of 54 cents a gallon on ethanol beyond 2008.

“The idea is that at some point in the future all these technologies need to stand the test of the free market,” Bodman said.

[AP News via AutoBlogGreen]

Cheap gas or democracy? US’s Turkmen problem

Turkmenistan has some of the world’s biggest natural gas fields, producing the equivalent of 11% of total EU consumption annually. But its pipeline export routes remain firmly under Russian control, a legacy of the Soviet era. Last September Moscow’s state energy giant Gazprom won access to the large Yolotan field and an option on any surpluses until 2009. The deal marked the end of President Saparmurat Niyazov’s bid to weaken Russia’s grip. And in any case, in December Niyazov, known as Turkmenbashi the Great, died after 21 years running one of the world’s most oppressive dictatorships.

But as was the case last year across the Caspian in democratically challenged Azerbaijan, Washington, harbouring hopes of energy deals, appears to prefer not to rock the boat. A friendly Turkmenistan, bordering Iran and Afghanistan, also has high strategic value. That has led exiled opposition presidential nominee Khudaiberdy Orazov to appeal to the US not to acquiesce in a cynical “gas for dictatorship” deal.

[The Guardian (UK)]

Biodiesel from Algae

Oil-rich plants such as soy may offer a cleaner energy alternative to diesel fuel, but Jim Sears says these food crops can’t meet all our diesel needs. The Colorado-based entrepreneur says, even in America’s bountiful croplands, farmers couldn’t grow enough oilseed crops to meet demand.

Fortunately, Sears says, an unconventional crop could produce 100 times more biodiesel per hectare than either canola or soy. It can thrive in places where other crops can’t grow at all, and it only requires the equivalent of 5 centimeters of rain a year. It’s algae, a small but familiar plant, usually seen as a green scum that forms on ponds or aquarium glass.

Biologist Nick Rancis lifts a favorite specimen. “Here we have a species of green algae that grows in fresh water. As you can see, it grows very high density. You can’t even see through it when you hold it up to the light.” He says this strain produces enormous amounts of fat: up to 50 percent of its body weight. And while producing oil from soy or canola generally requires a three to five-month growing season, some algae are so prolific, over half a batch can be harvested for oil production every day. “They can double or triple overnight,” Rancis says.

[RenewableEnergyAccess]

more at SolixBiofuels

Deja Vu?
New Mexico State University researching biodiesel made from Algae (green.mnp)

Ethanol: A Risky Business

In his State of the Union address, President Bush pleased some audience members by proposing to radically increase the amount of alternative fuel usage. Corn Belt congressional folks beamed and cheered their approval. So did their constituents, producers of ethanol, the biofuel expected to fill most of the gap created by lower gasoline consumption.

But despite the feel-good rhetoric of energy independence and a more environmentally friendly future, Wall Street remains skeptical. In the days preceding Bush’s speech, the shares of ethanol producers surged, but by Wednesday they headed down sharply, and continued the descent on Jan. 25

…the ethanol market is closely tied to the price of corn and oil. When oil prices are up, so is interest in energy alternatives such as ethanol. As UBS’ Shaw points out, the ethanol market faces a central paradox: Its success depends on high oil prices—which make alternative fuels more attractive—but its own success lowers demand for oil, which in turn trims oil prices.

That correlation explains why, in the near-term, the ethanol market is as volatile as crude oil prices. The past year’s performance proves the point. Three ethanol producers went public in 2006 and raised a combined $950 million from their offerings. As oil prices climbed and alternatives became more attractive, shares of a number of ethanol producers shot up midyear, but retreated in the second half.

[BusinessWeek]

Related:
Sector Snap: Ethanol Loses Steam

California bans dirty power sources

SAN FRANCISCO – California regulators approved rules Thursday banning power companies from buying electricity from high-polluting sources, including most out-of-state coal-burning plants.

The rules – aimed at reducing emissions of heat-trapping gases linked to global warming – could have a far-reaching effect on the energy market across the West.

While there are almost no coal-fired plants in California, the nation’s most populous state, about 20 percent of the state’s electricity comes from coal plants in other Western states.

[AP/Yahoo!News]

Hydrogen cars non-starters

Really?  Tell us something we didn’t already know…

Forget hydrogen and fuel-cell cars, according a variety of speakers at an investor conference today. The future is clearly pure electric pluggable cars, they said.

“We saw a strong shift this year away from the focus on hydrogen and fuel cells as the car of the future to the electric or hybrid car. Small companies like Tesla, and even big companies like GM, with its Volt and flex fuel infrastructure, are just the beginning,” said Ira Ehrenpreis, general partner of venture firm Technology Partners. Ehrenpreis gave the opening address at the Clean-tech Investor Summit in Palm Springs, California.

“Hydrogen is not a fuel. You can’t go mine it anywhere, you have to make it. You’re typically making it with electricity and water, compressing it, putting it in a car and feeding it into a fuel cell. The efficiency of that system is about a quarter of the efficiency of an electric car today. So the same amount of electricity drives your car one quarter of the distance. And let’s not even talk about infrastructure, distribution and the dangers of a 10,000 PSI tank in your car.”

[InsideGreentech]