World Energy Outlook 2009

The IEA recently released their 2009 version of the World Energy Outlook.  However, a “whistleblower” has claimed that the US exerts pressure on the IEA, and thus their numbers are unrealistically optimistic.

The world is much closer to running out of oil than official estimates admit, according to a whistleblower at the International Energy Agency who claims it has been deliberately underplaying a looming shortage for fear of triggering panic buying.

The senior official claims the US has played an influential role in encouraging the watchdog to underplay the rate of decline from existing oil fields while overplaying the chances of finding new reserves.

Pretty strong stuff.  Though I don’t think it should be too surprisingfor those who watched the projections of maximum supply go from 120 million barrels per day to 116 then 105 last year.  It is interesting to hear someone within IEA use the term “peak oil”:

A second senior IEA source, who has now left but was also unwilling to give his name, said a key rule at the organisation was that it was “imperative not to anger the Americans” but the fact was that there was not as much oil in the world as had been admitted. “We have [already] entered the ‘peak oil’ zone. I think that the situation is really bad,” he added.

Comments about the situation from the Energy Bulletin.

Dam failure causes blackout in South America

A dam failure in Brazil caused widepsread blackouts, in Brazil as well as Paraguay and Urugauy.  The dam, Itaipu, is rated at 18 GW, and supplies roughly 20% of Brazil’s energy. Story here.  Luckily sounds like a minor problem caused the dam to go offline, rather than something catastrophic like in Russia recently.

Spain’s wind peaks past 50% of supply

Over the second weekend in November, wind energy provided more than 50% of Spain’s energy use for several hours.  Very cool.  Peak wind generation was around 11.5 GW, from an installed capacity of more than 17GW.  Some of the energy was “stored” by pumping water back behind dams.  Even with the orgy of solar installation last year (more than 3GW), solar is third in renewables production in Spain, behind wind and hydro.  The article mentions that it is estimated a quarter of Spain’s energy for this year will come from renewables.

Fracking’s secret sauce

New York state released a document detailing the components of “fracking fluid”, the mixture that is injected down wells to fracture the rock of shale gas fields to break up the rock and allow more of the gas to fow into the wells and be pumped to the surface. Story here, with link to the PDF mentioed above.

Recently there has been a lot of press about possible dangers to groundwater from these fluids.  Drilling companies do not want to divulge the constituent chemicals – they claim it would be revelaing trade secrets.  They probably want to avoid any environmental scrutiny as well.  It looks like the drilling companies will get it, especially if they are drilling anywhere near groundwater supplies.

SEIA chief talks tough about money

The head of the Solar Energy Industries Association talked tough at the Solar Power International conference about solar needing to throw money around to have the same sort of visibility and clout in Washngton as the Oil and Coal industries.  I like it.

“In 2008, the oil industry contributed $22 million to political candidates, the utility industry $21 million,” said Mr. Resch. “The solar industry: $138,000. We cannot compete with the entrenched energy interests unless we step up our game.”

Robert Rapier opening up about his new company

I found Robert Rapier’s blog from reading The Oil Drum site.  His analysis of biofuels impressed me.  Recently he relocated to Hawaii and is beginning to discuss the details of his new company.  Probably worth watching.  A quick first look is here:

Rapier told us in an exclusive interview last week that he has taken a position as the chief technology officer of Merica International, a company that is building out a vertically integrated approach to sustainable and localized biofuels. Merica, headquartered on the Big Island of Hawaii, will act as a holding company for a variety of companies, Rapier told us, including Forest Solutions, a forest management group, SunFuels Hawaii, a synthetic biodiesel provider, a yet-to-be-named company that will develop a biomass trading platform, and a company that will concentrate on acquiring and developing biomass conversion technologies. In addition, Merica owns parts of several other clean energy companies that will contribute to the company’s vision, like Choren Industries, a German company that makes waste to fuel gasification technology.

Sacto puts brakes on Nestle

A Nestle botled water plant that is under construction has been put on hold in Sacramento.  Apparently, the city council is going to vote on adding planning requirements to bottled water plants, and so they are idling construction at this plant while the issue is decided.  While I am in favor of adding scrutiny to bottled water plants, this seems to be going back on an agreement that had been approved.  Details here (may not be a permalink).

City officials have said the Nestlé plant could draw an estimated 80 million gallons of water a year – or about two-tenths of a percent of the city’s total water consumption.

Fisker to use old GM site

Fisker Automotive announced that they will use an old GM site in Wilmington, Deleware to make their plug in hybrids.

Officials from Fisker did not respond to a request for comment, but two people directly familiar with the deal confirmed that Fisker was planning to reopen the plant, which spans about 3.2 million square feet.

Florida in the lead

President Obama is in Arcadia, Florida today to visit the DeSoto Next Generation Solar Energy Center.  It will officially become the largest solar PV site in the U.S. at 25MW, passing Nellis Air Force base at 14MW.

Don’t know how long this site will hold the record, but it is nice to see Florida getting into the solar game beyond water heating.

Here is the article that mentions it, also discussing the announced $3.4 billion for 100 smart-grid projects.

Chevron going solar!

Ok, only sort of.  Actually, not much at all.  But it is interesting to read about.  They are going to use solar thermal to generate steam instead of natural gas – but have the gas generators for nights and backup.  And they are going to use the steam to produce oil.  But hey, every little bit helps, right?  Link.

Chevron Corp is building a solar plant to create the steam that boosts production at an aging California oilfield, in a pioneering project the company aims to replicate elsewhere if it works.