-
Awaiting the SEC’s decision on transparency in the extractive industries
Stefanie HeerwigWhatever will happen in the next months will probably be a turning point in the history on transparency in the extractive industries. What I am talking about is Section 1504 of the Dodd Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act which will require U.S.-listed oil, gas and mining companies to publish revenue payments to governments such as taxes, royalties and license fees on a country-by-country and project-by-project basis.
-
Business owners and facility managers go green to save green
Joy BurgessMany business owners and facility managers equate going green with spending more money. Implementing certain green technologies that reduce water use, improve energy efficiency and increase sustainability requires an initial investment, but many facility managers and business owners have found that going green actually saves money over time.
-
Preventing a BLEVE: 5 beliefs that are commonly misunderstood
Sasha ViasashaCorrosion is relentless. Thanks to the second law of thermodynamics, things fall apart and the existence of oxygen in the air is enough cause for corrosion to set in. One of the biggest reasons for aboveground storage tank owners to get a handle on corrosion is that the weakened state of the tank builds uneven pressure, leading to a worst case scenario – the BLEVE.
-
Getting green and energy independent: Nice try?
Stefanie Heerwig"We'll continue our march towards energy independence and address the threat of climate change," President Barack Obama announced ambitiously April 10, 2013. According to his proposal, the U.S. should half its oil imports by 2020 and double its energy productivity by 2030. A high aim, but possible as some experts like Christine McEntee, executive director and CEO of the American Geophysical Union, suggest, especially because the plan is carefully tailored and radically wide-ranging.
-
Can Egypt have a serious impact on the international oil market?
Stefanie HeerwigWithout doubt Egypt is one of the strategic hotspots when it comes to transporting fuel between the Middle East and the Mediterranean. But are fears about possible supply disruptions justified? And if they are, would these disruptions have a major long-term impact on the international oil market?
-
US as leading subsidizer of fossil fuels? Do estimates matter?
Stefanie HeerwigIf you want to know the true costs of fossil fuel subsidies in the US, you might think you can just have a look at the U.S. budget and that's it. No, sorry, it's not that easy, because major organizations like the IMF, OECD or the IEA have not agreed upon a uniform methodology to measure subsidies yet, nor on a definition of subsidies.
-
US Department of Energy pessimistic about energy independence?
Stefanie HeerwigVery pessimistic, the EIA foresees in its main prediction (or reference case) that U.S. net imports will decline only till 2020 making up 34 percent of petrol consumption by 2019, and then increase again to a share of 37 percent by 2040.
-
Iran’s influence on the oil market and the fate of the US oil industry
Stefanie HeerwigThe first question, of course, is whether Iran would throw a 1 million barrels a day on the market in the short-term future. This depends mostly on whether sanctions by the U.S. and EU will be lifted.
-
Kitchen trends 2013: The green kitchen
Bambi MajumdarLike any other trend and fashion, how we look at the kitchen and what we want in it changes over time. Each change is greatly influenced by other factors in the age, the ornate for the periodic and minimalistic for the modern.
-
RIP Nabucco: What the Southern Corridor gas route decision means for the…
Lucy WallworkNabucco is dead. Long live TAP. The Nabucco pipeline, a highly political piece of gas transportation infrastructure, was designed to carry natural gas from Azerbaijani gas fields and neighboring suppliers to gas-hungry European customers. That was the logistical agenda, at least.
All Waste Management & Environmental Articles