2006RUS

It would appear that the jury is out right now on whether the gradual but intentional weakening of the American dollar will continue or reverse oil prices and the resulting stock value of oil companies. Traditionally, a devalued dollar has driven oil prices and commodities higher with stock appreciation rising in a similar manner. Unfortunately, with so many current variables at play, seeing a clear forecast is tricky, if at all possible.

From 2001 to 2008, when the dollar fell to its lowest, the 73 range, oil-exporting businesses profited by challenging higher prices per barrel to ensure that they could have the funds for their operating expenses in other currencies. Internationally, investors began to take protective measures by shifting some of their portfolio into commodity futures, which developed a temporary jump in value there. During that time, not just oil businesses, but banks and energy organizations also profited from the weakened dollar. ExxonMobil stock soared from $36 – $85, a 138% appreciation and similar to the percentage improve of crude oil per barrel. Are we set for a repeat? Maybe, or maybe not.

Absolutely, the lack of commitment from the G-20 conference recently all but gave agreement for the Federal Reserve to exercise quantitative easing. With no effective measures to require accountability, plans are moving ahead to begin round 2 of asset buying as early as the beginning of November in yet another effort to push interest rates down again and jump begin the sluggish economy. Until that occurs, the surprising, small but encouraging, increase in existing home sales in September could have blunted the effects of the disappointing G-20 conclave.

If, in fact, the dollar is allowed to slide further than the 10% it has against the euro in the last 3 months or to the 15 year low against the Japanese yen, it is expected that not only oil prices and commodities, including gold, will rise but so will stock in participating oil companies. Stock brokers and online traders will be watching these opportunities closely for a chance to gain some possible turn-over advantage or as a portfolio hedge against other investments.

If an all-out currency war can be eliminated, those companies with significant foreign product lines stand to make excellent cash and represent profitable stock market investment prospective. A cheaper American dollar means other currencies can purchase additional and sales will boost. In countries not pegged to dollar currency, oil will remain somewhat cheap. In America, due to the fact we are limited to the American dollar as our only currency, high oil costs may well trigger other responses like less foreign travel, more demand for gasoline at property, and extra healthy competition between foreign imports and domestic products.

For the stock market, dollar devaluation may well be a win-win situation for oil organizations, at least within the short term. Increased sales at higher costs sounds a great deal like the definition of profitability. As a weakened dollar creates far more buying potential, countries for example Germany and France is going to be able to buy much more oil at cheaper rates, energizing the age-old supply and demand model. Conversely, a stronger, more healthy American dollar would help to make crude oil additional high-priced for other weaker currencies, decreasing the demand for oil and forcing lowered prices.

Selecting to invest in foreign commodities and oil companies based solely on the perceived strength or weakness of the dollar alone may well be risky. Having said that, for those willing to place themselves in position just before the Fed moves in November, this might be an exciting and potentially profitable opportunity. Fagio D. Rather

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An alternative to using fossil fuels to source electricity is to use Solar Panels. The appeal of Solar Panels is that they depend only on a small amount of sunshine to run and do not depend on an energy company, making them a handy energy supply in the United Kingdom.

The versatility of solar panels means that they are suitable for small family homes through to large corporate buildings. Power cuts can cause all sorts of problems in households across the country, and the use of solar panels dramatically reduces the risk of a power cut as you are not dependent on a company to supply your energy.

Solar panels are also a popular choice for powering homes and buildings due to being cost-effective. The initial installation of solar panels can be costly, however, the buyer does have the option of installing the panels themselves which would cut down on costs. But they are seen as being cost-effective thanks to the free source they rely on to run effectively; sunshine! The price of fossil fuel, on the other hand, has risen dramatically over recent years and will continue to rise.

Solar panels are not only cost-effective; they are also environmentally-friendly and work towards saving our planet. Solar panels produce natural energy, which makes them the safest method for producing electricity for properties to run on. The environment continues to be a hot topic in the news, and it is apparent that everyone is being encouraged to make the world a greener place, making the use of solar panels popular.

Despite the lack of sunshine in the United Kingdom, Solar Panels can work effectively as they only require a small amount of sunshine to run. Along with the environmental benefits, Solar Panels are a great way to save money on energy bills.

Find out more about home solar panels or how you can invest in solar

Solar Panels are an environmentally friendly way to create energy for electricity. Using the natural elements of the Earth, the solar panels work by absorbing sunlight which is then converted into energy for electricity. They are not only environmentally friendly, but they are also wallet-friendly in the long term. They can be installed for all purposes and all types of buildings, making them a cost-friendly alternative for small houses through to large businesses.

Solar Panels can be installed either by a specialist company or you can install them yourself. A specialist can install the Solar Panels wherever your home or business is based or, alternatively, there are Solar Home Kits available which enable you to install the panels yourself, which will save you even more money.

There is a common belief that Solar Panels cannot work without a constant source of sunshine, which generally puts property owners in the United Kingdom off purchasing them. However, once the Solar Panels are installed, they only require a small amount of sunshine to function properly.

Solar panels work by replacing fuel-based, fossil energy with solar power. It is the best way to power homes and businesses, whatever size they may be. Although the initial purchase and installation of solar panels can be costly, in the long term they are extremely cost-effective, with sunshine being a constant, free source of power.

Using Solar Panels is a step forward in working to save our planet and protect the environment. Electricity can be sourced the environmentally-friendly way using sunlight, and as long as the sun continues to exist, then the free energy will continue to produce electricity! Other energy sources can be expensive and unreliable, making Solar Panels a wallet-friendly option, especially in the current economic climate.

Find out more about home solar panels, or free solar panel installation for UK homes and businesses

If asked to think about solar power, most of us would imagine the blue or black rectangular panels that sit silently on the roof, providing electricity to the home below free of cost and pollution. However these panels are not the only way the sun’s energy can be used to generate electricity. One other approach is called Concentrated Thermal solar power. Many commercial scale power stations have been built using this technology and their production can rival that of coal fired plants. How does this technology work?

Whereas domestic solar panels convert sunlight directly into electricity, Concentrated Thermal solar works with the heat of the sun’s rays. As children most of us will have used a magnifying glass to burn bits of wood, cardboard and the odd unfortunate ant. When we concentrate of the sun’s rays through the magnifying glass lens it is acting as a heliostat. Concentrated Thermal works in a similar way but it reflects the heat from mirrors rather than condensing it through a lens.

By making a mirror in an arc shape called a parabola, it is possible to reflect all the light that hits it onto one point. The amount of heat focused on that point is then a factor of the size of the mirror. A large surface area of mirror can produce incredibly high temperatures. This fact is utilized in dish shaped solar camping cookers that can be used to boil water.

In commercial production of electricity, a tube containing synthetic oil is placed at the focal point of the mirror. This oil is able to reach temperatures in the many hundreds of degrees. This oil can then be cycled from the heating dish to a turbine where it heats water to make steam. Then the turbine can generate electricity in the same way as a coal fired power station.

Clearly the more mirror surface available the better such a system will work. There are Concentrated Thermal power stations in operation that consist of seemingly endless rows of such parabolic mirrors. These mirrors track the sun’s movement so that the power plant makes the most electricity possible through the daylight hours. Excess energy is stored in tanks in the form of molten salts. At night the heat released by these cooling salts is used to continue water boiling and therefore electricity production.

Concentrated Thermal solar technology ticks all the boxes. It is cheap, reliable, safe and proven. It produces no pollution save for that generated by the construction of the plant in the first place. There is also very little maintenance required aside from keeping the mirrors clean.

Learn more about solar power at Roger Vanderlely’s website, www.green-planet-solar-energy.com. You may also be interested in free kids’ experiments in the solar energy education section which will give your child hands on experience of the power of the sun.

As the cost of a gallon of gasoline tops four dollars, researchers are scrambling to come up with a viable fuel alternative that’s cheaper and readily available. The research has mostly focused on three types of fuel: Biodiesel, electricity and ethanol.

Biodiesel is a renewable fuel produced by a variety of vegetable oils and animal fats. Aside from being used in its pure form, biodiesel can also be blended with other products available. To the delight of environmentalists, biodiesel burns clean and it is non toxic and biodegradable. It’s also less combustible and relatively easy to produce domestically and can even be made at home but this is not recommended. If strict guidelines are not followed it could damage an expensive diesel engine. It’s safe to handle, store and transport making it very desirable from a security and health standpoint. While the US biodiesel industry is still not very big, it is gaining support.

Electricity is used to fuel both pure electric and plug-in hybrid electric cars. Electric vehicles (EVs) have an electric motor and use electricity which is stored in batteries. They are somewhat limited when it comes to capacity and storage. Some of the vehicles have chargers on board, while others require a plug-in. Electric cars are small and very quiet, and they don’t have any tail pipe emissions. They are mostly used for light commuting, and they rarely reach speeds any higher than 35 mph. The life of the batteries is, on average, about four years or 20,000 miles. A completely electric model has yet to be produced by any of the major manufacturers, on the basis that demand is not strong. Demand is, however, on the rise for independent manufacturers who focus their efforts on meeting the needs of a niche market.

Ethanol is a renewable fuel extracted from several plants also known as biomass. While the US prefer to produce ethanol from corn, other countries such as Brazil use sugar cane. Ethanol contains a compound also found in alcohol. Research is still ongoing in regard to Cellulosic Ethanol Feedstock. This fuel is produced from yard and forestry waste, such as wood chips, saw dust, leaves and wheat straw, and household plant derived waste such as paper products. Different types of grass are grown with this purpose in mind. A few of the perks would be: Domestic production, low greenhouse emissions, and growth of employment opportunities.

Pure ethanol contains 34% less energy, and has lower gas mileage than gasoline, when compared by the gallon. While it can only be used in flex fuel vehicles, it’s cost is usually kept low to compete with gasoline. The U.S. Department of Energy encourages use of these fuels because they are environmentally safe and don’t seem to be as damaging to public health, or a threat to energy security. It is estimated that ethanol and biofuels will likely reduce over 30% of gas demand in the United States alone by the year 2030. And usually, prices go down when demand drops.

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Green energy. You hear about it all the time these days. The U.S. needs it. China is getting ever more involved with it. Green energy. But what does it all mean? Our newspapers tell us that it is the wave of the future, the only way forward. Yet nothing is happening in this nation, where most green technologies have been invented, and it is China that seems poised to dominate this industry of the 21st Century.

So what makes for green energy, and why is it so crucial? The term is much more accurately referred to, technically speaking, as sustainable energy, energy that meets present requirements without compromising the surroundings upon which future generations will also depend.

To be regarded as sustainable usually means to be renewable in such a way as wind, solar, and water-generated power is. Conventional fission power, or nuclear, energy is technically a green form of energy though many environmentalists believe that its potential hazard far outweighs the advantages to be derived.

Moreover, disposable of spent nuclear fuel rods is a major challenge, with a high likelihood of leagage in most scenarios. Now how has China gotten into the issue? Well, it is not only the world’s fastest-growing economy, but also its fastest-growing polluter, rivaling the United States.

It also happens to be the largest market for green technologies and, as the “workshop of the world” also the single largest manufacturer of all the hardware involved. And so any conversation on anything green must, in the end, focus on the role of China.

But what is China’s position in all of this? As it is generally been: driven by necessity. With the world’s largest population living only on a mere fraction of its arable land, the nation is extremely sensitive to all kinds of issues related to the environment, energy policy, and economic growth. Going green, China’s leaders recognize, is the best chance they’ve got to not only survive in the post-industrial world but also to prosper.

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The inevitable crisis of Peak Oil comes closer to us as each month passes, and may already have occurred. This is the point where global oil production begins to decline, which will inevitably lead to demand exceeding supply. This has moved from a hazy distant problem to an immediate issue that we will have to face in this lifetime, with significant global consequences.

It is fair to say that the industrial and economic power of developed nations such as the USA, many European countries, Australia and now China have come from the use of fossil fuels. From production capacity to military strength coal, oil and gas have allowed people in those countries a higher standard of living than at any time in the history of the earth.

Pleasant as this situation is for those of us fortunate enough to enjoy it, it may soon be due for a change. Without a serious effort to employ renewable energy on a massive scale, the economies that rely on fossil fuels, oil in particular, will become unstable. This is no idle concern; the International Energy Agency has undertaken a comprehensive study of the 400 most significant oil fields around the globe in an attempt to clarify the situation regarding actual reserves of recoverable oil.

There are good grounds for the IEA’s concern about the status of oil reserves. Very recently the Saudi government stated that it will lift production by another 300,000 barrels of oil per day. This is not even close to the lift in production requested by the US Administration. There are fears that the Saudis won’t lift production above this level simply because they are unable to. This throws into relief the possible status of the reserves of OPEC countries, whose reserves are not monitored by any regulatory body. Since their ability to sell oil is tied by mutual agreement to their stated reserves and has been so since the mid 1980s, there is a widespread belief that they have grossly overestimated their reserves in order to capitalize on current high oil prices.

If this is indeed the case then the scenario of Peak Oil may be upon us very soon indeed. This will have a significant impact on the global economy which is still geared toward continuous growth in order to achieve stability. It does not take much pondering of this situation before scenarios of resource wars, extreme nationalism and a global economic crisis come to mind.

The way to address the need for energy security is to focus on developing alternative energy sources. Nuclear power would make a good intermediate, but since that too is based on a limited resource it is not a long term solution. While Nuclear has a bad name, its safety record is very good compared to electricity production from coal or oil, even after taking account of its spectacular disasters such as Chernobyl. A better solution would be the implementation of renewable energies.

Irrespective of whether we opt for a nuclear stopgap or go straight for massive scale implementation of solar and wind energy, we need to start moving away from relying on oil. A global investment in clean energy makes a great gift for future generations but these need to replace fossil fuels, not just act as a decorative add-on. Decisions need to be made to ensure our energy supply for the future, regardless of ecological concerns from the pollution caused by fossil fuels.

Read more about Peak Oil and other issues related to Fossil Fuels at www.green-planet-solar-energy.com. You can also find information on getting cheap solar panels to reduce your reliance on the mainstream energy supply.

Hydroelectricity is often presented as a green energy source, but how true is this? Hydro has several environmental and aesthetic drawbacks that make it less than ideal compared to the clean energy provided by sources such as wind and sun.

There is much talk about the environmental impacts of hydroelectric power, as they rely on damming of rivers and permanent flooding of the low lying land behind the dam. While this is not desirable, it is merely an alteration to the environment. If the dam remained flooded this would not pose long term ecological threats to us from this modification.

The real problem with Hydroelectricity installations is the amount of methane gas they produce. This gas comes from plants that rot in the absence of oxygen. The process of methane formation is very similar to that which produced oil and the other fossil fuels.

Consider the following chain of events that unfold once the dam has been constructed.

First the valley fills with water. As this happens, the trees and other plants are covered with water. They drown and begin to rot, but since there is no air and little oxygen in the water the decaying plants give off methane. This methane is absorbed by the water.

So far all is normal, just the same as any other permanent flooding. But since this is a power station and in most cases also an urban water supply, the levels tend to fluctuate annually. The water levels drop in dry times. This exposes sections of land at the bottom of the dam.

This exposed land is ideal for growing plants and so it blooms with new life. As most dams are shallow, the amount of land exposed at the edges as the water drops can be very large. The shallower the dam, the more land is exposed annually.

Eventually the rains come and the dam refills, filling the new plants with water. Then it is the turn of these plants to rot anaerobically, releasing even more methane into the water.

This continues year after year, resulting in a slow but steady increase in the amount of methane absorbed in the water of the dam. This is a problem because methane is not very soluble in water. When the water passes through the dam’s turbines it escapes the water and enters the atmosphere.

Methane is approximately 21 times more effective than Carbon Dioxide as a greenhouse agent. This makes hydroelectric energy anywhere up to three times more polluting per megawatt of electricity generated than the equivalent coal or oil fired power station. This figure is dependent on the climate the dam is located in and the geography of the region. The effect is significant nonetheless, with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) now taking hydroelectric energy methane production into account when inventorying national greenhouse gas emissions.

Hydroelectricity may be a renewable energy source but it is not an environmentally friendly one. When looking at whether a new Hydro plant is warranted, methane emissions must be taken into account. A cleaner and greener solution is to build solar and wind power stations as once constructed these have no emissions associated with them at all.

Read more about issues around the topic of electricity generation and use in the Fossil Fuels section of Roger Vanderlely’s website, www.green-planet-solar-energy.com. If you’re looking to reduce your own carbon emissions, have a look at the tips for buying cheap solar panels.

What is Clean Coal?

Clean coal technology is perhaps the shortest sighted approach to controlling carbon emissions. Carbon Capture and Storage, or CCS for short, aims to remove Carbon Dioxide from the emissions of coal burning power stations. Several methods of doing this are under development, yet not one of them has been brought to the point where it would be commercially viable. Not only that, none of the current methods are able to extract 100% of the Carbon Dioxide from the emissions in large scale operations.

CCS does not eliminate Carbon Dioxide but rather requires it to be stored. Current suggestions for storage include injecting liquefied gas into used oil wells.

There is a major risk associated with this activity. Should geological movement open up one of these carbon storage areas, there would be effectively an enormous Carbon Dioxide burp emitted. Given the vast quantities of CO2 that are being planned to be buried, such an event could release enough CO2 to risk a significant imbalance in the atmosphere.

CCS does not dispose of Carbon Dioxide, it merely hides it away underground so that we don’t have to deal with it now. But it will have to be dealt with, most probably by our children. It looks as if our children are going to have enough problems already without adding an extra ticking time bomb in the form millions of tonnes of buried CO2 gas.

30 MW Of Carbon Free Coal?

There is a fully functional 30 Megawatt clean coal power station being operated by a company called Vattenfal, in eastern Germany. The emission fumes from this power plant are pure CO2. Because of the high purity and concentration of those gases, it is easier to capture the majority of the CO2. The CO2 is then liquefied and trucked away some 300km to an underground storage site.

The pure exhaust fumes are obtained by burning the coal not in regular air, but in an environment of pure oxygen. Both the use of the pure oxygen and the effort needed to capture and store the emissions reduces the effectiveness of this type of energy generation, while doing nothing to remove the long term threat of the Carbon Dioxide escaping into the atmosphere at a later date.

Just As Long As I’m Alright

It is important to realize that CCS does not stop Carbon emissions. It merely delays them to become a future problem. It is just this kind of “I’m alright Jack” attitude that has led to the environmental problems we have right now. If we are to genuinely clean up the future, we need to produce clean energy, not just dirty energy with a whitewash over the top of it.

Perhaps we should refer to clean coal as “swept under the carpet” coal.

Read more about Clean Coal and other current issues about energy production at the Fossil Fuels section of Roger Vanderlely’s website. There is plenty more at the site, including tips on finding cheap solar panels to make your home more environmentally friendly.

Fossil fuels and their use is a major point of concern throughout the world at present and will continue to be so for a long time to come. So why all the concern and what can we do about it?

These fuels have provided the developed world with a cheap source of energy, and this energy has allowed technological and financial success. This is almost entirely due to the ready availability of coal, oil and natural gas. Those fuels are responsible for running the power stations, our cars, factories, and even the production of food through large scale farming and fertilizers.

Given that coal and oil have been used as fuel throughout human history, why has this now become a problem?

The answers to these questions are population and lifestyle. The human population is over three times what it was less than 80 years ago. At the same time our technology is advancing, so that virtually all aspects of our lives use electricity in some way. Also take into account the amount of fuel that is burned each day in cars alone and the picture becomes clearer.

Pollution is not always a visible problem. We can see it when the truck or bus in front of us is belching black smoke, but emissions from power stations are far from obvious. Yet each time we use an electrical device that power is coming from a power station. While the number of alternative energy power stations such as concentrated solar thermal and wind power is growing, the main base load of electricity is still being produced by coal or oil fired power plants.

These power plants generate electricity by boiling water to make steam, and the steam is used to turn huge turbines. The turning of the turbines rotates enormous coils of copper wire inside equally huge magnets, and it is this that generates the electricity. That electricity is then transported to our homes through power lines and substations. Burning the fuel produces among other things carbon dioxide. This is a greenhouse gas, meaning that it acts to trap heat in the atmosphere.

There are many electrical devices we use on a daily basis such as televisions, computers, MP3 players, mobile phones, heaters, air conditioners and so on. If we multiply the amount of energy we use on any given day by the number of people living a similar lifestyle, we can start to understand the scale of our energy use.

Even though the problem is large there are steps we can take individually to reduce it. Using less energy is the first step. Turning off devices rather than leaving them on standby immediately reduces our energy use without having any effect on our lifestyle. This will also result in lower electricity bills.

The next thing we can do is get our electricity from renewable energy sources. Most electricity retailers will have a green energy option, though sadly in a lot of cases this is more expensive than power from a coal or oil fired plant.

We can also invest our money in producing our own renewable energy. Installing solar panels on our roofs for electricity and water heating is a good long term investment, though up front costs can be high. The same can be said about investing in an electric vehicle, though both electric and hybrid cars are becoming more commonplace.

The problem of dependence on fossil fuels is something we can have a personal impact on. If we reduce our personal energy use and learn more about the subject of fossil fuel use we can leave a smaller footprint on the earth.

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