Green Options » Saudi Arabia

$25 Billion for Imported Oil — In One Month!

Zachary Shahan — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 15:48:31 +0000

That is correct — not million but billion, not in one year but in one month! That is how much the US spent on imported oil in September 2009.

For those concerned about the US economy or national security risks, T. Boone Pickens and data from the US Department of Energy’s Energy Information Administration (EIA) show us that foreign oil imports should be at the top of our list. We rely very heavily on foreign oil and send a good chunk of our money to other countries to supply us with that oil — $25 billion last month alone!

Take a closer look.

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Bi-Partisan Legislation Looks to Ignite the Natural Gas Engine

Ruedigar Matthes — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 15:01:50 +0000

Senators Robert Menendez (D-NJ) and Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) have sponsored the NAT GAS Act. This bill is aimed at giving natural gas the push it needs to become part of the cure for America’s oil addiction. Senator Reid (D-Nevada) is also an original co-sponsor.

“Each day, our nation consumes about 21 million barrels of oil- more than 25 percent of the world’s oil supply,” Reid said. And most of that oil comes from foreign soil. “With only 3 percent of the world’s oil reserves, we cannot produce our way to a safe and secure energy future,” Reid continued.

The new legislation would promote the use of natural gas over traditional oil by using tax credits. This legislation would, in effect, be an extension of the CLEAR Act - encouraging the growth of natural-gas infrastructures to go along with the current boom in hybrid-electric vehicles.

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Oil Shale: Saving Grace or Environmental Catastrophe?

Lisa Wojnovich — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 23:49:13 +0000

Did you know that the Rocky Mountains contain more oil than Saudi Arabia? Most people don’t. The problem is that, unlike the easily accessed and processed oceans of liquid oil under Middle Eastern sands, the Rocky Mountains’ petroleum is found in rocks called oil shale. Oil shale, which must be mined, is a type of sedimentary rock that releases oil when heated in specific types of chemical processes. The problem, according to environmental groups, is that producing energy from oil shale is even less environmentally friendly than using normal, liquid oil or even coal.

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Sheik Says Biofuels Are Prohibited by Islam

Ariel Schwartz — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 23:54:53 +0000

Biofuels may have hit an unexpected roadblock with a pronouncement by Sheik Mohamed al-Najimi of the Saudi Islamic Jurisprudence Academy that the fuel may be prohibited by Islam. According to al-Najimi, the prophet Muhammad prohibited the buying, selling, transporting, drinking, and manufacturing of alcohol - including the ethyl alcohol present in ethanol.

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Saudi Oil Minister Warns Against Hasty Transition to Renewable Energy

Mridul Chadha — Sun, 15 Feb 2009 08:38:13 +0000

According to Saudi Arabia’s Oil Minister Ali Naimi, renewable energy sources are not fully equipped to meet the world’s energy demands and that governments should avoid making huge investments in developing clean energy systems.

At a conference in Houston, Mr. Naimi argued that recent injection of billions of dollars by governments to develop renewable energy systems could lead to the collapse of the oil industry. He said that such steps would drive away investors which would hurt the oil producing nations as demand and prices of oil products has been falling sharply. His remarks were clearly aimed at the Obama administration which is reversing President Bush’s policies by openly encouraging massive investments in the renewable energy sector.

United States has been a ‘close friend’ and seeing President Obama acting on his promise of energy independence seemed to have alarmed the Saudis. Bills approving of oil exploration along the US coasts, massive subsidies for renewable energy projects and Obama administration’s intent to reduce carbon emissions means a medium to long-term decline in oil imports and which have left the Saudis (and OPEC) concerned.

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The Twelve Days of sustainablog: Dumpster Diving, Online Shopping and Hand Towels

Jeff McIntire-Strasburg — Sun, 21 Dec 2008 20:02:50 +0000

With several new GO blogs launching in March, a few of sustainablog’s regulars moved on to other posting assignments. We were fortunate that a number of friends, such as the folks at Life Goggles, Environmental Defense Fund, and Eco-Libris, did admirable jobs in filling the gap. Additionally, we were pleased to republish several posts from the University of Kansas’ “Media and the Environment” course blog.

The original content we did publish was great stuff, of course. Take a look below, and see a few of the goodies from March (and not a single post on green beer!).

March 2008

Maria Surma Manka took a look at the Saudi’s interest in solar power.
Victoria Everman reviewed online shopping guide thepurplebook’s green edition.
Kyle Weatherholtz examined issues with wind power in Texas.
Carol McClelland profiled some intriguing green companies.

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Somalia Pirates Seize Saudi Oil Tanker: Gas Prices Remain Unchanged

Jennifer Lance — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 04:01:00 +0000

The Sirius Star, an oil tanker with the capacity to carry two million barrels and longer than three football fields, was seized by Somali pirates off the coast of East Africa.

This high tech tanker, staffed by only 25 crew members and owned by Saudi Aramco, was headed south toward the Cape of Good Hope on its way to North America when it was hijacked. World oil markets did not take notice of the hijacking; however, according to the LA Times:

Had the hijacking taken place earlier in the year, before the world’s leading economies began reeling and international demand for oil fell, it might have kicked the price of oil up $5 or more, analysts said.

Image and Via: LA Times

OIL: Our National Dog and Pony Show

Max Lindberg — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 22:36:38 +0000

Step Right Up And Be Amazed

It struck me today that our fearless leaders, would-be’s, and corporate giants seem to think we’re all a bunch of rubes gathered outside a carnival sideshow, leaning on the barker’s every word.

Urging Congress to lift its ban on offshore oil and gas drilling, our fearless leader, you know, President Bush, told lawmakers, “There is no excuse for delay“.

It got worse, “Families across the country are looking to Washington for a response.” Gimme a break.

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Why the Saudis are Looking at Solar

Maria Surma Manka — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 14:31:56 +0000

Saudi Arabia makes more than 10 million barrels of oil a day, but it may be turning an eye on a cleaner, brighter prospect: solar power.

Oil minister Ali al-Nuaimi told French media that the oil-rich nation is researching how it can become a center for solar energy research and eventually become a “major megawatt” exporter in the next 30-50 years. He also said that Saudi Arabia is ready to invest in carbon capture and storage, even developing technology to extract carbon dioxide (CO2 - a major global warming pollutant) from the atmosphere and store it underground (I’ll admit, I haven’t heard of extracting CO2 from the atmosphere before).

This all comes on the heels of an agreement last November by Gulf OPEC members to invest three-quarters of a billion dollars US to fighting global warming and financing clean technologies. But is this just an attempt to be seen as a big player in the hot solar energy field — or could the Saudi government be concerned about peak oil and increasing regulations around the world that make fossil fuel use more expensive?

Forbes.com

Quicklinks Thursday: Gore slams climate disinformation campaigns, Toyota delays High-Mileage hybrids, and the Yangtze river dolphin is extinct

Noelle dEstries — Thu, 09 Aug 2007 11:27:36 +0000

Here’s some quick links for you this fine Thursday morning…

• Farmer wrecks three cop cars and evades capture for five hours after attacking with a muck spreader. He was mad they were trying to confiscate his tractor.

• Nice job humanity- the Yangtze river dolphin is extinct.

• Al Gore points out Exxon’s work on climate change disinformation campaigns. Pure evil.

• Is this a surprise to anyone? Kids in Saudi Arabia aren’t getting much information about Global Warming in school.

• 20% of Australian kids are fat on their first day of school.

• Toyota is delaying the launch of new high-mileage hybrids for a year or two due to safety concerns.

• Green Myth-Busting: Occam’s Razor, or the idea that our current climate change is part of a natural cycle.

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