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Are Western big oil companies heading for liquidation?

15 July, 2007

In the UK’s Independent, David Strahan, the author of the excellent book “The Last Oil Shock: a survival guide to the imminent extinction of petroleum man”, uses new rumours of an imminent merger of Royal Dutch Shell and BP to make the case that the big oil majors are facing difficult times. The real motivation… » read more

Posted by Willy De Backer

energy nationalism, energy security, OPEC, Peak oil, resource wars, Shell

Greening the chemical industry

The chemical industry is surely one of the key sectors of our global economy but has come under severe criticism in the last decennia because of the unsustainable trends of its products and production processes. The industry has been slow to react to consumers’ loss of confidence and has battled hard to ward off legislative… » read more

Posted by Willy De Backer

green chemistry, sustainable development

Why are green NGOs afraid of peak oil?

13 July, 2007

I was moderating a debate on road transport in Brussels this week and mentioned in my conclusions that future transport policies should take into consideration potential higher oil prices because of the oil demand/supply crunch to be expected in the future (see also the recent IEA report on which I wrote a blog post earlier… » read more

Posted by Willy De Backer

Climate change, demographics policy, ecological economics, energy security, Global Warming, Peak oil, Population growth

News Alert: The cost of new power plants and lessons for economists

12 July, 2007

The New York Times has an interesting story on the rising costs for new power plants because of increasing global competition for raw materials such as copper, steel or nickel. The story shows that the so-called energy alternatives (coal, nuclear, wind power) will have their own challenges as demand growth for the raw materials needed… » read more

Posted by Willy De Backer

European Union, resource depletion, resource wars, sustainability

News Alerts: Gavron on London energy policies; responsible competitiveness

EurActiv has finally published the interview I did with London Vice-Mayor Nicki Gavron during the EU’s last Green Week. The interview showcases Gavron’s strong belief in the need for a new “energy paradigm” with decentralised energy production as one of its main dimensions. London-based think tank Accountability published its “State of Responsible Competitiveness 2007” last… » read more

Posted by Willy De Backer

Business and climate change, Green cities, sustainability, sustainable competitiveness

News Alerts: Two energy crises; Vattenfall loses green credentials

10 July, 2007

The FT’s Gideon Rachmann recognises that the world is facing “two energy crises” in an excellent column in the British newspaper today. One of them is climate change, the other the struggle for declining energy resources. “Politicians find themselves pulled in two directions”, writes Rachmann. Swedish energy giant Vattenfall has quickly lost the “green leadership”… » read more

Posted by Willy De Backer

Business and climate change, Climate change, energy security, Global Warming, Nuclear

3E Intelligence

News, analysis and comments on energy, environment and sustainability policies


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