OilPrice.com Daily News Update

World's Largest Offshore Wind Farm Opens Today in the UK

peixej@oilprice.com (Joao Peixe) — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 22:06:29 GMT

Today heralds the opening of the world’s largest offshore wind farm off the coast of Cumbria in the UK. The 367 megawatt wind farm, called Walney Farm, consists of 100 wind turbines and will power up to 320,000 homes.

Not only is it the world’s largest, but according to the British power company SSE and Denmark’s Dong Energy it is also the fastest built and cheapest offshore wind farm in the world today. However at £1.2 billion ($1.9 billion) cheap seems an odd adjective to use.

Walney Farm is owned by Dong…

U.S. Losing Wind Energy Race

dg@oilprice.com (Daniel J. Graeber) — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 21:57:28 GMT

Washington finally said it was moving ahead with plans for wind energy off the mid-Atlantic Coast. A review of the region, considered one of the better wind regimes in the United States, found the adverse environmental or socioeconomic problems tied to wind energy development along the eastern coast would be minimal. A national laboratory said offshore wind could meet most of the domestic demand for electricity. With a 367-megawatt wind farm opening off the northern England coast, however, the United States, with its drill-happy congressional…

Polish Natural Gas Could Free Europe from Russia's Grip Once and for All

burgessj@oilprice.com (James Burgess) — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 21:56:02 GMT

Poland is currently reliant upon natural gas imported from Russia. They shed the iron rule of the Soviet Union only to hand power back to Moscow due to their need for Gazprom’s products. However it has recently been discovered that Poland boasts Europe’s largest deposits of shale gas, an estimated 5.3 trillion cubic metres, which according to the US Energy Information Administration is enough to supply Poland’s energy needs for the next 300 years.

Poland has therefore welcomed US companies such as Chevron, Exxon Mobil,…

Global Wind Power Capacity up 21% in 2011

burgessj@oilprice.com (James Burgess) — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 16:06:48 GMT

On Tuesday the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC) released statistics that claim a total of over 41 gigawatts of new wind power were installed around the world in 2011. This represents an increase of 21% to a global capacity of 238 gigawatts. 75 countries can now boast wind power installations, with 22 countries having more than 1000 megawatts (1 gigawatt).

Steve Sawyer, GWEC Secretary General, said that “Despite the state of the global economy, wind power continues to be the renewable generation technology of choice. 2011 was a…

Masdar City: The Most Sustainable City in the World to Open in 2025

burgessj@oilprice.com (James Burgess) — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 15:59:23 GMT

The ambitious $19 billion Masdar City is already six years into production and has been set a completion date of between 2020 and 2025 (having worked with builders before I’d suggest that you should read this as “2025 at the earliest”). It will be the world’s first zero-carbon and zero-waste city, developed by Abu Dhabi, the Mubadala Development Company and the British architectural firm Foster and Partners.

The city will be built 17km from downtown Abu Dhabi and will cover approximately 6km². It will include…

Canada, North American Energy Powerhouse, Now Faces Fracking Protests

admin@namecake.com (John Daly) — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 23:56:20 GMT

Mexican President Jose de la Cruz Porfirio Diaz Mori once reputedly said nearly a century ago, “¡Pobre México¡ Tan lejos de Dios y tan cerca de los Estados Unidos¡” (“Poor Mexico, so far from God and so close to the United States!”)

In 2009 eminent Mexican author Carlos Fuentes updated Diaz’s aphorism to proclaim, “'Poor Mexico and poor United States, so far from God and so near to each other.”

America’s Great White North neighbor, Canada, might paraphrase…

Bad Timing for Scottish Independence

dg@oilprice.com (Daniel J. Graeber) — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 23:53:08 GMT

Scotland under First Minister Alex Salmond announced plans to hold a referendum on independence from the United Kingdom in 2014. Edinburgh maintains it can support itself without the help of London, largely through its oil and natural gas fields in the North Sea. Scottish finance officials said there are trillions of dollars worth of oil reserves left in the North Sea yet an economic assessment found that Edinburgh would take its first step as an independent nation while shouldering massive debt.

The discovery of oil off the…

Why Oil Companies Don't Want Us Talking About Climate Change

postcarbon@oilprice.com (Post Carbon) — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 23:50:57 GMT

If we could see the world with a particularly illuminating set of spectacles, one of its most prominent features at the moment would be a giant carbon bubble, whose bursting someday will make the housing bubble of 2007 look like a lark. As yet -- as we shall see -- it’s unfortunately largely invisible to us.

In compensation, though, we have some truly beautiful images made possible by new technology. Last month, for instance, NASA updated the most iconic photograph in our civilization’s gallery: “Blue…

China Buys Into Portuguese National Power Company, Politicians Aghast

admin@namecake.com (John Daly) — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 23:42:46 GMT

In the capitalist dog eat dog world, financial distress is an opportunity for those flush with cash.

The Portuguese economy, hammered by soaring debt, has led the government to attempt to reduce it by selling off investments in Redes Energeticas Nacionais, SGPS, S.A. (National Energy Network, formerly Rede Electrica Nacional, S.A., or REN), which in 2007 received a 50 year concession to operate Portugal’s national electricity transmission grid.

China's State Grid International Development Ltd. and government-owned…

The Important Roles of Risk and Stealth in the Eagle Ford Shale Discovery

burgessj@oilprice.com (James Burgess) — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 23:39:18 GMT

The Eagle Ford Shale is one of the biggest shale fields in the world and one of the biggest developments in Texan oil and gas for decades; and it all exists due to big risks and stealthy business by Petrohawk Energy Corp.

Successful wells had been drilled near to the area previously, but with inconsistent results, and by 2007 it appeared that the area was drilled out.

So when a man appeared offering to lease thousands of acres of Joe Martins family property for $175 per acre he was delighted. “We were eager to do any kind…