Last week, Moldova, Ukraine and Georgia stood up to the Russian Federation over disputes in which Russian troops occupy parts of each of their countries. Russian troops are massing on Ukraine’s border, raising the possibility of a war. Russia is trying to gain approval to begin operating the NORD STREAM…
Syria’s fossil fuel resources are dwindling fast, making that country an unattractive place to fight a war over crude oil supplies. Yet, a war is being fought over the future of Syria, and a side effect of that war is the huge refugee crisis in Europe. Earlier I’ve made the case…
Russia and Europe just signed a pair of deals that will bolster Russia’s presence in and influence over Europe. One deal is an asset swap with chemicals giant BASF that had earlier been delayed because of political pressure, and the other is an expansion of the NORD STREAM gas pipeline…
Allegations have resurfaced that Anti-Fracking activists in Europe are on Russia’s payroll, according to a NY Times news article. That article focuses on the anti-fracking protest focused on Pungesti Romania, which I’ve covered in-depth last winter. The claim is that if the anti-frackers are successful in banning fracking, they’re…
Florida Power and Light (FPL) is taking delivery of the third of three Siemens ultra-high-efficiency natural gas turbines for FPL’s Port Everglades Next Generation Clean Energy Center. The Siemens SGT6-8000H gas turbines and Siemens SST6-5000 steam turbine at the site are the core of FPL’s modernization of the Clean Energy Center.…
The Israeli’s and Palestinians are fighting again, because of a long-running dispute over the political system that will control the land which was once called Palestine and is now called Israel. Normally I wouldn’t cover the conflict on TheLongTailPipe because it’s one of those intractable political squabbles where one wishes…
President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Donald Tusk of Poland walk to a bilateral meeting after posing for photos at the Chancellery of the Prime Minister in Warsaw, Poland, June 3, 2014. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza) President Obama just announced a massively great program to combat climate…
Fuel cell’s seem like this magic technology – you pour in a clean fuel (hydrogen and oxygen) and out comes clean energy (electricity) and water. Make a fuel cell big enough to power a car, or truck, and you’ve got a “clean” vehicle that can go a few hundred miles…
This week Vice President Biden became the most senior US Official to visit Cyprus in over a half century. The visit is part of a swing through Romania and Cyprus, and in both countries the Vice President is to work on strengthening economic ties, the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership…
President Obama made a speech in Brussels on Wednesday that rewrites both his personal history, and the history around the Iraq War – BTW, the Shock & Awe invasion of Iraq occurred exactly 11 years ago today – so that he could bash Russia over it’s unilateral invasion and take-over…
Thanks to the political situation in Ukraine, American politics is discussing using America’s “glut” of natural gas as a political weapon. The idea is to undermine Russia’s strength in natural gas supplies, by selling America’s natural gas into the world market, especially to critical countries most vulnerable to Russia, in…
The crisis in Ukraine is getting truly scary, as in US-Russia are now almost directly in conflict. Stock markets are sliding, Russia is flexing its military might with an invasion of Crimea and military “exercises” on Ukraine’s borders, while the US and other countries have condemned Russia’s actions, threatened to…
This morning’s news tells us that the Ukranian government has begun an attack on protesters camped out in the Maidan, or Independence Square, known now as the Euromaidan. Reports say that over 25 have been killed including several police officers. The fighting follows several months where protesters have taken over…
Opening the door to transportation fuels other than gasoline or diesel means considering not just electricity, but other fuels, like natural gas. I personally want to see electric vehicles because that’s the best long-term solution. However there’s an aspect to this where the companies that supply other energy sources, like…
You don’t think of the head honcho of a major corporation like General Motors (GM) doing something altruistic like changing the company’s vehicle strategy just to save the polar bears. The GM shareholders hope their CEO will be making choices that improve the bottom line, and aim the company into…
