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Toyota Output Sets Industry Record

Toyota Motor Corp. said Wednesday it produced more than 10 million vehicles world-wide last year, making it the first auto maker to post annual output above that threshold. The record volume comes as the Japanese car maker is setting its sights on exceeding that same number in vehicles sold this year–which would also be an industry record–counting on solid demand in the world’s two biggest auto markets, China and the U.S. Toyota has rebounded after several tough years, encompassing the 2008 recession, several large global recalls and production disruptions following the 2011 earthquake and tsunami. The company said it produced 10.12 million vehicles globally in 2013, up 2.1% from the previous year. Higher output in the Americas and Europe offset sluggish production in its home market. Output in Japan fell 3.9% to 3.36 million, though still higher than the three million level the company aims […]

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China's first direct coal liquefaction line produces 866,000 tonnes

China’s first direct coal-to-oil project, operated by the country’s leading coal producer, Shenhua Group, produced 866,000 tonnes of oil products last year. The direct coal liquefaction line is located in Ejin Horo Banner, Ordos City in northern Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. It produces 3,000 tonnes of oil products with consumption of nearly 10,000 tonnes of coal per day, said Shenhua Coal Liquefaction and Chemical Co., Ltd. With an investment of 12.6 billion yuan (2.06 billion U.S. dollars), Shenhua Group began construction of the project in 2004, using self-developed technologies. The project began trial production at the end of 2009 with a designed annual capacity of 1.08 million tonnes of diesel, naphtha and liquefied petroleum gas. Proven coal reserves around Ordos are estimated at 160 billion tonnes, or 11.4 percent of the country’s total coal reserves. As part of its clean energy strategy, China has […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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China’s first direct coal liquefaction line produces 866,000 tonnes

China’s first direct coal-to-oil project, operated by the country’s leading coal producer, Shenhua Group, produced 866,000 tonnes of oil products last year. The direct coal liquefaction line is located in Ejin Horo Banner, Ordos City in northern Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. It produces 3,000 tonnes of oil products with consumption of nearly 10,000 tonnes of coal per day, said Shenhua Coal Liquefaction and Chemical Co., Ltd. With an investment of 12.6 billion yuan (2.06 billion U.S. dollars), Shenhua Group began construction of the project in 2004, using self-developed technologies. The project began trial production at the end of 2009 with a designed annual capacity of 1.08 million tonnes of diesel, naphtha and liquefied petroleum gas. Proven coal reserves around Ordos are estimated at 160 billion tonnes, or 11.4 percent of the country’s total coal reserves. As part of its clean energy strategy, China has […]

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Indian lawmaker group calls for boosting renewable electricity

India has 7.5 million households without access to electricity, a new report by a group of Indian lawmakers says. The report, submitted Monday to Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh by the lawmakers, known as the Climate Parliament Group of MPs, notes that per capita electricity consumption in the country’s rural households was 8 units per month compared to 24 units in urban households. "The reason for such low level of consumption is not low demand, but poor access to energy. In spite of a number of programs and schemes for rural electrification, India has one of the lowest levels of access to modern energy," Press Trust of India quotes the report, "RE-Energising India: Policy, Regulatory and Financial Initiatives to Augment Renewable Energy Deployment in India," as saying. Noting the Indian government in 2001-02 had pledged to provide "electricity for all by 2012," a […]

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Shell Plans Boat to Tap Gas Fields

Royal Dutch Shell PLC says it has a way to spend less on tapping remote natural-gas fields. There’s just one catch: It will cost at least $10 billion, according to people who have worked on the project. Shipyard workers in South Korea are building a hull for the Anglo-Dutch company that stretches more than 1,600 feet from bow to stern. The boat will drop anchor in a natural-gas field, chill the gas into liquid and pump it into tankers. The vessel, christened Prelude, will produce enough natural gas to supply Hong Kong for a year, according to Shell. The company says the giant project will help Shell develop gas fields that are too small or far-flung to justify the pricey pipelines and onshore processing plants needed for offshore gas fields. Shell hasn’t announced a completion date for Prelude, now a bright red hull afloat in the shipyard, but it […]

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Fracking Boom Keeps Home Heating Bills in Check

Freezing temperatures are creating near-record demand for natural gas in the U.S. as shivering Americans turn up the heat and plug in their electric blankets. Natural-gas prices have jumped in response, topping $5 per million British thermal units for the first time since 2010 as fuel has been pulled from underground storage vaults to keep furnaces running and electric utilities humming. But compared with past cold snaps, such as in 2000, the price surge has been muted, according to utilities and other big gas users. That is good news for businesses and consumers. Manufacturers that consume large amounts of the fuel—steelmakers, for example—say they have trouble planning for sharp price changes. And homeowners on fixed incomes can be hit especially hard when utilities raise prices. In the short term, higher prices help gas drillers, many of which have been losing money on wells in a supply glut. Over the […]

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North Dakota Reacts to Drilling Critics

North Dakotans have strongly backed oil drilling in their state, but attempts to drill wells near historic sites—including a ranch once used by Teddy Roosevelt—have sparked enough of an outcry that regulators are considering greater citizen input into how and where companies may operate. Last week, North Dakota’s Industrial Commission, which regulates the oil industry, highlighted 18 areas for possible protection because of their cultural, recreational, scenic or spiritual significance. Within a buffer zone, drilling wouldn’t be banned but be subjected to heightened public and possibly regulatory scrutiny. On Wednesday, a panel studying the issue is set to recommend policies on how to give the public more voice in where drilling is allowed, among other issues. The furor over historical sites was sparked in January 2013 when the Industrial Commission dismissed objections from nearby landowners and Native Americans and approved Hess Corp.’s application to drill wells near the Killdeer […]

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Falling Gasoline Hurts Exxon Plea for U.S. Crude Exports

Photographer: Daniel Acker/Bloomberg Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) ’s push to export U.S. oil overseas is facing a new obstacle: falling gasoline prices. A flood of new oil from Texas to the Great Plains has swamped refineries, driving down prices at the pump 10 percent since March, while global oil prices have hovered at about $107 a barrel. That suggests the world crude market is having waning influence on U.S. gasoline, which instead is beginning to track lower-priced domestic oil. U.S. supplies are having a greater impact because they’re making up a bigger part of the gasoline market, supplying about 53 percent today, compared with 34 percent less than three years ago. As cheaper oil translates to cheaper gasoline, Exxon and ConocoPhillips will have a tougher time convincing legislators that ending export restrictions that date back to 1970s oil shortages would benefit the nation, said Sandy Fielden, director of energy […]

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BP Continued Suspension From New U.S. Contracts Sought

BP Plc. (BP/) ’s suspension from new government contracts and oil leases after the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill should continue because, government lawyers argued, the company hasn’t demonstrated it’s a responsible contractor. BP is fighting a 2012 ban imposed on 20 affiliates by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency , which prevents all BP entities from bidding on any new government supply contracts or oil leases. The suspension, which doesn’t affect BP’s earlier government contracts, was imposed after the agency determined the London-based company hadn’t fully corrected problems that led to the fatal explosion aboard the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig and the worst offshore spill in U.S. history. “Given this history, it was wholly reasonable” for the agency to “conclude that BP’s latest round of plans and promises is insufficient to demonstrate that BP is a responsible federal contractor,” Robert G. Dreher, acting assistant attorney general of the […]

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U.S. solar sector expanding, study finds

U.S. Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz said the number of jobs created in the U.S. solar power sector suggests it is an "exciting time" for the industry. A report published by The Solar Foundation, a 37-year-old non-profit focused on solar power, said there were 142,698 people in the United States employed in the solar industry as of November, a 19.9 percent increase since September 2012. "This is an exciting time for the solar industry in the United States, made even more clear by the latest industry job figures," Moniz said in a statement issued Monday after the report was released. The report said the employment rate in the U.S. solar industry grew 10 times faster than the national average. The Solar Foundation’s census report for 2013 finds 77 percent of the jobs reported in the sector since September 2012 were new jobs. Employment in the […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple