Industrialized Cyclist Notepad


James Hamilton: A rational reason for high oil prices

“There is no rational reason for high oil prices,” writes Ali Naimi, Saudi Arabian Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, in today’s Financial Times. Well, I can think of one– if oil prices were lower, the world would want to consume more than is currently being produced.

via Econbrowser: A rational reason for high oil prices.



Chinese Oil Production

From a comment by “Darwinian” on the Oil Drum.



The Effect of Iran Sanctions

Closer relations between Iran, India and China; creation of new financial networks to bypass the West. The inability to control Iran through non-military means may make military action more likely.

NEW DELHI, MARCH 28: 

India and China on Wednesday indicated that they will continue to maintain normal relations with Iran, while citing high crude oil prices and energy security concerns.

The Chinese Commerce Minister, Mr Chen Deming, said China respects all the United Nations resolutions.

However, in a veiled reference to the US sanctions on Iran, he added that Beijing is not obliged to follow the domestic rules and regulations of any particular country.

via Business Line : Industry & Economy News : India, China to maintain ties with Iran despite US, EU sanctions.



Not your ordinary puddle
March 28, 2012, 05:00
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , ,

From Tepco’s photos released to the press.


click to enlarge



Elgin gas leak

Another monster from the deep.

A cloud of gas was reported to be surrounding the platform, which is located 150 miles (240km) off Aberdeen.

Workers from a second platform and drilling rig have been removed.

Shell has moved 120 non-essential staff from the Shearwater platform and Hans Deul drilling rig, about four miles from the Elgin, because of the drifting gas.

via BBC News – Elgin platform gas leak: Exclusion zone in place.



UK Oil production quietly plummeting

For any modern nation, a 22% decline in oil production would be significant over the course of a decade. A 22% drop over a mere 12 months ought to be front-page news, yet this radical decline has passed relatively unnoticed.

via UK Oil: Plummeting production vs media inattention | Energy Bulletin.



Swimming in Oil Not Preferred by Dolphins, Whales

2010-2012 Cetacean Unusual Mortality Event in Northern Gulf of Mexico – Office of Protected Resources – NOAA Fisheries

Under the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 (as amended), an Unusual Mortality Event (UME) has been declared for cetaceans (whales and dolphins) in the northern Gulf of Mexico (Texas/Louisiana border through Franklin County, FL) from February 2010 through the present.

Note: These numbers are preliminary and may be subject to change. As of March 18, 2012, the UME involves 693 Cetacean “strandings” in the Northern Gulf of Mexico (5% stranded alive and 95% stranded dead).

via 2010-2012 Cetacean Unusual Mortality Event in Northern Gulf of Mexico – Office of Protected Resources – NOAA Fisheries.



Tacocopter Aims To Deliver Tacos While Perhaps Injuring the Occasional Random Bystander or Taco Recipient
March 24, 2012, 14:59
Filed under: Uncategorized

God I love this. I hereby coopter the name Tacocopter for the band that I now have to start just to call it Tacocopter.

Indeed, the concept behind Tacocopter is very simple, and very American: You order tacos on your smartphone and also beam in your GPS location information. Your order — and your location — are transmitted to an unmanned drone helicopter (grounded, near the kitchen where the tacos are made), and the tacocopter is then sent out with your food to find you and deliver your tacos to wherever you’re standing.

via Tacocopter Aims To Deliver Tacos Using Unmanned Drone Helicopters.

And these drones can’t carry much weight if any, so tacos will be delivered one ingredient at a time until further notice.



Chinese Empire 1897
March 24, 2012, 14:37
Filed under: maps | Tags: , ,

Via Harper’s Weekly, January 15, 1898.



Portland Bike Share on Track for 2013 Launch

People of Portland: “Bike share” is very cool. But it isn’t really sharing. Why don’t we just call it what it is — a public-private bike RENTAL program. Not library cards — credit cards.

Learn about bike share, suggest locations for stations:

Portland Bike Share.



Gasoline taxes in the U.S.
March 22, 2012, 09:27
Filed under: maps | Tags: , , ,

Includes all state, local and federal taxes as of January 2012.

Via API:



North American Shale Plays

Via EIA.


click to enlarge



SF bike share delayed
March 21, 2012, 10:44
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , ,

https://twitter.com/streetsblogsf/status/182520096361676800



U.S. exempts 11 countries from Iran sanctions

As South Korea buys more…

In contrast to Japan, South Korea, the world’s fifth-largest oil importer, increased its imports from Iran in 2011 by 20 percent. It’s refiners have signed deals to import a little more crude again from Iran in 2012.

South Africa’s energy minister said last week he hoped to have a plan by the end of May for replacing Iran supplies, which currently make up a quarter of its crude imports.

But reflecting a problem for several countries, Turkey’s energy minister, Taner Yildiz, told reporters on Wednesday the country could not stop buying Iran crude unless alternative oil sources were found.

via U.S. exempts 11 countries from Iran sanctions; China, India exposed – chicagotribune.com.



Senator Shoom Rides Bike in Prospect Park Bike Lane in Defiance of Lane-Hating Wife

Glad to see him out riding. But — uh oh — here he is riding in the very same bike lane that his wife hated with such a passion that she initiated a lawsuit to stop it. And photographed by Paul Steely White, director of Transportation Alternatives and outspoken opponent of the opponent. Tangled web!! Gotta ride, though.

Via Gothamist: http://gothamist.com/2012/03/18/pigs_fly_photo_of_chuck_schumer_bik.php



Afghanistan shooter was a stock broker
March 20, 2012, 09:54
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , ,

Gary Liebschner told WCPO TV, the ABC affiliate in Cincinnati, that Bales pocketed their money after they asked him to sell some stock to cover medical bills. Bales never paid the money and the couple could never find him, Liebschner said.

Bales worked in the financial services industry in Ohio from 1996 to 2000, according to FINRA records. An arbitrator found that Bales “engaged in fraud, breach of fiduciary duty, churning, unauthorized trading and unsuitable investments,” according to a report on the FINRA website.

via Bales Defrauded Ohio Couple Who Say He Owes $1.3 Million – Bloomberg.



Pennsylvania Fracking Law: If a doctor thinks an illness is fracking-related, he/she is forbidden from talking to the patient or other doctors about it

And the public at large of course. “Non-disclosure agreement.” According to this report anyway.

… If a company does release information about what is used, health care professionals are bound by a non-disclosure agreement that not only forbids them from warning the community of water and air pollution that may be caused by fracking, but which also forbids them from telling their own patients what the physician believes may have led to their health problems. A strict interpretation of the law would also forbid general practitioners and family practice physicians who sign the non-disclosure agreement and learn the contents of the “trade secrets” from notifying a specialist about the chemicals or compounds, thus delaying medical treatment.

The clauses are buried on pages 98 and 99 of the 174-page bill, which was initiated and passed by the Republican-controlled General Assembly and signed into law in February by Republican Gov. Tom Corbett.

via Fracking: Pennsylvania Gags Physicians | Truthout.



Chevron, Transocean Managers Banned From Leaving Brazil

Seventeen Chevron Corp. (CVX) and Transocean Ltd. executives were banned from leaving Brazil pending an investigation into an offshore oil spill.

The order was signed by a federal judge last week as part of the probe into the 3,000-barrel slick off Rio de Janeiro in November, Marcelo del Negri, a spokesman for the federal prosecutor’s office, said in a telephone interview yesterday. Transocean owned the rig involved in the spill.

via Chevron, Transocean Managers Banned From Leaving Brazil – Bloomberg.



Bike of the Day: Independent Fabrication titanium 29er

This I.F. Deluxe belongs to my old Sunnyside neighbor Josh. If this beauty doesn’t get you hankerin’ for a hunk of trail, you may have a serious disorder of the hankerin’ system.



Aspen Bike Share
March 18, 2012, 05:00
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , ,

http://www.aspentimes.com/article/20120317/NEWS/120319869/1077&ParentProfile=1058




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