Biofuel News Digest - January 24

Oil Prices spiked recently in reaction to nuclear sabre rattling by Iran. Today oil is "settling" at $67 per barrel. I am of the opinion that oil is going to stay in the $60-$70 range for the foreseeable futre. If not by hurricane, then by political intrigue. If not by supply, then demand. Oddly enough, those of us interested in the biofuel movement need to hope that petroleum prices stay high. This makes biodiesel and ethonal more attractive than they already are. Let get to the News:

Kuwait's Oil Reseverse Cut by Half
In an obscure backpage story on Friday, Petroleum Intelligence Weekly revealed that Kuwait could cut its proven oil reserves from 99 billion barrels to 48 billion barrels. To put that into context, the world consumes roughly 80 million barrels per day with the United States using about 25 percent of that. Peak Oil theory predicts that world output will plataeu and then decline sometime in the first half of the 21st century. With reserves being cut by major oil companies and producing countries, we may see decline before we are ready.

A Vermont Community Bank Offers Incentives for Fuel Efficient or Renwables
Here is something I haven't heard of. A bank is offering loan discounts to customers switching to greener vehicles. Cool!

DaimlerChrysler Sanctions Biodiesel for Ram Trucks
Most of us are not gloing to wait for automakers to put "Biodiesel Ready" stickers on their showroom cars to get into the game. We can take an old Mercedes or later model pickup with a diesel engine and simply get the hoses and fuel filters we need put in. But it is nice to see the automakers looking to the future.

Companies Offer Deal for Carbon Dioxide Emissions
I recently posted about TerraPass. While we are all striving for a cleaner environment by switching to biofuels, we have think about the damage that has been done and continues to be. The United States did not adopt the Kyoto treaty, but that doesn't mean individual citizens shouldn't think about the carbon dioxide they generate and look for way to offset it. These companies offer solutions for this.