The Round-Up: October 25th 2006

Another Nice Bottom
(click on title, then scroll down to article)

Signs of a bottom in the energy complex are finally arriving. Bruised and battered from a barrage of ruthless profit-taking in September, the entire complex has been mauled. Now it's time to buy the most profitable segment of the energy bull market since 2002 - the oil services and equipment stocks....

....The bull market in energy has not been confined to just oil stocks. In fact, one of the most profitable sectors in the stock market remains in the incredibly profitable oil services sector. The oil services sector encompasses a wide array of oil-related duties, including installing and servicing rigs (old and new), labor, replacement parts, seismic testing, etc. And right now, these services are in high demand.

Canadian Wind Energy Seen Adding C$1 Billion to GDP

"(Last year) was a record year for the wind industry. There was added capacity, and 2006 is going to be another record year," Canadian Wind Energy Association spokesman Sean Whittaker told Reuters at the group's annual conference in the Prairie city of Winnipeg.
The association estimates wind energy, a renewable power source for generating electricity, contributed C$550 million toward the country's GDP in 2004.
Canada's current wind energy capacity is more than 1,200 megawatts, up from approximately 700 MW in 2005, according to the association.

Biofuel Monocultures

Forests are considered sacred by most environmentalists. Over the past twelve years we've reported on deforestation and reforestation, and there has always been a consistent refrain from environmentalists: Monocultures are not forests. This point of view, while debateable, is one we basically agree with.

So why are environmentalists relatively silent on the potential problems with biofuel plantations?

Report: Carbon-Neutral Oil Sands SCO Possible for an Extra $1.76 to $13.65 a Barrel

This is a controversial claim that should be debated.

The oil sands are projected to contribute up to 47% of the projected business-as-usual (BAU) growth in Canada?s total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions between 2003 and 2010, making them the single largest contributor to Canadian GHG emissions growth.

For as little as US$2.50 per barrel an oil sands company could eliminate 100 per cent of its GHG pollution. To put this in perspective it costs up to US$1.75 per barrel to remove lead from gasoline.

How to Avoid Debt Slavery

The world at large is clueless about the real path to happiness, but most people follow the conventional "wisdom". I put wisdom in quotation marks because it is actually foolishness. But the majority of people who have followed that conventional "wisdom" are now deep in debt of all kinds. They have little or no control over their lives, since they pay hundreds of dollars in interest every month to a bunch of rich bankers--bringing no benefit to their families at all. Since conventional "wisdom" leads to this kind of Debt Slavery, I would suggest it is time to revisit the philosophy that everyone follows, and expose it for the fraud that it is.

China "Methane to Markets" Project Nears Completion

A 'Clean Development' project?

The project developer, Jincheng Anthracite Coal Group Co. Ltd., will capture coal mine methane and use it for power generation at the Sihe coal mine in Jincheng city, to be fed into the local power grid, the World Bank's Carbon Finance Unit said on its Web site....

....The project comes under the Kyoto Protocol's Clean Development Mechanism, which means the mine should be able to sell credits for the carbon reductions on specialised exchanges in richer nations or directly to firms that overshoot government emissions targets.

Nearly two-thirds of China's energy needs are met by coal-fired power stations, which cause heavy emissions of acid rain-causing sulphur dioxide and greenhouse gas emissions such as methane.