Energy

priceofoil.org - by Andy Rowell - October 15, 2013

CLICK HERE - STUDY - Mercury Trends in Colonial Waterbird Eggs Downstream of the Oil Sands Region of Alberta, Canada

Scientists have released yet another academic study that indicates the growing ecological impact of the tar sands.

They measured the amount of mercury in birds eggs downstream from the tar sands and compared them to eggs some distance away from the polluting region.

What they found was that the eggs of certain species of predatory birds living downstream from the tar sands were found to have “statistically significant increases” of the dangerous heavy metal, mercury.

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Image: Fracking fight: In mid-August, the energy company Cuadrilla Resources suspended operations of this exploratory shale gas drilling site in southeast England after protests from residents and environmentalists.

technologyreview.com - September 10th, 2013 - Peter Fairley

Proposed U.K. government policies to encourage hydrofracking of natural gas ignited a firestorm of protest this summer, with critics complaining that they were not consulted and that rules will restrict local planners’ authority. But the country appears to have few other options. The United Kingdom is in an energy quagmire that is forcing it to turn to shale gas.

The country’s aggressive carbon emissions goals call for the U.K.’s power supply to be virtually carbon-free by 2030.

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Image: Niger delta residents pass a burning Shell oil pipeline as they evacuate their homes by boat in December 2005. (Photo: George Osodi/AP)

commondreams.org - September 14th, 2013 - Andrea Gernabis

A Niger Delta community affected by oil spills has rejected a compensation offer from oil giant Shell they see as "totally derisory and insulting."

The residents of Bodo, Nigeria are represented by the London-based law firm Leigh Day to seek damages for two 2008 spills that devastated tens of thousands of residents in dozens of villages and unleashed a thick, black river of death that has choked mangroves and riverways for years.

The Guardian reports:

    On Friday the full scale of the spills could be seen from the air with over 75 sq km of mangrove forests, creeks, swamps and channels thick with crude oil.

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