La Mode Verte
Environmental Awareness Through Media ProductionsArchive for Exxon Mobil
A Renewed Hunt for Fossil Fuels
An offshore gas platform in Mozambique waters, from offshoreenergytoday.com
www.nytimes.com 10th April 2011
The global recession has had many an unintended consequence in our society. One way European governments are tightening their belts is by reducing subsidies on new technologies such as renewable energy, thereby making it more expensive for citizens to use. Coupled with the current negative attitude towards nuclear power following the awful Japanese tsunami of March last year, there is suddenly a gap in the energy market. And it seems we are falling back on fossil fuels as a result. Countries all over sub-Saharan Africa are experiencing billions of dollars of investment as energy giants look for the next lucrative oil or gas field to exploit. Mozambique, for example, has seen interest from the American company Exxon-Mobil, the British BG Group, and the Italian Eni. Potentially, the eastern African country has more gas reserves than the largest producer in Europe: Norway. Much of these resources will be diverted towards the energy hungry East, where China’s demand is forever increasing. The scramble for new resources good have benefits on a national scale. Energy companies are diversifying their sources for fossil fuels, and the introduction of the contentious ‘fracking’ of shale gas could allow countries like Poland escape their reliance on Russia for gas. However, environmentally, this renewed boom of fossil fuel exploration can only have a detrimental effect.
Artificial Organism To Turn Sunlight into Diesel Fuel
www.independent.co.uk 17th September 2o10
The American company Joule Biotechnologies announced on the 14th September that it has patented an organism that can create hydro-carbons directly from sunlight. The organism was created from a modified cyanobacteria (blue-green algae) merged with various enzymes. Unlike other bio-fuels, “Joule’s Liquid Energy” does not require additional sugar and, the company believes, can be used as a replacement for ethanol and diesel fuels. Current tests are taking place in Texas and if successful the organism can be rolled out on a commercial scale by 2012. Due to the relatively simple manufacturing process the bio-fuel could be on the market cheaper than conventional fossil fuels.
Exxon Mobil are pursuing a similar project with the help of Synthetic Genomics Inc.
