Liquefied natural gas (LNG) is growing in popularity as a commodity because it’s seen as the cleanest fossil fuel available today and it is abundant.   Global energy players are expecting trade in LNG to be increasingly commoditised and according to BP, the business is now growing at 12 per cent a year.  For the full story, click here.

Christof Ruhl, Group Deputy Chief Economist of BP, said: “We invest in LNG because we think that over the next 10 to 15 years, it would be a growing market and one that would continue to integrate itself. Many of the divisions which we’ve seen historically between Asia and the Atlantic bases have already disappeared. With the flexibility of the market and increasing integration, many restrictions like spot prices would soon disappear.

Statistics reported in Australia shows the mining industry is alive and well.  The demand for commodities coming out of China and other high growth countries continues to drive spending and investment - Click here for story.

Plant and equipment spending in the mining sector was up over 6% in the last quarter and key players such as Rio Tinto are still looking at a growing pipeline.  With growth in China clicking along at about 10% annually, it is difficult to predict when this boom will level off.  Australia’s GNP is happily benefiting this year and may be up 4% by year end. 

That’s what West Virginia officials think.  It is easier to obtain than many other energy sources.  It is also the cleanest energy solution for the environment.  Both of these provide a clear appeal in the state - see Main article for the full story here.

West Virginia thinks it could provide thousands of new jobs in the state as well.  With coal mining disasters in the news and no sign that a steep drop in the price of oil is imminent any time soon, they are certainly on to something.  How much natural gas is available in the U.S. in total? 

Vermont is probably one of the greenest states in the United States. Its emerald landscape you see in the warm months reflects the caring of the inhabits toward the environment. Yet, according to a recent study by the Vermont Clean Cities Coalition, only 6.6 percent of all new cars are from the list of the most fuel efficient. You can see the list and report by clicking here.

Some questions come up very quickly; a) what is the rest of the country doing if one of our most environmental states is choosing from this list only 6.6% of the time?  b) what is our government doing to help buyers make more fuel efficient choices? Where are the well-known financial incentives to choose from this list or any list that has a car that gets over 30 miles to the gallon the highway? Or do those even work?

Silver is the most popular color for cars according to a recent study by DuPont. Silver replaced green in the year 2000. Could this have something to do with our aging demographic? Blending colors looks to be the trend on the horizon which could get very interesting. Remember Henry Ford’s famous line, “you can have any color you want in the Model T, as long as it’s black.” Click here to see the whole story.

Recent research completed in India shows that much of its railway infrastructure can be decades behind other countries.  At the same time, this railway research outlines both the environmental and social benefits which can be brought by new rail systems.  Click here for the Full article.

The growth of cities has clearly outpaced the ability of India’s rail network to expand accordingly.  But new metro rail networks might provide significant improvements to current Indian problems with pollution and congestion. The National Urban Transport Policy may be a good start to get the transport infrastructure off in the right direction.  There are large business, environmental,  and other opportunities to be won here.  

Research done by the American Customer Satisfaction Index shows that Honda, Nissan and Honda slipped in customer satisfaction with Nissan having the lowest rating of the Asian companies.  However, Lexus had the highest rating of all car manufacturers at 87.

For these very successful companies, it’s sure to put them on notice that no one can become complacent on quality.  You can see the whole article if you click here.

Russia, the U.S., China, France.  There’s a lengthening list of countries reaching for the stars.  This aviation research article adds New Zealand to the list.  New Zealand?  They see strong potential in participating in aerospace projects with their suborbital rocket.  See the Full article.

They forecast the cost for a science mission may be only $50-100,000.  That’s reasonable for a lot of academic and corporate science teams.  Who’s next in the space race?  Forget about kiwis.  Book a ticket to Auckland for the next space launch.    

This recent article indicates that 2005 was the year of peak oil production and that supply will rapidly fall off, leading to large scale blackouts and economic dislocation starting about 2025, Click here to see full article.  This article runs counter to other items we’ve seen which argues that high prices will drive further exploration efforts and tap new sources.

The research and forecast is provactive but it makes a compelling read in light of the current volatility in the oil markets.  Can these gloomy predictions be realistic or can we be more sanguine about the outcome?