Beyond Comprehension

General Motors has said the German factories of its subsidiary Opel are not for sale. That was in response to a surprise offer to buy the four plants and Opel’s research and development centre for one billion euros.

The offer came from a German firm, SolarWorld, one of the world’s largest solar energy equipment makers. The company said it would only proceed with a takeover if Opel were completely separated from GM, and the US parent company pays “compensation” of one billion euros.

Car industry experts dismissed it as “unrealistic,” “pretty crazy” and a “PR stunt” but the company’s boss Frank Asbeck insisted it was a serious offer. He said: “Opel has a very modern model policy – the fact that it got the 2008 “Car of the Year” award is telling – and it has a great capacity to become a truly green carmaker.”

Asbeck said the takeover offer was conditional on the German government granting Opel one billion euros in loan guarantees it asked for this week. Solarworld wants to use the carmaker’s plants to produce a new generation of energy-efficient, low-emissions vehicles. The idea did not sit well with its investors. The company’s shares fell as much as 19 percent at one stage.

Sciencenews reports that a new study Emissions from Photovoltaic Life Cycles shows Solar power produces about one-tenth as much carbon dioxide and other harmful emissions as does conventional power generation.

Making the solar cells does use materials and energy—mainly from conventional power sources such as coal-fired power plants, which produce emissions. Industrial techniques for making glass and other materials in solar panels also produce gases such as carbon dioxide.

In the 1970s, manufacturing a solar cell required about as much energy as the cell could produce over its 20-year lifetime, so using solar power provided little if any energy gain. Also, as recently as 10 years ago, total emissions from solar cells were about twice what the new study shows. Solar power has been criticized in the past\" for requiring too much energy to produce, but with the current technology, it is no longer true.

Much of the improvement is from reducing energy and materials for making solar cells. Compared to those made in the 1970s, modern panels contain about one-third as much purified silicon, which is energy intensive to make. And thin-film solar cells trim back even further by depositing silicon or other materials in layers only a few thousandths of a millimeter thick.

The study also concludes that the improvements in energy efficiency allows shorter "energy pay back" of only 1 to 3 years.

Improvements in manufacturing efficiency could reduce emissions from solar power by another 50 percent within 5 to 7 years.

Exxon Mobil CEO Rex Tillerson blamed a third of the recent run up in oil prices on the weak dollar, another third on geopolitical uncertainty, and the rest on market speculation.

Look for more info on Rex Tillerson blamed weak dollar

Geopolitical uncertainties may relates to unrest in Nigeria's oil fields, the possibility of war between the U.S. and Iran, and the antics of Venezuela's Hugo Chavez threatened to disrupt oil supplies.

hmm but then again geopolitical uncertainties maybe due to concern over future energy security.

Another knock on the head point of view is coming from the chief of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) Chakib Khelil who said"What's happening in the oil market is due to the mismanagement of the U.S. economy." Continuing U.S. trade and fiscal deficits along with lower interest rates are stoking inflationary fears.

Tim Evans, an energy futures analyst at Citigroup's Futures Perspective concluded that "the futures and options market has become more important than the physical supplies in driving the price,".

Investors are treating oil as a hedge against inflation and a falling dollar. Oil markets are part of a negative positive feedback loop in which higher oil prices contribute to higher inflation, which in turn lowers the value of the dollar, which boosts oil prices, and so forth. In other words, the oil market is coming to resemble the gold market (which has also been soaring).

Higher prices also encourage innovation. Economist Richard Rahn from the Institute for Global Economic Growth believes battery technologies are improving so rapidly that the majority of cars sold in 10 years will be all-electric. This would certainly help drive down the price of oil.

look for more info on new advanced battery

Inelasticity of demand and supply means that prices can fall as steeply has they rose. So what will happen to oil prices over the next few years? No one is predicting $10 per barrel oil. However, , Evans believe that the price of crude will settle at around $60 to $70 per barrel in the next couple of years after the bubble bursts.

Is this the beginning of the end of OPEC? That much is obvious; the more interesting question is “why?”

Wanna know why ??? check out The End of OPEC by Jim Kingsdale

"The End Is The Beginning Is The End"

Smashing Pumpkins