Word: hydrocarbons
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...economy can sustain the growth that officials hope will keep a lid on unrest at home. That is why China has reached out to resource-rich democracies like Australia and Brazil as much as it has to such international pariahs as Sudan and Burma, both of which have underdeveloped hydrocarbon reserves. There's nothing particularly surprising about any of this; it is how all nations behave when domestic supplies of primary goods are no longer sufficient to sustain their economies. (Those Westerners who criticize China for its behavior in Africa might remember their own history on the continent.) But China...
...likely cost overruns on its $13 billion efforts. Russian officials also took aim at a third big oil exploration site in the Arctic by France's Total, saying it wasn't performing as promised. Widely interpreted as the latest attempt by the Kremlin to gain control of its massive hydrocarbon resources, the triple whammy sent shivers through the Western oil industry. Russian officials have long grumbled about production-sharing agreements it signed with the three Western firms in the 1990s, when oil prices were one-sixth their current level and Moscow was strapped for cash. "This is what happens when...
...revenue from a climbing tax could be used to jump-start truly innovative research into hybrid motors, solar power, and other alternatives to a hydrocarbon-based energy supply that has muddied U.S. economic, environmental, and foreign policies. Funding for public transportation could be increased, and fares on buses, subways, and trains reduced. Furthermore, higher gasoline prices would provide a strong inducement for private firms to devise their own gasoline alternatives independent of federal funding...
...beginning to suffer. Consider the chemical industry, which needs petroleum as a feedstock, or raw material, for such products as polyvinyl chloride (for plastic pipe) and polyethylene terephthalate (for soda bottles). "You see the biggest impact across the board in plastics," says Morningstar analyst Sumit Desai. Back in 2003, hydrocarbon feedstocks and energy accounted for 36% of Dow Chemical's total costs. Last year they ate up 47% of total costs, yet the company still managed an earnings increase. But Dow reported this week that first-quarter net income fell 10% from a year ago, to $1.21 billion, despite...
...billion-kilometer voyage, the Huygens probe touched down on Titan last week, giving earthbound gawkers their first glimpse of its icy surface. Early transmissions from the 350-kg probe revealed a smog-shrouded landscape of boulder-strewn plains, winding drainage channels, and dark pools that may contain liquid hydrocarbon. While it remains unclear whether the Huygens data on Titan, which has been likened to a frozen version of early Earth, can help answer the eternal question of how life evolved, scientists involved in the $3.3 billion joint effort between NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA), and Italy's space program...