Fuel efficiency is increased by new investments and technical developments. Russia is still struggling and will continue to struggle to catch up with modernization. I remember in the 1980s that New York City had in many building these huge immensely hot old unadjustable radiators. But the West has money to modernize and refurbish.
I would not say that the Russian ATTITUDE is like, it is their technology. When you go for your next holiday to a third world capital pay attention to the level of pollution in the air. It is quite unlike the much cleaner air we have in Western capitals. Simply the quality of the petrol is better, it is also more expensive to produce.
In Eastern Europe many household still burn wood and coal and diesel in the cities, that is the worst combination for our sensitive Western lungs. "Only puny secrets need protection. Big discoveries are protected by public incredulity." MMcL
I am not criticizing poor rural dwellers burning word or urban dwellers who have no control over their heating systems. I am referring to government policy that is blind to energy conservation and efficiency because it sees itself as having unlimited resources and immune from the effects of global warming.
Look at all the gas flares burning uncontrollably in Siberia, whose numbers satellite imagery shows to be 3/12 what the Russians actually report. See the following link for more details: http://www.greencarcongress.com/2007/09/satellite-image.html
The gas is seen as too expensive to capture so it's simply burned. CO2 levels rise and no one gets any benefit from the burning of the gas. Makes no sense to me. "My True Religion Is Kindness" -- The Dalai Lama
The interesting thing is that natural gas used to just be a waste product until it became economical to recover it and use it for energy generation in its own right. We have met the enemy, and he is us — Pogo
Flaring it is just the safest way to do it. In the long run, we're all dead. John Maynard Keynes
So, until recently it wasn't just a matter of capturing it but of using it after capture. We have met the enemy, and he is us — Pogo
Oil infrastructure is generally simpler, and the contractual structure for oil a lot simpler than for gas. Plus, for a long time, there simply was no market for gas in many parts of the world. This is slowly changing. In the long run, we're all dead. John Maynard Keynes
It is good that the domestic price of natural gas will rise. It appears from the article though that it's been a lack of coordination of supply and demand that has lead to 20% of Russian natural gas production being flared off. The author states that holding down the price for domestic consumption made it uneconomical to either process or transport the gas from its production site. Also, apparently there are accounting issues since the oil companies do not consider gas production costs as part of their already existing costs of production.
I wonder about the concluding paragraphs where the author states that the government has the authority to strip companies of their licenses if they fail to fully utilize the natural resources to which they have been granted access. How likely a possibility do you consider that to be in reality?
Finally, I'd be interested in having your opinion on the following quote from a different article:
The Russian government has repeatedly pledged to reduce natural gas consumption in power generation and increase coal use, in order to maximize gas exports. Earlier this year, Russian President Vladimir Putin also suggested that coal be given a greater role. But this goal would require large-scale construction of coal-fired power generation facilities, totaling some 40 gigawatts by 2020.
Doesn't such a policy sacrifice the health of Russian citizens, given how polluting coal is, (or are there plans to install modern pollution control equipment as well?), and the health of the planet, due to increased CO2 output from replacing natural gas with coal, to the short term financial interests of the Russian state? "My True Religion Is Kindness" -- The Dalai Lama
Natural gas is 70-90 methane by weight. This makes it's short-term greenhouse effect very great. "My True Religion Is Kindness" -- The Dalai Lama
Many of the companies you are criticizing may not owned by the govt any more. Their presidents were/are people like Robert Owen, followed by a Rotschild,... you might as well complain to your local MP and achieve better results. I am saying that it is the overall level of pollution that is bad, everything is a contributing factor. Even though Russia is energy rich, you can see from the examples of Dubai and other Arab states that it takes a lot of time before money is re-invested properly. Unfortunately Russia will now have to deal with problems like American missiles in Poland and the Czech Rep, before they can reinvest into efficient non-polluting industries.
RE: "Look at all the gas flares burning uncontrollably in Siberia." Have you ever flown over the Middle East, especially in war-time? Who has been exploiting those sources over the past century? "Only puny secrets need protection. Big discoveries are protected by public incredulity." MMcL
As to other parts of the world, I haven't said anything about them and I am baffled as to why you would assume my criticism of Russian inefficiency and wastefulness to be an endorsement or justification of greed, exploitation, inefficiency or incompetence any where else in the world. "My True Religion Is Kindness" -- The Dalai Lama
