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Saturday, October 31, 2009
Almost 30 Years Have Passed Since Richard Nixon's Goal Of National Energy Self-Sufficiency
By Robert L. Candiotti
Richard Nixon, 37th President of the United States, said his goal was for the U.S. to attain energy self-sufficiency by
1980.
On November 7, 1973, he announced the formulation of 'Project Independence,' with the projection "that
by the end of this decade we will have developed the potential to meet our own energy needs without depending on foreign energy
sources."
This major speech of the time was a result of the 'Arab Oil Embargo' which began a few weeks earlier
when the Yom Kippur War broke out in the Middle East.
Today, it is almost 2010. The U.S. has not yet attained energy
indipendence.
China is in full stride as it races toward energy strength for that country.
To
repeat last summer's words of Al Gore just one more time:
"China is moving very fast."
While China clearly seems to be moving forward rapidly with regard to energy security, the U.S. seems to be awash
in politics and procrastination.
2:48 am pdt
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Rare Earth Minerals Discussed At International Conference On Energy, Logistics, Environment
By Robert L. Candiotti
China is moving very fast
toward complete rare earth minerals control
This is the third time in less than two months in this
blog that I have referred to former U.S. Vice President and environmental activist Al Gore's statement that "China is
moving very fast."
Gore uttered this simple sentence at the National Clean Energy Summit 2.0 which was held
at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, on August 10, 2009.
Actually, beyond mentioning it in this blog a few times,
Gore's statement about China has crossed my mind often since I listened to him at UNLV last summer.
Once again
- this time at last week's 2nd Annual International Conference On Energy, Logistics and the Environment held in Las Vegas
on October 23 and 24 - I was reminded of China's all-out quest for supplies of every imaginable type of energy.
I
already knew China is aggressive about obtaining sources of petroleum, and also is rampantly developing multi-faceted renewable
energy infrastructures.
However, at the International Conference at Las Vegas' Mirage Hotel and Casino,
I heard about an additional energy realm that is becoming monopolized by China. This relatively obscure, yet also fascinating,
facet of energy is known as rare earth minerals (or "rare earths").
Mountain Pass Mine in U.S. promoted as site of abundant
rare earths deposits
The topic of rare earth minerals was discussed in the conference's opening presentation
by John F. Ashburn, Jr., Vice President and General Counsel of Molycorp Minerals, LLC. Molycorp has recently been formed by
an investor group that purchased Mountain Pass Mine in Southern California.
Ashburn said, by 2012, Mountain Pass
will be in full production delivering "green element" metals that are essential for many current and emerging technologies.
97 per cent of global rare earth resources are said to be in the grasp of China
Ashburn
said that 97 per cent of global rare earth resources are controlled by China, and China has reduced annual export quotas of
rare earth elements for the past eight years. He said, "As early as 2012, China's internal demand will need all internal
production," potentially eliminating all of China's exports of rare earth minerals.
Ashburn explained
that it will take about 24 months to get Mountain Pass Mine - previously owned by Unocal and Chevron - ready for production.
Then, the company's production of rare earth minerals will help "establish and maintain U.S. leadership on clean energy
technology."
He noted that rare earth elements are indispensable for the development of electric vehicles,
wind power turbines, fluorescent lighting, defense technologies and magnets.
For further coverage by this writer on the topic of the United States' condition with regard to rare earth elements,
go to www.GreenAirport.net/id19.html
5:09 pm pdt
Thursday, October 22, 2009
I Dreamed I Saw A Course Called Long-Haul Airport (LHA) 101 In A Schedule Of Classes
By Robert L. Candiotti
Last night, I was reading the most recent issue of Future Airport magazine (Issue 2, 2009) before falling asleep.
In the magazine, I read about the summary of a survey with the headline "The airports you liked the most
and why." Beneath the headline it said, "Thank you for all your responses to the first Future Airport reader
survey. These are the airports to watch, and the reasons for their popularity."
The main list has 9 international airports. Just
one, O'Hare International Airport in Chicago, is located in the U.S.
I dozed off, with the magazine on my chest.
I had a dream. I dreamt I was looking at a catalogue of college classes. And there was a class named Long-Haul Airport 101.
In my dream, this is what I saw in the schedule of classes:
Long-Haul Airport Academic Overview
LHA 101
Spring 2010
Course Description
This is a course that looks at the most interesting components of 9 of the
world's most successful and interesting long-haul airports.
These airports were named by readers of Future
Airport magazine, published in London, as leading aerodromes in the commercial aviation industry.
Who
Should Enroll?
If you are interested in designing United States' newest long-haul, international,
Code F (for A380 traffic), attractively futuristic, energy efficient airport, this quick survey of leading global
airports is for you.
Course Objectives
To stimulate ideas for successful aspects
of the proposed Ivanpah Valley Airport. To create a sense of what is entailed in the development and operation of a truly
world class long-haul airport. To analyze features of extant global long-haul airports that impress and connect with
commercial aviation customers. To improve skills for making good decisions about the construction of Ivanpah Valley Airport.
To become acquainted with the juxtaposition of the empirical and artistic elements of Ivanpah Valley Airport. To better
understand the best ground transportation aspects of the 9 airports being studied, to determine what may be relevant for Ivanpah
Valley Airport.
Course
Outline
LHA 101 will cover the following
global airports:
Dubai International Airport, Dubai, UAE
Indira Gandhi International
Airport, Delhi, India
London Heathrow Airport, London, UK
Singapore Changi Airport, Singapore
Incheon International Airport, Seoul, South Korea
Abu Dhabi International Airport, Abu Dhabi, UAE
Amsterdam
Airport Schiphol, The Netherlands
Cairo International Airport, Cairo, Egypt
O'Hare International Airport,
Chicago, US
"This
looks like a class worth taking. How do I enroll?," I said to myself.
Then I woke up.
I realized
it was dream. But I also felt these are airports I really should look at with focus.
11:21 am pdt
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Al Gore's Statement At UNLV That China Is Moving Very Rapidly Appears To Be True Again
By Robert L. Candiotti
The Wall Street Journal reported a few days ago that China National Offshore Oil Corp. (Cnooc) is competing with
Exxon Mobil Corp. for a stake in a massive oil discovery off West Africa.
The discovery, known as Jubilee, is a
rare find of huge amounts of light, sweet crude oil that is highly appealing to world markets.
Exxon bid $4 billion,
but China - now apparently going head to head with the U.S. in control of hydrocarbons - wants to outbid Exxon, with a more
appealing partnership for Ghana included.
In the WSJ story, dated October 13, it is said, "The
emergence of Chinese companies as eager bidders for global energy assets, in Ghana and elsewhere, is a significant challenge
to Western oil companies' traditional dominance."
Again, I am reminded of the statement made by Al Gore at
the National Clean Energy Summit 2.0 at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, on August 10, 2009.
"China is
moving very rapidly," stated Gore.
It is said that China's oil consumption is twice what it was 10 years ago.
Also, more new cars are being sold in China than anywhere else.
Not only does it appear that, from here on
out, China is going to be very competitive with Western petroleum companies for acquisition of any newly
discovered oil, but there is also a reminder that development of renewable energy needs to be recognized in the U.S. as
a very pressing issue.
3:15 am pdt
Saturday, October 10, 2009
LAX Airport Approves $1.5 Billion For Airbus A380; Las Vegas Must Recognize A380 Importance
By Robert L. Candiotti
Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) has been approved to receive $1.5 billion for new gates to handle the Airbus
A380 and other similar super-sized jumbo jets of tomorrow.
Qantas, the Australian international air carrier, has
been the A380 inaugural carrier to LAX. Qantas A380s have been landing at Los Angeles International since October 20, 2008,
but that airline has expressed dissatisfaction with LAX's A380 infrastructure.
A little more than a year ago, on
August 5, 2008, the Sydney Morning Herald reported that "Qantas has threatened it will move its flagship Airbus
A380 services to San Francisco unless Los Angeles upgrades its facilities."
The Los Angeles Board of Airport
Commissioners clearly recognizes that it is prestigious and important for LAX to efficiently accommodate the new Airbus A380
airplanes. (There are today 19 flying in the world, with 200 ordered from Airbus by 16 different air carriers). Los Angeles accepts
that the A380s are significantly larger than the Boeing 747-400s, and require different facilities. Big money has
been authorized for the construction of many dedicated A380 gates.
In addition to Qantas, many other
airlines that have ordered A380 airplanes will want to fly them to Los Angeles.
It is reported that there could
be demand for a dozen daily A380 flights to LAX by 2012.
Los Angeles Airport authorities are responding to
the demands of Qantas and other airlines to ensure A380 arrivals and departures will go smoothly at that airport, making sure
that international A380 carriers will not turn away from LAX.
Las Vegas should take heed of Los Angeles' commitment
to the double-decker, 500-plus passenger Airbus A380. Los Angeles wants, and obviously feels it needs, A380 jet traffic.
Los Angeles knows without proper infrastructure for the A380, that region will be pushed to the exterior to tomorrow's
long-haul, international jumbo-jet loop.
This certainly should give Las Vegas something to think about.
The truth is that the A380 is too big and too demanding for Las Vegas' McCarran International Airport. The
only way the A380 will be able to service Las Vegas is if Ivanpah Valley Airport - to be sited about 30 miles south of
Las Vegas - is approved and built.
Los Angeles recognizes the essential component of the A380 in LAX's
air traffic mix. There is a message being sent to Las Vegas and Southern Nevada: To maintain the connectivity that
has been a key ingredient for Las Vegas' success over the decades, infrastructure for the Airbus A380 must be created
at the proposed Ivanpah Valley Airport.
To read more about the Airbus A380 and Las Vegas global connectivity,
go to www.ivanpahvalley.com/id30.html
10:20 am pdt
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For a summary of the history of the need for Ivanpah Valley Airport, click here.
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