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Opinion: Here’s what will send oil prices back up again

Green Car Congress

Those claiming that oil will continue to fall from here and remain low for evermore, however, are flying in the face of both history and common sense. The question we should be asking ourselves is not if oil prices will recover, but when they will. Right now they say that that is not on the cards, and why would they cut back?

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Lux Research: despite cheap oil, niche plug-in vehicle sales will be resilient; conventional hybrids to be hardest hit

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The current plunge in oil prices will likely negatively affect plug-in and hybrid vehicle sales in the short term; automakers such as BMW are already warning of lower sales of plug-in vehicles given the market context. Anticipated price of oil and forecast plug-in sales. Lux on the price of oil.

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Univ of Washington team working to make poplar coppice viable cheap, high-volume biofuel feedstock

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A University of Washington team is trying to make poplar an economically viable biofuel feedstock by testing the production of younger poplar trees that could be harvested more frequently—after only two or three years—instead of the usual 10- to 20-year cycle. That’s the problem.

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Baker Institute expert: crude-oil production increase a risky strategy for Saudi Arabia

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A number of factors are pushing Saudi Arabia to raise its crude-oil production capacity, but the wide range of potential outcomes suggests that such an increase is a risky strategy for the kingdom and the global environment, according to a new article by an expert from Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy.

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The “Amazon Effect” Is Coming To Oil Markets

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While OPEC mulls over further steps to once again support falling oil prices, tech startups are quietly ushering in a new era in oil and gas: the era of the digital oil field. These are cheap computing with industrial-application capabilities; ubiquitous communication networks; and, of course, cloud tech.

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Forecast: Algae-Based Biofuels Production to Reach 61M Gallons per Year by 2020

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According to a new report from Pike Research, algae biofuels production will grow rapidly over the next decade, reaching 61 million gallons per year and a market value of $1.3 Pike Research anticipates that, with 50% of all algae activity, the United States is poised to ramp up production the earliest among world markets.

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Lux Research projects methanol-to-gasoline most competitive route for liquid fuels from natural gas or waste

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The price disparity between crude oil and other resources, coupled with the emergence of cheap and abundant shale gas, especially in the United States, is opening up opportunities to produce cheaper gasoline, according to a new report from Lux Research. times the current production.

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