Diesel Reforming for SOFC Auxiliary Power Units ... very informative pdf report whereby part of a diesel internal combustion engine's exhaust is utilized in the reforming process for a SOFC stack, and nitrogen oxide redundancy ...
eren.doe.gov
Other neat stuff ... at least China is moving forward, not like Ontario Canada, ... you might want to keep an eye on companies like the Shanghai Future Bus Company, and places where GLE might be able to volume mass produce their residential units close to China ...
Thursday July 4, 4:20 am Eastern Time
Reuters Company News
Oil giants sign up for $20 bln China pipeline
(Updates with details, analyst comment)
By Scott Hillis and Ang Bee Lin
BEIJING/HONG KONG, July 4 (Reuters) - China signed a deal with foreign oil giants on Thursday to pipe gas from far western deserts to the eastern metropolis of Shanghai in a $20 billion project to sate a thirst for energy and cut use of dirty coal.
The 4,000-km (2,500-mile) pipeline will begin at the Tarim Basin in the deserts of the northwest region of Xinjiang, wind through eight regions and provinces and cross China's two largest rivers -- the Yellow and the Yangtze -- before reaching Shanghai.
The government hopes the project, in addition to feeding a rapidly growing appetite for energy on the wealthy east coast, will wean millions of homes and businesses from coal responsible for clouds of choking smog hanging over the country's cities.
It has also been eager to boost investment in poor western areas, especially Xinjiang, where Beijing worries about separatist sentiment among the region's ethnic Uighur Muslims.
The pipeline could deliver the first gas to Shanghai as early as the end of 2003, PetroChina, China's biggest oil producer, told reporters in Hong Kong.
The project will eventually pump 12 billion cubic metres (424 billion cu ft) of gas a year and is a major part of China's plan to boost gas use from 2.5 percent of the energy mix to around six percent by 2005.
LOOKING VIABLE
Royal/Dutch Shell Group (London:SHEL.L - News; Amsterdam:RD.AS - News), joined by U.S. major ExxonMobil Corp (NYSE:XOM - News) and Russia's Gazprom (GAZP.MO)(GAZPPE.RTS), signed the pipeline agreement with PetroChina (NYSE:PTR - News; HKSE:0857.HK - News) and Sinopec in Beijing's Great Hall of the People.
While Shell had been considered the lead partner, each of the three foreign firms will hold a 15 percent stake in the pipeline.
PetroChina will own 50 percent of the venture, with refining giant Sinopec Corp (NYSE:SNP - News; HKSE:0386.HK - News; Shanghai:600028.SS - News) taking a five percent stake, PetroChina's Director General of Development Zhou Mingchun said in Hong Kong.
While Beijing touts the project, critics have wondered if it made economic sense, saying proven reserves appear too low, extraction too costly and the price of natural gas for consumers too high.
But the addition of ExxonMobil to the lineup last weekend was a good sign the project was viable, said Gordon Kwan, a gas analyst with HSBC in Hong Kong.
"After all, Shell and ExxonMobil are not charities," Kwan said in a research note. "The argument that these super oil majors are merely participating for the sake of getting China's nod for other minnow projects does not hold here."
While PetroChina's proposed selling price for the gas did seem high, Kwan said authorities could step in with policy support to make it more attractive.
"We would not be surprised to see government subsidies (or) penalties downstream to ensure environmental protection and energy diversification," Kwan said.
OIL MAJORS TO SPEND NEARLY $4 BILLION
Although the framework agreement is signed, the companies still have to form the joint ventures that will oversee construction and operation of the pipeline, a Chinese infrastructure project topped only by the $25 billion Three Gorges dam.
The total cost of the project is expected to be between $18 billion and $20 billion, but the foreign firms are mainly involved with pipeline construction and upstream development, officials say.
Building the pipeline is expected to cost about $5.2 billion while the upstream portion -- such as drilling and extracting the gas -- would cost $3.3 billion, PetroChina's Zhou said.
The downstream portion, such as selling the gas, would account for the rest of the money and the 45 percent stake of the foreign group would mean they will spend about $3.8 billion on the project.
The foreign oil majors are also expected to talk to Hong Kong's CLP Holdings (HKSE:0002.HK - News), Hong Kong & China Gas Co Ltd (HKSE:0003.HK - News) and Russian firm Stroytransgaz about taking smaller stakes in the project, sources have said.
PetroChina was still considering how to raise funds for the project and was considering Asian issues, Zhou said.
Zhou offered few other details, but industry officials have said the ventures were expected to have terms of 45 years, and could also include a production sharing agreement.
biz.yahoo.com ... original
Not only are Canadian financiers, and politicians lacking the intestinal fortitude to really accomplish something meaningful in their lives, like support cutting edge SOFC technology ... they also have a penchant for not telling the truth about whom they are huckstering for ... at least the U.S.A. is going to do something positive.
TV Analysts Face New Disclosure Rules
July 05, 2002 2:36:00 PM ET
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Securities analysts appearing on television and radio will have to disclose any financial interest in the stocks on which they comment from Tuesday, July 9, when new regulations take effect.
The rules were previously announced by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on May 8, with a 60-day grace period.
They are part of a broad thrust by regulators to curb the potential for abuses such as those at Merrill Lynch (MER) in recent years where Internet analysts publicly touted stocks they had slammed privately as ``junk.''
The broad rules are designed to limit how and when analysts issue opinions on stocks, restrict their personal investing activities and force banks to disclose more about their ties to companies they research and those of their analysts.
Money managers and industry financial analysts are widely used as guest commentators on business talk shows, but at least one broadcaster downplayed the impact of the new rules.
New Jersey-based CNBC has had guidelines for financial professionals appearing on the cable business network for several years, according to Patti Domm, a senior news editor at the station.
Among other requirements, business professionals are asked to ensure their personal financial activity is consistent with the opinions expressed on CNBC, that their general financial position and that of their firm is disclosed, and any investment banking relationship between the firm and the relevant company is noted.
A guest's interest in a stock may be disclosed by either an on-screen graphic or stated by the anchor, she said.
``Now that it's a rule, we'll make even more effort to graphically represent (the guest's interest) or disclose it during the interview,'' Domm told Reuters.
U.S. cable network CNNfn will be in complete compliance with the new regulations, a spokesperson said.
The British Broadcasting Corp., based in London and another business news outlet, was not immediately available to comment.
news.moneycentral.msn.com ... original |
