Geology News
India Current Events

A RigZone.com article explains why the natural gas from shale boom that has occurred in the United States is not making much of a bang in many other countries.

What happens when minute flakes of copper in a common orientation are scattered through a piece of transparent feldspar?

India is the fourth-largest energy consumer in the world, has the tenth-largest economy, and the third largest economy when GDP is adjusted for inflation and purchasing power. This inflation-adjusted GDP has grown at over 7% per year since 2000

“In 2011, India was the fourth largest energy consumer in the world after the United States, China, and Russia. [...] India’s energy policy above all focuses on securing energy sources to meet the needs of its growing economy. Primary energy consumption has more than doubled between 1990 and 2011.” Quoted from the Energy Information Administration country report.

The India-Asia Collision (MIT News)

Earth Flyby Reality Check (NASA)

68,000-Year Record of Greenhouse Gases (NSF)

Meteoroid Explodes Over Russia – Hundreds Injured (CNN)

What is Killing the Coral? (NSF)

Underwater Logging (Takepart.com)

Ancient Eruptions and Global Warming (Climate Central)

“India came running full speed at Asia and boom, they collided,” says Jagoutz, an author of the paper.

“But we actually don’t think it was one collision … this changes dramatically the way we think the India/Asia collision works.”

Quoted from the MIT press release.

“On January 10, NASA’s Aqua satellite captured this image of haze hugging the Himalayas and spilling out into the Ganges delta and Bengal Sea.The haze likely resulted from a combination of urban and industrial pollution, agricultural fires, and a regional meteorological phenomenon known as a temperature inversion.” Quoted from the NASA image release.

India is in its second day of a power failure that has taken out half of the country’s electrical grid and left 10% of the world’s population without electricity.

Near Kasara, India, a falling rock caused the derailment of a passenger train which was then rammed by a second train that was unable to stop in time. One person was killed and fourteen others injured.

Each month the number of vehicles in India grows by 1.5 million. Lifestyles in the country are becoming more energy intensive and growth in demand is occurring on many fronts. The result is an energy shortage that puts a drag on economic growth.

The International Energy Agency has an article about global carbon dioxide emissions. During 2011 they increased by 1.0 Gt to a new record high. Some quotes:

* “What China has done over such a short period of time to improve energy efficiency and deploy clean energy is already paying major dividends to the global environment”

* “India’s emissions rose by 140 Mt, or 8.7%, moving it ahead of Russia to become the fourth largest emitter behind China, the United States, and the European Union.”

* “Despite these increases, per-capita CO2 emissions in China and India still remain just 63% and 15% of the OECD average respectively.”

Numerous new natural gas discoveries on the east coast of Africa are making that area a potential hub for supplying natural gas to India.

On average, 14 crude oil tankers per day passed through the Strait in 2011, with a corresponding amount of empty tankers entering to pick up new cargos. More than 85% of these crude oil exports went to Asian markets, with Japan, India, South Korea, and China representing the largest destinations.

An article on Reuters.com reports that Oil India Limited, a public oil and gas company under the control of the Government of India, is interested in buying a stake in the Eagle Ford Shale in the United States as well as stakes in natural gas shales in other countries.

United States shales are in demand worldwide.

USGS has released a a fact sheet titled: “Assessment of Potential Shale Gas Resources of the Bombay, Cauvery, and Krishna–Godavari Provinces, India, 2011“.

Middle class populations are growing rapidly in China and India. This is producing a sharp increase in the demand for diamonds in both countries.