Country Analysis Brief: Australia

by U.S. Energy Information Administration, update March 7, 2017


Australia, rich in hydrocarbons and uranium resources, was the world’s largest coal exporter in 2015 and the second-largest liquefied natural gas (LNG) exporter in 2015.

Australia is rich in commodities, including fossil fuel and uranium reserves, and is one of the few countries belonging to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) that is a significant net energy exporter. Australia sent about 68% of its total energy production (includes uranium exports and excludes total energy imports) overseas in fiscal year 2015 (July 2014—June 2015), according to data from the Australian government

Interview : les sables bitumineux au Canada

par Peter Budgell, 12 février 2016


Si le Canada est le 5e producteur mondial de pétrole (derrière les États-Unis, l’Arabie saoudite, la Russie et la Chine), il le doit à ses gisements de sables bitumineux qui le placent au 3e rang en matière de réserves prouvées (derrière le Venezuela et l’Arabie saoudite). Face à la chute des cours du brut, l’Alberta est toutefois en difficultés et le Premier ministre canadien Justin Trudeau a récemment annoncé une aide financière pour relancer l’économie de cette province pétrolière. Les sables bitumineux sont d’autre part montrés du doigt en raison de leur impact environnemental. Quel sera l’avenir de ces ressources ?

Egalement : les ressources naturelles sont-elles inépuisables?

California Megaflood: Lessons from a Forgotten Catastrophe

by B. Lynn Ingram, January 1, 2013


 43-day storm that began in December 1861 put central and southern California underwater for up to six months, and it could happen again

Geologic evidence shows that truly massive floods, caused by rainfall alone, have occurred in California every 100 to 200 years. Such floods are likely caused by atmospheric rivers: narrow bands of water vapor about a mile above the ocean that extend for thousands of kilometers.