Iran began five-day, large-scale air defense war games yesterday aimed at protecting its nuclear facilities from attack.  Changes in the permafrost in western Siberia are costing Russian oil companies a reported $1.9 billion every year in damage repair for infrastructure and pipelines. On the renewed appeal of the commodity uranium in an age of nuclear energy.  Renault's head predicts that Europe will be a world leader in electric car manufacture.  Heritage has announced that it will sell its $1.3 billion worth of oil fields in Uganda to Italy's Eni.  

China Fire & Security Group Inc.'s (CFSG) reported its third quarter results yesterday. The company posted earnings of 27 cents per share, in line with the Zacks Consensus Estimate. Quarterly EPS was up 17.4% year over year, primarily driven by higher revenues. Revenue in the quarter was $24.8 million, up about 48.2% from the year-ago revenue of $16.7 million. The company benefited from higher sales of system contracting projects and products during the period. The company recognized revenues from 205 total solution, product sales and maintenance contracts in the reported quarter as compared to 163 contracts in the third quarter of 2008. The company’s gross profit increased 41.9% on higher revenues. However, the gross margin was down 250 basis points at 56.4% due to a lower percentage of self-manufactured proprietary products sold through product sales contracts during the period. CFSG reiterated its full-year revenue guidance ...

Oct. 29, 2009 (PR Newswire) — SEATTLE, Oct. 29 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ – Mantra Venture Group Ltd. (’Mantra’, OTCBB: MVTG, FSE: 5MV) is pleased to announce that it has signed a Letter of Intent (LOI) with King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals (KFUPM) based out of Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. Under the terms of the LOI, Mantra and KFUPM’s Center for Refining and Petrochemicals (CRP) have expressed a mutual interest to explore and research new processes that would use Mantra’s Electroreduction of Carbon Dioxide (ERC) reactor, a form of carbon recycling.

Current processes developed by Mantra have been demonstrated as effective in converting CO2 into a variety of valuable chemicals, including: formate salts, formic acid, oxalic acid and methanol. While each of these end-products has a significant market value, Mantra is now looking to create additional value in its ERC technology by expanding this list. The CRP Research Institute of KFUPM

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VANCOUVER, Oct. 28 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ – Mantra is pleased to announce that it has achieved enhanced cathode stability through the use of a new proprietary technique. Management will review the patentability of this technical breakthrough in the weeks that follow.

John Russell, Vice President of Technology Evaluation at Mantra, explained: “We are happy with the latest advancements made on the ERC technology and Mantra will be looking at the patentability of this latest discovery to further secure its competitive advantage. Thanks to persistent research, ERC is moving steadily from concept to reality as a complete technology.” He then added: “This is the essential evolution of a commercial product; it is built on a series of small successes culminating in a practical, economic technology that is of interest to industry and government.”

Mr. Larry Kristof, Mantra’s President and Chief Executive Officer, had this to say: “ERC has an important contribution to make in

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President Medvedev has reportedly said that the damage caused by the financial crisis was far worse than expected and the economy may contract by 7.5% this year.  In an interview with state television, Medvedev designated priorities for economic modernization: 'energy efficiency [...] information products, both ground- and space-based; nuclear energy [...] and pharmaceuticals as we must produce our own medicinal drugs'.  The President also said that Russia will need as long as 15 years to reduce its reliance on raw materials.  Avtovaz plans to start the production of Renault and Nissan vehicles in 2012, suggesting that the French automaker is attempting to comply with the Kremlin's demands for financial commitment.  Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has called for domestically produced medicines to represent at least 50% of total sales in Russia within three years, from the current 20%.  Media ...

Oct. 5, 2009 (PR Newswire) — SEATTLE, Oct. 5 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ – Mantra Venture Group Ltd. (Mantra, OTCBB: MVTG, FSE: 5MV) is pleased to announce the appointment of Mr. Jae Choon Ryu as Vice President of Corporate Finance, Korea. Mr. Ryu has over 17 years of experience in the investment industry in Korea, and has raised capital in excess of $50 million USD through public offering and private placement deals.

With the appointment of Mr. Ryu, Mantra started its Phase 1 of a two-phase approach for its expansion into Korea. Mr. Ryu will be responsible for managing partnerships in Korea and securing additional financing for the development of Mantra’s CO2 recycling and other technologies. Mantra’s regional office is scheduled to open on the first week of November 2009 and it will be located in the Investment Korea Plaza at the KOTRA head office in Seoul.

Upon completion of Phase 1, Mantra

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Miriam Elder has a good one in the FT today about the problems at Gazprom, no doubt worsened by European incoherence:

"If the company cuts [its investment] too much, it may be harmful for them if demand surges. They will miss an opportunity," says Fatih Birol, chief economist at the International Energy Agency. "It may give an impetus to European governments to look at other options," he says, including renewables and nuclear energy.

Gazprom says it will keep investments down as long as European demand remains in a slump. "Why invest money in what is not in demand?" Gazprom deputy chief executive Alexander Ananenkov said when first floating the Bovanenkovo delay in June. (...)

In the short term, that should have little effect on European supply, as demand remains low and work at the massive Bovanenkovo field is close to completion, says Jonathan Stern, director of gas research at the Oxford Institute

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Sep. 30, 2009 (PR Newswire) — VANCOUVER, Sept. 30 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ – Mantra Venture Group Ltd. (’Mantra’, OTCBB: MVTG, FSE: 5MV) is pleased to announce that it has just signed its second Contribution Agreement with the National Research Council of Canada Industrial Research Assistance Program (NRC-IRAP) in support of its Electroreduction of Carbon Dioxide (ERC) technology.

Mantra received its first contribution from NRC-IRAP in April 2009 with the purpose of establishing the technical basis for electro-reduction of carbon dioxide to formate using Mantra’s ERC technology. Mantra’s technology has advanced significantly since this initial reward, including an increase in efficiency to 89.66% from 46.24% through the use of a new cathode structure. These encouraging improvements, along with Mantra’s continual compliance with program guidelines, contributed to NRC-IRAP’s second financial assistance award.

Over the course of this second project, entitled “Electroreduction of Carbon Dioxide Development Project 2,” Mantra’s objective is to explore suitable materials

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Sep. 28, 2009 (PR Newswire) — SEATTLE, Sept. 28 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ – Mantra Venture Group Ltd. (’Mantra’, OTCBB: MVTG, FSE: 5MV) is pleased to announce that it has just signed a Letter of Intent (LOI) with KC Cottrell Co., Ltd. (KC Cottrell), a global leader in air pollution control based out of Seoul, Korea. Under the terms of the LOI, Mantra and KC Cottrell will enter into a strategic alliance with the purpose of carrying out the engineering, construction, testing and deployment of a 100 kg-per day Electroreduction of Carbon Dioxide (ERC) reactor.

KC Cottrell is currently in the construction phase of a pilot project that captures and purifies 1/2 tonne of CO2 per day from an industrial power plant. With completion scheduled for December 2009, the company is now looking for an end-use for the concentrated CO2. ERC, Mantra’s CO2 recycling technology, represents an ideal candidate for the project

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As the second-largest provider of electricity to the United States, Constellation Energy Group Inc. (NYSE: CEG) has a tremendous upside. At least, it would if the economy were growing strongly. 

Unfortunately, that’s not the case. And that means Constellation will have to clear a number of hurdles if it’s going to fulfill its long-term promise. Last year, the company bet big on higher energy prices and paid the price dearly when the economy collapsed.

Constellation’s very high level of debt, with large bond maturities in 2009 and 2012 at that time meant they were flirting with financial disaster.  That forced the company into a deal with Électricité de France SA (EDF), in which the European energy giant agreed to inject $4.5 billion into Constellation in exchange for almost 50% ownership of its nuclear plants.

That includes a brand new plant, Calvert Cliffs 3, that’s still subject

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