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Many more articles are available through the Energy Bulletin homepage
Into the storm: the twin challenges of peak oil & global warming (1.88 MB PDF)
Philip Fairey, Florida Solar Energy Center (Univ. of Central Florida)
An astonishingly hard-hitting presentation to a green building conference, covering both Peak Oil and Global Warming. Comprised of 55 slides, the presentation gives many technical details. It concludes:
- Who is the captain of the ship?
There is no captain. And worse yet, the crew is misinformed about the dangers of the sotrm. - How bad is the storm?
Highly uncertain – much of the Peak Oil data are highly questionable. - How fast are we closing on the storm?
Closing speed is contentious – often argued using sophisticated disinformation campaigns. - How strong is the ship?
She may not be strong enough – economic and political systems may not be up to the task. - How large is the ship and how quickly can she be turned?
She is extremely large and it will literally take decades to bring her about. - What is Plan B?
There is no Plan B!
Grand Challenges
- Where great challenges are well understood, humanity has proven very adaptable and innovative but . . .
- Great Need for better and more reliable data
- Urgent Need for frank and factual public discourse
- But . . . It’s Political Suicide-
- Who will step up to the plate?
- Probably no one until very late in the game!
- You are the critical component of Plan B!
The talk from which these slides came was the keynote presentation at the RESNET Building Performance Conference February 27 – March 1 in San Antonio, Texas. RESNET “is the premier national forum on home energy ratings, residential energy efficiency financing, and building performance business development.”
Speaker Philip Faire
is the Deputy Director of the Florida Solar Energy Center (FSEC). In 1980, Mr. Fairey initiated the building science research program at FSEC. Since then, he has had primary responsibility for 30 major building science research contracts totaling more than $11 million. He has extensive experimental and analytical expertise in the fields of moisture transport and control, pressure and air flow control… (More)
(27 February 2006)
Also available at Educations for a Sustainable Future (NZ).
The PPT slides may be available at a University of Central Florida website. (The site seemed to be overloaded when I tried to access them.)
How can energy users and investors rely on current reserve reports?
John Brooks and Hugh Ebbutt, Financial Sense Online
Energy consumers, politicians and investors are becoming increasingly concerned about the resources available to supply energy for our transport, industry and homes over the coming years. Across the globe, there are alarming inconsistencies and a lack of clarity and transparency in the way oil and gas reserve numbers are estimated and reported. These somewhat arbitrary figures are used and compared by widely different audiences, with varying perceptions of their real meaning, to draw conclusions about the capacity of future production to meet growing demand or about company earnings and value. The results may be deceptive.
…We need more reliable, consistent and useful information about available supplies of these key energy resources as the world becomes more interconnected and society more complex. What oil and gas resources really exist, and how attractive are they to invest in and bring to market?
John Brooks, CBE, is president of the European region of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists and director of Brookwood Petroleum Advisors. He is a former senior U.K. civil servant in the Department of Trade and Industry and the Department of Energy.
Hugh Ebbutt is an upstream energy consultant based in London. Originally an explorer with BP, he has worked with Amerada Hess, Chevron and as a vice president with CRA International. He also headed Arthur D. Little’s Upstream Energy group in Houston.
(13 April 2006)
1859, ‘No More Oil’ Ceremony, Titusville, Pennsylvania.
Robert Newman, The History of the World Backwards
In English comedian Robert Newman’s one-man show, time goes forward, but history goes backwards. Women campaign to have the vote taken away. The Indians see Columbus sail back to Europe, taking with him the lest vestiges of European civilization…
On page 7 ( www.robnewman.com/history7.html ), Newman has something for us in the PO blogosphere:
1859, ‘No More Oil’ Ceremony, Titusville, Pennsylvania
An open-air ceremony is held at the capping of the world’s last ever oil well in Titusville, Pennsylvania. Colonel Edwin L Drake discoverer of this, the world’s last legal oil-well gives a speech before turning the valve shut on the Hydrocarbon Age.
COLONEL DRAKE: Let us congratulate ourselves for achieving this soft landing. Climate stabilization has been socially managed so that the transition from an oil-based society has dovetailed perfectly with the ecological imperative to keep oil in the ground. Yes, we have been helped by Technology Die-off, which has meant a declining ability to take oil out of the ground since the Peak Oil year of 2007
(April 2006)
Newman’s “History of Oil” will be repeated on 15 April, at 11.45pm on More4 according to his website. “The 60 minute show, based around Robert’s stand up act, explores the role of oil in war and politics.” Hat-tip to Mobjectivist.
San Francisco becomes first U.S. city to pass peak oil resolution
SF Informatics and San Francisco Oil Awareness via PR Web
Campaign by Local Activists Persuaded Board of Supervisors of Looming Energy Crunch; Landmark Initiative Urges Development of ‘Action and Response Plan’
San Francisco on Tuesday became the first major U.S. city to pass a resolution acknowledging the threats posed by peak oil, urging the city to develop a comprehensive plan to respond to the emerging global energy crunch.
The resolution (www.sfgov.org/site/uploadedfiles/bdsupvrs/bosagendas/materials/060442.pdf), which won unanimous support by the board was sponsored by supervisors Aaron Peskin, Jake McGoldrick and Sophie Maxwell. It cites an influential study commissioned by the U.S. Dept. of Energy, known as the Hirsch Report (www.mnforsustain.org/oil_peaking_of_world_oil_production_study_hirsch.htm), which raised concerns about the nation’s ability to avert a major crisis from the peak and decline of oil production.
(16 April 2006)
The resolution does not seem to be available yet on the SF city website.
NYC Local Energy Solutions Conference Apr 27-29
peakguy, The Oil Drum (NYC)
[Editor’s Note: New lower prices (and partial refunds for those that paid full price) for the conference because of a large donation. They are also holding a pre-conference event next week]
The schedule has been posted for the upcoming NYC Local Energy Solutions Conference. I am glad that the focus will be on solutions at the local level. The event is being put on by the local NYC peak oil meet-up group on a shoestring budget, so if you are in a position to be a sponsor, click here. I encourage anyone with a personal or professional interest to register for at least a day or two and maybe even volunteer. Moreover, please send a formal invitation to all of your local elected officials. Even if they don’t come, they may take notice of the issue.
(14 April 2006)
