Deep Thought - Nov 13

Click on the headline (link) for the full text.

Many more articles are available through the Energy Bulletin homepage

New website for Prof. Al Bartlett
Al Bartlett
Albert A. Bartlett is Professor Emeritus in Nuclear Physics at Colorado University at Boulder. He has been a member of the faculty of the University of Colorado since 1950. He was President of the American Association of Physics Teachers in 1978 and in 1981 he received their Robert A. Millikan Award for his outstanding scholarly contributions to physics education.

Dr. Bartlett has given his celebrated lecture, Arithmetic, Population and Energy over 1,600 times. His collected writings have been published in the book, "The Essential Exponential! For the Future of Our Planet".

"The greatest shortcoming of the human race is our inability to understand the exponential function."
- Prof. Al Bartlett

"Can you think of any problem in any area of human endeavor on any scale, from microscopic to global, whose long-term solution is in any demonstrable way aided, assisted, or advanced by further increases in population, locally, nationally, or globally?"
- Prof. Al Bartlett

(12 November 2008)
Website created by Fred Elbel. It contains all of his articles on growth, plus much more material.

Fourth Shell Dialogues Webchat ”Communicating Sustainability”
Shell
On 19th November, Björn Edlund, Vice President – Communcations for Shell, will host the fourth in the series of Shell Dialogues webchats. Björn will be discussing the topic of “Communicating Sustainability”. What does Shell mean by sustainability? Are companies trying to hijack the issues? Do advertising claims hold water?

Please visit www.shell.com/dialogues for more information and to register to participate in the event. While you are there why not watch the introductory video which explores the issues, and includes interviews with key voices in the debate. It features spokespeople from the UK’s Advertising Standards Authority, the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, SustainAbility, IUCN, and Björn himself. Whilst there, you can choose which of the two webchats you would like to attend, and can also pose a question to Björn and his team in advance.

To participate in the online dialogue, please return to the site at your chosen time on November 19th. All questions are welcomed, and the team will do its best to answer as many as possible.

Björn’s team on the day will include Andrew Eddy, Head of Communications, Shell UK, Alger Steenhuis, Investor Relations Officer, Shell, and Mark Weintraub, Senior Adviser - Sustainable Development, Shell.

First session – 0600GMT - A convenient time for Europe, Asia and Australia
Example of times and locations:
• 07:00 Brussels, Paris, Berlin
• 11.30 New Delhi
• 14:00 Singapore
• 15.00 Perth
• 17:00 Sydney

Second session – 1600GMT - A convenient time for the Americas, Africa and Europe
Example of times and locations:
• 08:00 San Francisco, Los Angeles
• 11:00 New York, Washington DC
• 16:00 London
• 17.00 Brussels, Paris, Berlin

In addition to featured events, Shell Dialogues also hosts a range of articles, white papers and videos produced by Shell and our global media partners including CNBC, BBC World and CNN. This material offers further insight into the energy challenge and Shell’s role in addressing issues such as climate change, energy security and sustainable development through technology and creative problem solving.
(12 November 2008)
Shell has been a leader on conducting a dialogue with the public on energy. They recently participated in the UK industry peak oil taskforce, taking a surprisingly open position on peak oil. In Febrary 2008, they released National Dialogue on Energy Security, which mentioned peak oil. Suggested by reader CH. -BA

Scientific Community Called Upon To Resolve Debate On ‘Net Energy’ Once And For All
ScienceDaily
“Net energy is a (mostly) irrelevant, misleading and dangerous metric,” says Professor Bruce Dale, editor-in-chief of Biofuels, Bioresources and Biorefining (Biofpr) in the latest issue of the journal published November 7.

Net energy is a metric by which some scientists attempt to assess the sustainability and ability of alternative fuels to displace fossil fuel but recent debate in Biofpr shows that scientists are undecided on its merits as a tool.

Instead, in a series of corresponding articles clearly stating the case for and against net energy, Professor Dale calls for a more holistic approach which takes into consideration issues such as greenhouse gas emissions, petroleum displacement and economic growth, particularly in the developing world. He is calling on the scientific community to come together to help establish, once and for all, parameters by which to calculate fuel efficiency by using not just one, but several metrics that can be used in conjunction to give a fuller picture.
(11 November 2008)