Energy Headlines – June 28, 2005

Staff, Energy Bulletin

Wall St. Journal discovers peak oil /
‘Oil forecasts are glib, futile and damaging’ /
Shell predicts two decades of rising energy prices /
Central banks fear slump as oil soars near $61 /
Treas Secty Snow says oil prices hurting economy /
US Senate passes energy bill /
The art of ‘manufacturing uncertainty’ /
Climate change ‘worries children’ /
The Brits can teach us Yanks how to create livable cities /
France chosen as site for fusion reactor /
Thais plan to cut energy – even early morning TV

Peak Oil: Two Approaches, One Answer

There are two distinct ways to think about and present the phenomenon of peak oil. It’s easy to describe what peak oil actually is, it’s the global peak in extraction rate of petroleum. The difficulty of course is determining the date and associated extraction rate of peak oil. This is where I see the two camps.

Here the geologists method of Hubbert and Campbell is compared to the analysis’s method of Chris Skrebowski with uncanny agreement.

Energy Headlines – June 29, 2005

Staff, Energy Bulletin

The revenge of chicken little /
Can democracy survive without fossil fuels? /
Washington Post coming close to peak oil /
Julia Butterfly Hill is a PO believer /
Impressions of “The Deal” (PO movie) /
Oil spike a reminder of 1990 /
Zimbabwe triples price of petrol /
Is fusion the best way forward? /
Yes, says investment advisor /
No, says Andrew McKillop /
Panel affirms radiation link to cancer, even at low levels /
Cost of nuclear ‘underestimated’ /
Revolution, geopolitics and pipelines /
China on the international oil market /
Venezuela builds oil alliance /
Autonomous grassroots alternatives to the G8 nations /
G8 committed to fossil fuels, turn to carbon storage /
Greenhouse hypocrisy /
Sharing housing and herb gardens in Portland /
Seattle’s a hothouse of green power /
Hydrogen cars will save lives — and the planet (?) /
Living on the Hundred-Mile Diet (good food and shrinking butts)

Peak Oil Headlines – 27 June, 2005

Staff, Energy Bulletin

Michael Klare on a Saudi oil bombshell /
PO means a truce between left and right? /
Jimmy Carter on 1977 energy crisis /
Texas state geologist says plenty of energy /
Kunstler reviewed, interviewed and prophesying /
Bad PO jobs #2: real estate /
PO on NPR’s MarketWatch /
$100 a barrel oil may save planet /
Guardian again on PO /
Andrew McKillop interview /
Investment manager: oil painting by the numbers /
Oil going to $65 – $70 – $80 – who knows?

China’s bid for Unocal

Staff, Energy Bulletin

China on global hunt to quench its thirst for oil /
China’s bold bid for global energy /
Unocal deal: a lot more than $ at issue /
China oil bid to get close scrutiny /
Secretive US panel could block China’s Unocal bid /
Krugman: the Chinese challenge /
World oil giants fighting here, partnering there /
China’s costly quest for energy control

Environment & Sustainability Headlines – 27 June

Staff, Energy Bulletin

Britain’s top climatologist warns against a G8 fudge on global warming /
‘Earthy evangelist’ changes US climate /
NY Times says climate-aware Senate terrifies White House /
Wilted Europe eyes global warming /
Alternate power: a change in the wind /
Ralph Nader likes hemp /
The new green fuel: wood /
The week in sustainable vehicles /
UC scientist says ethanol uses more energy than it makes /
How to brighten solar power’s future /
Organic not GMOs to solve African famines /
Colleges turning green /
Amber waves of plastic

Other Energy Headlines – June 27

Staff, Energy Bulletin

Nuclear plants ‘to cost UK billions’ /
Coal rush? Power project signals boom, debate /
US power plants could run short of coal /
More Indonesia power plants may shut – fuel shortage /
Natural gas cliff /
Natural gas fuels a boom in Fort Worth /
Hard to have land with oil or gas in BC /
Court allows less-stringent refinery rule /
Nuclear confusion – peak uranium? /
Chavez tells petro companies to meet local demand first /
Latin America: poverty, indigenous peoples and energy reserves /
‘Iran’s oil policy to be reviewed’

The Politics of Survival

What we are witnessing is the collapse of the politics of left and right and the replacement of those politics with what I call the politics of survival. Those who come to understand the gravity of our energy situation quickly abandon their previous political views and instead focus pragmatically on how we can make a successful energy transition.

Natural gas–the next fossil fuel shortage?

Shepherd Bliss, Energy Bulletin

Natural gas appears to be a good replacement for oil. It comes out of the ground easily. It burns cleaner than other fossil fuels, though it does release carbon dioxide, the major greenhouse gas that causes global warming….The positive spin on natural gas as the preferred replacement for oil given by Forbes and the New York Times is contradicted by Julian Darley’s “High Noon” book.

Lost Energy

At some point — maybe 10 years from now, maybe 20 — the energy bill currently wending its way through the Senate will be seen as an enormously significant lost opportunity…any politicians who care about the future economic, environmental and political stability of this country should right now be seeking to end the de facto subsidies for the oil and gas industries, aggressively promote research into new forms of ethanol and biofuel, limit automobile fuel consumption, and tax or cap the carbon emissions created by the burning of fossil fuels, which most scientists believe to be an important cause of global warming.