Insight and inspiration in turbulent times.
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
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
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’
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 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.
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.
What will the world do about its use of energy in the next few years – and more specifically, might expensive oil force much more radical changes than at present seem likely?
The U.S. has been based on an orgy of resource appropriation and waste, as in a party with no tomorrow. …The party known as the U.S. is all but over except in the minds of oblivious revelers already being kicked out of the house (of nature and the world community). However, sober heads will start to prevail as the dawn breaks.
Outcome Grim at Oil War Game – Former Officials Fail to Prevent Recession in Mock Energy Crisis / OilCast#12 – NOPEC, no strike and `no peak oil` / US Energy Secretary – ‘the days of easily accessible oil are coming to a close’ / Is it goodbye to cheap oil forever? / Volcanoes, Oil, and Prophets / Goodbye to oil / The Peak Oil Crisis, Part 8: Has It Started? / Exxon says N. America gas production has peaked / $18bn bid by Chinese for Unocal has US worried –
Congressmen tell Bush deal could have disastrous effect on security / The CPI and inflation explained / Shell CEO outlines plan to increase oil production / Solar derby – Schwarzenegger’s solar-roof plan could get sidelined by partisan squabbling / Early hybrid developer passes on; can we afford to let his ideas do the same? / Other Worlds, Real and Imagined – Conversation with Jamais Cascio / Zero Waste, Perpetual Food / The Kaya Identity and the “Conservation Bomb” – Why efficiency and conservation are key / Standby Britain: How it fuels our energy crisis.
If you want to understand the global economy and feel the pulse of capitalism in the early 21st century, look no further than the $19 billion bid by the China National Oil Operating Company – Cnooc – for Unocal of California. Add a large measure of geopolitical tension, and you have probably the single most important corporate event of the young millennium.
Oil war game yields grim results /
Oilcast #12: NOPEC, no strike and `no peak oil` /
US energy secretary Bodman: end of easy oil /
Guardian: goodbye to cheap oil /
Volcanoes, oil and prophets /
Exxon says N. America gas production has peaked /
Chinese bid for Unocal has US worried /
California’s big solar-roof plan in danger /
Hybrid developer passes on; do we let his ideas do the same? /
Conversation and articles by James Cascio of WorldChanging /
Zero waste, perpetual food /
Efficiency is world-changing
In my last blog on the Nicaraguan energy price hikes, I noted that the Nicaragua of today could be the richer Western nations of tomorrow some years down the energy depletion slope.
