Michael Lardelli

The two major threats to the continued viability of the fossil fuel industries (in our current economy) are decreased public demand for their products and a decreased ability to supply them.

The leader of the world’s foremost Peak Oil research group is Kjell Aleklett, Professor of Physics at the University of Uppsala in Sweden. He has just published a book on Peak Oil that summarises a decade of scientific research. why would Kjell need a “translator”. It’s a longish story….

With more than half the world’s population living in cities we have been told that cites are where humanities future lies. At the same time, awareness of the future challenges humanity faces are growing…The cry has gone out for “sustainable cities” and urban planners the world over are responding. In most people’s (and urban planners) minds cities primarily consist of people to accommodate and methods to transport them…The problem with answering this question is that urban planners have forgotten the fundamental reason thing that allows cities to exist and that will determine their existence in future.

Online Opinion (or “OLO” to its devotees) is Australia’s leading online website for publication of essays on a variety of topics. It also reprints the best available essays from international sites. For a number of years OLO has been a very strong supporter of disseminating ideas about peak oil, climate change, resource limits, economics, religious issues and the vexed topic of population growth (among many others).

Historically, being a net exporter of food, we have rejected the idea that Australia might one day lack the ability to sustain its human residents. But what do the numbers say? And will our capacity to produce food in the future be the same as today?

Saudi Arabia’s oil production company is Saudi Aramco. Its former Vice President of oil exploration and production, Sadad al Husseini, recently made the following comment on oil prices at the 30th Oil & Money Conference, held in London on October 20-21: “…as you go up to say $90 a barrel, you’re consuming 4.5% of the global economy [for oil]. That in itself is a ceiling – you cannot go indefinitely into more expensive alternatives without destroying [the] economy and therefore destroying demand…”