Choosing to Get Off Fossil Energy—Our Best Local Choices
Richard Heinberg talks about local options for getting off fossil fuels on this episode of the Simpler Living Podcast.
Energy featured
Pathways to Deep Decarbonization
As energy transition proceeds we’ll need to move well beyond decarbonizing electricity generation and into transportation and space heating powered by renewables.
Thoughts of a Modern-Day (Energy) Slaveholder
For all intents and purposes, we are the beneficiaries of a slave economy. We may have exchanged human chattel for the energy slaves contained in a barrel of oil and the machines that consume it, but the economics work out the same and we can’t walk away without giving up status and wealth.
Federal Court Temporarily Pauses Construction of Controversial Louisiana Pipeline
The preliminary injunction against construction of the Bayou Bridge pipeline — which would stretch 162 miles across Louisiana — was cheered as a major victory by environmental groups, who challenged the Army Corps of Engineers’ initial approval of the project.
Don’t Confuse Peak Oil And The Peak Oil Debate
In the past five years of writing about energy one of my favorite observations has been that people get into trouble because they “confuse Peak Oil and the Peak Oil Debate.” In other words, they confuse what Peak Oil IS and what Peak Oil MEANS.
Cornucopian Renewable-Energy Claims Leave Poor Nations in the Dark
Billions of people around the world need more energy than they can afford, while billions of others can buy far more energy than is required to meet their needs. Global 100-percent renewable scenarios are based on these distortions…
Is Volatility in Oil Price on the Way, Again?
A consistent theme in my articles is the charts reveal that economic disruptions, such as ructions in the stock market, tend to follow periods of marked instability in the price of oil, and further, that the economy at large appears to be acutely sensitive to sudden changes in the cost of energy – as mirrored by the longest lines on the chart above.
Stunning New Research Finds Fracking a Major Source of Carbon Pollution in Pennsylvania
The evidence is now overwhelming that natural gas is not part of the climate solution, it is part of the problem. A new study finds that the methane escaping from Pennsylvania’s oil and gas industry “causes the same near-term climate pollution as 11 coal-fired power plants.”
New Study Questions Impact of Ending Fossil Fuel Subsidies
Ending the world’s fossil fuel subsidies would reduce global CO2 emissions by 0.5 to 2.2 gigatonnes (Gt) per year by 2030, a new study says. The research, published by Nature, concludes that the removal of subsidies would lead to bigger emissions reductions in oil and gas exporting regions…
Ex-Chief of BP-Acquired Solar Giant Foresees Renewables Revolution
A new book put together by the former Chairman of Europe’s largest solar company, Lightsource — which merged with BP last year — throws light on how the world will be permanently transformed by an energy revolution in coming decades.
The Strategy of Maximal Extraction
The new U.S. energy policy of the Trump era is, in some ways, the oldest energy policy on Earth. Every great power has sought to mobilize the energy resources at its command, whether those be slaves, wind-power, coal, or oil, to further its hegemonic ambitions.
U.S. Department of Energy Doubles Down on Shale Optimism
Last week, Post Carbon Institute published Hughes’ analysis of the Energy Information Administration’s Annual Energy Outlook 2017, which found that the EIA’s forecast for shale gas and tight oil production through 2050 was “extremely optimistic.”
