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‘The Soul of the Empire’ peak oil conference
October 28-30, Rimini, Italy
Pio Manzù Centre
Three decisive challenges for planet Earth loom on the horizon and condition the prospective paths of world development: satisfying the world’s need for energy which is cheap and cleaner in its processes, products and systems of use; secondly, accelerated economic growth on the part of the economically less developed countries within a framework of democratic freedoms and the self-determination of peoples; thirdly, environmental sustainability as an eco-efficiency value of nation systems.
Oil is not only a resource but a political and economic instrument that is in effect the Soul of the Empire, conditioning geopolitical choices, determining equilibria and generating conflicts. It will continue to be the critical factor in international relations: if in the next decade world production of crude oil should reach its peak, industrial development would face serious challenges.
…In a critical reappraisal of international energy policy in the light of the real needs and interests of the global economy, energy authorities, scientists, and other experts from all over the world will meet in Rimini to propose and subscribe to a fundamental Protocol aimed at achieving real understanding between the consumers of energy and the producer nations.
The aim is to defeat the Cassandras of the energy Apocalypse and to reconcile the need for a secure supply of oil to the consumer nations with those of the oil-producing countries; to achieve a consensus of suggestions regarding the need for a long-term global response in terms of investments in alternative energy sources; to reconcile the role of market mechanisms with the efficient governing of energy resources, and to reduce international political tensions in the areas of the world most directly involved in oil production.
(October 2005)
Sounds like a major conference, sponsored by businesses, local and national governmental entities.
According to the website, “RAI-Italian Television Service will broadcast live on Channel 2 a special feature on the Conference” and “Representatives of the Italian Government and the Pio Manzù Centre will present the medals of the Italian Presidency of the Republic, Senate, Chamber of Deputies and Council of Ministers.”. Has anybody seen any press coverage which they could forward to us?
UPDATE (28 Oct)
According to its website:
The Pio Manzù Centre is an international centre for research on geopolitical and environmental structures and as such enjoys United Nations consultative status. The Centre has been operating since the late ’60 as a network for the coordination and promotion of study and training activities regarding the various synergies emerging between decisions in the sphere of macroeconomics and social and political compatibility trends and international levels.
. The president of its scientific committe is Mikhail Gorbachev; members of the committee include Gary Hart, Edward N. Luttwak, Alvin and Heidi Toffler, as well as other figures from politics, science and business. The Centre has a press release on the conference with more background on their ongoing concerns with energy.
According to the Post-carbon Institute, the Rimini Protocol will be the central theme of this conference. (Also see Richard Heinberg on the Rimini protocol: How to avoid oil wars, terrorism, and economic collapse.)
Here’s a publicity article in Italian: Petrolio, ministri, top manager, esperti a confronto al Pio Manzu’. (Not much more information than in the press releases.)
-BA
Peak Oil Workshop for Community Leaders
December 2 – 4, Stelle, Illinois, US
www.communitysolution.org
An intensive training for 20-25 prospective peak oil community leaders which will provide the tools, strategies, resources and practical experiences to educate your community on peak oil and work with them to implement local solutions.
Date: Friday, December 2 – Sunday, December 4, 2005
Location: Center for Sustainable Community (Stelle, Illinois)
Workshop participants will learn effective communication strategies for engaging various individuals and groups on the topic of peak oil. They will learn how to present the information to family, friends and neighbors, local area residents, environmentalists, politicians, business leaders, activists, professors, farmers, and other constituencies. They will also explore different presentation formats including PowerPoint presentations, speeches and lectures, documentary showings, one-on-one meetings, community forums, discussion groups, letters, handouts, and more.
Participants will also learn how to organize and facilitate “Community Projects Toward Local Solutions.” This model mobilizes people within a community to implement immediate action plans and mitigation strategies for peak oil. The focus will be on conserving energy in home heating, emergency preparedness for winter ’05-’06, and securing local, healthy food supplies.
Facilitators will provide information, resources, and materials, including a manual with sample PowerPoint presentations and transcripts. They will also give demonstrations on effective communication strategies and lead participants through the processes that they may employ in their community projects. Participants will share their past experiences, collaborate on educational strategies, brainstorm solutions, give and receive feedback on practice presentations and ultimately create and present to the group a strategy for implementing their own community project.
To apply contact Megan Quinn at 937-767-2161 or emaail:megan at communitysolution.org .
(25 October 2005)
Didn’t see mention yet of this event on their site, but am sure they’ll be happy to email you the nice looking flyer they sent us.-LJ
Heinberg coming to Nevada City Nov 15
Alliance for a Post-Petroleum Local Economy (APPLE of Nevada County)
Cheap, abundant oil is now a thing of the past. How can ordinary households and local government and businesses respond to this unprecedented challenge and soften its impact on our lives?
Alliance for a Post-Petroleum Local Economy (APPLE of Nevada County) is sponsoring Richard Heinberg’s timely presentation on the repercussions of the rising oil costs, what “Peak Oil” means, and how local communities can prepare. Come Tuesday, November 15, 2005, to The Center for the Arts in Grass Valley.
(26 October 2005)
Heinberg is also speaking Thursday night in Oneonta, New York.
The Five-Minute Guide: Oil
Robert Thompson, Esquire Magazine
IT CAN BE FASHIONED into a Chewbacca action figure or the fuel that propels a stealth B-2 Spirit. One sixth of the world’s economy is devoted to exploiting it. Boiled by refineries into a phalanx of hydrocarbon products — gasoline, diesel, kerosene, you-burn-it-they’ll-make-it — crude oil has set us free. We’ve employed it to unlock the atom, explore outer space, map the human genome. It’s the most potent, important resource ever gifted to mankind. And it’s pretty much gone.
7 Critical Questions
1. What’s “peak oil”?
2. But we have reserves. Right?
3. Can we get our oil from someplace outside the Middle East?
4. Whatever happened to ANWR?
5. Should we be scared?
6. When do we start waiting in line for gas?
7. Can’t we just make oil?
(21 October 2005)
Fairly good introduction to PO for a mass audience. The article appeared in the print copy of the October issue of Esquire and has just been put online. Energy Bulletin editors LJ and BA were interviewed for the article.-BA
‘End of an era’ for cheap oil
Associated Press
NEW YORK — While the most dire predictions have been largely dismissed as alarmist — gasoline prices in the U.S. of up to $6 a gallon and crude oil climbing to $105 a barrel in 2007 — analysts warn consumers could face new price spikes and won’t soon be returning to pump prices that propelled the popularity of gas-guzzling SUVs.
The consensus is that the era of cheap oil for U.S. consumers, accustomed to some of the lowest prices in the industrialized world, is over, at least for the next few years.
…[oil economist Philip K.] Verleger, in an admittedly attention-grabbing assertion, wrote in a September report that the projected U.S. GDP growth of over 3 percent, coupled with refinery outages, more hurricanes and other factors could push gasoline to a high of $6 per gallon ($1.60 a liter) without additional supply to match demand.
In an October 17 report, he expressed concern that so many analysts and economists were confident that supply would be available. “My question is, where will the supplies come from?” Verleger wrote. “Will the world import products from the moon?”
(25 October 2005)
Most of the article is devoted to short-term influences on oil demand and production.
