Dolores García

An alternative version for three of the “key graphs” in IEA’s 2010 World Energy Outlook

by

Recently Jorgen Randers (best known for being one of the co-authors of The limits to Growth, 1972) asked me to do some modelling work on the World3-Energy model, an updated version of the classic World3 computer model that was used in The Limits to Growth that includes a much larger amount of information about energy. …

The main point of disagreement is that the IEA seems to believe most of the changes will happen quietly in the background, with the average citizen of the Western world barely noticing that the brand new cars just happen to be electric. World3-Energy suggests that the changes are likely to happen among very real concerns about world food production and other similarly “minor” issues.”

Cultivating an ecological conscience (a book review)

by

Farmer-philosopher Frederick L. Kirschenmann’s recently published collection of essays, Cultivating an Ecological Conscience, with its clear concern for the part petroleum plays in modern agriculture, offers significant common ground for farmers and carbon-footprint conscious, twenty-first century environmentalists. This alone would make Kirschenmann’s book important, but it also does such a thorough job of describing the current state of agriculture, it would be difficult to find a more comprehensive compilation of essays on the subject.

A bold move, but our oil problems are just beginning

by

The IEA decision to release 60 million barrels from strategic petroleum reserves (SPR) of member nations has been criticized as politically motivated, too small and too late to matter, or, at best, as a desperate attempt to fend off economic woes. The reality and impact of the decision are more complex than that. The move is a bold, price-suppressing “poke in OPEC’s eye” from nations that have been perpetual price takers in the world oil market. The short-term rationale for the decision, however, should not obscure our real oil problem – geopolitics is combining with economics and geology to put us in an oil crunch that is not likely to abate until our nation moves beyond oil.

A culture of dependency

by

Energy systems do not exist in a social vacuum but are subject to culture and imagination. Anyone interested in promoting an energy transition away from oil and fossil fuels more generally needs to take this fact into account. Unfortunately, energy culture has often been overlooked as an explanation of U.S. energy development.

Fracking – a tale of gas and greed and global warming

by

Every now and again it seems like a solution has been found to our energy problems, one that will allow us all to go on consuming (and wasting!) for decades, if not forever. In the last few years shale gas has bubbled to the top of the pile and is now being widely touted by the oil and gas industry as: a) a clean, green alternative to coal and oil; b) proof that Peak Oil/Gas is many years off; and c) a cheaper use of government subsidies than support for renewables.

Nuclear energy: man’s low-carbon best friend or planet-polluting worst enemy? – July 4

by

-Has the green movement lost its way?
-Radioactive Cesium Is Found in Tokyo Tap Water for First Time Since April
-Revealed: British government’s plan to play down Fukushima
-Don’t believe the spin on thorium being a ‘greener’ nuclear option
-Response: don’t dismiss the potential of thorium nuclear power
-French nuclear power plant explosion heightens safety fears

Home is where left and right meet

by

The affirmation of the domestic sphere, of the informal economy and of women’s work is itself a radical act in a culture that assumes that one should purchase all goods and services once provided by the informal economy. Any of you who have read _Depletion and Abundance_ will know that I consider the dismantling of the informal economy (which is the larger portion of the world economy, represent 3/4 of total economic activity) in the developed world and the undermining of the Global South’s informal economy to be a disaster in the making, as we run out of the fuel (and the ability to safely burn it, if such a thing can ever be said to have existed) that permitted this.

How enterprise can flourish without growth-fixation

by

Within the flourishing enterprise model of strategic change there are three key areas of value-creation; market changes, innovation and capabilities for flourishing. All three are critical and no company can flourish without real effort in each domain, and none can be done by a company on their own. A great deal of innovation is required within companies, much of which needs to be open and collaborative. Aristotle said that no individual could flourish without being an active participant in the flourishing of society and community, no company can succeed without being an active participant in societal and market changes.

Peak coal and China

by

World coal production is dominated by China. China’s coal production is projected to peak in 2027 with a peak production level of 5.1 billion tons. World (excluding China)’s coal production is projected to peak in 2027 with a peak production level of 4.1 billion tons. …

The BP Statistical Review of World Energy reports China’s coal reserves to be 114.5 billion tons. This is the number that is widely cited by media and used by virtually all international energy institutions as China’s “proved” coal reserves. In fact, the BP number has not been updated since 1992. Given the observed rapid growth of China’s coal production, the reserves number reported by BP is likely to have substantially underestimated China’s remaining recoverable coal resources.