Insight and inspiration in turbulent times.
Staff – Prime Minister of France: Oil production can only decline
– Libyan unrest sends oil prices soaring to $124 a barrel
– Barclay oil analyst Amrita Sen answers your questions
– NYT: Rush to Use Crops as Fuel Raises Food Prices and Hunger Fears
– Survey of natural gas in shale deposits
Let’s start taking an honest look at the myths behind the demand for increased energy. We don’t need nukes, and we could cut our fossil fuel use just about in half, if not significantly more, today.
As the unfolding nuclear disaster in Japan has shown, the costs of cleanup after a nuclear meltdown are borne in large part by national governments and taxpayers rather than the industry. Paying for cleanup is just one of many hidden costs of nuclear energy that make judging the value of nuclear power difficult. Many countries, including the United States, are rushing to build a new generation of nuclear power plants to reduce carbon emissions. However, the disaster in Japan should force us to take into account the full costs of nuclear power (and other energy sources).
This article makes the case that the Saudi economy will consume ever increasing quantities of the oil they are currently exporting. The argument will be made that they could meet much of their power needs with either nuclear or solar power in order to continue earning oil export revenues. While enticing in theory, the real world of existing infrastructure, existing know-how, existing finance and existing technology will trump in the near term.
While supporting small-scale farming in the area seems like a win-win situation all around, says Nazeer, both local residents and the city government still need some convincing. As the population of Cape Town continues to grow, the city government is increasingly interested in buying up pieces of the Philippi Horticulture Area for development, threatening the future of the local farmers, the families living in the illegal settlements, and indigenous wildlife.
Let me repeat that: the U.S. imports more oil from Canada than (yes) Mexico, which ranks second, and (believe it or not) Saudi Arabia, which ranks only third. Tar sands are largely responsible for Canada’s new petro-status. Nearly a million barrels of tar sands oil arrive in the U.S. every day. By 2025, Canada is expected to be producing 3.5 million barrels of tar sands oil daily. Most of that, says Ryan Salmon of the National Wildlife Federation, will be imported to the U.S. And believe me, when it comes to energy ugly, tar sands could take the cake.
The oil price hit a two and half year high this week of $123/barrel as the Libyan conflict continues to dominate market sentiment. This pushed the sterling value of crude to an all time high, exceeding even its level in the summer of 2008 when the dollar price reached $147/barrel, because the pound has slumped 17% against the greenback since then.
Contrary to the belief systems espoused by our culture that devours new product; we must remind ourselves that we are a creative culture, and a DIY culture too.
The other night, I had a neighborhood gathering to prepare for an earthquake. Usually, we get an expert to come from the city, but this time, we didn’t. We’d already had someone from the city a few months earlier, and, yes, she’d been very informative. But, essentially, we all just sat there, listened and went home. This time, we all talked and learned from each other and came away feeling more prepared.
Japan’s crisis now reaches across the globe with significant disruptions in manufacturing supply-chains. It’s a cautionary tale on the need for resilience. Can this help prompt greater understanding for and interest in relocalization and the Transition movement?
Even worse for our hopes for mass mobilisation, our current response suggests that, even were we all agreed that our crisis is real and urgent, we in our affluent democracies are not, as we like to imagine, free citizens who will easily resolve to combat an external enemy together. We are much more like nations already under occupation – by an enemy we prefer not to acknowledge but clearly evident all around us. Because the enemy is in our own desire to maintain as long as possible the status quo that is our lives today.
Just like peak oil and global warming, economic contraction is a “game changer.” As the economy we now know crumbles, the far-reaching repercussions will sculpt every aspect of our future. In my opinion, any long-term plan — Transition EDAPs included — must anticipate that it will unfold amidst a world of economic contraction. We have to plan for it, and put alternative financial tools in place to weather it, or it will undermine all of our other efforts.
