Tom Whipple

Review of Bundeswehr Report on peak oil: Section 2.2. Tipping Point (Nov. 2010)

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Oil is often described as ‘the life-blood’ of modern society. It is as vital to our globalized economy as water is to the human body. A reduction in supply of only a few percentages could create difficulties throughout the entire system. Further reductions could lead to a complete failure of critical systems.

Simple Homemade Toys

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The toys most of us really remember playing with as children weren’t really toys but things we turned into toys. My earliest recollection is a matchbox of multicolored and multisize rubberbands I played with by the hour when I was about two. I don’t know why they fascinated me only that they did. Even the matchbox was a wonder — the way it slid so neatly open and closed.

Saudi Arabia to produce 10mbd in July?

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When the Saudi oil minister speaks to the world’s business reporters, one cannot rely that his words will later match the kingdom’s official reports to international statistical agencies. Whether through sloppiness or otherwise, at least one of Mr al-Naimi’s statement and the Saudi report were in error to the tune of almost half a million barrels a day — more than five percent of production — at a time when oil markets are critically seeking signals of Saudi intentions and capabilities.

Can humans really adapt to climate change?

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When contemplating whether humans can successfully adapt to climate change, it is worth noting that at least twice in the last 1.2 million years our species was almost wiped out. Genetic research confirms that 1.2 million years ago the human population on Earth was around 18,500, perilously close to extinction. The reason for this low number is not directly known. Then about 150,000 years ago, it plummeted again down to just 2,000, probably due to climate change.

Ask me about my agony and despair!

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Often is the question posed to me, maybe over on my Facebook page or via email after someone has made it through the messier parts of my book, but also in sundry sweaty nightclubs or boutique SF coffeeholes and therefore almost always fully clothed but almost never in a state of calm emotional stability: Mark, how the hell do you do it?

How do you avoid becoming horribly soiled and tainted, downtrodden and depressed every single day by the relentless onslaught, the endless horrors and bleakness hurled forth by the blood-soaked and desperately panicky mainstream media, inside of which you apparently still writhe and (mostly, sporadically, drunkenly) thrive?

Peak? What peak? Greenhouse emissions keep increasing

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Back in the early 2000s, when I was starting to study peak oil, I used to think that oil depletion was our main problem. Climate change seemed to me a threat for the remote future and, probably, automatically solved by the depletion of fossil fuels. Over the years, however, I saw more and more data accumulating that show that it is not so. I am now convinced that climate change is a much more serious threat to humankind than peak oil.

Saudis still planning more nukes. Do they know something we don’t?

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Despite the plans of major electricity users around the world to pull away from nuclear power after Fukushima, Saudi Arabia has announced that it’s planning to start building power reactors at a breakneck pace. This could be yet another sign that Matt Simmons was right about the Saudi oil peak, signalling the beginning of the end of the Oil Age. But we have to wonder if the Oil Sheiks can control their new atomic toy.

China’s Energy Future

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I was recently asked to participate in an energy roundtable at Focus on China’s Energy Future and the Shale Gas Question. It is no secret that I feel that China’s moves stand to continue sending shock waves through the energy markets over the upcoming years. In fact, energy news from China warranted inclusion in My Top 10 Energy Stories of both 2009 and 2010. In 2009, I stated my belief that “China will be the single-biggest driver of oil prices over at least the next 5-10 years.” In 2010, the news was reported by the International Energy Administration (IEA) that China had become the world’s top energy consumer. BP confirmed this in their just-released Statistical Review of World Energy 2011.