Peak oil & supplies – July 11 (updated July 12)
– Lloyd’s adds its voice to dire ‘peak oil’ warnings
– Emirates banker: Will oil be coal?
– India cuts gas subsidy in favor of greener investments?
– Peak oil postponed again
Staff
Whither the weak in the post-peak oil world?
Today, we are rarely called upon to find the limits of our compassion. In a post-peak oil world that will in all likelihood no longer be the case.
ODAC Newsletter – July 9
Hopes rose this week that BP may be in a position to attempt to ‘kill’ the Macondo oil leak a couple of weeks ahead of its previously anticipated date. The first of two relief wells is now close to the target, and a top BP executive is reported to have told Wall Street Journal that, should weather conditions remain favourable, the well could be shut off by 27th July. With this optimistic, but by no means assured backdrop, Tony Hayward spent this week visiting Middle Eastern investors in an attempt to shore up BP against hostile takeover bids…
How long and how fast will we deleverage?
Obviously, deleveraging in the household and financial sector has begun. The question is, how long will it go on, and how low must the various debt-to-gdp ratios go? In this post, I look at various ways of guesstimating this.
Transition in the big city – part I
The Transition movement coaches us to "begin in your own backyard." But what if your backyard happens to be one of the biggest megacities in the world?
Peak oil, prices, and supplies – July 9
-Climate photo of the week: BP oil spill
-Canada: The Saudi Arabia of the North?
-The Gulf Spill – The Battle over the Drilling Moratorium
Lighting the way to a new economy
Listen carefully. This is serious. We seek: Within a generation, a global system of human-scale, interconnected Local Living Economies that function in harmony with local ecosystems, meet the basic needs of all people, support just and democratic societies, and foster joyful community life.
350.org urges Obama to put solar back on the White House
Environmental author Bill McKibben and his international campaign 350.org are joining the solar company Sungevity in a new effort to encourage President Obama to reinstall an updated set of solar panels on the White House roof.
How not to fry: Keeping cool without air conditioning
The northeast is having its first heatwave of the year, and I thought it was a good time to re-run a piece I wrote about what to do in extreme heat if you don’t have air conditioning. Because we all know what heatwaves mean – not just physical stress, health crises and unnecessary deaths from heat, but also blackouts and brownouts as everyone charges up their a/c. So what do you do when the power is out and the heat is on? These suggestions include, I think, the most important strategy – be aware of other people.
Another anxious plea to recognize limits
The current generation will not escape the consequences of rising energy and material resource costs. An appealing but superannuated ideology keeps the public in the dark. More light!
Struggling to be ‘fully alive’: Reports on coping with anguish
“I don’t have anything to say that hasn’t been said many times over the centuries.” That may have been the most insightful response to my essay asking people to report on how they cope with the anguish of living in a world in collapse.
(Journalism professor reports on responses to his survey)
Improving the sustainability of water treatment systems: Opportunities for innovation
There is growing recognition of the need for increased access to drinkable water across the world and for water treatment approaches that improve the quality of the delivered water and re-establish a balance between human and natural systems…Localized, networked water treatment systems improve access to potable water, encourage the development and diffusion of innovations through reduced financial and technical risks, lower the potential of total system failure, and provide easier trial and replacement of specific innovations and greater organizational capacity.
