Insight and inspiration in turbulent times.
Irony doesn’t get any better than this. Environmentalists and farmers fighting the expansion of coal mining and coal seam gas across Australia are protecting the economy. If they are successful in slowing down or reversing these sectors in Australia, future governments will be spared an economic mess, Australian workers will have much improved employment prospects and our big banks will be spared major losses.
What’s the problem with coal and what actions can you take?
•You’ll Never Guess Which U.S. State Could Be Fossil-Fuel-Free by 2050 •Can we shift to renewable energy? Yes. As to how… •Los Angeles set to ditch coal power •The Worst Way to Measure Energy Efficiency
There are signs the climate movement could be on the verge of a remarkable and surprising victory. If we read the current context correctly, and if the movement can adjust its strategy to capture the opportunity presented, it could usher in the fastest and most dramatic economic transformation in history. This would include the removal of the oil, coal and gas industries from the economy in just a few decades and their replacement with new industries and, for the most part, entirely new companies. It would be the greatest transfer of wealth and power between industries and countries the world has ever seen.
Within the next decade, Germany will have shifted from a coal- and nuclear-powered economy to a thriving, decentralized system with power from renewable sources. This transformation, writes John Mathews, will not only make a real reduction in global carbon emissions. It is leading to a democratization of economic power that is unprecedented in the industrial world.
The technical-corporate-financial elite which controls our energy supplies has no clue about how to manage those supplies in the unfolding age of energy scarcity. That portends considerable political upheaval as the public becomes more engaged in shaping our energy future.
•Coal to challenge oil’s dominance by 2017, says IEA •Asia’s insatiable demand for coal plays havoc with climate goals •Will Colleges Kick Coal out of Their Stockings?
The great fear among those working to address climate change is that the seemingly vast resources of fossil fuels waiting to be burned will send the world hurtling toward certain catastrophe. By invoking fossil fuel abundance, climate activists believe that their argument for a rapid transition to alternative energy is made more persuasive. But, it is poor strategy to reinforce the myth of fossil fuel abundance when doing so actually makes many people less open to such an argument. And, as it turns out, the abundance argument is also contrary to the available data, logic and prudent risk management principles.
•World Energy Outlook 2012 Executive Summary •U.S. Oil Output to Overtake Saudi Arabia’s by 2020 •IEA calls for focus on energy efficiency •IEA cuts global forecast for growth in nuclear capacity
•Big Coal in big trouble as coal production costs rise •Obama, Romney avoid hard truths about energy •Japan kicks off winter energy-saving campaign •Full Text: China’s Energy Policy 2012
Mark J. Perry caused a minor sensation on October 22, 2012 when he posted a blog about record-breaking fossil fuel production in the United States.
No doubt you’ve heard people speak of an energy transition from a fossil fuel-based society to one based on renewable energy–energy which by its very nature cannot run out. Here’s the short answer to why we need do it fast: climate change and fossil fuel depletion. And, here’s the short answer to why we’re way behind: History suggests that it can take up to 50 years to replace an existing energy infrastructure, and we don’t have that long.
