Insight and inspiration in turbulent times.
-German green industries say can fill nuclear gaps
-China suspends all new nuclear plants, orders safety review; U.S. plans unchanged
-Japan crisis reignites nuclear debate
-EU to carry out stress tests on nuclear plants
The current tragic events in Japan bring an extra poignancy to this, the final excerpt from Chapter 3 of Richard Heinberg’s new book The End of Growth.
A midweek roundup of peak oil news, including:
-Developments this week
From the Fukushima nuclear crisis to the civil war in Libya, a rising spiral of troubles that may just mark a new phase in the predicament of industrial society is being met more and more often with what amount to incantations. As something of a specialist in incantations, the Archdruid suggests that something more practical may be needed just now.
A weekly roundup of peak oil news, including:
-Oil and the global economy
-The earthquake
-Quote of the week
In the wake of the Japanese nuclear debacle, we need a practical and affordable clean electricity plan that does not rely on new nuclear power. This article presents just such a Plan. New nuclear is absent from the Plan not because of any safety concern, but simply because it fails the “practical and affordable” test. President Obama called for “80% Clean Energy” by 2035. This Plan presents how we can do it right.
A midweek roundup of peak oil news, including:
-Developments this week
Vancouver filmmaker Jon Cooksey’s documentary film How to Boil a Frog showcases a unique talent for delivering bad news with a humorous twist. He also advocates that we bring our hearts, minds, and political activism to the table in order to push back against the corporate assault on our lives.
As oil prices rise, heating our homes with wood becomes more attractive. Steven Hamburg is the Chief Scientist of the Environmental Defense Fund, and he co-authored a recent report on the potential of northeastern forests to meet our energy need. Tom Whipple writes the weekly Peak Oil Review, and his latest edition says, “Collapse would not be too strong a term to apply to the global economy should Saudi oil production of 9 million b/d be halted or severely restricted by domestic unrest.” We talk to him about what he sees that indicates Saudi production may become shut in, and why that’s so important.
A weekly roundup of peak oil news, including:
-Oil and the global economy
-the Saudis besieged
-China’s National People’s Congress
-Quote of the week
-Briefs
We are not running out of oil yet. We have, however, reached an apparent limit to the amount of oil that we can produce every day. That is because newly discovered fields are, at best, replacing supply from older declining and depleted fields.
Continued violence in the Middle East kept oil prices high this week. Libyan exports are down at least 1 million barrels a day and fears are escalating that the stand-off there could turn in to a protracted civil war. The unrest spread to Oman this week where security forces clashed with demonstrators. Meanwhile news of the arrest of a Shi’ite cleric demanding democratic reforms in Saudi Arabia sent the Saudi Tadawul stock exchange down 11%.
