Insight and inspiration in turbulent times.
It was the pivotal international conference of the new century. Tens of thousands showed up, including heads of state, officials at all levels of government, representatives of environmental organizations, and ordinary citizens from nearly 200 countries. Scientists had warned that, without a strong agreement to reduce carbon emissions, the consequences for civilization and the world’s ecosystems would be cataclysmic.
One does not have to know anything with certainty in order to decide on policy. In fact, policy is always based on incomplete information about the past and guesses about the future. What policymaking requires, especially in critical areas such as future energy supply, is humility and therefore caution.
A mid-week roundup of peak oil news, including:
-Prices and production
-Venezuela
-Iran
-OPEC leaves oil production unchanged
-EIA Energy Outlook 2010 Reference Case Projects Moderate Growth in US Energy Consumption, Greater Use of Renewables, and Reduced Oil and Natural Gas Imports
-Iraq will double exports to China to satisfy thirst for oil
Because many of the proposals for adaptation to climate change require further extensive release of greenhouse gasses, they will only make climate change worse.
For many centuries, canal boats were propelled by men, horses or mules on the towpath beside the water. Before diesel power took over, engineers developed several interesting methods powered by electricity: trolleyboats, floating funiculars and electric mules. Many of these ecological solutions could be applied today instead of diesel engines.
Current renewable energy technologies must be adopted in conjunction with aggressive Smart Growth and Efficiency if we hope to continue our current standard of living and complex society with diminished reliance on fossil fuels. These strategies have the additional advantage that they can work without large technological breakthroughs.
As ODAC News went to press, hopes of a deal in Copenhagen were finally rising, after two weeks of chaos and acrimony.
-Unplugging from the world’s power lines
-How Effective Are Renewables, Really?
-Bringing Hope to Copenhagen With a Novel Investment Idea
“as mankind proceeded to get bigger and bigger we silently crossed a threshold”
A weekly roundup of peak oil news, including:
-Prices and production
-Baghdad’s second auction
-Climate change
-The IEA’s peak
-Briefs
Many energy experts, politicians on both sides of the aisle, and representatives of the coal industry agree on the need to spend billions to develop technologies to capture and store the carbon from burning coal, thus making coal “clean” from a climate standpoint.
