Insight and inspiration in turbulent times.
The cover of the current Atlantic promises to tell “why the future of clean energy is dirty coal,” but the article is necessarily sparing with evidence that emissions from burning coal can be economically “sequestered” (or kept out of the atmosphere).
For two weeks now the peak oil portion of cyberspace has been abuzz with commentary on the International Energy Agency’s (IEA) newly released World Energy Outlook 2010. Without missing a beat and without much explanation, the world’s leading compiler of everything about energy has gone from denying that conventional oil production will peak in our lifetime to saying it happened four years ago. Will wonders never cease!
Rarely is the public treated to such inaccurate, misleading and unhelpful “journalism” as in “There will be fuel” by New York Times correspondent, Clifford Krauss (New York Times, November 17, 2010) , even in this era of political spin and smoke and mirrors surrounding energy. The facts of the matter are that no nation on earth is more dependent on imported oil than the U.S
– WSJ: China’s Coal Crisis
– ‘Peak coal’ to see prices soar (audio)
– Should we be planning for the end of cheap coal?
– The Chinese Coal Monster – running out of puff
– The Atlantic: Dirty Coal, Clean Future
– Cleaning Up Coal
– Fridley, Heinberg discuss ‘peak coal’ in NATURE journal
The Gulf of Mexico oil disaster has increased the risk of an imminent global oil crunch — so says the UK Industry Taskforce on Peak Oil and Energy Insecurity (ITPOES). The group, whose members include Virgin and Stagecoach among others, called on the government to speed up adoption of renewables and energy efficiency measures…
So, last night CBS hauled Aubrey McClendon, CEO of Chesapeake Energy, on board their flagship Sunday infotainment vehicle, 60 Minutes… McClendon told the credulous Leslie Stahl and the huge viewing audience that America “has two Saudi Arabia’s of gas.” Now, you know immediately that at least half the viewers misconstrued this statement to mean that we have two Saudi Arabia’s of gasoline.
Coal is very vital to China and decreasing exports, together with increasing import clearly show that they have a supply problem. But whether this is due to resource problems, production problems or infrastructure bottlenecks is hard to say yet. A more comprehensive study of the Chinese coal assets needs to be done.
The world is going to get rounder and bigger again. We’ll discover — surprise! — that the global economy was a set of transient economic relations that obtained only because of a half century of cheap energy and relative peace between the big nations.
The disconnect between the American body politic and reality grows larger every day. In reviewing hundreds of pages of commentary on the election, one searches in vain for analysis that even come close to describing what is happening to the nation – i.e. we are in the midst of a massive deflating credit bubble and running short of affordable liquid fuels at the same time.
For those addicted to more roads, airports and the sweet smell of gasoline, the IEA’s 2010 World Energy Outlook includes some pretty sober reading.
Anyone who has spent much time discussing peak oil, the collapse of civilizations, climate change or modern security issues eventually confronts the issue of historical antecedents. The [Insert choice of vanished civilization here] collapsed because of X, and that’s the same thing that is happening now . . . . For those who have delved more deeply into such lines of argument, one thing becomes abundantly clear: historical civilizations did not collapse for a single reason. Fast-forward to present, and there is no shortage of commentary forecasting crisis or collapse of our modern civilization. But these analysts have failed to advance a comprehensive systems-theory approach to our civilization’s troubles. Enter Nafeez Mosaddeq Ahmed.
A weekly roundup of peak oil news, including:
-Oil and the global economy
-World Energy Outlook 2010
-China
-Briefs
-Quote of the week
