Energy Policy

10 Steps in 10 Years to 100 Percent Renewable Power

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On July 17th, 2008, Vice President Al Gore challenged the nation to produce 100% of its electricity from renewable sources within 10 years. Post Carbon Institute has responded to Gore’s challenge by putting forward a new plan: “10 Steps in 10 Years for 100 Percent Renewable Power.” The plan shows how we can make Gore’s vision a reality, with a keen understanding of the roles that energy depletion, the vulnerabilities of the supply chain, and the limits of technology all play.

Peak oil – July 24

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Want floor time? First, get past Bartlett
Have we reached peak oil? NASA scientist vs Hudson Institute
Heinberg: Calm before the storm
Paul Ehrlich talks population, peak oil
Visionaries or cranks? How can you tell?
Peak oil a myth, claims geoscientist

Al Gore’s fantasy energy challenge

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Gore is like Moses, who has gone to the mountaintop to receive God’s 11th commandment that thou shalt not burn fossil fuels. Unfortunately, our civilization was founded on the abundant energy fossil fuels offer. We can not simply undo that dependency in a decade as we near the top of a growth curve that was made possible by burning coal, oil and natural gas.

Searching the “Panacea Pantry” for a quick fix

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Last week a Colorado senator published an article that offered a nuanced take on the prospects for oil shale development. He concluded: “To the boosters who think they have found the answer to our energy crisis, I say: We welcome you to our quest to develop oil shale on a commercial scale. But first let’s put the horse back in front of the cart and all start pulling in the same direction. A reckless approach that heightens the risk of an oil shale bust would only set us back.”

United States & Canada – July 20

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Mark Morford: Here’s oil in your eye
The Southwest desert’s real estate boom (land needed for solar)
Los Angeles is home to new rush of oil drilling

Former officials call for an Earth systems science agency

Carbon capture can break the old energy equation
Both candidates talk the talk on green issues but who can deliver?

Neighbors to help neighbors through winter of high prices

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“The best security you have is a prepared neighbor,” said Paloma O’Riley a decade ago, when she was rallying people to prepare for an emergency of unknown proportions.

The comment still rings true, as we prepare for a hard winter in the short term and, in the medium term, what James Howard Kunstler calls the “long emergency” of declining fossil fuels and other challenges that lie ahead. Fortunately, people at all levels in Vermont are scrambling to prepare for this winter, and many of them are conscious that high food and fuel prices are more a harbinger of things to come than a one-time increase.

A boondoggle to end all boondoggles?

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Al Gore’s recent speech on energy was not bad as such speeches go. It says all the right things about the problems we face – things quite a few of us already know – and it makes us feel good to hear them said well and to a large audience. Whether that audience is capable of absorbing the message is another matter.