Fossil Fuels

Man Bites Dog: CNBC runs programs that acknowledge fossil fuel resource limits

by

I was surprised that CNBC (I sometimes think that the first “C” stands for Cornucopian*) just ran two programs that seriously talked about resource limits, Sprawling from Grace on Wednesday and Fuel on Thursday.

Of the two, I think that Sprawling from Grace was a lot better, but having said that, it seemed to me to be largely a remake of End of Suburbia, and in fact Jim Kunstler was prominently featured in both. But Sprawling was on CNBC, while End of Suburbia was not.

ODAC Newsletter – Apr 22

by

Confusion around the true extent of the spare oil production capacity of Saudi Arabia increased this week following a statement by Saudi oil minister Ali al-Naimi that his country had reduced production in March by 800,000 barrels–this despite the loss of 1 million barrels/day of production from Libya. Al Naimi went on to claim that global markets are currently oversupplied.

Energy dysfunction – April 21

by

– Oil sands investments by state-owned bank ‘not sound’, say UK greens
– Multinational fossil fuel firms use ‘biased’ study in massive lobbying push for gas
– Really Unpopular Complicated Expensive Technological Solutions For A Nonexistent Problem
– The Big Grab: 9-part series on the economic threats to Canadians posed by the Alberta oil sands

The peak oil crisis: killing off the recovery

by

Polls suggest that as many as 50 percent of American families have had some sort of financial setback in recent years. Into this milieu we now have added higher oil prices. Moreover, given the increasing unrest in many Middle Eastern states, continued robust economic growth in China and India will result in still higher prices before the year is out. It implies that in the not too distant future there will be another economic downturn.

One year later: Assessing the lasting impact of the Gulf spill

by

The worst environmental disaster in history isn’t the oil that gets away. It’s the oil we burn, the coal we burn, the gas we burn. The real catastrophic spill is the carbon dioxide billowing from our tailpipes and smokestacks every second, year upon decade. That spill is destabilizing the planet’s life-supporting systems, killing polar wildlife, shrinking tropical reefs, dissolving shellfish, raising the sea level along densely populated coasts, jeopardizing agriculture, and threatening food security for hundreds of millions of people.

Japan, oil and the fragility of globalization

by

Japan’s oil addiction and nuclear woes have shown the world what the energy status quo doesn’t want ordinary people to see: the social limits of growing energy consumption. Japan is now running on empty. Imported oil not only grows more costly by the day but also buys diminishing economic returns. To pay for imported oil or fund its anointed substitute, nuclear energy, Japan now cultivates a hellish debt load that analysts call a ticking time bomb. Unlike many oil-driven cultures though the Japanese will now fall back on traditions of resilience.