Fossil Fuels

Shale gas: the problem with EROEI

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In monetary terms, shale gas seems to be a good deal. In EROEI (energy) terms it is probably less good but it may still provide a positive return. It is in environmental terms – in the so called “external costs” that shale gas is a disaster. It may be that society is reacting to scarcity in the wrong way by following a path that is perhaps easing the situation in the short term (getting more energy) but horribly worsening the problem in the medium/long term (global warming).

ODAC Newsletter – Apr 15

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The IEA reported this week that there are preliminary signs of oil demand destruction due to soaring prices. Goldman Sachs underlined this viewpoint on Tuesday by advising its clients to sell oil, copper, platinum and cotton. Prices fell in response, although concern over conflict in the Middle East and Saudi production saw prices nudging up again by the end of the week.

A new Pickens plan: Good for the U.S. or just for T. Boone?

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Three years ago, with a flurry of national publicity, billionaire Texas oilman T. Boone Pickens outlined his vision of how to help wean the U.S. off imported oil. The crux of the plan was to build a massive, $1 trillion network of wind farms stretching from Texas to North Dakota, which would replace domestic natural gas used to generate electricity. The excess natural gas would then be used to power millions of American trucks and cars, thus freeing the U.S. from the shackles of OPEC oil.

What if your President’s just not that into you?

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Many of us are left wondering how to deal with the president. Climate change, above all issues, requires a transformative and not an incremental vision. We have fundamental change to make, and a very short window to make it in–Obama’s typical (and often quite savvy) little-bit-at-a-time approach doesn’t square with the physics and chemistry that govern this debate.

Review of IMF analysis, “Oil Scarcity, Growth, and Global Imbalances”

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The International Monetary Fund recently released its latest World Economic Outlook (WEO), April 2011. Chapter 3 of this document is titled, “Oil Scarcity, Growth, and Global Imbalances” (36 pgs). As far as this author is aware, the IMF has not done any previous work on peak oil, and the new Outlook seems to be the first acknowledgment by the IMF that the peaking of global oil production is a situation which could be both imminent and serious.

New report suggests shale natural gas is worse for climate than coal

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A new study from Cornell suggests that the production of natural gas from shale using fracking techniques generates more greenhouse gases than burning coal. The report has generated coverage by New York Times, BBC, Wall Street Journal, Houston Chronicle, as well as a response from the NG industry. (Article extracts and links)
UPDATE: Link to the embargoed report

Breaking the habit

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Rob Hopkins describes our fossil-fuelled industrialised lifestyle as an addiction. We’re addicted to oil. And that presents humanity with a major dilemma: we find ourselves stuck inside a destructive self-replicating system with very few ideas of how to get out of it. We can either get together and find ways to liberate ourselves, or face the consequences of a planetary meltdown. Tough call either way.