Oilquake in the Middle East
Whatever the outcome of the protests, uprisings, and rebellions now sweeping the Middle East, one thing is guaranteed: the world of oil will be permanently transformed.
Fossil Fuels
Peak oil notes – March 3
A midweek roundup of peak oil news, including:
-Developments this week
Corporations are fueling our peak oil crisis
Radio and television host and author of The Last Hours of Ancient Sunlight Thom Hartmann talks about ways we can all help combat global warming. Speaking from the grounds of Wisconsin’s 2010 Fight Bob Fest, Hartmann insists that Americans need to change the way we live if we are going to save the planet, and the first step has to be getting active in the political process.
Energy, food, revolution – an inextricable link
What we see is fairly simple – and incredibly complicated. The intertwining of markets, of energy and food, tied by biofuel production and national policies, and the fact that we are not in control of either one. And that when food and energy prices spike, the world is transformed.
Frozen Assets
Southwestern Michigan caught winter’s blast last week. It’s not nice to lose power in the coldest month of the year, especially when you’re sick of snow, ice, heavy coats and that frozen bleakness that makes you feel as though winter will never end. It’s been 35 years since I’ve had to live through a long power outage but this one gave me an opportunity to consider some new meaning in the value of energy and its effect on life both at home and in my community.
Interview: Richard Heinberg
I sat down with Richard Heinberg in late December via Skype to learn about his forthcoming book, The End of Growth, and to hear more about what he thinks lies ahead as energy declines accelerate and the world economy sinks further into recession.
‘Fracking’ comes to Europe, sparking rising controversy
As concerns grow in the U.S. about the environmental impact of hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking,” to extract natural gas from shale, companies have set their sights on Europe and its abundant reserves of this “unconventional” gas. But from Britain to Poland, critics warn of the potentially high environmental cost of this looming energy boom.
Resource alarms and responses – Mar 1
-Spain adopts energy saving measures to combat oil price hike
-China pollution ‘threatens growth’
-Denmark Targets Fossil-Fuel Independence Through Wind, Biogas
Did Saudi Arabia really raise its oil production?
As we begin another week of turmoil in the Middle East, and countries further afield batten down the hatches in an effort to preclude being next, here are some of the things we don’t know: — Whether oil prices are going up to $220 a barrel (and $5 at the pump), or down to $70 a barrel and more like $2.50 for a gallon of gasoline in the United States; — Whether Saudi Arabia really increased its oil production last week, or if the truth is a bit different; — And, finally, whether Russia’s gentleman president, Dmitry Medvedev, has been rummaging through Vladimir Putin’s archive of paranoid off-the-cuff remarks, and truly does not grasp what is happening around him.
Ingredients of Transition: Peak oil resolutions
Local and regional authorities aren’t planning strategically for peak oil, and it is not a concern reflected in their policy making. They may not even understand it. Without a clear statement of concern about the issue, any further steps or actions on the issue will not have a foundation.
Commentary: How much oil will be recoverable?
It seems to me that above some imaginary line, resources can be extracted and producers can make a profit selling them, and the economy can use them successfully. Below the imaginary line, the cost of production will be so high that if a price that is adequate for a producer to make a reasonable profit is charged, the high price will send the economy into recession.
Oil versus light: Jeremy Leggett
This civilization uses oil for its blood. Almost everything we make, buy, and use has oil in it’s food chain. You know that. Never mind that we are bleeding carbon into the sky and the ocean, or the developing climate shift. Even if oil was lily white, we are still running out of the cheap stuff – that we need for a global economy feeding billions of humans. And we are determined to drive right off that cliff, without a Plan B.
