When the market fails
The market does some crucial jobs so well that we’re tempted to make a quasi-religion of it. But at other jobs it fails: for example, at giving a timely signal to prepare for “peak oil.”
Fossil Fuels
Michigan conference on the future Nov. 11-14: energy, economy & environment
Keynote talks by Nicole Foss (Stoneleigh of The Automatic Earth), Dr. Joe Tainter (author of “The Collapse of Complex Societies), Steve Keen (author of “Debunking Economics” and winner of the Revere Award), Richard Douthwaite (author of “The Ecology of Money”, David Korowicz (director for the Risk/Resilience Network), Chris Bedford (president of the Center for Economic Security), and Aaron Wissner (president of Local Future).
Premiere issue of “Transition Voice”
Welcome to the premiere issue of Transition Voice, the new online magazine covering the predicaments of peak oil, climate change, economic crisis, and the the Transition movement’s response.
Energy: Recognizing how much isn’t there
Politicians don’t seem willing to face a difficult reality: There is no solution, if by “solution” we mean producing enough energy to maintain our current levels of consumption indefinitely.
Europe and China – Oct 4
– French towns swap rubbish trucks for horse-drawn carts
– Swiss Solar boat heads on around-the-world voyage
– Zero Emissions Race – 30 days around the world using renewables
– Does (European) Social-Democracy Have a Future?
– The Soot Road: Travelling along one of most polluted energy corridors on Earth
Review of “The Impending World Energy Mess” by Robert Hirsch, Roger Bezdek and Robert Wendling
Five years ago Robert Hirsch headed the team that produced the first US government-sponsored report discussing the consequences of declining world oil production. The team which wrote the original “Hirsch” report is now out with a book that discusses the current state of the world energy situation and what we can expect in the decades ahead.
Peak Oil Review – Oct 4
– Oil and the global economy
– Deepwater drilling
– Iraq
– Briefs
“Peak Shrink” blogs on peak oil for Honda
“Peak Shrink” psychologist Kathy McMahon makes a contribution to Honda’s “Racing Against Time” thought leadership series. Her blog was selected to provide a unique perspective on how we should approach the discussion of oil as a finite energy source.
Peak oil & supplies – Oct 3
– German peak oil analyst on offshore oil drilling – costs and risks
– Verifying the Export Land Model – a different approach
– Venezuela elections: “Chávez really bought into the idea of peak oil”
Getting the word out – Oct 3
– “How to Boil a Frog” – new online interviews; showings in Santa Monica Oct 8-10
– Peak Shrink blogs on peak oil tonight for Honda (NOW ONLINE)
– Dispatches from The Earth Blog: free downloadable mini-book
– Guy McPherson presentiations available online (fossil fuel, bioenergy)
– Online seminars from Imperial College, Longdon: future energy options
ODAC Newsletter – Oct 1
This week saw the release of another influential report on peak oil. Fueling the Future Force, by the Center for a New American Security (CNAS)…recommends that the Department of Defence transitions entirely away from petroleum by 2040. The publication demonstrates once again that there is a freedom to engage with the issue in military circles which as yet does not exist in mainstream politics.
Military reports leading the charge in peak oil debate
“Fueling the Future Force,” published September 27, is the third military consideration of a future of scarce oil published so far this year. It states that 77% of the US Department of Defense’s “massive energy needs” are met by petroleum – but “given projected supply and demand, we cannot assume that oil will remain affordable or that supplies will be available to the United States reliably three decades hence.” To remain as an effective fighting force, the entire US military must transition from oil over the coming 30 years.
