Fossil Fuels

The tragic sense and the need for connection

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Dave Pollard’s latest at Salon is an interesting cry in the dark about how hard it is to connect with others when you see collapse coming. My guess is that some of my readers will respond with a great deal of identification, while others will be annoyed by Pollard – but I think it bears some considering.

Interview with geologist Art Berman – Part 2

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“I don’t know where it’s going. It seems inevitable to me that it is sort of a bubble phenomenon; but bubbles can go on for 25 years or so, even though everyone knows that’s what’s happening. As long a capital markets continue to fund these things it’s going to keep on going. I’m not saying that’s even a bad thing, though I wouldn’t put any money in it, that’s for darned sure.”

Peak oil and gas prices and supplies: drilling and fracking fallout – July 26

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-Tony Hayward’s departure follows that of his mentor
-Researchers Confirm Subsea Gulf Oil Plumes Are From BP Well
-Proceed with caution on shale gas
-Siemens warns growth could fall 7.5pc if energy prices rise
-Is Matt Simmons Credible?

Asymmetrical accolades: Why preventing a crisis almost never makes you a hero

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If a catastrophe of sufficient magnitude to get the public’s attention were to occur–a sudden rise in sea level or a rapid, persistent decline in world oil production–then those in the sustainability movement would move from being prophets to being emergency responders. Maybe this would finally give them the recognition and respect they deserve. Only by then it will be too late to avert the worst.

Geologist Berman: Shale gas reserves ‘substantially overstated’

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“You have to acknowledge that shale gas is a relatively new and significant contribution to North American supply. But I don’t believe it’s anywhere near the magnitude that is commonly discussed and cited in the press. There are a couple of key points here. First the reserves have been substantially overstated. In fact I think the resource number has been overstated.”

A Deutschland disconnected from its Volk

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As elsewhere in western Europe, the advanced liberal consumer democracies are ever more unable (politically unwilling) to implement genuine change. Deutschland’s rulers in Berlin firmly believe that techno-managerial innovation (and a hefty dose of financial risk-taking) will continue to provide cures for current ideas of what is unsustainable. As has happened time and again in Europa’s history of nations, from the mid-19th century onwards, the costs of such ‘revolutions’ will be externalised elsewhere (east and south), and the ecological sustainability that Germany’s admirable network of communes have long been admired for will remain out of reach of the country’s policy and practice.

ODAC Newsletter – July 23

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As dozens of ships at the BP spill site are forced to head for harbour by the approach of Tropical Storm Bonnie, work to plug the well permanently could be delayed by up to two weeks. But eight days on the temporary cap is still holding, and officials are now ‘encouraged’ by the results. Earlier this week they were concerned that seepage near the well might be evidence of damage from the disaster that could lead to a further leak…

It’s a race to failure between rogue states and global oil output

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Dwindling global oil supplies are leaving the world ever more reliant on a group of unstable countries – many of which are themselves facing major domestic problems right now.
Believe it or not, many of the world’s major oil exporters cannot maintain their own domestic energy requirements. Venezuelan consumers endure electricity blackouts of “seven or eight hours a day,” but less well known is the situation in the Middle East, where residents are facing rolling power outages just as summer temperatures soar, and with it, the demand for air conditioning.