Peak oil review – Mar 19
A weekly roundup of peak oil news, including:
-Prices and production
-Isolating Iran
-Defense turns pessimistic
-Energy stat of the week
-Briefs
Fossil Fuels
Commentary: Debunking Peak Demand
The notion of ‘peak demand’ is often invoked to suggest that the US or global economy is somehow less in need of affordable oil today or that Americans are simply finding car ownership passé. But is this really the case? Are we weaning ourselves from dependence on oil? The statistics paint a more nuanced story.
A Miracle In the Marcellus Shale?
It’s fair to say that lot of people, from shale gas operators to Pennsylvania state revenue collectors, see $$$ every time they think about the Marcellus shale. Only recalcitrant environmentalists worried about polluted drinking water do not salivate at the prospect that many years of U.S. gas supply will come from the Marcellus. Today I will not deal with the environmental issues. Instead, I want to examine the view that resources in the Marcellus are a big part of the shale gas cure-all for America’s energy problems.
Natural Gas Boom Gets Put On Hold
I’m sure many of you are aware that there’s been an enormous amount of hype accompanying the coming Shale Gas Revolution.
A ‘watershed month for the truth about peak oil’
Recent weeks have seen an explosion of information on peak oil – everywhere it seems except in the mainstream media. It may be in the business sections, but not the news pages.
Deep thought – Apr 18
– Joe [Bageant], why did you crap out on us?
– The global war on tribes
– Guy McPherson: Surveying the field and charting a course
– “Space, Oil and Capital” (book)
– The index of life
Forever and a day
Talk with many green technology advocates and you might get the impression that we have forever and a day to make the transition from an unsustainable society to a sustainable one. But the most critical question is how much time we have to make the transition. A fully equipped hospital with on-duty surgeons and staff may be the ideal technology for a critically injured patient. But they mean little to such a patient if we are in the position of having to build the hospital and train the surgeons and staff before administering treatment.
The future of capitalism – profits and growth
Growth is only possible when energy flow is increasing. It is pretty simple really. When energy flow is increasing in each subsequent time period it is possible to increase the amount of work devoted to increasing the asset base of society. Alternatively, if the energy flow is decreasing…
ODAC Newsletter – Apr 16
“By 2012, surplus oil production capacity could entirely disappear, and as early as 2015, the shortfall in output could reach nearly 10 MBD.” Such is the summary not of ODAC, ITPOES or ASPO, but of the United States Joint Forces Command…
Peak oil news – Apr 15
A midweek roundup of peak oil news, including:
-Prices and production
-International Energy Agency
Oil Supply Crunch: 2011-2015
Concerns are mounting about peak oil, and there continues to be much debate over when the peak will be reached, whether a plateau can be sustained or whether the onset of decline would occur quickly, whether we will hit peak demand before we hit peak supply, etc.
Social Security and Medicare funding issues: even worse when one considers resource constraints
When we think about the taxes and the federal deficit, we don’t usually think of Social Security and Medicare, because in government lingo, the payments we make for these programs aren’t taxes, they are contributions, and the funding deficit for these programs is not taken into account in determining the federal deficit.
