Fossil Fuels

ODAC Newsletter – Mar 12

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What do you do if you’re an energy consultancy that finds itself on the wrong side of the peak oil argument just as much of the oil industry and the rest of the world embraces the idea? The solution devised by eternal optimists IHS CERA, hosting a conference in Houston this week, is to sidestep this embarrassing development by simply rebranding the problem: ‘peak demand’.

China o los Estados Unidos: ¿Cuál será la nación que mantenga liderazgo?

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Qué tonto. Yo habia pensado que los líderes del mundo querrian evitar la caída de sus naciones. Seguro que trabajan duro para evitar la caída del sistema de finanza, del sistema alimenticio, del sistema social, ambiental, y el principio de una miseria abrumadora, verdad? Pero no, eso no es lo que demuestra la evidencia. Me inclino a pensar que el objetivo de los líderes mundiales, no es de salvar a sus naciones de la caída, sino, sencillamente ser el último en caer para poder devorar a los que cayeron antes.

World crude oil production may peak a decade earlier than some predict

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In a finding that may speed efforts to conserve oil and intensify the search for alternative fuel sources, scientists in Kuwait predict that world conventional crude oil production will peak in 2014 — almost a decade earlier than some other predictions. Their study is in ACS’ Energy & Fuels, a bi-monthly journal.

Are “More Jobs” Sustainable or Necessary in the Post-Peak Oil World?

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What was required for a growing economy, that was supposed to uplift all of modern humanity, is at root a false notion for the manipulated public: the overwhelming majority must work for others to enrich the few so that all of society benefits through unlimited expansion. This problematic profit-scheme is failing to hold up, what with general economic uncertainty on the rise (apart from “Hope”) and the advanced depletion of easily extracted, cheap oil.

The Local Food and Farming Revolution

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…Most of us know in our bones that a sea change is coming in agriculture. But the biggest driver of that change is not going to come from the issues that I’ve mentioned so far. The biggest driver is going to be the increasing cost and decreasing availability of fossil fuels, especially oil. Because agriculture is so dependent on oil, the entire system is extremely vulnerable to oil depletion—and to oil price spikes. The situation brewing on the horizon regarding oil compels us to begin rethinking how we grow our food, and even how we eat.

We’re All Sunk

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It’s almost too easy to vilify corporations. What, with all the evil stuff they do. Take the coal industry for example, who blow up our mountains, poison our air and water, contribute massively to global climate change, and spend untold millionsof dollars on disinformation campaigns, lobbying Congress, buying Senators, and lying to block efforts to tackle the climate crisis. I mean, they are practically begging for our hatred, right? Right.

Magical thinking

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Peak Shrink has an interesting post on The Tyranny of Positive Thinking, a review of Barbara Ehrenreich’s book Bright-sided: How the Relentless Promotion of Positive Thinking Has Undermined America. In it, she expresses the same frustration I’ve felt when dealing with our cult of positivity.

Transition Culture roundup – Mar 9

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-A March Round-up of What’s Happening out in the World of Transition
-Transition on ‘One Planet’ on BBC World Service
-Transition Sunshine Coast delivers EDAP
-“Genuine resilience results from expanding the human footprint”. Discuss