Fossil Fuels

Energy descent and transition in Mexico, part 1

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“In Mexico nothing happens, until it happens.” This is an old proverb here, and it can also easily apply to the current situation. Everything feels tranquilo and smooth, as if it is nothing out of the ordinary. However, as history shows us, once something begins in Mexico, it generally develops rapidly, and can end up being intensely spectacular.

The peak oil crisis: watching a mega-crisis

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We, in America, are deep in the midst of a four-sided crisis. The first side is an economic slump; second, surprisingly, is our government’s panicky efforts to stabilize the situation; third, the imminent peaking of fossil fuels and numerous other resources that seems to be in abeyance for the moment; and fourth, global warming which in the long run could overshadow the other three by a wide margin and is attracting considerable amounts of government and Congressional attention.

Ethanol Summit 2009 and President Clinton

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When President Clinton made his first of six trips, Brazil was a poor nation that needed to borrow money from its wealthy brother. Today the roles are reversed. The USA now borrows money from the entire world while Brazil has money in its “piggybank”. The decisive change is that Brazil is on the way to becoming self-sufficient in oil and that they export ethanol, while the USA is becoming increasingly dependent on imported energy. Access to energy is decisive for a nation’s future.