Fossil Fuels

An economics addition to The Transition Handbook

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Since the first edition of the Transition Handbook was published, huge and far-reaching changes have begun unfolding in the world economy. For many, they are seen as the outcome of the end of the age of cheap oil … What are the assumptions we have made thus far about the economy. Do they still hold after the events of recent months? Did they ever actually make sense in the first place?

Italian magazine interviews Richard Heinberg

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“The most likely scenario [is] a partial economic recovery that would be cut short by rising energy prices. The economic crisis will “help” only if we take this brief opportunity to implement drastic energy conservation measures and invest substantial sums in new renewable energy infrastructure.” (Good summary of Heinberg’s current thinking)

You’ve bought your last car

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Actually, you’ve probably bought the last of a lot of things, but I remember being struck when I first heard James Howard Kunstler say, “Most Americans have bought their last car.” So I’m going to use the example of cars to demonstrate why that is and why we won’t get off of fossil fuel in time.

Some Economic Implications of Peak Oil

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World oil production probably peaked in 2008. Liquid fuel production, including oil, is indicated by the OPEC data to have reached a peak in July 2008 at about 86 million barrels per day, with its price peaking at about the same time. ASPO International agrees, as indicated on the chart page of their recent newsletters.

ODAC Guest Commentary – How green are electric cars?

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I have been reading and watching with some bemusement a number of stories appearing in the British press and on television this past week on the subject of electric cars. The media interest is largely a reaction to the UK government’s recent announcement of plans to provide cash incentives to buyers of plug-in vehicles, designed to stimulate the market for highly efficient vehicles. A number of articles, some of which have hot-links from the ODAC website, have ‘experts’ variously dismissing the environmental benefits of electric cars as fiction, claiming their mass adoption will cause blackouts, or accusing the government of a cheap gimmick.