Energy – Feb 7
– Kunstler interviews Arthur E. Berman, Petroleum Geologist: Magical Thinking and Fracking (audio)
– Coal Lobby Warns Wind Farms May Blow Earth Off Orbit (video from The Onion)
– Energy.gov: Where information goes to die
Fossil Fuels
Energy and presidential politics
Va. Governor Bob. McDonnell is on a GOP VP short list and recently threw his endorsement to candidate Mitt “corporations are people, my friend” Romney. But in an era of energy decline it’s worth learning how heavily Big Coal funds McDonnell, who calls himself a “friend of coal,” and how uncommitted he is to clean energy.
Peak oil review – Feb 6
A weekly roundup of peak oil news, including:
-Oil and the global economy
-The Iranian confrontation
-Gasoline
-In the Congress
-Quote of the week
-Briefs
Gas boom goes bust
The current boom in drilling for ‘unconventional’ gas has helped raise US production to levels not seen since the early 1970′s. This has been an incredible boon to consumers and has kept spot prices contained below $5 per million BTU for the past year, recently dropping below $3/mmbtu. Unfortunately, this price is below the cost of production for many of these new wells. When the flood of investment currently pouring into natural gas drilling operations dries up, the inevitable bust will be as scary as the boom was exciting.
Commentary: Businessweek gets it wrong – Everything you know about peak oil is NOT wrong
On January 26, Bloomberg Businessweek printed an editorial by Charles Kenny titled, “Everything You Know About Peak Oil Is Wrong”. This editorial reflects several common misunderstandings.
Oil – Feb 6
– Oil prices will rise as supplies tighten? Hardly. (NEW)
– Energy policy and the Madness of Crowds (NEW)
– Debate rages on when oil will peak
– Too Much Energy Used to Mine, Move Bitumen Says BC Firm
– Saudi Oil Minister Calls Global Warming “Humanity’s Most Pressing Concern”
That falling feeling: Shale gas estimates continue downward
The history of revisions to oil and gas resources has heretofore been one of increases. For the first time, we are now seeing not just downward revisions in estimated natural gas resources, but drastic downward revisions.
ODAC Newsletter Feb 3
High oil prices ensured that profits at the major oil companies rose again in 2011 – Shell’s full year profits leapt 54% to $28.6 billion while Exxon’s increased 35% to $41.1 billion. With this kind of money at stake it is no surprise it is almost impossible to get a sensible debate about our energy future…
Energy – Feb 3
– Science: Live Chat: Peak Oil—Is the Well Running Dry? (NEW)
– Michael Lynch: The Unfounded Fear of the ‘Peak Oil’ Monster
– Science: Technology Is Turning U.S. Oil Around But Not the World’s
– Once, men abused slaves. Now we abuse fossil fuels
– Thomas Homer-Dixon: Our peak oil premium
– The End of Elastic Oil
– Power paradox: Clean might not be green forever
– How Much Energy Does Energy Efficiency Save?
The recovery of the human
The myth of the machine, the theme of last week’s Archdruid Report post, has implications that go well beyond the usual terms of discussion in the peak oil scene. One of those implications, which I mentioned briefly last week, unfolds from the way that so many people who are concerned about peak oil fixate obsessively on the hope that some kind of machine will solve the problem.
Peak oil notes – Feb 2
A midweekly roundup of peak oil news, including:
-Developments this week
The Peak Oil Crisis: Election 2012
What does peak oil have to say to us about the coming election? In general, those who understand the nuances of the phenomenon of the peaking of global oil are saying that world oil production is either at or is very close to reaching its all-time peak. In recent years leveling out of conventional oil production has resulted in a fivefold increase in oil prices. This increase in oil prices is believed by many to be a key reason, if not the key reason, for the economic troubles currently besetting much of the world.
