Why I love coal (in its proper place)
I can’t help but wonder if people only loved coal as I do–that is, enough to leave it alone as it so clearly wants us to do–how different the world would be, how different our future would look.
Fossil Fuels
Peak oil – June 30
‘The real enemy is not peak oil, it’s resource nationalism’ (Not) / Greenhouse gases, ‘peak oil’ ruled out of order on offshore drilling legislation / Kunstler interviews / Gore on peak oil and climate change
The peak oil crisis: Our Government Forecasts the Future
Last week the US Government released the International Energy Outlook 2006 (IEO).
Unfortunately, however, from a peak-oil-is-imminent perspective, one is forced to say that many of this report’s projections are so far from reality that the EIA must be talking about some other world.
Coal: The Other Fossil Fuel
“The Smoky City” was a major industrial center of the United States in the 20th century. During World War II, Pittsburgh produced more steel than all of Germany. The steel industry centered on the Three Rivers put Pittsburgh on the map, but the Bessemer process that made steel production economical also required a great deal of coal.
Politics & economics – June 28
China’s crude oil import up 20.5 percent in May /
Iran ideological army takes on energy contracts /
Nigerian oil dispute flares into full-scale revolt /
GAO: Issues Related to Potential Reductions in Venezuelan Oil Production
Big Money and Mother Nature
Sure, there is a lot of oil and gas left out there for the driller’s bit (if you can wait long enough for a delivery of drill bits). But the deposits that the extraction companies will encounter will be smaller, further afield, and more expensive to develop and produce. The Anadarko and Phelps Dodge plays certainly illustrate another point, one for which T. Boone Pickens is equally famous: that you can still “drill for reserves on Wall Street.”
Politics & economics – June 27
US military sees oil nationalism spectre /
The US military oil consumption in Iraq and Afghanistan /
China’s Economy Forecast to Grow 10.3% in First Half /
Is Oil In a Price Bubble? /
Iraqi oil production back at 2.5 mln bbl/day /
Drilling on Wall Street
Other energy – June 27
Natural Gas concerns continued /
Even OilCos still cannot deal with aftermath of Katrina /
Norway Crude-Oil Output Slides /
High cost of asphalt steamrolls plans /
Royal Society of Edinburgh Energy Report published /
Hanford nuclear waste plant cost rises to $11.55 billion
Peaksters on the Potomac
Last month, oil “peaksters” seemed to break out of their policy doldrums when they journeyed to the banks of the Potomac for what may have been their first mainstream conference in the nation’s capital.
Peak oil – June 26
Our future(s) #2: scenario coaster / PO group near Cleveland / U.S. and PO production: does it matter? / Labor MP: our only hope lies in a new energy world order / David Howell: End of the oil age in sight? / Kunstler: alt.brains
A realtor’s view from Hubbert’s Peak
How will peak oil play out in real estate? … Shortly before Hurricanes Katrina and Rita hit our Gulf and southeast coasts last August, we reached, I feel, a peak in real estate values that we will probably not see again in our lifetimes.
Other energy – June 24
California highlights U.S. oil import dependence / Carnegie Mellon researchers like switchgrass /
EU in doubt over alternatives to oil / IEA: clean technology could cut world energy consumption in half / IEA: world not on course for sustainable energy / Coal in China / Age taking its toll on interstates
