Fossil Fuels

Flying blind

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These thoughts are prompted by the latest wave of lobbying by British business interests for a third runway at Heathrow. I get weary writing about this: I went through the relevant trends at length a couple of years ago and found that in terms of air transport in the richer world almost all the trends were headwinds.

Shale gas – Oct 8

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-Cabot’s Methodology Links Tainted Water Wells to Gas Fracking
-Shale gas report by health officer may remain secret
-Experts: Despite China’s efforts, technology constraints could curb shale gas development
-Water problem in shale is drawing a flood of capital
-Penn State Faculty Snub of Fracking Study Ends Research

How we misjudge the risks of oil depletion and climate change

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Many people dismiss the risks associated with oil depletion and climate change–even many who accept the two issues as problems. They judge those risks to be small or at least manageable. Since no one can know the future, we cannot be sure whether they are right or wrong. But even if they are right, should we be so sanguine? As we examine this question, keep in mind that we are talking about probabilities and the level of risk, not absolute knowledge which none of us can have about the future.

The new “Golden Age of Oil” that wasn’t

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Last winter, fossil-fuel enthusiasts began trumpeting the dawn of a new “golden age of oil” that would kick-start the American economy, generate millions of new jobs, and free this country from its dependence on imported petroleum. It turns out, however, that the future may prove far more recalcitrant than these prophets of an American energy cornucopia imagine.

Heroic Endeavor: NRDC Community Fracking Defense Project

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Abandoned by the state of Pennsylvania and drilling company Rex Energy after the state’s testing found no evidence of groundwater contamination, distressed residents (whose well water is discolored and reeks, and whose families have suffered rashes and other ailments) had nowhere else to turn for clean water but their community. That’s when a group of area churches, including the Presbyterian church where my dad is a pastor, joined together to supply jugs and bottles of clean drinking water to affected families.

ODAC Newsletter Oct 5

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News of Turkish military retaliation to a mortar round fired from inside Syria spooked oil markets this week. Former Arab League envoy to Syria Kofi Annan has warned that there is a danger that the Syrian conflict could spread and destabilise the region, although the Turkish Prime Minister said on Thursday that his country had no intention of starting a war…

Oil – Oct 4

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-How Coal Brought Us Democracy, and Oil Ended It: Lessons from the New Book “Carbon Democracy”
-Keystone
-Cost to replace each barrel of oil produced is up 350%
-Iraq oil output likely to hit 3.4m bpd in 2012