Geopolitics & Military

The OPEC bulletin and focus on Angola

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At the moment it seems like everyone wants a piece of Angola. The queue of prominent visitors is long with the USA’s Secretary of State Hillary Clinton at its head. Where it smells of oil one can also find China … The international oil companies are trying to maximize oil flows from Angola’s deep water fields where production is very expensive. This means that production from these fields will lie on a plateau for some years before the usual very rapid decline begins. If we look into the future this will mean that Angola will reach Peak Oil before 2030. According to Colin Campbell they will reach peak production in about 10 years.

What difference would Nord Stream mean to European energy supply?

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The plans to build the politically and environmentally controversial Nord Stream pipeline have been in the air since 1997. With Finland and Sweden finally saying “yes” to the pipeline in their waters, the wheels of construction are now in full speed with the first line to be opened in the 2011. This will bring relief to Europe that is struggling with energy supply–yet not everyone is a winner.

Richard Heinberg: Peak Coal and Blackout (book review)

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Richard Heinberg is an important figure in the world of those interested in the energy crisis and its consequences, and one of the rare few, along with James Kunstler, to have had their work at least partially translated into French…His latest book, Blackout: Coal, Climate and the Last Energy Crisis, is dedicated to coal, and has aroused considerable interest, and this all the more so because it highlights a problem which had previously only been mentioned in relatively confidential reports: the imminent depletion of coal reserves.

Food & agriculture – Jan 26

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-Care Farming
-Campaign to save tropical forests failed by food giants
-Golf and the great Lao land grab
-Food carts take the curse off Portland’s parking lots
-One quarter of US grain crops fed to cars – not people, new figures show
-Reclaiming Value: An Interview with Raj Patel
-How Cows (Grass-Fed Only) Could Save the Planet

ODAC Newsletter – Jan 22

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Oil prices dropped this week on rising US inventories, a strengthening dollar, and news of a further crackdown on credit in China. Speaking from the World Future Energy Summit in Abu Dhabi this week, Richard Jones, Deputy Executive Director of the IEA predicted that there would be little price volatility in 2010 as existing supplies and stock build ups would balance demand.