Insight and inspiration in turbulent times.
Canadian energy authorities have done it again. They missed their last rosy projection of future oil sands production, so they issued a new one: they merely pushed the big surge in production 5 years into the future.
Abstract: In recent years, several published reports have assured the public that all is well with the global petroleum supply, citing new oil-production technologies and a record-high oil-reserve figure. Oil production has exceeded demand since late 1997, driving oil prices downward. Global oil consumption, however, is continuing to increase while new oil discoveries decrease…
In a commentary published in The Times this week to coincide with the Copenhagen climate talks, Fatih Birol, Chief Economist of the International Energy Agency wrote that on existing energy demand projections “the world faces the prospect of a peak in conventional oil production in about 2020…
Klimaforum, the people’s conference, has started slowly. Maybe a 1000-2000 of us in many different locations feeling our way into perhaps the defining moment of our life and times which this conference represents and reflect the hopes an fears of our generation in a way that no other I have even been to does. There is a tension and an intensity that I have never felt before.
-Cultivating Resilience: The Shelburne Falls Food Security Plan
-think global : eat local
-The Local Price Premium
-Nitrous oxide concerns cloud future of biofuels
-Regreening Africa
-Community Food Enterprise: Local Success in a Global Marketplace
-Grow $700 of Food in 100 Square Feet!
-N.J.’s food pantries and politics: Hungry people need food– end of discussion
Many energy experts, politicians on both sides of the aisle, and representatives of the coal industry agree on the need to spend billions to develop technologies to capture and store the carbon from burning coal, thus making coal “clean” from a climate standpoint.
The IEA has pretty much conceeded peak oil, announcing that growth to meet demand in the coming decades will come from entirely mythical sources. Ok, they didn’t say that, what they said in the latest World Energy Outlook was that the majority of oil production by 2030 will be coming from “fields yet to be developed or found.” But what that means is “we’re hoping someone with magic powers will come and reverse the long-stand trend towards decline in oil discovery.”
Some of us think America is in Big Trouble. The often sarcastic way I cast doubt on government unemployment statistics today may strike you as negative in the extreme, and in a way it is. But the real dilemma we face is simple: are we going to address deep structural problems in our economy? Or are we going to keep lying to ourselves about those problems? How long are we going to pretend they don’t exist?
-Greek Debt Poses a Danger to Common Currency
-Gross, Roubini Weigh Dueling Chinese Bubbles: William Pesek
-Greece downgraded over high debt
-Credit Agencies Downgrade Debt Linked to Greece and Dubai
-Market jitters as Spain joins Dubai on danger list
-Optimism on economy fading, poll shows
-Iraq insurgents try to blast elections off course
-Scenarios-Will Iraq honour deals with oil majors after polls?
-Iraqi PM condemns sectarianism
Many of the issues discussed on this bandwidth are large, long term, and threatening. Consider the three primary society-wide topics of analysis and discourse: climate, energy and the economy. It is my belief these 3 are linked by an underlying cultural growth/debt imperative running into a planet with finite sources and sinks…If you find yourself in a debate about any of these issues you’ll find apathy or you’ll find cognitive biases underlying a polarized opinion.
Jan Lundberg moved to Portland a year ago because it seemed like the best place to pursue his intersecting passions for food security, peak oil, bicycles, and sailing. These passions will be coming to fruition later this month when the oil analyst’s brainchild, the Sail Transport Network, will launch into its first major, ongoing local venture.
