Energy – Jan 16
– OPEC pumping at near maximum
– Jack Gerard, head of API, on peak oil
– Tverberg: Problems with corn ethanol
– Hidden Pitfalls of Increasing U.S. Dependence On Canadian Oil Sands
Oil
A dramatic shift in the peak oil discussion: “You don’t have to take my word for it”
If you write about, speak about, or talk with your family, friends and co-workers about peak oil, you’ve almost certainly been asked: “Well, who else is saying what you’re saying?”
ODAC Newsletter – Jan 14
This week saw the release of the full report by the National Commission into the Deepwater Horizon Spill and Offshore Drilling. Last week’s pre-release of Chapter 4 saw blame for the disaster attributed to a culture of complacency around safety both in the industry and its regulators. This week’s full report included the commission’s recommendations…
Lucky economists, unlucky scientists?
For decades, economists (Cornucopians or optimists) have been at odds with natural scientists (Malthusians or pessimists) when it comes to the scarcity of natural resources.
Peak oil notes – Jan 13
A midweekly roundup of peak oil news, including:
-Developments this week
-The EIA’s Short-Term Energy Outlook
To protect and serve: interview with Mike Ruppert
You may know author Michael Ruppert in one of his many roles as a truth-seeker: the chain-smoking star of the documentary film “Collapse,” the seemingly boundless energy source behind CollapseNet, a former beat cop and police detective and a sometime 9/11 theorist. In this interview, Ruppert reveals a new role as a spiritual seeker, saying that with societal collapse in the offing, “God is on the table.”
The Deepwater Horizon spill report – Jan 12
-Oil spill report: Initial analysis
-Disregard for safety led to Deepwater Horizon spill
-Panel Faults Oil Firms, Calls for Better Oversight
-National Oil Spill Commission Finds Right Problems, Issues Wrong Solutions
-Missed Opportunity: Spill Commission Rejected by Drillers
Secrecy by complexity: Obfuscation in energy data, and the primacy of crude oil
For over five years national oil companies and publicly traded oil companies have been free to sell oil into an ever-rising price environment. But no increase in global crude oil production has been forthcoming.
The globe’s limitations: How peak oil threatens economic growth
In the second video in the series “Peak Oil and a Changing Climate” from The Nation and On The Earth productions, Richard Heinberg, senior fellow with the Post Carbon Institute, discusses how depleting oil supplies threaten the future of global economic growth. According to Heinberg, historically there has been a close correlation between increased energy consumption and economic growth. If the economy starts to recover after the financial crisis and there is an increased demand for oil but not enough supply to keep up with that demand, we may hit a ceiling on what the economy can do.
2011: Living in interesting times
Some economists have high hopes for 2011. The stock market has broken 11,000 and many predict GDP growth. I don’t necessarily see a rising stock market and GDP as indicators of economic health, especially since the vast majority of stock market gains goes to a very small minority of people. The stock market may zoom, GDP may grow, but what will be happening to the majority of people – considering the forces and trends that are in play? Maybe it’s my pessimistic side, but I continue to have some major concerns about the economy…
Peak oil review – Jan 10
A weekly roundup of peak oil news, including:
-Oil and the Global Economy
-Colder Weather
-Recovery threatened
-The return of al-Sadr
-Quote of the week
-Briefs
Commentary: The Tierney-Simmons bet
Five years ago, John Tierney, a columnist with The New York Times, and Matt Simmons, peak oil guru and founder of energy investment bank Simmons & Co., made a bet. Simmons argued that oil prices would be much higher in 2010. Tierney, a believer in human ingenuity and a follower of economist Julian Simon, took the other position. Simon, a so-called Cornucopian, argued that there would always be abundant supplies of energy and other natural resources and that the real price of commodities like oil would remain stable or decline over time.
