Peak oil review – Feb 15
A weekly roundup of peak oil news, including:
-Prices and production
-China’s Growth
-India
-Quote of the Week
-Briefs
Oil
Energy Transitions and the Next “Paradigmatic Image of the World”
The history of modern humankind has undergone two major energy transitions, marked by the invention and development of agriculture and the discovery and exploitation of oil. The two energy transitions partition human history into three phases: hunter-gatherer, agricultural, and industrial. Faber et al. (1996) refer to these phases as “Paradigmatic Images of the World,” because they describe the common structure of societies throughout the world. The most important question is “what is the next paradigmatic image of the world?”
Biofuels – Feb 15
-America’s Food-To-Fuel Problem
-EU biofuels significantly harming food production in developing countries
-Burn Up the Biosphere and Call It Renewable Energy
-Palm oil deal ‘a threat to the rainforest’
ODAC Newsletter – Feb 12
The recession has bought us two years, but an oil supply crisis is still on track for 2015. That’s the message of The Oil Crunch, the second report from the UK Industry Taskforce on Peak Oil and Energy Security (ITPOES).
Agricultural Commodities in Light of Peak Oil
The subject of Peak Oil seems timely this week, as it has been pointed to in a number of news-worthy articles and video interviews. It is imperative to stay informed on this issue. This article hopes to provide some of the latest pertinent information on the subject while tying together how agricultural and oil commodities may relate to Peak Oil.
More peak oil – Feb 12
-Richard Branson Gives Peak Oil Street Cred
-The next crisis: Peak oil
-Oil shortages by 2020 due to Western ‘profligacy’, says energy boss
Tracking U.S. farmers’ supply of nitrogen fertilizer
We burn through more of it per capita than any other country; and our appetite for it can only be sated with massive imports. No, not oil–I’m talking about nitrogen fertilizer. With only 5 percent of the world population, the U.S. consumes nearly 12 percent of the globe’s annual synthetic nitrogen fertilizer production. And we’re producing less and less of it at home–meaning that, as with petroleum, we’re increasingly dependent on other nations for this key crop nutrient.
The release of the Industry Taskforce Report on Peak Oil and Energy Security
The report is what it set out to be: a well-timed wake-up call to British industry and government. … the high profile of the companies and individuals involved is a marker of the increasingly widespread, if overdue, recognition of the UK energy dilemma.
Peak oil notes – Feb 11
A midweek roundup of peak oil news, including:
-Prices and production
-The Iranian situation
-Asia still growing
-UK Industry Task Force on Peak Oil and Energy Security: 2010 Update
Peak oil, prices, and supplies – Feb 11
-WSJ – The Next Crisis: Prepare for Peak Oil
-Peak oil warnings turn up in the strangest places
-Society ignores the oil crunch at its peril
-Oil crunch ‘just five years away’
-Peak Oil Solution: The Simmons Plan
The Oil Crunch: a wake-up call for the UK economy (report excerpt)
On 10 February 2010 at the Royal Society, six UK companies – Arup, Foster + Partners, Scottish and Southern Energy, Solarcentury, Stagecoach Group and Virgin – joined together to launch the second report of the UK Industry Task-Force on Peak Oil and Energy Security (ITPOES).
Delusions of Finance: Where We are Headed
Back in October, I participated in the 2nd International Biophysical Economics Conference at SUNY-ESF in Syracuse, New York. Charlie Hall had written to me, inviting me to come and give a talk. Specifically, he wanted me to go back to my post from January 2008 called Peak Oil and the Financial Markets: A Forecast for 2008 and explain why my forecasts had turned out pretty close to correct, while many others widely missed the mark. The title he suggested for the talk was Delusions of Finance.
