Insight and inspiration in turbulent times.
Welcome to the last ODAC Newsletter, the final news roundup from the Oil Depletion Analysis Centre…2012 saw US oil production grow to its highest level in 15 years, largely because of surging tight oil production by fracking, and many pundits such as Ed Morse of Citi are claiming “peak oil is dead”. So has ODAC been worrying its silly little head entirely unnecessarily for the last five years, and could all our energy troubles soon be over? We continue to think not…
These days, people are maxed out on every level trying to get through life as everything gets more tedious, expensive, and uncertain. The onslaught of “glittering generalities” and opinionated political rhetoric coming from popular media and paid advertising on “both” sides is enough to make many shut off and tune out – their philosophical bandwidth running at full capacity until it is choked off entirely.
A mid-week update
•Peak Oil Warning From an IMF Expert : Interview with Michael Kumhof •Bosses’ fears over energy and resource costs hit new high •Total CEO: New Peak Oil Production Seen at 98 Million Barrels/Day •AEO2013 Early Release Overview
In a competitive world economy, there is little role for people who need high wages because they live petroleum dependent lifestyles.
When people read about a long-term forecast of world oil supply–say, out to 2030–they often believe that the forecasters are merely incorporating our knowledge of existing fields and figuring out how much oil can be extracted from them over the forecast period. Nothing could be further from the truth. Much of the forecast supply has not yet been discovered or has no demonstrated technology which can extract or produce it economically. In other words, such forecasts are merely guesses based on the slimmest of evidence.
A mid-week update.
The United States’ fiscal cliff is very much related to several changes we have been going through recently, and will likely continue to experience: 1. High oil prices (more than triple their level ten years ago).
While researching the topic of sustainable agriculture for a paper, high school junior Rhian Moore came across the work of PCI Senior Fellow Richard Heinberg. Rhian reached out to Richard for more information on the topic. Below are Rhian’s questions and Richard’s brief responses. We think they make for a nice primer of sorts.
Long story short, I believe that a strong case can be made that the decline in world transportation fuels will mark a major turning point in modern economies, because of the importance of such fuels to essential human activities.
A weekly update, including:
•Oil and the global economy
•Middle East
•Europe
•The climate summit
•Quote of the week
•Briefs
Is Superstorm Sandy a game changer for the national conversation about climate disruption? In the wake of the hurricane, activist Bill McKibben and oil industry veteran John Hofmeister face off on the topic of global warming.
