Insight and inspiration in turbulent times.
Drawing parallels with the current financial meltdown, Matthew Simmons, the CEO of Simmons & Company International, expresses his alarm about gasoline stocks being the lowest in several decades and refinery production down following recent hurricanes. He warns that if there were a run on the “energy bank” by everyone topping off their gasoline tanks, the U.S. would be out of fuel in three days, and grocery shelves largely emptied in a week.
The issue of planning for and administering fuel emergencies is complex and multi-layered, involving a range of commercial interests, government agencies and a tangle of legislation, policies and jurisdictions, one of the largest and most influential of which is the International Energy Agency, an autonomous body within the framework of the OECD.
A weekly update including:
– Prices
– Curbing emissions and consumption
Price Trends: Gasoline and CPI Are Twins
Davos confronted by peak of distrust
Putin and Wen, ‘Cocky’ No More, Pay Davos Price for Recession
These four presentations were taped at the ASPO-USA 2008 conference. Morey Wolfson’s GoogleEarth presentation zooms into global Choke Points, primarily in the middle east. Jeff Vail discusses geopolitical elements to energy limitations. Tom Whipple describes ASPO resources and current energy strains. Terry Backer explains how to get a peak oil resolution through a legislative body.
It is clear that oil depletion will overwhelm our economies and global warming may overwhelm much more But for people who are newly unemployed, impoverished, homeless and don’t have enough to eat, the President and Congress must hold out the promise of near-term help.
Russian oil production reaches its peak
EU spending spree brings carbon capture closer to reality
UK gets biofuels research centre
Britain’s energy industry is nosediving into a dark, uncertain future
In further coverage of the ASPO-USA 2008 conference, Peak Moment features Robert Hirsch and Kyle Saunders, aka. Professor Goose on the Oil Drum.
Wind power set to decline under Obama?
Reactivating Nuclear Reactors for the Fight against Climate Change
Advice to Pres. Obama (#6): Beware the Hungry Ghosts
Richard Heinberg, author of Powerdown, makes plain the dire situation we’re in as declining oil supplies fail to meet demand. He notes there are no easy “supply side” solutions (like substitute fuels): we must reduce demand, initially through conservation and efficiency. Julian Darley, president of Post Carbon Institute observes that while personal action is very important, individuals can only do so much.
This Great Squeeze: Surviving the Human Project is the latest film from Colorado-based Tiroir a Films. This sequel to their 2006 offering, Energy Crossroads: The Burning Need to Change Course, looks to dig deeper into how the concurrent processes of resource depletion, climate change, ecosystem destruction and our consumption-oriented economic model are threatening to destroy both our planet and possibly our very civilization. I would say in large part that it succeeds.
Another Confirmation of Oil Depletion
Over the Cliff for Natural Gas in North America?
Coal in South Asia
