Oil

The Way is Shut

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When I first approached the topic of societal energy in 2004, I became aware for the first time that our energy future was not in the bag, and proceeded to explore alternative after alternative to judge the viability and potential pitfalls of various options. I have retraced my steps in Do the Math posts, exposing the scales at which different energy sources might contribute, and the practical complexities involved. My spooky campfire version of the story, a la Tolkien: The Way is Shut.

Will Occupy Wall Street start drilling for peak oil?

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Though there’s been a flurry of books about the Occupy movement in the last few months, few of them have said much about energy and the environment. Predictably, writers have largely focused so far on the core issues that originally filled Zuccotti Park last fall, an unfair economy and politics corrupted by corporate lucre.

Now comes a new title on Occupy that takes ecological overshoot seriously, Occupy World Street: A Global Roadmap for Radical Economic and Political Reform. Refreshingly, the book also zeroes in on the issue that the energy-savvy find behind all our financial and political woes today: peak oil.

En busca de un milagro: Los límites de la ‘energía neta’ y el destino de la sociedad industrial

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El informe explora alguno de los escenarios de transición de energía propuestos actualmente, mostrando por qué, hasta el momento, la mayoría son demasiado optimistas, ya que no tienen en cuenta todos los factores relevantes que limitan la expansión de fuentes energéticas alternativas.This is a Spanish translation of the Post Carbon Institute and International Forum on Globalization and report ‘Searching for a Miracle’.

How you can tell that the peak oil debate is (almost) over

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Far from being discouraged by the rash of peak oil denunciations in the media lately, I am invigorated by it. Remember: we’re now on offense; they’re on defense. The opposition has to explain why oil production has been flat since 2005 despite high prices. And, the twisted logic and demonstrably false assertions they offer will provide ever better opportunities to trump them again and again.

Peak oil – Feb 18

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– NPR: Ex-Shell CEO and Peak Oil Researcher Face Off Over America’s Energy Future
– WaPo: Has the United States beaten peak oil? Not so fast.
– Much ado about Hotelling: Beware the ides of Hubbert (Hubbert curve is a major determinant for oil prices)
– ¿Cuánto petróleo hace falta para extraer un barril de petróleo? (Charles Hall intervista)
– Roland Vially, géologue à l’IFP : “les hydrates de méthanes pourraient constituer une nouvelle source de gaz à l’horizon 2030”

How reliable are U.S. Department of Energy oil production forecasts?

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No individual or organization is always going to be right when it comes to projections of future oil production. What we should expect is that in general, an individual or organization should more often than not be within some reasonable range of the actual future production level. Unfortunately, the U.S. DOE/EIA’s projections are too frequently off by a substantial amount.