How to Make Biomass Energy Sustainable Again
From the Neolithic to the beginning of the twentieth century, coppiced woodlands, pollarded trees, and hedgerows provided people with a sustainable supply of energy, materials, and food.
Renewable Energy
The End of Oil is Near, or Maybe Not
To the extent that oil demand goes down in the future, it will go down because people can’t afford oil distillates at the price producers need to produce the corresponding oil.
Wind and solar are 30-50% cheaper than thought, admits UK government
Electricity generated from wind and solar is 30-50% cheaper than previously thought, according to newly published UK government figures.
Ten Ways I Use My Solar Oven
With all these different uses, my sun oven is full all day, nearly every sunny day. It’s a big part of how we reduced our electricity use by 85%.
Nobody takes the renewable energy transition seriously
Despite all the demands from climate activists, scientists, and even policy makers, hardly a single country is taking the shift to renewable energy seriously. Even countries and regions that claim to be working toward an energy transition are failing to do what would be required in order for the transition to succeed. What’s behind this surprising and disturbing state of affairs?
Planet of the Humans: Reviewing the Film and its Reviews
Not unlike Einstein’s summons, Planet of the Humans is at least spot on about the need to turn away from our technocentric story and all its delusions that have claimed to give us full control. Then, and only then, will any light shine like the dawn.
Banana Town: Where Michael Moore Is Censored by the Left and Promoted by the Right (Episode 24 of Crazy Town)
Asher, Rob, and Jason grapple with the cacophony, hash out the good and bad of the film and the response to it, and argue for an honest, messy-middle approach to the transition away from fossil fuels.
Review: Planet of the Humans
The documentary “Planet of the Humans” produced by Michael Moore is not the last word on our human predicament. Still, it starts a conversation we need to have, and it’s a film that deserves to be seen.
Fossil Fuel Use Not Closely Linked to Longer Life Expectancy, Study Suggest
The rise of primary energy use and CO2 emissions over four decades across 70 countries is not closely correlated with increases in life expectancy, a new study finds.
This suggests that increased fossil fuel use is not a key determinant of increased life expectancy, the lead author tells Carbon Brief.
Energy and the Green New Deal
That we must one day rely solely on renewable energy is true by definition. The fossil and nuclear fuels are depleting resources and their use entails ecological harm on an immense scale. Therefore, this use will eventually become infeasible, unacceptable, and uneconomic. But how we get from here to there is radically uncertain.
It Bears Repeating: Renewables Alone Won’t End the Climate Crisis
In other words, we have a long way to go if we choose to reduce emissions by simply replacing fossil fuels with wind turbines. As the ecologist Bill Rees noted in his recent Tyee analysis, “the green energy transition is not really happening.”
Sustainable Energy Policy in Germany: A Case of Natural Gas Lock-In
A new Working Paper from STEPS Summer School alumni seeks to explain why (and how) natural gas has assumed such a dominant role in German energy policy, and at what cost. The authors call upon fellow researchers to challenge the increasing dominance of gas in energy systems worldwide, and to intervene in academic, NGO and policy-making structures to illuminate alternative pathways.