Insight and inspiration in turbulent times.
BP took a gamble this week, entering into partnership with the Russian state backed energy company Rosneft. The deal frees the company from a stormy relationship with its oligarch partners at TNK BP. At the same time, it effectively makes BP business partners with the Kremlin…
*Green energy would save EU trillions by 2050 -report
*Saudi Arabia Announces Plans For 100% Switch To Renewables
*Back to the future of the post-carbon world
I have written several times here about ‘Transition Streets’, the street-by-street behaviour change model created by Transition Town Totnes which was the winner of the 2011 Ashden Award for behaviour change. I am delighted to announce today is that now Transition Streets (also known as ‘Streets-Wise’) is available for any group to run, anywhere.
Oil prices remained steady this week as the closure of the Keystone pipeline in the US to address possible safety issues balanced bearish news on the Chinese economy. Beijing reported that Q3 saw growth slow to 7.4%, compared to the same period last year.
In early October, the eco-village, Änggärdet, Sweden, hosted two days of Live Action Role-Play (LARP) along the theme of life 2016-2027, post peak oil and post economic collapse. Players got the opportunity to explore what various scenarios would be like, including being commaned into a work detail bu the military to harvest the last remaining potatoes by hand, and by joining a self-organised, worked-by-hand co-housing combi-farm.
With gasoline scaling $4 a gallon recently, plans announced last week by international oil giant BP to export U.S.-produced crude oil ought to have Americans howling. For such a plan to be good energy policy–rather than merely profitable for the oil industry–the United States would have to be producing more than enough oil to meet its own needs. But the country produces nowhere near that amount. Nevertheless, the industry’s deceptive campaign to make the public and policymakers believe that the United States is on the verge of energy independence seems to be succeeding–a push that is really just a smokescreen for selling the country’s oil and natural gas to the highest bidder.
The International Energy Agency released a new report this week in which it took a detailed look at the prospects for the Iraqi oil and gas industry out to 2035. The conclusion is that oil production in Iraq could increase significantly by 2020 – doubling or even trebling IF, and it is a big if, there is huge investment…
News of Turkish military retaliation to a mortar round fired from inside Syria spooked oil markets this week. Former Arab League envoy to Syria Kofi Annan has warned that there is a danger that the Syrian conflict could spread and destabilise the region, although the Turkish Prime Minister said on Thursday that his country had no intention of starting a war…
-Designing the grid for renewables
-Liquid Air: The Birth of the Nitrogen Economy
-Danes set the pace on green energy vision
-California Governor Jerry Brown green lights renewable energy push
-Polls: Voters back clean energy, climate policies
A year ago I would’ve loved the optimistic and can-do tone of Power from the People: How to Organize, Finance, and Launch Local Energy Projects. While all too many solar panel and wind turbine buffs are Polyannas who promise that America can enjoy decades of economic growth in the future if only we’d dump dirty energy for solar and wind, author Greg Pahl offers a more realistic assessment of the limited potential of clean energy. Pahl is a peak oiler who understands the concentrated power of fossil fuels and knows that no amount of renewables can replace the energy we now get from coal, oil and natural gas.
A weekly review including:
– Oil and the Global Economy
– The Middle East
– Slowing economies
– Quote of the Week
– Briefs
Smart grids, electric cars and Power From The People.
