Insight and inspiration in turbulent times.
Our friend and colleague, Vanessa Percival, the Ontario distributor of Jotul and a number of other brands, asked me a while ago to help her solve a problem. Some of her dealers said that their staff members are often faced with challenging questions from customers or from reporters about the environmental suitability of wood as a home heating fuel. So we thought up some really hard questions and answered them as briefly as possible.
Last week we asked for your help with the YouTube/See3 DoGooder Nonprofit Video Awards. Thousands of organizations participated and four were awarded the top prize. THANKS TO YOU and your support, Post Carbon Institute secured the Best Video in the Small Nonprofit category. For this we are grateful and proud.
– The Tea Party Targets… Sustainable Development?
– Here’s where we should cut: corn ethanol subsidies
– Walmart local food?
– U.S. Oil Imports Shrink, Yet Worries Loom
The Gulf of Mexico oil disaster has increased the risk of an imminent global oil crunch — so says the UK Industry Taskforce on Peak Oil and Energy Insecurity (ITPOES). The group, whose members include Virgin and Stagecoach among others, called on the government to speed up adoption of renewables and energy efficiency measures…
In The Maltese Falcon a character tells detective Sam Spade, “By Gad, sir, you’re a character, that you are! Yes, sir, there’s never any telling what you’ll do or say next, except that it’s bound to be something astonishing.”* I’m telling Bob Hirsch the same thing. There’s no denying the man’s considerable credentials within the energy industry, nor his contribution to peak oil scholarship as principal author of the first major U.S. government report to take the issue seriously. But neither is there any predicting what outlandish thing he’ll propose next in his efforts to spread the message.
“The energy world faces unprecedented uncertainty”, so begins the International Energy Agency’s World Energy Outlook, released on Tuesday. The annual report from the energy watchdog guides the energy policies of OECD member countries including Britain.
– Why Is Obama Cuddling Up to Karl Rove and His Gas Drilling Friends?
– A Taxpayer-Funded Sucker Play for the 21st Century
– UC Davis study: Stock market expectations suggest that oil will run dry before substitutes roll out
-Brenda Palms Barber, The Promised Land (audio interview)
-Fowl energy: Chicken poo lights Gloucestershire town
-Bio-Agriculture – a Solution to Climate Change
– Surging price of oil forces US military to seek alternative energy sources
– Navajos Hope to Shift From Coal to Wind and Sun
– Our aging water systems are long past due for a major overhaul
Last week, I participated (as an invited speaker) in the 7th Advances in Energy Studies Conference in Barcelona, Spain. Other invited speakers were Charlie Hall, Joe Tainter, Marcel Collel, and Seth Blumsack. Other Oil Drum staff members at the conference were Ugo Bardi and Dave Murphy–Ugo as one of the speakers, and Dave as the second author on Charlie Hall’s presentation. Dave also asked lots of good questions! In this post, I give a few highlights of the conference.
– In Kansas, Climate Skeptics Embrace Cleaner Energy
– Uttering the “C” Word (still afraid of conservation)
– Oil Sands Effort Turns on a Fight Over a Road
– Lundberg v. Lundberg, Santa Barbara
After weeks of prediction and build up, this was finally the week of the UK government spending review statement. With the government insisting that it will be the greenest ever there was much anticipation of how the Department of Energy and Climate Change would fare in the review…
