Insight and inspiration in turbulent times.
Smil is well-respected in the world of energy, so I think it is worthwhile looking at what he has to say about peak oil, because it may give us some insights as to where our thinking needs to be refined, or better explained, if it is to be understood by the “mainstream”.
The industry is rapidly becoming a major industrial sector of its own. It is rapidly transforming from an experimental sub-sector into one of the largest infrastructure building activities in Europe, with a soon-to-be-macro impact on energy geopolitics. The regulatory process drives everything. First, the economics need to make sense. Second, the permitting process needs to be understandable and stable.
– “Disaster on the Horizon” – new book on the Gulf oil spill
– Thomas Friedman: Build ‘Em And They Will Come
– Pentagon going green, because it has to
– US to Probe China’s Green-Tech Trade Policies
Hermann Scheer, one of the world’s leading advocates for solar power, has died at the age of sixty-six. The German economist and politician helped make Germany a renewable energy powerhouse and inspired many across the world to expand the use of solar power. We met up with Herman Scheer last month in Bonn, Germany, for what turned out to be one of his final interviews. [video and rush transcript]
For peak oil devotees, When Oil Peaked is a special treat, an eminently welcome update from a heavyweight within the field. For those who are new to peak oil or who just want a general overview, however, it’s a little more of a mixed bag. The sections on logistic versus Gaussian curves and other technical matters get awfully involved and esoteric, and casual readers may lack the fortitude to wade all the way through them. But the less involved parts on solutions, recommendations for policymakers and steps that each of us can take will hold the rapt attention of serious and casual readers alike.
Summaries of talks by Art Berman, Rick Munroe, Tad Paczek, Ken Zweibel, Ralph Nader, Anthony Perl, Dr. Charles Schlumberger, Sharon Astyk and Brian Czech.
– 10/10/10 day of climate action (photo slideshow)
– Review of the Totnes Energy Descent Action Plan
– Oxfordshire town sees human waste used to heat homes
– Transition and Social Enterprise: a short film
– Google Invests in $5bn Wind-Power Superhighway
– Hopkins Interview
TOD’s contribution to Honda’s “Racing Against Time” thought leadership series.
– French towns swap rubbish trucks for horse-drawn carts
– Swiss Solar boat heads on around-the-world voyage
– Zero Emissions Race – 30 days around the world using renewables
– Does (European) Social-Democracy Have a Future?
– The Soot Road: Travelling along one of most polluted energy corridors on Earth
This week saw the release of another influential report on peak oil. Fueling the Future Force, by the Center for a New American Security (CNAS)…recommends that the Department of Defence transitions entirely away from petroleum by 2040. The publication demonstrates once again that there is a freedom to engage with the issue in military circles which as yet does not exist in mainstream politics.
“Fueling the Future Force,” published September 27, is the third military consideration of a future of scarce oil published so far this year. It states that 77% of the US Department of Defense’s “massive energy needs” are met by petroleum – but “given projected supply and demand, we cannot assume that oil will remain affordable or that supplies will be available to the United States reliably three decades hence.” To remain as an effective fighting force, the entire US military must transition from oil over the coming 30 years.
Respected oil analyst Charles Maxwell has told Forbes – and with it the North American business establishment – to brace itself for peak oil by “2017 or 2018.” Maxwell is rapidly becoming the new Matthew Simmons, an establishment peak oil whistleblower.
