Insight and inspiration in turbulent times.
The world is heading for a renewed oil crunch as soon as 2013 due to shrinking production capacity and growing demand in the emerging markets, according to reports from two investment banks. Both BofA Merril Lynch and Barclays Capital conclude non OPEC production is close to peak, meaning a shift back to reliance on OPEC for new capacity…
-Does Facebook deserve the hell it’s catching from Greenpeace?
-Saudi Arabia to export solar power soon, US says
-Energy expert Lovins brings conservation message
-The new wave: Harnessing the power of the ocean
The predicament of industrial society unfolds to a large extent from its mishandling of energy issues. Because of that, the laws of thermodynamics — and no, to borrow a phrase, they’re not merely suggestions — have to be taken into account in any attempt to make sense of the economics of the approaching deindustrial age.
After almost thirty years of telling people to burn only dry wood and not to let their fires smolder, we should admit that such general instructions don’t work very well. I speak from experience, having co-authored the following statements decades ago in a booklet that was widely distributed. . .
More than 1,800 homes in Northwest Ohio are powered by wind thanks to Ohio’s first large scale community wind project—part of a new, growing trend in alternate energy.
Fuel cell company Bloom Energy made quite a stir over the weekend, with a spot on the CBS “Sixty Minutes” TV program in the United States (The Bloom Box: An Energy Breakthrough? – see the link for the video and transcript).
Even for staunch proponents of U.S. biofuel policy, it is hard to argue that the current subsidy on grain ethanol serves the purpose it was designed to serve. With ethanol mandates now in place in the form of the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS), there is a mechanism – with penalties for non-compliance – to ensure that gasoline blenders use the mandated amount of ethanol. Maintaining a subsidy on top of a mandate would be like paying people to obey the speed limit.
The mood amongst oil company executives meeting in London this week for the Petroleum Week conference was largely bullish, with global oil demand expected to recover this year as the world economy crawls out of recession. But the production side of the equation is becoming increasingly difficult and expensive…
-Controversy mounts in EU over fall-out from biofuel
-British Airways to fly jets on green fuel made from London’s rubbish by 2014
-BA’s biofuels plans mean a lot of garbage: the problem of “peak waste”
-What’s stopping us getting solar power from deserts?
-Norway plans the world’s most powerful wind turbine
-It’s Green Against Green In Mojave Desert Solar Battle
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has initiated a review of the New Source Performance Standards (NSPS) for wood heaters. That might seem like a desperately boring bureaucratic project, and in some ways it probably will be, but after all the hand-wringing and endless haggling is over, the result could be fundamental changes to wood heating technology that could shake the foundations of the manufacturers that make it and forever alter the wood heating experience of users.
A weekly roundup of peak oil news, including:
-Prices and production
-China’s Growth
-India
-Quote of the Week
-Briefs
