Renewables and Efficiency – Oct 5

-Oil and Solar Do Mix
-Plugged-In Age Feeds a Hunger for Electricity
-Americans Are Still Buying Gas-Guzzlers, But Here Are 7 Signs That the Market for Green Transport Is Exploding
-Passive Solar Design Overview – Part 5: Distribution, Ventilation, and Cooling
-Google working on “smart” plug-in hybrid charging
-10p to create a solar power sector in UK
-Saving BIG on electricity costs: chest refrigerators

Linking the past with the present: resources, land use, and the collapse of civilizations

The human role in extinction of species and degradation of ecosystems is well documented. Since European settlement in North America, and especially after the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, we have witnessed a substantial decline in biological diversity of native taxa and profound changes in assemblages of the remaining species…We have, to the maximum possible extent allowed by our intellect and never-ending desire, consumed the planet.

Jeremy Leggett Interview—Culture Problem in the Oil Industry?

What follows is four questions from an interview recently filmed in London by ASPO-USA’s Dave Bowden and Steve Andrews…“So I worry about peak oil. I worry about climate change. And I need no persuasion of the power of the alternatives to do something about both problems.”

Solutions & sustainability – Sept 30

-Can one woman save Africa?
-Africa doesn’t need a green revolution. It needs agroecology
-Human-made Crises ‘Outrunning Our Ability To Deal With Them,’ Scientists Warn
-The Australian town that kicked the bottle
-Energy executives offer ideas on stimulus

San Antonio: New Economy Leader or Nuclear Guinea Pig?

San Antonio’s new Mayor Julian Castro, in office just three months, has inherited a dilemma. The nation’s 7th largest city is suffering from almost 8% unemployment. With limited resources, the Mayor and City Council are searching for ways to create local jobs. At the same time, the City, through its municipal utility City Public Service (CPS), is burning through hundreds of millions of dollars on just paperwork, to prepare to spend billions on a new nuclear power plant project some 200 miles away at Bay City, TX.

ODAC Newsletter – Sept 18

This week saw further oil discoveries in the Santos Basin and off the coast of Ghana, extending a run of sizeable finds in recent weeks. Following much breathless reporting of such discoveries, it was good to them put into context by solid analysis from Morgan Stanley and Bank Macquarie…

Renewables & efficiency – Sept 16

-State predicts bright future for jobs in solar energy
-German Geothermal Project Leads to Second Thoughts After the Earth Rumbles
-Trees could be the ultimate in green power
-Renewables Transition 3: The Precautionary Principle
-Hawaii Tries Green Tools in Remaking Power Grids
-Schwarzenegger orders more renewable energy — his way