Insight and inspiration in turbulent times.
For urban gardeners, lead is a concern
The sewage plant carries the sweet smell of valuable phosphorus
Back to the “old normal” of domesticity
Going up? Farming in high-rises raises hopes
Transitioning our food from fossil fuel based to sun based
Book review: On Borrowed Time? Assessing the Threat of Mineral Depletion
Letter in Science on Hubbert linearization
Kjell to speak on peak oil in Sydney
Are we moving towards a new oil crisis?
The slavery of oil
The fun qualities of helium stand in stark contrast to its deadly serious applications which are increasingly endangered. For although helium is the second most abundant element in the universe–hydrogen is the first–it is exceedingly rare on Earth; and, our cavalier attitude toward its use threatens tasks that are critical to maintaining our complex society.
If you’ve been following energy news with a discerning eye, then you already know better than to buy into all the hype about the Canadian tar sands…Far from being a panacea for declining supplies of conventional oil, the sands could…leave Alberta resembling “a third-rate golf course in the Sudan”…The quote comes from Andrew Nikiforuk’s new book Tar Sands, a powerful, eloquent litany of horrors associated with North America’s frenzied dash toward tar sands bitumen.
Al-Naimi says Saudi oil output below target; stockpiles to fall
Where have all the gold mines gone?
Energy in Latin America: US proposes “variable geometry”
“Peak Summit” (TOD-ASPO) June 26-28 in Perugia, Italy
Aleklett talk: the peak oil view
In the 1970s a rising world population and the finite resources available to support it were hot topics. Interest faded — but it’s time to take another look
Always eager to preview Long Emergency, end-of-civilization-oriented documentaries, I recently found myself in a rather blessed quandary. I received review copies of “Blind Spot” from Director Adolfo Doring and Producer Amanda Zakem and “The Great Squeeze” by Director/Producer Christoph Fauchere and Co-Producer, Joyce Johnson, but as I watched both several times, I found it almost impossible to decide which one I preferred.
Future Scenarios serves as a good introduction to the concept of future energy descent/climate change scenarios.
In any debate there are particular key arguments that are used to undermine the opponent. A debate as heated as that over the importance, or not, of population growth is sure to feature these. It should be clear to readers of my essay published last week that I regard population growth as the core issue in any discussion on sustainability. Many of the arguments used by those who wish to dismiss or lessen the importance of population growth are false, misleading or simply mental tricks allowing their advocates the comfort of self-deception.
The Great Outdoors arose out of ideas developed from the Free Range Network’s Less is a Four Letter Word initiative. We had to solve the problem of communicating the need for change encapsulated in the question, “in a world of excess consumption and luxury, how do you develop a means of teaching people to live simply?” …After much deliberation we hit upon a quite novel approach — we go camping!
I was watching the movie Apollo 13 recently for what was probably the fifth time, consuming it in the manner of a guilty pleasure. I say guilty pleasure because this movie is the paradigmatic technofix movie. And, I have little faith that the mounting challenges of resource depletion and climate change can be addressed by technology alone
At EntropyPawsed, we have a hand pump well. This reminds us at least daily of our water usage. This daily reminder encouraged us to develop our current system of dish washing in which we use about one gallon of water to wash the dishes.
