Renewable democracy?
Even where it comes to renewable energy, we face the battle of centralization vs. relocalization, the corporatism of politics vs. democracy. Economically, technologically, politically, we face the same democratic struggle.
Technology
Peak oil, prices, and supplies – May 6
-Groundhog Day for Oil
-Oil disaster may prove tipping point for world oil production
-Mother of all gushers could kill Earth’s oceans
-Peak Oil and the Return of the Jet Set
-Not So Fast: With Gas Prices Low, A Return To Oil
-Caution Required for Gulf Oil Spill Clean-Up, Bioremediation Expert Says
Peak oil, prices, and supplies – May 4
-BP Fought Safety Measures at Deepwater Oil Rigs
-Toyota’s Bill Reinert on Peak Oil
-How Bad Is the Oil Spill? Ask the Pelicans
-Asean members try to forge agreement on oil and gas rich Spratly Islands
-Track the Gulf of Mexico oil spill movement in animated graphic
-Response options for BP oil spill
The costs of complexity
Joseph Tainter’s The Collapse of Complex Societies has become one of the most-referenced books in those peak oil circles that have confronted the severity of the predicament the industrial world faces in the age of peak oil. From the offices of Goldman Sachs to the scorched wreckage of Deepwater Horizon on the bottom of the Gulf, an uncomfortable number of today’s iconic news stories are beginning to echo his argument.
How Facebook will save the polar bears
A brief analysis of social networking in a time of crisis, the bourgeoisie luxury of flight, and why disregarding Arctic wildlife will save Arctic wildlife.
The humble battery: 210 years later, the breakthrough we still await
The battery could be a shoo-in for the most confounding of all technologies. Invented in 1799 by Alessandro Volta, it not only has yet to be perfected, but has operated all along on essentially the same chemical principles. Were that it were different: If engineers could figure out how to store sufficient electricity in a sufficiently small, light, safe container, there would be a cascading revolution — in super-utilities, electric cars, laptops and mobile phones. (Review of new book)
Renewables out of the bottle
Renewables have been growing as inside a bottle so far; a bottle made of disbelief, red tape and not enough financing. It is time for a little satori in renewable energy. Renewables can hold on their own with new and more efficient technologies, in particular the CdTe thin film version which may have an EROEI of 40. With such EROEIs, we can start thinking of renewable energy as abundant and cheap.
ODAC Newsletter – April 9
Improved job creation data in the US along with strong Asian demand led to a run on oil prices this week taking the price of a barrel beyond $87 and out of the ‘goldilocks’ $70-$80 territory of recent months. Forecasts for the rest of the year are all over the board…
Innovation – April 4
– The salty taste of energy independence
– New ‘smart’ roof reads the thermometer, saves energy
– Dept of Energy: Give us your ideas
Faith-based economics in two graphs
A newly available graph of projected oil supplies prepared by the U. S. Energy Information Administration shows us exactly how much faith it takes to practice faith-based economics. To be a true believer one has to wager the entire future of our oil-dependent civilization.
Food & clothing – April 4
– Marijuana, dark horse savior of California agriculture
– Bill McKibben: The only way to have a cow
– On job creation—local fruits and vegetables vs. corn and soybeans
– Farmers can return to proper role as innovators and stewards of the land
– Should we be planning a new approach for producing clothing?
Will enhanced oil recovery be an oil supply savior?
Oil supply optimists often say that the application of enhanced oil recovery techniques to existing and future wells will vastly expand oil reserves and oil production. The trouble is these techniques aren’t new, and they are already being widely applied. That means current oil reserves and production already reflect any effect they have had.
