‘Net metering’ allows people to be mini-power producers

Their electric meter runs backward when they produce more power than they use HYDE PARK – When the sun shines bright on their home in New York’s Hudson Valley, John and Anna Bagnall live out a homeowner’s fantasy. Their electricity meter runs backward. Solar panels on their barn roof can often provide enough for all […]

Mud Pies and Dunce Caps: Part 2

What is the value of our current education system in preparing our children for a future that will be dominated by the impact of peak-oil, global warming and climate change, and other global disasters on the near-term horizon? Our society tends to take for granted the availability of universal public education. We also tend to […]

Mud Pies and Dunce Caps: Part 1

We are experiencing an epidemic rise in childhood diseases. What are the implications for their survival as we slide past peak oil and go into permanent energy decline? Every parent wants to do the best they possibly can to prepare their children to deal with and overcome the obstacles and struggles they will face in […]

Norway Energy Minister: Arctic Reserves Key for Energy

Vast petroleum reserves in the Arctic are a key source of world energy, but development must also protect the fragile cold-weather environment and curb greenhouse gases, Norway’s oil minister said Monday. “If the U.S. Geological Survey is right, 25% of the world’s undiscovered petroleum reserves could be found in the Arctic. Thus, the Arctic region […]

Mexico’s December Crude Output Lowest Since Nov 2000

MEXICO CITY: Crude oil production at Mexican state oil monopoly Petroleos Mexicanos, or Pemex, fell 6 percent to 2.98 million barrels a day in December from 3.16 million barrels daily in November, the company reported Monday. Pemex, one of the top foreign suppliers of crude to the U.S., said exports fell to 1.53 million barrels […]

Analysis, planning needed to keep water plentiful

With all the well-deserved attention water quality gotten recently, let’s make sure Iowa’s water is not only clean for our children and grandchildren but also plentiful. The demand for water for ethanol and other industries has brought the issue of water quantity to the forefront. While we are by no means close to a water […]

The Oil Drum: Trade, Transportation and the Chinese Finger Trap

One of the central underpinnings of neo-classical economics is trade. And one of the central tenets of trade is the the Ricardian theory of comparative advantage. Trade (in theory) benefits both parties because they are better off after the exchange. But our international trade system has, by baby steps, become completely dependent on crude oil. […]

High prices prod developed world to curb oil use

Annual consumption drops for the first time in more than 20 years Mild winter weather has something to do with it. So does heavy selling by financial funds. But a largely overlooked factor in the recent plunge in oil prices may portend an end to the multiyear rise in crude. For the first time in […]

Will oil prices keep falling?

Oil has fallen below $50/barrel. Will it fall further to $40/barrel? Or will it rise again to $75/barrel? Both scenarios are possible. Indeed, both price levels could be reached in the coming year, given the way oil prices see-saw violently. One thing is clear: the notion that global oil production has peaked and will now […]

Ending industrialism

Will peak oil save the climate, or shall we first embrace a new culture? We will have to be much more imaginative as a people if we are to take meaningful action to deal with global warming. It is a simple truth that economic activity that transforms the Earth into consumer products is the main […]

Mexico feeling effects of ethanol boom

U.S. demand for corn pushes prices up for farmers, shoppers SAN SALVADOR EL SECO, Mexico – High corn prices are wreaking havoc on Mexico’s inflation rate and forcing shoppers to pay more for eggs, milk and tortillas. But they’re a godsend to farmers such as Victor Manuel Amador Luna. With world corn prices riding high […]

The unknown unknowns

We are frequently assailed with the notion that knowledge is doubling every n-years and that the interval between doublings is shrinking with each doubling. We are even told that knowledge will someday be increasing at a rate that is so fast it will represent a distinct break in human history. After this turning point, often […]

South Africa: Who controls the power?

Perhaps one of the most worrying aspects of last week’s power cuts is the level to which South Africans have come to expect them. Shops, factories, banks, farmers and even small businesses have invested in generators so they can function when the lights go out – yet again. This is sensible, but also disturbing, as […]

The ethical challenges of healthcare and peak oil

An ethical conflict occurs whenever the rights of two or more people, or groups of people, come into conflict. Put another way, it occurs when everyone can’t get what they want, and tough decisions need to be made about the allocation of scarce resources. It is particularly likely that ethical dilemmas will arise during the […]

New nuclear power

How millions for lobbying, campaigns helped fuel U.S. industry’s big plans Buoyed by billions of dollars in subsidies pushed through Congress by the Bush administration, the U.S. nuclear power industry says 2007 is the year its plans for a Kerekes credits improvements in plant design and efficiency and the ability to operate without spewing carbon […]

Bush State of Union to stress energy security

Focus expected on ethanol, cleaner coal, hybrid cars and nuclear power WASHINGTON – A year after warning America of its addiction to oil, President Bush is expected to renew concerns about energy security in his State of the Union address. But will the rhetoric be followed by action? Up to now, the record has been […]

The Iraq war is entirely my doing.

In 1974 I learned how to drive. From that day forward I have squandered the futures of all peoples on the planet. I pissed away their inheritance. Screw ‘em. I’d like to thank all the US presidents since the Titusville, Pennsylvania oil wells of 1859 for making plans to keep me happy right up till […]

The Insurance Climate Change

Coastal homeowners in the East are losing their policies or watching premiums skyrocket. Carriers say that global warming is to blame. …Why the sudden rash of cancellations? An increase in “extreme weather events” that many scientists Global warming is the culprit, claim many

The Oil Drum: Peak Oil and Climate Change

These Much more after the jump to The Oil Drum.

Nobel laureates say sustainability needs more than science

“Adoption of currently feasible energy-efficiency standards would go two-thirds of the way to energy independence,” McFadden said. “It should be feasible for us to achieve energy sustainability by 2050 using primarily existing standards. Then we support research into new technologies, which we will need in the last half of the century.” sfgate

Battery Breakthrough?

A secretive Texas startup developing what some are calling a “game changing” energy-storage technology broke its silence this week. It announced that it has reached two production milestones and is on track to ship systems this year for use in electric vehicles. EEStor’s ambitious goal, according to patent documents, is to “replace the electrochemical battery” […]

U.S. urged to ramp up geothermal power

Mining heat stored in rocks in the Earth’s crust could meet a growing portion of U.S. electricity demand, replacing aging nuclear and coal plants with an environmentally friendly alternative, researchers say. A Massachusetts Institute of Technology study said the mining of thermal energy could be done on a far larger scale than conventionally known, reducing […]

Russia and Algeria Sign Energy Cooperation Agreement

Russia and Algeria, Europe’s two biggest suppliers of natural gas, signed an energy cooperation agreement that the European Union has pledged to monitor because of concerns it may develop into a cartel-like alliance. Russia, the world’s largest gas producer, supplies a quarter of Europe’s gas and Algeria almost 10 percent. The cooperation between the two […]

OPEC Dumps Treasuries at Fastest Pace Since 2003 on Oil Slide

OPEC nations are unloading Treasuries at the fastest pace in more than three years as crude oil prices tumble, sending bond yields higher. Exporters including Indonesia, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela, sold 9.4 percent, or $10.1 billion, of their U.S. government debt securities in the three months ended in November, according to Treasury Department data. Members […]

7 Ways to Save the World

Efficiency is also a great way to lower carbon emissions and help slow global warming. But the best argument for efficiency is its cost msnbc

Green Biologics Awarded

Green Biologics (GBL), an Oxfordshire (UK) biotechnology company, has received greencarcongress

Researchers Observe Superradiance In A Free Electron Laser

At the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory, a team of researchers has generated extremely short light pulses using a new technique that could be used in the next generation of light source facilities around the world to catch molecules and atoms in action. Published on January 19, 2007 in Physical Review Letters, […]

Alternative Energy Refueling Systems Act Garners Praise

The American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE), a national industry trade association with nearly 1,500 members nationwide, has praised U.S. Senators John Thune (R-S.D.) and Ken Salazar (D-Colo.) for introducing the Alternative Energy Refueling Systems Act of 2007 — a bill that would assist gas station owners in installing alternative fuel pumps through federal grants of […]

Many Contracts; but Is There Enough Natural Gas?

In 2005, world gas production has been 2763 bcm(billion cubic meters). The proved reserves of natural gas are 179.83 tcm (trillion cubic meters) according to BP Statistical Review. With 2005 consumption amounts, the natural gas reserves are enough for the next 65 years. There is more good news; the proven reserves are expected to increase […]

Russia to cut use of energy transit countries

Russia’s President Vladimir Putin said on Sunday that Moscow would reduce its dependence on transit countries, such as neighbouring Belarus and Ukraine, to help guarantee security of energy supplies to Europe.His comments were in part a reference to the controversial Nordstream pipeline, which a consortium led by Gazpro, the state-controlled energy group, is building under […]

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