Jeremy Leggett: Oil still has us over a barrel

The discovery of a number of oilfields is good news for global energy but it does not mean the threat of peak oil is over The spate of recent giant oilfield discoveries in the Gulf of Mexico, Iran, Uganda and Brazil is welcome. A cohesive society will depend on plentiful supplies of oil for years […]

2012: Will it be the end of the world as we know it?

Will the world end in 2012 as some believe the calendar of the ancient Maya predicts? Here we examine the fact and the fiction behind the most popular doomsday scenarios. Peak oil: The reduction of global oil stocks is, of course a reality, with the world’s economies consuming – financial collapses excepted – ever-increasing amounts […]

The Peak Oil Crisis: As Summer Ends

The economic news has been relatively quiet in recent weeks. The wild plunges in the various indexes that were happening last winter have subsided. The financial writers and cable networks are busy interpreting or, where necessary, spinning each new economic report as yet more evidence that the recession is nearly over. Oil prices have been […]

Drought Withers Iraqi Farms, Food Supplies

Iraq has one of the largest oil reserves in the world, but it’s running out of another valuable commodity: water. Iraq’s ancient name, Mesopotamia, means the land between two rivers: the Tigris and the Euphrates, which flow into Iraq from Turkey and Syria. But water is now so limited for agriculture that Iraq imports 80 […]

Becalmed

I have noticed a strange phenomenon going on with my life this summer, with my friends, and apparently with the country as a whole. We have gone into a becalmed state. This past spring there seemed to be plenty of wind moving all of us around, some in directions that we didn In the old […]

UN Secretary-General Issues Stark Warning On Climate Change

Delegates attending the Third World Climate Conference in Geneva have presented an apocalyptic vision of the future if nations do not enact strong measures to stop climate change. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon launched a two-day high-level segment by warning the planet faces environmental, social and political disaster if the world’s climate is not stabilized. “The […]

No floor in sight for natural gas; prices plunge

NEW YORK On Monday, Spokane, Wash.-based utility Avista Corp. said it wants to reduce natural gas prices for its Oregon customers to the lowest levels in five years. And in the Midwest, Alliant Energy Corp. and Wisconsin Public Service Corp. both predicted heating bills would drop around 20 percent as natural gas prices plunge. AP

Has runaway Arctic warming already begun?

Runaway warming of the Arctic threatens to spread climate havoc across the globe in the coming decades, according to a new study by the environment group WWF. But has the process already begun? Climate scientists meeting at the World Climate Conference in Geneva, Switzerland, where the report was launched today, are in two minds. Some […]

Dead ahead: Similar early warning signals of change in climate

What do abrupt changes in ocean circulation and Earth’s climate, shifts in wildlife populations and ecosystems, the global finance market and its system-wide crashes, and asthma attacks and epileptic seizures have in common? According to a paper published this week in the journal Nature, all share generic early-warning signals that indicate a critical threshold of […]

Methane Gas Likely Spewing Into The Oceans Through Vents In Sea Floor

Scientists worry that rising global temperatures accompanied by melting permafrost in arctic regions will initiate the release of underground methane into the atmosphere. Once released, that methane gas would speed up global warming by trapping the Earth …Using their model, as well as seismic data and core samples from a hydrate-bearing area of ocean floor […]

Renewable Fuel Pretenders

This essay initially started out as “Pretenders, Contenders, and Niches.” However, the section on pretenders grew to the point that I have decided to split that essay up. The first part, Renewable Fuel Pretenders, will cover some of the current media and political darlings. The second part, Renewable Fuel Contenders, will discuss some options that […]

John Michael Greer: The dawn of scarcity industrialism

Two bits of news circulating on the internet in the last week or so offer a useful glimpse at some of the currents of change that are setting the future into motion around us. One of them caused a modest flutter in the dovecotes of the internet and the mass media, and the other passed […]

The power of one to make a change

Talking about thought-provoking reading, if you get an opportunity try to get a copy of Beyond peak oil: Will our cities collapse? by Peter Newman. He has written extensively on city sustainability and this paper appeared in the Journal of Urban Technology, Volume 14, Number 2, published by Routledge. Newman points out that “nearly all […]

Nuclear decline set to continue, says report

Nuclear will continue to decline according to a new report. At this point there is no obvious sign that the international nuclear industry could turn the decline into a promising future, it says. “The World Nuclear Industry Status Report 2009″ by independent consultant, Mycle Schneider, professor for energy policy Steve Thomas, consultant Antony Froggatt and […]

UK: Bath firm's power plant blow

A Bath energy firm has lost the first round of its battle to build a controversial biofuels plant in London. City centre-based Blue NG already has permission for a plant in Beckton in east London, but its plans for a biofuel power station at Southall were rejected by Ealing Council last night. The firm’s offices […]

U.N. Reports on Developing Nations' Energy Needs

It will cost between $500 billion and $600 billion every year for the next 10 years to allow developing nations to grow using renewable energy resources, instead of relying on dirty fuels that worsen global warming, according to a United Nations report released Tuesday. That astronomical estimate, far higher than any previously suggested by the […]

UK energy giants unveil proposals for five new biomass plants

Five new biomass power plants were proposed last week as UK energy companies moved to take advantage of the government’s increased support for the fast-growing sector. Four of the plants were proposed at ports in Scotland by Forth Energy, the joint-venture between Scottish and Southern Energy and Forth Ports. The plants are planned for Dundee, […]

Icecap photo shows 'mother nature in tears'

A photograph of a shrinking icecap that looks like ‘mother nature in tears’ is set to become a stark image of the dangers of global warming. Marine photographer and environmental lecturer Michael Nolan captured the pictures while on an annual voyage to observe the largest icecap in Norway Austfonna on July 16.He said the image […]

Russia sets monthly oil output record in August

Russian oil output hit a record monthly high in August, nearing 10 million barrels per day, as the world’s second-largest crude exporter launched a major new field in the Arctic and grabbed more market share from OPEC. Russia produced 9.97 million barrels per day in August, up 0.6 percent from 9.91 million bpd in July […]

People won't change lifestyle for planet: straw poll

People want to save the planet but are unwilling to make radical lifestyle changes like giving up air travel or red meat to reduce the effects of climate change, a straw poll by Reuters showed. As leaders gear up for another round of climate change talks later this month in New York, motivating people to […]

A little peaky

Peak oil theory will not die just because BP has made a discovery in the Gulf of Mexico, even a “giant” one. But Tiber is one of a series of discoveries made in mature and new areas around the world which symbolise oil’s ability to keep on confounding the sceptics. There was a massive find […]

Spain's Solar-Power Collapse Dims Subsidy Model

Spain’s hopes of becoming a world leader in solar power have collapsed since the Spanish government slammed the brakes on generous subsidies. The sudden change has rippled across the global solar industry, in a warning of the problems that government-supported renewable-energy programs can encounter.In 2008, Spain accounted for half the world’s new solar-power installations in […]

No More Clunky Rooftop Panels

Thin-film solar is revolutionizing the renewables industry. How soon can you get in on the action? Going solar used to mean spending a fortune to purchase massive, unwieldy panels that came with high production and labor costs, as well as low efficiency performance. But that era of renewable energy is coming to a close and […]

Dutch move into fast lane with 'bicycle highways'

The Netherlands plans to invest EUR 25 million to build more bicycle highways and increase bicycle usage among commuters, announced the ministry of traffic and waterways Monday. The plan is part of a government initiative to promote bicycle use, especially among those who commute to work everyday by car.“Cycling is a practical, healthy and good […]

ZENN Motors Requests DOE Grant to Build EEStor-Powered Electric Car Facility

Zenn Motors of Canada (ZNN.V) holds exclusive rights to build small electric cars using EEStor’s forthcoming groundbreaking barium-based batteries. They also hold a 10% ownership stake in EEStor, Inc. Though these EESUs have yet to be publicly demonstrated, EEStor has previously indicated it will present lab certification data and deliver production units by the end […]

Giant oil find by BP reopens debate about oil supplies

BP has reopened the debate on when the “peak oil” supply will be reached by announcing a big new discovery in the Gulf of Mexico which some believe could be as large as the Forties, the biggest field ever found in the North Sea. The strike comes days after Iran unveiled an even larger find […]

ZPG2: zero population and zero oil growth

One “emerging consensus view”, even among politicians who continue rooting for economic growth if only to claw tax receipts for paying off swollen national debt, is that world oil demand will ceiling if not crater. Peak Oil has won converts, some of them even able to openly admit it is real, but mostly selling oil […]

Fear fuels the new global oil rush

Renewed concern about oil supplies caused by rising demand has driven a spate of recent oil discoveries New technology, higher oil prices and a renewed sense of urgency due to expected rising demand after the recession have all fed the new oil rush that has triggered a glut of discoveries. Warnings from peak oil theorists […]

Time for a quick reality check

BP’s latest oil discovery is still a long way from the gas tank SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — BP’s announcement Wednesday of a “giant” oil field deep beneath the Gulf of Mexico is the kind of story that raises all sorts of breathless expectations and dire predictions. Time to take a deep breath and look at […]

Oil reserves and fossil fuel consumption

Oil has been the world’s fossil fuel of choice since the late 1960s and our taste for it doesn’t seem likely to diminish in the short term. Oil companies are still keen to secure any undiscovered reserves while continuing to be a powerful lobbying presence. You may think that with pressing concerns over peak oil […]

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