The birth of ethical oil

In the days after the U.S. government made it clear expansion plans for the Keystone XL pipeline were on hold until at least 2013, energy experts, industry insiders, politicians and others wondered aloud where Canada’s international oilsands message had gone wrong. Prime Minister Stephen Harper, just weeks before a decision was delayed to better study […]

Energy future lurks where sun don’t shine

THERE are 300 days of sunshine each year at Villanueva del Rey in southern Spain, and it is driving the hopes and aspirations of advocates of sustainable energy not just in Europe but around the world. In the fields outside Villanueva del Rey is the Gemasolar plant, billed as the world’s first around-the-clock solar power […]

UK: Field of dreams, or an environment nightmare?

Under a new government “licensing round” early next year – the first since 2008 – bids for shale gas exploration licences are expected to surge, industry experts have told The Sunday Telegraph. The company responsible for Britain’s only active shale gas drilling, Cuadrilla Resources, recently claimed a gigantic 200 trillion cubic-foot find at its site […]

New oil reserves pose threat to OPEC dominance

While the world remained focused on Tahrir Square — another revolution of its kind has been in the making — impacting, changing and altering the global energy dynamics. The issue of global energy security seems changing nexus now, resulting in uncertain call on Saudi and OPEC oil in medium term. Large new, conventional and unconventional […]

Pakistan defies US over Iran gas pipeline deal

The timing of this economic confrontation could very well be the raison d’être for today’s reports of a US-NATO attack on Pakistani border troops, as natural gas has emerged as one of the most significant pieces on the geopolitical chessboard in the 21st century- one which allows suppliers to dictate region policy and balance of power. Pakistan […]

Pakistan blocks NATO supply route after deadly raid

Pakistan accused NATO on Saturday of killing 26 soldiers in a lethal air strike, protesting in the strongest terms to the US and sealing its border to NATO supplies bound for Afghanistan. It was the deadliest NATO strike reported by Pakistan during the 10-year war in Afghanistan and looked set to inflame already extremely difficult […]

John Michael Greer : Bringing It Down To Earth

We’ve covered a lot of ground in the last two months or so, and at this point I want to summarize the territory thus explored and link it back into the core of this blog’s project—the search for a realistic understanding of the troubled future ahead of us, and a meaningful way to respond to […]

Peak Oil and Energy

Robert Newmans history of oil 2006

Energy Shock How Peak Oil Will Change Your Life

China will drive the cars and we will ride bikes? I don’t think that will go over very well.

Why Is Economic Growth So Popular?

When the new Italian Prime Minister, Mr. Mario Monti, gave his acceptance speech to the Senate, a few days ago, he used 28 times the term “growth” and not even once terms such as “natural resources” or “energy”. He is not alone in neglecting the physical basis of the world’s economy: the chorus of economic […]

The Energy Return on Investment threshold

Hall and Day (2009) report that the EROI for coal might be as high as 80 and that for hydropower, EROI is 40. Does this mean that coal is twice as ‘good’ as hydro? The answer is no, and in this post I will discuss how this relates to the idea of an EROI Threshold. […]

The Scientific Challenges To Replacing Oil With Renewables

So, assuming the Peak Oil camp is on to something, what’s the likelihood for a disruption-free transition to another energy source that can replace the energy output we currently enjoy from oil? There’s no shortage of promising claims from new laboratory experiments, and there is a lot of optimism in political and entrepreneurial circles that […]

UK Foreign Office: Prepare for riots in euro collapse

British embassies in the eurozone have been told to draw up plans to help British expats through the collapse of the single currency, amid new fears for Italy and Spain. As the Italian government struggled to borrow and Spain considered seeking an international bail-out, British ministers privately warned that the break-up of the euro, once […]

Vietnam Boosts Presence in South China Sea

Vietnam plans to continue building roads and schools to assert sovereignty on islands also claimed by China while moving to stifle any protests that display false patriotism, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung said. Vietnam will expand its presence on the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea and seek talks on the Paracels now occupied […]

Study Funded By National Science Foundation Concludes: ‘Global Warming Rate Less Than Feared’

As serious scientists pull back from the alarmist predictions of the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, and from the extreme policy pronouncements of left-wing lobby groups, the complex reality of climate is starting to emerge. AFP reports today, “Global warming rate less than feared: study”: High levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere may […]

Under-sea energy network ‘possible’

A sub-sea renewable energy grid connecting Scotland, Ireland and Northern Ireland is “viable and competitive”, according to a study. The report was published as government ministers from the three countries met to discuss the proposal in Glasgow. The grid concept, known as Isles, would harness wind, wave and tidal energy and help meet European Union […]

Now China to probe U.S. renewable energy support

China on Friday announced an investigation into government policy and subsidy support for renewable energy, weeks after the United States decided to probe sales of Chinese-made solar panels. The announcement by the Commerce Ministry also comes after China’s solar industry association said on Tuesday that Chinese solar companies may ask Beijing to launch an anti-dumping […]

China’s environmental watchdog tightens control over rare earth projects

The Ministry of Environmental Protection on Thursday announced a list of the first 15 rare earth metal enterprises that have passed the ministry’s environmental protection check. The enterprises were selected from 84 companies that passed inspections by environmental watchdogs in 14 provincial divisions, said Tao Detian, the ministry’s spokesman. China currently has more than 300 […]

As Colombia ramps up oil exports, it has ‘growing pains’

These are boom times in Colombia’s oil patch. Currently the seventh-largest foreign supplier of crude oil to the United States, Colombia is on track to play a bigger role — and soon. The South American country is ramping up production and expects to hit 1.5 million barrels a day by 2015. That would be a […]

China: Oil output to rise steadily as gas output soars

China’s oil production will rise steadily over the next 20 years, and its gas output will soar, the Ministry of Land and Resources said Thursday. Combined oil and gas output is expected to rise to 360 million tons of oil equivalent by 2015 and 450 million tons by 2030, up from 280 million tons last […]

Renewable energy becoming cost competitive, IEA says

Renewable energy technology is becoming increasingly cost competitive and growth rates are in line to meet levels required of a sustainable energy future, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said in a report on Wednesday. The report also said subsidies in green energy technologies that were not yet competitive are justified in order to give an […]

UK: Predicting energy prices is hard, but doing nothing is fatal

Danish physicist Neils Bohr, who knew a lot about uncertainty, said: “Prediction is very difficult, especially about the future.” But to take the timely action needed to give the UK a clean, secure and sustainable energy system and avert the worst impacts of climate change, that’s exactly what you have to do. Chris Huhne, the […]

Russian oil projects and international cooperation in the Arctic

One fifth of the territory of the Russian Federation is located in the Arctic which is hiding 100s of millions of tons of oil and gas. With 85% of its shelf in the Northern Seas Russia’s Arctic will lead the way in oil and gas exploration in the future. One of the most promising regions […]

Seas off Arctic island may hold oil bonanza: Norway

The waters off a tiny Norwegian Arctic island may hold vast amounts of oil and gas, the Nordic country’s authorities said, as they prepare to open the zone for exploration by oil firms. Recent geologic studies conducted in the seas off the volcanic Jan Mayen island, a speck of land some 1,000 kilometers (621 miles) […]

Predicting the Psychological Response

Predicting the Psychological Response of the American People to Oil Depletion and Declining Energy Return on Investment (EROI) Jessica G. Lambert and Gail P. Lambert http://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/3/11/2129/ Abstract: Oil has played a crucial role in the United States’ continued but increasingly tenuous economic prosperity. The continued availability of cheap, high energy return on investment (EROI) oil, […]

Mike Ruppert Responds To Questions From Occupy London Stock Exchange

How would you describe the current crisis? (As in, is it a crisis of finance, politics, energy…? or all of the above!)   MCR – This is a crisis of human industrial civilization. Everything is on the table and everything is collapsing, including our faith and beliefs in many venerable sacred cows. Addressing the issues […]

Peak oil vanishes; peak green arrives

Peak oil theory and the green energy fad both arise from a failure to ­understand how markets work Half a dozen years ago, the late peak oil fanatic Matt Simmons claimed in his book Twilight in the Desert that the Saudis were lying about their production capabilities. Earlier this year, Jeff Rubin, a former chief […]

Saudi Fuel for Power Plants to Rise 53% by 2017 as Demand Grows

Saudi Arabia, the world’s biggest crude exporter, will need 53 percent more fuel to fire its power and desalination plants by 2017 as demand jumps, the head of Water & Electricity Co. said. The kingdom will use 2.3 million barrels a day of oil equivalent by 2017 for power, compared with 1.5 million barrels last […]

Turkmenistan to boost China gas deliveries

Turkmenistan will boost natural gas deliveries to energy-hungry China under an agreement signed Wednesday that will see the central Asian nation supply about half of China’s gas needs. The agreement will increase annual gas deliveries by 25 billion cubic meters a year, bringing the total to 65 billion cubic meters annually. That’s equivalent to more […]

R-Squared Energy TV: Episode 2 – Environmentalist and Debunking Myths

This week’s episode of R-Squared Energy TV considers a couple of questions that I receive from time to time. The questions are as follows: You’ve called yourself an environmentalist in the past; can you expound on that? What causes do you support? Do you get enjoyment out of debunking myths? Popout Next week’s episode will […]

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