The dawn of the great California energy crash

California, which imports over 25% of its electricity from out of state, is in no position to lose half (!) of its entire nuclear power capacity. But that’s exactly what happened earlier this year, when the San Onofre plant in north San Diego County unexpectedly went offline. The loss only worsens the broad energy deficit […]

China’s “Race for Resources”: Dambisa Moyo Sees Commodity Conflicts and Scarcity Ahead

Much has been made in about China’s huge investments in resource-rich Africa in recent years and Chinese President Hu Jintao pledged another $20 billion in loans during his visit last week. But it’s not just Africa where China is looking to secure access to commodities, notes international economist Dambisa Moyo. “There’s not a single region […]

IEA sees modest oil demand hike in 2013

In light of muted economic recovery, global oil demand in 2013 will increase by 1 million b/d to average 90.9 million b/d, the International Energy Agency said in its latest monthly Oil Market Report. For the first time, demand in developing countries will overtake demand in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). The […]

Farming Without Machines: A Revolutionary Agricultural Technology

Originally published in 1974, How to Grow More Vegetables, Eighth Edition: (And Fruits, Nuts, Berries, Grains, and Other Crops) than You Ever Thought Possible on Less Land than You Can Imagine1 remains a vital resource for farmers, agricultural researchers and planners, sustainability activists and home gardeners, as the world confronts the challenge of feeding a […]

Is a class society sustainable?

Contrary to what many believe, we cannot extricate ourselves from the peak oil and climate change crisis we find ourselves in today simply through a technological fix. To follow such a course is to engage in the same mindset and practice that got us into our present dilemma. As we argued in last month’s column […]

Japan to probe ‘active faults’ under nuclear plants

Japan’s nuclear safety watchdog on Wednesday ordered a probe into claims the country’s only working nuclear power station sits on an active tectonic fault. The order came as Kansai Electric Power Company (KEPCO) readied to refire a second reactor at the Oi plant, western Japan, just weeks after the first unit was restarted, ending a […]

As the world’s population grows, hunger persists on a massive scale

Nearly 1 billion people are malnourished, and a child dies of hunger every 11 seconds. By 2050, farmers would have to double crop production to meet the demand. Kenya — His rib cage rose and fell with tight, rapid breaths. Saad Siyat looked shrunken beneath the hospital blanket. His wide-set eyes rolled up into his […]

Massacres, Droughts, And A Society Unraveling

Asking the proper question is the central act of transformation. ~Clarissa Pinkola Estes~   This has not been a good year for Colorado. My home state, like so many others in America, has been besieged by drought and scorching heat, culminating last month in the High Park fire west of Ft. Collins which burned well […]

The Economic Collapse For Dummies

If last week’s 74-page all-encompassing thesis on “how ‘everything’ is interconnected and headed for ‘complete systemic disintegration’” is a little too much, here is a 10 minute clip that ties together all the loose ends of the reality bubbling just beneath the veneer of hope that so many call our markets. A spectacular gathering of […]

We’re Headed To $8 Natural Gas

There is a glut of natural gas. Everybody knows that. There’s so much of the latest multi stage hydraulic fracturing going on from New York State to Texas and all places in between, prices will be low forever. But just as a full watering hole can deplete quickly the current gas storage glut can recede. […]

Food vs. Fuel and the Midwest Drought

It was bound to happen. As long as US corn output continued to climb year after year, the federal mandate to blend steadily increasing quantities of ethanol into gasoline could be accommodated without creating a shortage of this staple grain. Unfortunately, crops are subject to all sorts of uncertainties, including the severe drought conditions that the […]

TEPCO subcontractor used lead to fake dosimeter readings at Fukushima plant

Workers at the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant were ordered to cover their dosimeters with lead plates to keep radiation doses low enough to continue working under dangerous conditions, the Asahi Shimbun has learned. Some refused the orders. Others raised questions about their safety and the legality of the practice. But the man in […]

Fool me twice, shame on me: The oil industry repackages the fake abundance story (from the late 1990s)

[I]f you’re still operating under the assumption that the earth’s petroleum–or at least the cheap stuff–is about to run out, you’re not going to thrive in the new oil era. Technology is making it possible to find, produce, and refine oil so efficiently that its supply, at least for practical purposes, is basically unlimited. —BusinessWeek, […]

Titanic Lifeboat Academy – Navigating a Path to Resliance

Peak Moment 216: Caren Black and Christopher Paddon couldn’t find mentors to teach them self-reliant living when they became aware of peak oil. So they created a homestead and opened their doors to training others. People can take a personalized Lifeboat Course online or in person, where hands-on learning includes food production with domestic animals […]

Tech Talk – Saudi Arabia then and now

The latest OPEC Monthly Oil Market Report (MOMR) foresees that demand for OPEC crude oil will decline over the next year by about 300 kbd. This is largely in anticipation of additional production from elsewhere: Non-OPEC supply is forecast to increase by 0.7 mb/d in 2012, supported by the anticipated growth from North America, Latin […]

Fertility rates fall, but global population explosion goes on

Global birthrates are falling. But with many in their fertile years and political and cultural forces against contraception, the population explosion is far from over. Mamta, left, and Ramjee Lal Kumhar. The rate of global population growth will largely be determined by their generation, the largest in history. (Rick Loomis / Los Angeles Times) More […]

Global Exergy Resource Chart

The chart below depicts the exergy resources in our environment. Quantities represent GCEP’s best estimate of the total resource regardless of the feasibility of recovery. These numbers are occasionally updated as the estimates and assumptions change. Download a PDF of the chart. A journal articleaccompanies this chart. Exergy is the useful portion of energy that […]

Energy is God, Finding the Truth behind the American Hologram

Someone said in my last post that I’m making energy into a God. I’m here to tell you that energy is a God. Like a diehard cigarette addict smoking through their tracheostomy, we continue to use the stuff in the face of extinction-threatening effects to the climate. Our foreign policy revolves around how to get […]

Over half of Iran parliament backs Hormuz blockade bi

Just over half of Iran’s parliament has backed a draft law to block the Strait of Hormuz, a lawmaker said on Friday, threatening to close the Gulf to oil tankers in retaliation against European sanctions on Iranian crude, Reuters said. The assembly has little say in defense and foreign policy, where Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali […]

Will the US export fracking to the rest of the world?

Quick, name the most significant American innovation of the past ten years. How about hydraulic fracturing? Okay, that’s not an entirely new invention. As T. Boone Pickens has pointed out, people have been using pressurized fluid to split open rocks underground since the 1940s. But it wasn’t until very recently that the U.S. natural gas industry, […]

Chris Cook: Libor and Oil Market Manipulation – Rage Against the Dying of the Light

By Chris Cook, former compliance and market supervision director of the International Petroleum Exchange A generation of markets is dying and the era of the Middleman is coming to an end. The ‘Bezzle’ – as J K Galbraith described financial misbehaviour in a boom, revealed by a bust – is now coming to light. We […]

East Africa: the Next Major Oil and Gas Region?

The recently-ended takeover battle between Royal Dutch Shell and Thai state-owned exploration and production firm PTT Exploration and Production (PTTEP) for Mozambique-focused Cove Energy has served to highlight the growing interest that the energy industry has in East Africa. With East Africa having been ignored for a very long time by oil and gas majors, […]

The oil industry’s lure of the deep (waters)

If you thought 2008 was a heyday for deepwater drilling, you ain’t seen nothin’ yet. At least that’s the message suggested by the first two drillers, Noble Corporation and Diamond Offshore, that reported second-quarter earnings this week. While earnings were healthy, it was the commentary by the drillers’ managers that made Wall Street sit up and […]

12 Signs That The Next Recession In The United States Has Already Begun

Is the U.S. economy in a recession right now?  Has the next recession in the United States already begun?  Unfortunately, there are a lot of economic numbers that are pointing in that direction.  U.S. retail sales have fallen for three months in a row, U.S. manufacturing activity is contracting and there are numerous indications that […]

Beyond capitalism with a human face: a radically simple way

Ted Trainer is one of the wisest, boldest, and most dedicated advocates of The Simpler Way.  In 2010 he published a book called, The Transition to a Sustainable and Just World, and I have to say that it is one of the best books I have ever read in my life. If you only have time […]

China starts oil field operation in southern Iraq

Iraq and China’s National Petroleum Corporation jointly launched the inauguration ceremony for the Halfaya oil field in the southern Maysan province on Wednesday. Iraq’s Deputy Prime Minister Hussein Al-Shahristani, the Oil Minister Abdul Kareem Luaibi and the Chinese ambassador Ni Jian participated in the ceremony. The field will produce 70,000 barrels of oil a day […]

U.S. missing out on Arctic land grab

There’s an international race to divvy up the Arctic Ocean’s oil and mineral bounty, but the United States could lose out on a big chunk of it because it hasn’t signed a United Nations treaty governing the area. Earlier this week two key U.S. senators announced they would not support ratifying the Law of the […]

Silly Dictator Story #10: Iran’s Oil Output Apparently At Record Levels

By most accounts, sanctions have severely affected Iranian oil output. But that’s not the case if you ask one of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s most senior advisers. Mohammad Mohammadi Golpayegani, director of the Office of the Supreme Leader, told a group of clergymen and scholars in Gilan Province that Iran “is currently producing between […]

Japan’s culture and Fukushima

Personal accountability trumps organizational loyalty U.S. President Harry S. Truman’s famous motto: “The buck stops here.” In a fiery essay published in the Financial Times July 10, Columbia University Professor Gerald Curtis makes the point that what people do matters. Organizations may come and go, but the actions of individuals are what make history. Curtis, […]

How Big is Your Pile of Coal?

The first half of 2012 has been the hottest on record in the U.S., and in many regions, people are blasting their air conditioner 24 hours a day to keep their homes comfortable and safe. Not only is the electricity used to power these air conditioners expensive, but in many regions of the country, it […]

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