Saudi security forces kill oil province attacker

Saudi security forces shot and killed a man who was among a group that opened fire and hurled a fire-bomb at a police station in the oil-rich Eastern province, the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA) said on Saturday. The agency also quoted an Interior Ministry spokesman as saying that four members of the security forces […]

EROEI and the Collapse of Empires

The above video is a discussion with Dr. Charles Hall of the Dept. of the SUNY-Environmental and Forest Biology. He is the primary creator behind the concept of EROEI in the field of biophysical economics. He also cowrote the new book ”Energy and the Wealth of Nations“. I just heard about this book, but from the reviews […]

Plan to Drill for Cuban Oil Faces Delay

A Russian state oil company will delay drilling its first exploratory well off the northern coast of Cuba, about 180 miles from Florida, after apparently struggling to find a suitable drilling rig that would not violate U.S. sanctions. Cuba produces little oil now, but petroleum experts say the country’s northern coastal waters could hold reserves, […]

Rwanda: Quest to Feed World’s Growing Population

President Paul Kagame has said that it is time to globally re-think the optimal use of vital resources such as land, water and energy and one of the major approaches the world needs to take to ensure food security – for the rapidly growing population – is increasing investment in agriculture. He made the remarks […]

Why Tax Credits Are Critical to the Wind for Growth

Today, Department of Energy Secretary Steven Chu visited Ingeteam, a wind and solar equipment manufacturer in Milwaukee. The visit showcased the company’s recent $21 million expansion and the 275 jobs the company has created or plans to add by 2015. It also indirectly demonstrated the growing wind energy industry in the state of Wisconsin (see […]

‘Peak Gold’ – Gold Production Collapse Continues In South Africa

South African Gold Production Continues To Plummet After initial falls in Asia, gold traded sideways and then gradually ticked higher later in the Asian session and has seen further gains in European trading. Gold is currently set to finish the week marginally lower in dollar and sterling terms but higher in euro and Swiss franc […]

Enough Oil to Fry the Planet? – R-Squared Energy TV

Robert Rapier shares his thoughts on Maugeri’s study predicting immense oil production growth and Monbiot’s subsequent reversal of his positions on peak oil.

Why aren’t electric rates falling along with natural gas?

A plunge in the price of natural gas has made it cheaper for utilities to produce electricity. But the savings aren’t translating to lower rates for customers. Instead, U.S. electricity prices are going up. Electricity prices are forecast to rise slightly this summer. But any increase is noteworthy because natural gas, which is used to […]

A look at forecasts for peak oil – and the end of civilization

Summary:  A common concern in the comments expresses fear of resource exhaustion, perhaps even leading to collapse of civilization. Here we examine the theory, evaluate the risks, and point to sources of more information. Such one to a Question Time:  “how do you think the US will cope with the return to a preindustrial lifestyle?” […]

Collapse by Michael Ruppert

A documentary on Michael Ruppert, a police officer turned independent reporter who predicted the current financial crisis in his self-published newsletter, From the Wilderness. Director: Chris Smith Writer: Michael Ruppert (book) Stars: Michael Ruppert

The Race for Energy Resources Just Got Hotter

Malaysia’s state-owned oil and gas company just made a multibillion-dollar bet that Canada will choose to export its shale gas riches. Even though the odds of securing permission to export liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the Canadian west coast are still pretty poor, the costs of such an endeavor immense, and the timeline in question […]

Energy industry gets the answers it wanted in CFTC’s swap definition

A few may have wanted regulators to delay it forever and some questions were left unanswered, but it’s hard to argue that the highly anticipated swap definition the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission approved this week was anything but a major victory for the energy industry. The industry won a regulatory exemption it had fought […]

IEA: 2013 Oil Demand Growth Higher On Muted Recovery

Global oil demand is expected to rise by 1 million barrels a day next year, faster than growth this year, but “well below” the levels seen before the financial crisis as economic recovery remains muted, the International Energy Agency said Thursday. The IEA also said that demand from emerging economies will for the first time […]

Fed officials warn of looming problems for economy

The Federal Reserve is open to taking further action to support the struggling U.S. economy. But minutes of the Fed’s June meeting show policymakers at odds over whether the economy needs more help now. Fed officials signaled their concern that the struggling U.S. economy could worsen if Congress fails to avert tax hikes and across-the-board […]

OPEC’s motto: Shhhhh! Don’t mention the “S” word

OPEC published its latest monthly oil market report on July 11. Anyone reading it might expect to find some mention of the fact that one of its members, Iran, is now under two sets of sanctions which threaten not only its oil exports but also, ultimately, the volume of crude it produces. But there was no […]

Peak Oil’s Impact: Lawn Care

[M]y problem with the peak oil argument is that it isn’t really very clear in itself as to what it means. From what I understand at some point we get to the end of cheap oil, we’ve only expensive oil left and then, well, and then apparently something terrible happens. [1] Very few of us […]

John Michael Greer: The Distant Sound of Tumbrils

I’ve commented more than once in these essays about the echoing gap between the fantasies of elite omnipotence so common in contemporary America, and the awkward realities of a nation where power has become so diffuse that constructive action is all but impossible. The diffusion of power over time is a commonplace in the history […]

The Peak Oil Crisis: The Summer of 2012

One has to go back to the 1930’s to find a time when so much of civilization was in turmoil at once. The 30’s ended with World War II, tens of millions dead, and much of the industrialized world in ruins. It is not hard to argue that the array of economic, geopolitical, and climatological […]

The Myth of Smart Growth

Dear Friends and Colleagues, Thanks to some generous support I finally had the opportunity to write what I really think about Smart Growth.  I hope you will enjoy the commentary, which is available on my website at the link below. While this piece is overdue, it’s better late than never! Feel free to share it, […]

OPEC says Liquid Fuel Down Slightly

The graph is above.  I’m sure the decline is not in any way statistically significant, but still it reinforces the impression that growth in the liquid fuel supply stopped in January of this year.  It’s been essentially flat since then.  With prices not rising, that suggests a weak global economy. The IEA will release the […]

Population Growth: Six Hours to Fill Yankee Stadium

It’s World Population Day! Why does that matter? Unlike Slurpee Day (also July 11) or National Hot Dog Day (July 21), population growth has a direct effect on you, your children, your future and the health of our planet. Let’s put population growth into terms any baseball fan can understand. Every hour, the world population […]

Review of J. H. Kunstler’s “Too Much Magic”

James Howard Kunstler describes himself as an “all-purpose writer,” and boy can he write.  His latest book “Too Much Magic:  Wishful Thinking, Technology, and the Fate of the Nation,” has taken otherwise ‘hard to write clearly about’ subjects such as financial instruments, what’s happening to our environment and shale oil, and made them interesting and […]

OPEC sees 2013 oil demand growth slowing

World oil demand growth will slow in 2013 from the already weak 2012, OPEC said on Wednesday, citing Europe’s debt worries, a faltering U.S. economic recovery and deceleration of growth in emerging markets. The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), which produces a third of global oil, said daily average demand for its crude […]

The U.S. enters the 20th century: why we can’t keep the electricity on

No, the title of this article is not a typo.  We did enter the 20th century – the early 20th century – last week.  All it took was a thunderstorm. Sometimes I am struck by how phenomenally shortsighted our national leaders are.  In just 45 minutes last week, a single storm brought the capital of the U.S. […]

Russia sends warships to Syria

Russia despatched a flotilla of warships to its naval base in the Syrian port of Tartus on Tuesday in an apparent show of support for President Bashar al-Assad. Two destroyers and three amphibious landing vessels carrying marines set sail from Russian bases in the Arctic and the Black Sea, according to Russian military sources. Russia’s […]

Jim Rogers: Oil, Gold, Asia & the Best Investment in the World Right Now

World markets appear to be hovering over a precipice as Europe’s sovereign debt crisis, slowdowns in India and China and further bank downgrades threaten to send stocks and commodities down even further. Falling oil and gas prices may offer some respite to consumers but are they enough to help the economy or are they a […]

Response to Leonardo Maugeri’s Decline Rate Assumptions in “Oil: The Next Revolution”

The 76 page Belfer Centre pdf can be downloaded here. This critique by Sorrell and McGlade first appeared in the ODAC newsletter here. Commentary on: Oil: ‘The Next Revolution: The Unprecedented Upsurge of Oil Production Capacity and What it Means for the World’ – Leonardo Maugeri, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard University […]

Facing reality, What to Do?

When I share with people my assessments of where the Earthlings are stumbling rather blindly, my listeners often say: “Oh, you are such a pessimist! What would you do differently?” My short answer is: “Stop, face reality, and think. Facing reality is not pessimism. Do not try to be a better, more obedient sheep, whose […]

Nine population strategies to stop short of 9 billion

Population experts have been saying for many years that we can anticipate nine billion humans on Earth by the year 2050. This morning (July 10, 2012), the Worldwatch Institute in Washington D.C. released the following nine strategies for stopping short of that number. These ideas agree with what nearly every other population expert has told […]

Coal Rising in Europe While Gas Eyes the Throne in the US

Despite highly touted climate policies, European utilities are rushing to capitalize on the cheapest and dirtiest source of electric power in the continent: coal. A combination of low carbon permit prices under the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) and increased coal imports from the United States has made coal the most profitable fuel for power […]

« Previous Page — Next Page »

LATEST NEWS HEADLINES

• Why the IEA is Wrong About Peak Oil Demand
• Did we inadvertently speed global warming?  
• Venezuela’s Oil Monopoly Eases
• Why Germany is Choosing Natural Gas Over Nuclear Power
• U.S. coal-fired electricity generation decreased in 2022 and 2023

• America Cracks Down on Methane Emissions from Oil and Gas Facilities
• Meet America’s Newest Oil Trader Extraordinaire: Joe Biden
• Is It Time To Refill America’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve?
• Oil prices set to end year 10% lower as demand concerns snap winning streak
• What’s Driving America’s New Oil and Gas Boom?
• China’s peak oil demand bombshell eviscerates Danielle Smith’s energy strategy