A Material That Could Make Solar Power “Dirt Cheap”

Technology Review has an article on solar power research at UNSW – A Material That Could Make Solar Power “Dirt Cheap”. A new type of solar cell, made from a material that is dramatically cheaper to obtain and use than silicon, could generate as much power as today’s commodity solar cells.Researchers developing the technology say […]

Peak Oil Denial: Abundant Nonsense

Two sides to a story … hell of a concept!   All the Information?   Imagine if we could have honest dialogue about energy policy and/or public policy where all the facts were offered for public consumption. Imagine if the high-art of cherry-picking and “spin” were relegated to back-room ideological debates where partakers recalled the […]

Doubling of Iraqi oil production by 2020?

Those who expect a doubling of Iraqi oil production to 6 mb/d by 2020 should pray for enduring peace and social justice in this war-torn country. Iraq’s overdue integration into OPEC’s quota system will also present challenges in the context of geo-political rivalries between Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Iran. 25/7/2013 (Reuters) – Iraq’s Sunni insurgents […]

Tech Talk – Oil Supply, Oil Prices and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

From the time that The Oil Drum first began, and through the years up to the Recession of 2008-9 there was an increase in the price of oil, and that resumed following the initial period of that recession, and, in contrast to the price of natural gas, oil has recovered a lot of the price […]

How will I explain Peak Oil to my son?

I haven’t written or commented on TOD in quite some time, but the experience carries me forward everyday. I always came at peak oil not from an “if” or even “when” but “then what do we do”? At Kyle’s invitation, I brought my personal blog, Peak Oil NYC, to The Oil Drum in September 2005. […]

A Texan tragedy: ample oil, no water

Fracking boom sucks away precious water from beneath the ground, leaving cattle dead, farms bone-dry and people thirsty Beverly McGuire saw the warning signs before the town well went dry: sand in the toilet bowl, the sputter of air in the tap, a pump working overtime to no effect. But it still did not prepare […]

Australia’s election issue: population

With one or two notable exceptions, our political parties are not acknowledging that population lies at the heart of most issues. In 2012, Australia’s population growth rate was 1.8 per cent. It meant an extra 394,200 people a year, nearly 400,000 people. Despite lower than replacement fertility rates since 1976, natural increase was still going […]

America: Exporting our way to energy independence?

Never let the facts get in the way of a good story. That’s the credo of the oil and gas industry as it continues to lobby for increased oil and natural gas exports from the United States. After all, the industry claims, we’re on our way to achieving energy independence, and we can help our […]

Ford’s new F-150 will fortify potential of our natural gas

Ford’s decision to sell the nation’s most popular pickup with a compressed natural gas (CNG) engine is premium news for the Canton (Ohio) area’s gas drillers. It drives home another reason that a natural gas-burning power plant is being built near the Carroll County oil and gas fields. It would produce electricity for 700,000 homes. […]

Hyperloop: the pneumatic travel system

Inside the Hyperloop: the pneumatic travel system faster than the speed of sound It is called “The Hyperloop” and, according to the designer, it will be a revolutionary “fifth mode” of transport, eclipsing trains, planes, boats and automobiles.

Zambia: Human Impacts On Environments

THE anthropogenic impacts on the environment include impacts on biophysical environments, biodiversity and other resources. The term anthropogenic designates an effect or object resulting from human activity. The term is sometimes used in the context of pollution emissions that are produced as a result of human activities but applies broadly to all major human impacts […]

Department of Energy Commits to Unleashing Delayed Efficiency Standards

A coalition of 10 states and the City of New York announced today that the Department of Energy has committed to push forward four delayed energy efficiency standards that could save utility customers more than $3.8 billion annually once in full effect — and enough electricity to power almost 4 million homes. This is great […]

The Ghost Of Inflation Future

With all of the problems afflicting the world economy nowadays, inflation seems to be the least of our worries. In addressing the post-2008 economic malaise, which stems from over-indebtedness, policymakers are correct to focus on the threat of debt deflation, which can lead to depression. But dismissing inflation as “yesterday’s problem” could undermine central banks’ […]

Meet the New Meat

Artificial meat was in the news this week as the results of one of Sergey Brin‘s alternative investments was unveiled. The Economist has a look at the environmental benefits of artificial meat (quoting a 45% energy saving for meat produced in this way) as well as an interesting quote from long ago – Appetising prospects. […]

Must every “renewable” energy technology incur a fossil-fuel debt that will never be repaid?

Gail Tverberg, the actuary, wrote the following in the article posted by Jay Hanson: ”Commenters frequently remark that such-and-such an energy source has an Energy Return on Energy Invested <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_returned_on_energy_invested> (EROI) ratio of greater than 5:1, so must be a helpful addition to our current energy supply. My finding that the overall energy return is […]

An even more cassandric podcast by Ugo Bardi

Part II of a series of three from “The Doomstead Diner”

Radioactive Water Spills Over Fukushima Barrier, Flooding Surroundings

It was only last week that yet another conspiracy theory became fact when we learned, for the first time after nearly three years of lies, that Tepco had been deceitful and wrong with its “all clear” message about Fukushima, and that instead some 300 tons of contaminated, irradiated water had been flowing into the Pacific […]

Is peak oil demand just around the corner?

For years, there’s been lots of debate over “peak oil” — the notion that, at some point in the near future, the rate of global oil production will bump up against a hard ceiling. This is generally considered a gloomy prospect. But another, related concept has started to bubble up in energy discussions lately. It’s the notion […]

New Study Finds High Levels of Arsenic in Groundwater Near Fracking Sites

A recently published study by researchers at the University of Texas at Arlington found elevated levels of arsenic and other heavy metals in groundwater near natural gas fracking sites in Texas’ Barnett Shale. While the findings are far from conclusive, the study provides further evidence tying fracking to arsenic contamination. An internal Environmental Protection Agency […]

ConocoPhillips plans new well in Alaska national reserve

ConocoPhillips (COP.N) has applied for permits to develop a new field in the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska, a vast unit of federal land that has yet to yield commercially produced oil, according to the federal agency managing the reserve. ConocoPhillips applied to drill a production well at a site it calls GMT1, part of […]

Population growth challenges poor nations

Almost 11 billion people will be living on Earth by 2100, according to a UN report. Poor countries will see the fastest growth in population and face new challenges in dealing with the increased number of inhabitants. Humans already consume more than half of the world’s renewable resources. And pressure on natural resources will continue […]

Blame the Economists . . .

Lately, I have been spending an inordinate amount of time with economists. This past month, I have been at several dinners (party of 8) with them, spent time in the woods of Maine chatting them up, listened to their debates on economic policy, even spent time in a canoe fishing with them. Propriety — and […]

It’s Peak Water, Not Peak Oil

The 178 countries that adopted United Nations Agenda 21 in 1992 believed that the world had past the point of “Peak Oil” availability and that governments must dramatically reduce consumption to prevent catastrophic economic collapse as oil future supply was in terminal decline.  But over the last five years, advancements in hydraulic fracking and other […]

OPEC production: trying to make up for Libya

Crude oil output from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) fell 110,000 barrels per day (b/d) to 30.34 million b/d in July from 30.45 million b/d in June, a Platts survey of OPEC and oil industry officials and analysts showed Thursday.   “When the consuming world wonders why oil prices remain relatively high, […]

A Study About A Study

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has a history, like any federal bureaucratic agency, to produce many studies. Some of these studies are productive and some of them, like a more recent study about hydraulic fracturing, are a bit more repetitive. DOE’s latest study regarding the impacts of hydraulic fracturing and its potential effects on […]

PetroChina to join Exxon at giant Iraqi oilfield

China’s biggest energy firm PetroChina (0857.HK) will join Exxon Mobil (XOM.N) in developing Iraq’s giant West Qurna oilfield and is in talks with Russia’s Lukoil (LKOH.MM) to buy into a second project at the field, industry sources said. China is already the top foreign player in Iraq’s oilfields. A deal at West Qurna, which is […]

China to change one child policy at appropriate time

Beijing: China, the world’s most populous nation, on Friday said it would improve the controversial three decades old “one child” policy at an “appropriate time”, even as the government was considering to relax it in view of a surge in ageing population. “China will gradually improve the country’s population policy in accordance with its actual […]

Unfixable Pemex; Mexico’s Oil Industry

Even if the government plucks up the courage to reform it, Pemex will be hard to fix A Jar of crude oil, not much bigger than one of baby food, has pride of place in the office of Carlos Morales, the veteran oilman in charge of exploration and production at Pemex, Mexico’s state oil monolith. […]

Mexico Energy Reform to Target Deep Water

Mexico will propose energy reform that includes controversial changes to the constitution aimed at drawing private know-how to tap the country’s massive deep water oil and shale gas reserves, a senior ruling party lawmaker said late Thursday. The bill, expected to be presented by President Enrique Pena Nieto next week, will open the way for […]

No More Spills? New Technology Could Transform the Pipeline Sector

The 2010 Kalamazoo spill and the 2013 Exxon leak in Arkansas are the most glaring incidents, but these are just the big leaks that are found right away and reported. Most leaks are found eventually—but there is money to be saved and damage to be avoided by catching them at the smallest rupture. Right now, […]

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