Two Kinds of Power

Just about anyone who ponders the perils we presently face as a civilization will eventually trace the roots of the crisis to the fact that modern people—Americans in particular—are born into a cult of consumerism. It is inherited servitude to an addiction that, so far, has seemed to grow more entrenched in every new generation. […]

Oil Sands and the Environment

I spent the past week in the heart of the Athabasca oil sands in Fort McMurray, Alberta. I was there as a guest of the Canadian government, which hosts annual tours for small groups of journalists and energy analysts. During my trip I was told that the only person who ever asked as many questions […]

Natural gas could spell doom for nuke power

If today’s global fracking frenzy had kicked into high gear a decade ago, thousands of jobs at FirstEnergy Corp.’s Davis-Besse, Perry and Beaver Valley 1 and 2 nuclear plants in northern Ohio and Western Pennsylvania could have been imperiled by now. “That’s fair to say,” Jennifer Young, FirstEnergy spokeswoman, said. But while job security at […]

Argentina makes onshore oil discovery

Argentine oil company YPF said it had made an oil discovery in the country’s western province of Mendoza, containing estimated reserves of about 15 million barrels of crude oil. “Tests carried out at various depths, all productive, give an initial production estimate of 535 barrels of oil per day,” the company said in a statement […]

Iran Nuclear Programme Deal Fails Due To French Block: New Saudi-French Alliance Emerging?

While most pragmatists knew well in advance that optimism over an Iran nuclear programme deal emerging out of Geneva was very much displaced, few anticipated what the actual reason for the failure would be. Indeed, most had expected that the staunchest opponent to the deal, Israel PM Netanyahu who moments ago appeared on Face the […]

Al Bartlett interview from Blind Spot documentary

Al Bartlett Interview 2008

Science Fiction? Or Will This Fuel Really Power Future Generations?

I’m a firm believer that America’s fuel of the future is already here. That fuel, in my opinion, is natural gas. It’s clean, abundant, cheap and made right here in the good ole U.S.A. Auto makers like Ford and General Motors are starting to catch on and are building more vehicles that will run on […]

Dueling forecasts: Why our energy future is actually a risk management problem

Optimistic, but unwarranted, energy supply forecasts permeate the media (courtesy of the oil and gas industry) even as the occasional dire scenario gets coverage. But, it is well to remember that none of people making forecasts can know the one thing they all desperately want to know: the future. The most important thing you need […]

Indian scientists delay global nuclear fusion project to produce electricity

23 Indian scientists are part of one of the biggest collaborations between India, France and 32 other countries at Cadarache in southern France, a project to produce electricity from nuclear fusion. Scientists say electricity from nuclear fusion will be cheaper, cleaner and safer than power from nuclear fission that is used worldwide today. Called ITER, […]

Jeff Rubin: The Rising Price of Oil and the Future of the Economy

Jeff Rubin giving a keynote lecture. November 2012

Sprawl – Risking The Future Of Christchurch

Susan Krumdieck discussing urban sprawl in relation to peak oil. May 2013

China wary of sourcing too much gas from the US

Concerns that a surge in US gas exports to China could undermine prospects for further expansion of Australian gas sales may be overblown, with the Chinese likely to be wary of sourcing gas from America. A paper by the National Bureau of Asian Research in the US highlights political concerns in Beijing about relying on […]

Middle East to record fastest gas consumption in 20 years

Natural gas is likely to grow in importance over the next few years, with the Middle East, China, Africa and India in particular set to record significant increases in demand. According to EY’s recently released Business Pulse Oil and Gas report, demand for natural gas is expected to increase steadily as a percentage of the […]

New device captures ‘lost’ energy, converts to electricity

New invention ‘harvests’ electricity from background radiation and could be used to beam power to remote locations or recharge phones wirelessly Device captures microwaves and converts them into electricity Future versions could harvest satellite, sound or Wi-Fi signals Technology could be used to recharge phones without cables or beam electricity to mountaintops Engineers at Duke […]

Have Our Servants Become Our Masters?

There was a time when coal, oil and natural gas served us well; powering our vehicles, heating and cooling our homes, generating our electricity and keeping our industries going. While they may still be doing all of those things, there’s been a huge, even sinister shift over the generations since the industrial revolution of the […]

Iran nuclear deal unlikely as split emerges in Western camp

Barring a last-minute breakthrough, talks between Iran and six world powers on curbing Tehran’s nuclear ambitions were set to end without an agreement on Saturday as a split emerged between France and the other Western powers, diplomats said. The latest round of talks began on Thursday and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry unexpectedly arrived […]

Oil prices may plunge if Iran gets a nuclear deal

Oil futures bounced off an earlier four-month low on Friday, but analysts told CNBC that prices could plunge if an agreement on Iran’s nuclear program is made this weekend. Secretary of State John Kerry unexpectedly joined the ongoing negotiations in Geneva, sparking speculation that a preliminary deal could be reached soon. Iranian oil exports have […]

We’re In The Most Dangerous Moment Since the Cuban Missile Crisis

Scientists Warn of Extreme Risk We’ve long said that the greatest short-term threat to humanity is from the fuel pools at Fukushima. The Japanese nuclear agency recently green-lighted the removal of the spent fuel rods from Fukushima reactor 4′s spent fuel pool. The operation is scheduled to begin this month. The head of the U.S. […]

The Welcome Death of Peak Oil

Improved technology and more efficiency mean North America could eventually become an oil exporter Does anyone remember Peak Oil theory? With Canadian and U.S. oil production booming enough to lift worldwide oil production, the mongers of the claim that half of the world’s ultimate crude oil reserves had been produced and production was irreversibly declining […]

Robert Rapier: The Long Recession Oil Prices Too Expensive For the World Economy

Robert Rapier explains his hypothesis for “The long recession” November 2012

Chris Skrebowski on Peak Oil Phase 1 (2005-?)

Chris Skrebowski giving an interesting presentation on peak oil. April 2012

Analysts Question Economics of Natural Gas Reserves

The first comprehensive attempt to measure reserves of natural gas made available through fracking doubles previous estimates, but its value is questionable without guaranteed access to markets B.C.’s existing natural gas reserves have doubled, thanks to advances in hydraulic fracturing technology, according to a report published by the federal, B.C. and Alberta governments. The report […]

Saudi Arabia throttles back from record high oil output

OPEC heavyweight Saudi Arabia has cut back oil output that had held at record rates of around 10 million barrels a day for three months running to help offset a plunge in output from fellow OPEC member Libya. The world’s top oil exporter turned down the taps to 9.75 million barrels per day (bpd) in […]

Water Shortages Threaten Energy Output

Water shortages are threatening energy output and increasing costs in some of the world’s most prolific sectors including shale gas in the U.S., crude oil in the Middle East and coal in China, and the situation is set to worsen, Wood Mackenzie said Thursday. The energy sector is already the world’s largest consumer of water […]

As Tensions Fall in Iran, So Do Costs of Gasoline

Gasoline prices are tumbling just in time for the holiday shopping season to begin. Consumers can thank the tentative reduction in tensions in the Middle East and swelling supplies of domestic oil for their good fortune, and energy experts say prices could fall further if negotiations between the West and Iran progress. The cost of […]

Peak Oil: Using Energy To Get Energy

For parallelism with the language of finance, net energy should refer to energy produced minus energy invested, whereas EROI should refer to energy produced divided by energy invested…. The relationship between ROI and EROI is actually very simple and logical. The more energy you have to invest to produce a fuel, the lower your EROI […]

Economic Growth: A Social Pathology

The pathological pursuit of economic growth is central to the way in which our societies are run, and forms a major barrier to reaching a sustainable state for humanity. That such growth endangers our very survival by degrading and exhausting the environment upon which we are dependent upon, and per capita wealth above a given […]

Electricity Prices Will Spike This Winter

Residential electricity in and around Boston this winter will cost as much as 35 percent more than it did last winter. Several factors are driving that spike, but the common denominator is the cost of natural gas. When utilities like National Grid bill residential customers for electricity, it’s really just a pass-through: They contract for […]

Daniel Yergin Interview

The crisis began when Arab oil exporters declared an embargo on shipments in response to U.S. military support for Isreal in the Yom Kippor War, prompting lines at gasoline stations and fears that Americans’ lifestyle was changing in fundepental ways

Peak Coal Report: U.S. Coal “Reserves” Are Incorrectly Calculated, Supposed 200-Year Supply Could Run Out In 20 Years Or Less

America does not have 200 years in coal “reserves” since much of the coal that is now left in the ground cannot be mined profitably, according to a major new report from the Boulder, CO-based nonprofit Clean Energy Action (CEA).   The CEA analysis shows that the U.S. appears to have reached its “peak coal” point […]

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