Rice From Fukushima Was Served To Japanese Government Officials, And Then Something Odd Happened

Two days ago, supposedly in an attempt to demonstrate how “contained” the radiation fallout from Fukushima was, an event was held in Tokyo to demonstrate the safety of the rice grown in the vicinity of the evacuated area around the exploded nuclear power plant according to the source, NHK. And since officials from Fukushima Prefecture […]

How different would the world be if we paid the True Cost of food and farming?

What would our food system look like if the impacts of production on the environment and on public health were taken into account?  At present the polluter doesn’t pay, and those producing food sustainably are not rewarded for positive outcomes.  How might things work if the true costs of agriculture were taken into account?  Tamzin […]

IEA Says Iran Oil Exports Rising But Challenges Abound

Iran’s oil exports are already rebounding after an interim deal with the West but the Islamic Republic won’t flood markets even if international sanctions are lifted, the International Energy Agency said Wednesday. The IEA, the top energy watchdog, said global oil demand will be higher than expected next year and that could push up oil […]

IEA Sees Upside Risk to Oil Prices

Surging oil demand and faltering supplies mean oil prices face upside risks over the next few months, the West’s energy watchdog said on Wednesday. The International Energy Agency (IEA) said in its monthly report that after eight consecutive quarters of contraction, oil demand in the world’s heavily industrialised countries returned to growth in the second […]

IEA report: US oil demand recovery steps on the gas

Signs that the US is experiencing at least a temporary surge in oil demand were reinforced Wednesday after the International Energy Agency said the US has seen its biggest spurt in demand growth for almost a decade. In its latest monthly oil market report, the IEA said US oil demand likely averaged nearly 19.1 million […]

The future of oil supply

Were they crying “Wolf”? Concerns about “peak oil” have recurred repeatedly since the resource was first developed, but they reached an unprecedented height in 2007 just prior to the global economic recession. Since then public concern has diminished, partly as a result of shale oil production in the United States. Yet, despite these developments and […]

6 ways to become more miserable about climate change and peak oil

It’s bad enough that most middle-class people still have to struggle to keep their jobs and homes in today’s Second Great Depression. But if you’re even a little bit awake, then you also have to worry about longer-term threats: climate change, Fukushima, peak oil and the impending collapse of industrial civilization. There’s plenty of reason […]

Fusion Power — it is real, possible and important, and it’s time to get serious

On Tuesday, December 10, 2013 the American Security Project hosted the first day of the 34th Annual Fusion Power Associates Conference. Entitled “Fusion Energy: Visions for the Future,” the conference featured participation from some of the world’s top fusion scientists. Particular highlights included Dr. Osamu Motajima, the Director General of the ITER Organization. Since 2010, […]

Energy Return: Formula For Confusion

Energy Return on Energy Invested One of the criticisms of oil sands production is that the process requires too much energy. Some argue that these projects are a poor way to use energy, because the energy return on energy invested (EROEI) is ~ 3:1 (which would mean it takes 1 BTU of energy input to […]

Russia expects post-Soviet record for oil production

Energy Minister Alexander Novak said oil output from the country for 2013 should reach a post-Soviet record of 3.8 billion barrels. Russian state news agency RIA Novosti reported Russia in 2012 increased oil output from the previous year by 1.3 percent to 518 million metric tons, approximately 3.79 billion barrels. “This year we expect oil […]

The American Local Food Movement

itizen advocates of the “right to food” are using democratic roots to create local food security. As the local food movement, or, more properly stated, local food movements have taken root in the U.S. during recent years, advocates have discovered the need to express this evolving “locus focus” in new ways.  Despite its multiple uses […]

Robert Rapier: The Cost of Production and Energy Return of Oil Sands

Introduction Today’s article continues the series covering my recent trip to the Athabasca oil sands around Fort McMurray, Alberta. This is an annual trip that the Canadian government hosts for energy journalists, and expenses for the trip were paid for by the Canadian government. Previous articles in this series include: Oil Sands and the Environment […]

OPEC Pumps Least Crude in More Than 2 Years as Saudi Cuts

OPEC reduced crude production in November to the lowest level in more than two years as output dropped below the organization’s 30 million barrel-a-day ceiling for a third month. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries pumped 29.63 million barrels last month compared with 29.83 million in October, OPEC said in its monthly oil market report […]

Thorium Reactors: Nuclear Redemption or Nuclear Hazard?

Could thorium be the faltering nuclear industry’s salvation — or is it a mirage? Is the U.S. missing an immense energy opportunity? “We should be trying our best to develop the use of thorium,” former UN weapons inspector Hans Blix recently told BBC News. “I am told that thorium will be safer in reactors – […]

Natural Gas: Not All It’s Fracked Up to Be?

  Natural gas is being touted as a “game changer” and a “bridge to a low carbon economy.” It is an abundant, made-in-America energy source.  It is about half as carbon intensive as coal when burned. The figure below suggests that a natural gas fueled transition to a less carbon intensive economy has already begun. […]

Population growth rate bodes decline in living standards

In 1972 a group of scientists, known collectively as the Club of Rome, constructed a detailed mathematical model to test whether population growth and economic development could continue indefinitely and if not, what the limits to growth and its manifestations would be. Their findings were published in a report called The Limits to Growth. The […]

Heinberg: Snake Oil and the End of Growth

The last newsletter of 2013 brings together an essay, an interview, and a blog post, all with the common theme of the intersection between economic growth and energy. Thank you for your support in 2013, and my very best wishes for the Holidays and the New Year. Richard Preface to the Romanian edition of Snake […]

America, The Energy Exporter

Bolstering North American energy infrastructure will solidify the United States as an energy exporter by the end of this decade. It is time to start the conversation about changing U.S. laws to allow exporting of American crude oil. U.S. Government estimates released this month show the United States producing 25 million barrels of oil equivalent […]

EIA Shale Oil Drilling Productivity Report

The new EIA Drilling Productivity Report has just been published with their shale oil production and prediction numbers out through January 2014. I have discovered something very strange about their numbers. But first here is the Bakken data. I have shortened the time frame to just two years in order to better show what is happening. […]

Fukushima WAS a Nuclear Explosion, Here Is The Proof

The only way that the tens of tons of uranium and plutonium shown by US EPA air samples could occur was if the explosion came from within the reactor vessel, and/or spent fuel pool.   So clearly the explosion was a nuclear type of explosion from within.    Nuclear promoters have long stated that nuclear plants can’t […]

Do We Really Need Economic Growth?

Marcin Gerwin: For most heads of states, the prime minister of Poland included, the central point of economic policy is maintaining or increasing economic growth. The aim is to encourage people to consume every year more goods and services so that the Gross Domestic Product continues to grow. Do you think it’s a realistic approach? […]

Saudi call for Gulf Arab union faces hurdles

Saudi Arabia’s dream of binding the Gulf Arab states into a union will get a sceptical hearing at a summit this week, with differences over Iran, Egypt and Syria demonstrating that the Gulf’s absolute monarchs do not all speak with one voice. Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah proposed two years ago for a stronger union with […]

SUN4Living: Here Comes the SUN!

  * Genesis of the Sustaining Universal Needs Project:  Birth of the SUN * A few years ago I became a Blogger on the topic of Economic Collapse. I did not start my own Blog back then, rather I blogged on Message Boards and Forums concerning themselves with the topics of Economic collapse and Energy […]

Lured by cheap coal, Southeast Asia turns away from gas

* Southeast Asian power generation capacity to rise 50 pct this decade * More than half of new Southeast Asian capacity to be coal-fired * LNG-fired power twice as expensive as coal-fired power in Asia Southeast Asia’s power sector will tilt away from gas to use more coal by the end of this decade, chipping […]

Make Solar, Not War

Making the headlines recently has been China’s assertion of a no-fly zone over large parts of the East China Sea. The no-fly zone is a direct provocation towards Japan over a territorial dispute of a group of islands in a body of water shared by both countries. What’s flying under the radar of these headlines […]

Leviathan gas only in late 2017

Keith Elliott says that the Leviathan gas field will cost $8 billion to develop and is confident of finding oil in the region. Development of the Leviathan natural gas field will cost $8 billion and production will begin in late 2017 said Noble Energy Inc. (NYSE: NBL) EVP Eastern Mediterranean Keith Elliott at the “Globes” […]

Iraq to Become Iran’s Largest Gas Customer

Iraq is willing to boost its gas imports from Iran to 90 million cubic meters (mcm) per day, a senior Iranian gas official said. This comes as on July 21, Iranian and Iraqi oil ministers signed the first deal to transfer Iran’s natural gas to power plants in Baghdad and Diyala provinces. Iran expects to […]

Why Natural Gas Could Save Coal

Natural gas is an increasingly abundant resource in the United States. It’s so cheap that it’s being integrated into the transportation sector, which sets the stage for lower fuel costs. That, in turn, could lead to cost savings for transporting coal by rail — which would make coal used for power cheaper. Gas is great! […]

Nobody Builds Reactors For Fun Anymore

an article from Nobel Week Dialogue about the biggest problem of the nuclear power industry: it’s not fun anymore. The author, Ashutosh Jogalekar, expands upon this quote from Freeman Dyson: “The fundamental problem of the nuclear industry is not reactor safety, not waste disposal, not the dangers of nuclear proliferation, real though all these problems […]

U.S. to issue eagle-killing permits to wind industry

Nobody said green energy was going to come easy. In an attempt to encourage the growth of wind power, the Obama administration announced Friday that it is offering wind farms 30 years of leeway to kill and harm bald and golden eagles. The new regulations, which were requested by the wind industry, will provide companies […]

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