‘Peak demand’ oil theory fails scrutiny test

Fall in US oil demand over 2008-12 was cyclical not structural Oil market commentators increasingly dismiss the very idea of supply-side constraints on the oil market, pointing to the recent surge in light-tight oil production from US shale deposits and the existence of vast shale formations elsewhere in the world. Instead, the “peak demand” argument […]

Crash on Demand: Welcome to the Brown Tech Future

n response to several articles that we have posted around David Holmgren’s latest important essay, Crash on Demand (see MacLeod, Heppenstall, Hopkins, Poyorouw, Bates, and Orlov) we are now pleased to be able to post the original essay with David’s permission. We will be reposting this essay in three parts. This is Part 1. Introduction […]

Over-financialisation – the Casino Metaphor

The casino metaphor has been widely used as a part-description of the phenomenon of over-financialisation. It’s a handy pejorative tag but can it give us any real insights? This article pursues the metaphor to extremes so that we can file & forget/get back to the football or possibly graduate to next level thinking. What is […]

Japanese rivers unleash ‘perennial supply’ of radiation into Pacific Ocean

A study published in the Elsevier journal Anthropocene late last year has revealed that many of the rivers, streams and other waterways located throughout coastal Japan have inadvertently become delivery systems for transporting radioactive waste directly from the stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power facility into the Pacific Ocean. Researchers from both France and Japan discovered […]

Iran looking at exporting natural gas to India via deep sea pipeline

Bangalore: Iran is focusing on exporting natural gas to India along a deep-sea route, its Ambassador to India Gholam Reza Ansari said today. “Indians are looking for deep-sea natural gas pipeline which seems to be feasible with regard to investment and available technology. We are seeing how we can go about this project,” Ansari told […]

Coal, Oil, and Natural Gas Are Winning Issues

As Americans celebrate the idea that the United States is now the number one producer of natural gas and oil, some congressional Democrats are still very hostile toward all fuel fossils. Democrat Congressman Henry Waxman, who was a co-sponsor of cap-and-trade legislation, recently said “Many of us believe that (Keystone) pipeline will lock us into […]

Convert Natural Gas Directly to Ethylene

Siluria Technologies and Braskem have formed a broad-ranging collaboration around the deployment of Siluria’s proprietary oxidative coupling of methane (OCM) technology for the direct conversion of methane, the largest component of natural gas, to ethylene. Under the collaboration, the two companies will conduct a joint feasibility study to identify commercial deployment opportunities of Siluria’s technology […]

New lessons for an aging geologist

DR. E. KIRSTEN PETERS, Washington State University When I was young geology student, I learned the basics of petroleum production as they were then understood. Deep layers of sedimentary rocks, including shale, were the “source rocks” for hydrocarbons. The source rocks were too difficult to exploit directly — it just wasn’t economical to mess with […]

Why Natural Gas Should Stay Cheap — For a Long Time

Natural gas prices are likely to stay low for at least the next 20 years, with a long term annual average price of $4 to $5 per million Btu, a new study says. Even with new demand, the quantity of U.S. gas resources is so vast thanks to unconventional drilling techniques that average Henry Hub […]

California Water Crisis May Head off Potential Oil Boom

Drilling for oil in California dates back to the late 19th Century, allowing it to become the country’s top producer by the beginning of the 20th. One hundred years later, California still ranks third, but its aging fields have been in decline for decades. Hydraulic fracturing requires a lot of water, and as California’s water […]

Tepco May Spend 2.67 Trillion Yen to Expand Beyond Fukushima

Tokyo Electric Power Co. (9501), operator of the wrecked Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear power plant, is considering spending about 2.67 trillion yen ($25.6 billion) on strategic investments through partnerships as it seeks to move beyond the Fukushima disaster. Of the planned investments, the utility known as Tepco plans to borrow 2 trillion yen in fresh loans […]

Royal Society: Theme issue on peak oil

Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society has the prestige of being the world’s first scientific journal and also published the work of Charles Darwin, Michael Faraday, William Herschel and many more celebrated names in science. Recently, this journal published a theme issue, edited by Richard G. Miller and Steve R. Sorell, on peak oil. This […]

Dutch to reduce natural gas production due to earthquakes

The Dutch Cabinet has decided to reduce the amount of gas produced from fields that lie under the country’s northernmost province by 6 percent, as the mining has caused earthquakes and damaged houses in the region. Prime Minister Mark Rutte announced the decision Friday. He said that government-commissioned studies have shown beyond a doubt that […]

ITER nuclear fusion reactor enters key phase

The world’s biggest energy research project, the $20bn ITER nuclear fusion reactor, entered a key construction phase last month, as contractors began to pour 15,000 cubic metres of concrete into a pit in the south of France. It will house a huge doughnut-shaped machine, where scientists hope to tame the fusion reaction that powers the […]

Nuclear and Wind Energy Blocked by Cheap Natural Gas—For Now

To say that recent energy trends both in the US and abroad have been confusing is a considerable understatement. Over the last several years, concerns over carbon emissions and government policies have led to significant investment and growth in solar, wind and nuclear. But aggressive development of domestic oil and gas resources, including shale gas, […]

Planes, Trains, & Pretty Much Everything Else More Efficient Than Cars

A new report released by a research professor at the University of Michigan Research Institute looking at data collected from 1970 to 2010 has shown that pretty much every form of transportation is more efficient than the good old-fashioned light-duty vehicle. Michael Sivak examined recent trends to determine the energy needed to transport a single […]

Thousands of Gas Leaks Discovered Under Streets

“Researchers from Duke revealed today that they had discovered nearly 5,900 gas leaks under the streets of Washington DC, including 12 that posed a serious risk of explosion. And it’s not just Washington: a gas industry whistleblower who is part of the team showed this was happening in cities all over America.” New research today […]

OPEC View of Supply Glut Hits Brent-WTI Price Difference Narrows

The price difference between Brent crude and its U.S. counterpart has narrowed to the closest point since the end of December, as the North Sea benchmark continues to struggle to make gains this year. Brent crude was up 30 cents, or 0.3%, on the first day of the March contract, at $106.02 a barrel on […]

Will We Ever Run Out of Oil?

Fossil fuels such as oil come from, well, fossils—organisms that died long ago. This means there is a limited supply, and at some point we’ll be tapped out. Scientific American editor David Biello explains when the well may run dry.

Peak Oil Is Irrelevant

CC BY 2.0 Wikipedia Peak oil has been predicted since the 1950s to occur by various near-future dates, originally as early as 1965. The prediction that US oil production would peak in the 1970s was, in fact, accurate, but new discoveries – including North American sources involving fracking and tar sands – keep pushing the […]

Remember the Future?

The population bomb was ticking, and apocalypse was next in line .  .  .   Two households, both alike in dignity,  sierra club / ballantine books In fair Verona where we lay our scene.  —Romeo and Juliet  The Ehrlichs and Simons, like the Montagues and Capulets, were remarkably similar families: both Jewish, both two generations off the […]

US Army colonel: world is sleepwalking to a global energy crisis

Senior figures from industry, military and politics explore risks of financial chaos, oil depletion and climate catastrophe A conference sponsored by a US military official convened experts in Washington DC and London warning that continued dependence on fossil fuels puts the world at risk of an unprecedented energy crunch that could inflame financial crisis and […]

Richard Heinberg: Trans-Pacific Partnership is Poison for Community Resilience

The past couple of decades of globalization have been a disaster for planetary ecosystems, indigenous peoples, and most middle-class citizens, but a gravy train for big investors, investment bankers, and managers of transnational corporations. This unprecedented expansion of international trade was driven by the convergence of key resources, developments, and inventions: cheap oil, satellite communications, […]

End of the Road: How Australia’s auto industry ignored peak oil

GM Holden did not prepare for peak oil – since 1998 Part 1: The Howard years Peak oil, which should be seen as a process having started in 2005 rather than an event in the year of maximum global production, hits the weakest first, those with a pre-condition of other problems. This post will show […]

Radio Ecoshock: The Awful Truth About Fracking

True stories from Walter Brasch, author of”Fracking Pennsylvania”. An update from Friends of Earth UK campaigner Helen Rimmer as government makes new “dash for (fracked) gas”. With clips from American biologist/activist Sandra Steingraber. Don’t buy into fracking! Radio Ecoshock 140108 FUKUSHIMA FRAUDSTERS Just before we get to the main theme of this program, I want […]

Vertical farms sprouting all over the world

URBAN warehouses, derelict buildings and high-rises are the last places you’d expect to find the seeds of a green revolution. But from Singapore to Scranton, Pennsylvania, “vertical farms” are promising a new, environmentally friendly way to feed the rapidly swelling populations of cities worldwide. In March, the world’s largest vertical farm is set to open […]

ExxonMobil: The Future of Energy

Integrated energy giant ExxonMobil is one of the biggest companies in the world. Naturally, it has a great deal to say about the current state of energy as well as what the future holds. And, because it’s such an influential company, it’s probably a good idea to take its views seriously. ExxonMobil has revealed its […]

Peak Oil: Clear As Mud # 2

As I mentioned in the first post of this short series, we are once again being subjected to differing interpretations of the same set of facts. It does make planning and strategizing a bit more challenging….   YES? NO? UP? DOWN? LEFT? RIGHT?   Global oil demand will expand by 14 million barrels to average […]

The case for exporting crude oil

Looking over the numbers, and knowing the way the North American oil market works, it’s becoming increasingly apparent to me that current US crude oil production cannot be sustained unless the Department of Commerce begins to permit exports beyond Canada. The surge in US crude oil production, led by Texas and North Dakota, which account […]

Chasing the Dream of Half-Price Gasoline from Natural Gas

Quick screen: A technician at Siluria operates some of the company’s equipment for quickly making and testing new catalysts. At a pilot plant in Menlo Park, California, a technician pours white pellets into a steel tube and then taps it with a wrench to make sure they settle together. He closes the tube, and oxygen […]

« 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