The War on Coal and Plastic

We’re winning the war on coal as more and more coal-fired electrical generating plants close or switch to natural gas. At last count, since President Trump took office, a coal-fired electrical generating plant has closed roughly every 15 days. Of course, the President is very coal friendly, but basic economics have prevailed in spite of […]

Iran will continue its oil exports under any conditions

Iran will continue its oil exports under any conditions, Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif told his British counterpart Jeremy Hunt in a telephone call on Saturday, according to a statement on the Iranian foreign ministry website. Zarif also said Britain should quickly release the Grace 1 oil tanker, which was seized last week by […]

world’s population will reach 9.7 billion by 2050

A new UN report estimates the world’s population will reach 9.7 billion by 2050… up two billion from today. The report says half of the world’s population will be concentrated in just nine countries – one of which is the Democratic Republic of Congo. The growth forecast comes amid a humanitarian crisis and an Ebola […]

Mining

In this video Paul Andersen explains how mining is used to extract valuable minerals from the Earth’s crust. Surface and subsurface mining are used to extract ore which is then processed. A discussion of ecosystem impacts and legislation is also included.

The Shale Boom in the Permian Is Slowing Down

The promise of the Permian is shrinking. Producers in the nation’s oil-rich shale basins are dialing back growth plans in the face of a growing panoply of problems that’s killing returns and keeping skeptical investors at bay. The constraints are manifold: pipeline limits, reduced flow from wells drilled too close together, low natural gas prices […]

Aker BP makes oil discovery off Norway

Norwegian oil firm Aker BP has made an oil discovery off Norway which could strengthen its hand in negotiations with sometimes partner Equinor on how to develop fields. Aker BP, formed from a merger of BP’s Norwegian oil assets and the Det norske oil firm controlled by billionaire Kjell-Inge Roekke, said on Thursday it had […]

New Finnish Study Finds No Evidence For Man-Made Climate Change

A new study by researchers at Turku University in Finland found that the human contribution to a rise of 0.1°C in global temperatures over the last century is just 0.01°C. The paper, titled ‘No experimental evidence for the significant anthropogenic climate change’ was published by Jyrki Kauppinen and Pekka Malmi. The study found that, “During […]

Has humanity reached ‘peak intelligence’?

You may not have noticed, but we are living in an intellectual golden age. Since the intelligence test was invented more than 100 years ago, our IQ scores have been steadily increasing. Even the average person today would have been considered a genius compared to someone born in 1919 – a phenomenon known as the […]

Oil Supply Exceeds Demand in 1H

Oil supply exceeded demand by 0.9 million barrels per day (MMbpd) in the first half of 2019, according to the International Energy Agency’s (IEA) latest oil market report. In a statement posted on the organization’s website on Friday, the IEA said its latest data shows a global surplus of 0.5MMbpd in the second quarter (2Q). […]

Kunstler: Nemesis Rising

Where are Clintons, these dog days of summer? The Hamptons? Salty, sunny Martha’s Vineyard? Under a rock somewhere in the Chappaqua woods? Fate is turning in more than one uncomfortable way for the once-charmed couple of Boomerdom. There is, of course, the freshly re-issued Jeffrey Epstein underage sex scandal, come ‘round again with a vengeance […]

Going Dark and Fake Voyages: The Tricks Used to Dodge Trade Sanctions

As the U.S. looks to enforce sanctions aimed at halting trade with states such as Iran and Venezuela, there’s increased scrutiny on the tricks being used to keep commodities flowing to and from blacklisted countries. Ships vanishing from tracking screens, clandestine transfers on the high seas and fake destinations are among some of the tactics […]

Why stimulus can’t fix our energy problems

Economists tell us that within the economy there is a lot of substitutability, and they are correct. However, there are a couple of not-so-minor details that they overlook: There is no substitute for energy. It is possible to harness energy from another source, or to make a particular object run more efficiently, but the laws […]

Iranians Despair over Nuclear Deal Confrontation

Iran’s decision to further challenge the United States by boosting its uranium enrichment beyond limits in its 2015 nuclear deal has deepened fears among Iranians that their country will remain in crisis mode over the long term. The United States’ exit from the pact last year, under President Donald’s Trump’s campaign to squeeze Iran with […]

The Human Predicament

We face a “perfect storm” of interacting global stressors. Is resilience a possible response? What does real resilience look like? Join some of the foremost thinkers in a discussion on resilience and civilizational collapse.

There’s A 50% Chance Humans Die-Off Within 760 Years

The author of “The Doomsday Calculation” estimates that there is a 50 percent chance the human race will die off within the next 760 years. In the book, author William Poundstone applies the mathematical approach of Princeton University astrophysicist J. Richard Gott III to estimate when humans will officially die off. According to The Daily Mail, this mathematical method […]

Persian Gulf Conflict Could Send Oil Beyond $325

The possibility of Iran attempting to close the Strait of Hormuz to tanker traffic has increased significantly in recent weeks, as has the possibility of a Persian Gulf War, especially with the Islamic Republics’ intentional destruction of a U.S. surveillance drone on June 20. This act provides weight to Tehran’s threat that it will inflict […]

Unlike Peak Oil, Peaker Gas Has a Future

Bloomberg New Energy Finance has just released its annual tome of forecasts. The short story is that wind and solar power are getting cheaper and we will all be using more of them — a lot more, and relatively soon: Not the most encouraging forecast for coal, obviously. Natural gas, though, is a bit more […]

World Oil Production As Of March 2019

New tight oil estimates were recently released by the EIA. The chart below compares estimates from Dec 2018 to May 2019, where the Dec 2018 estimate is that estimate with the most recent month estimated being Dec 2018 and likewise the May 2019 estimate has May 2019 as the most recent month estimated. The May […]

Shale: An Existential Threat From Within

1. Petrochemicals underperform oil – The oil majors have undertaken massive investments in petrochemical projects, viewing plastics as a more durable investment than simply producing crude oil. With the spread of electric vehicles and peak demand looming, the soaring use of plastics is seen as one of the last refuges for oil companies. – But […]

Saudi Arabia Holds Iranian Oil Tanker in Jeddah

Saudi Arabia is holding an Iranian oil tanker in the port of Jeddah, sources in Tehran said yesterday. The tanker docked in Jeddah for emergency repairs following “engine failure and the loss of control” two months ago. Now the Saudi authorities are demanding that Iran should pay $200,000 for every day that the vessel has […]

THE UNITED STATES A NET OIL EXPORTER?? The Dirty Little Secret

The United States became a net oil exporter for the first time in 75 years, or so they say.  While the U.S. may indeed be exporting more petroleum than it imports from time to time, there’s a dirty little secret behind the data.  And one of those secrets overlooked by some energy analysts and the […]

The Poisons Released by Melting Arctic Ice

In 2012, Sue Natali arrived in Duvanny Yar, Siberia, for the first time. Then a postdoctoral research fellow studying the effects of thawing permafrost due to climate change, she had seen photos of this site many times. Rapid thawing at Duvanny Yar had caused a massive ground collapse – a “mega slump” – like a […]

In battle for Libya’s oil, water becomes a casualty

While Libya’s oil lies at the heart of three months of fighting over Tripoli and years of power struggles before that, water is becoming a far bigger concern for its people. People fill gallons with water during a water shortage in Tripoli, Libya June 13, 2019. REUTERS/Hazem Ahmed Interruptions to water supplies are common after […]

War, Empire and Racism in the Anthropocene

The Anthropocene. A proposed new geological epoch which designates a shift to a planetary age dominated by human impacts across the geological processes of the Earth. Geologists dispute the duration, precision, relevance and even accuracy of the concept. But the term has increasingly entered the scientific lexicon as increasing numbers of experts across myriad disciplines […]

Should we Pay Exxon to Leave Oil in the Ground?

Today’s movement to abolish fossil fuels can learn from two different paths that the British and American governments took to abolish slavery in the 19th century, one peaceful and the other violent. Image: slaveryimages.org. This article is the second in a series that compares today’s fight for climate solutions with the successful movement to abolish slavery […]

A Surprising Idea About the Risks of Extinction

Isle Royale is 200 square miles of land in the watery expanse of Lake Superior. One cold winter 70 years ago, wolves came over an ice bridge and settled into a largely isolated island existence. Unfortunately, island life has not been good for them. By 2016, the number of wolves on Isle Royale declined from […]

Decolonising the economy

We are connected on a planetary scale. All our resources, our infrastructure, our food, energy, clothing, our electronic devices, almost everything human-made that we see around us, contains some component that someone from somewhere else has worked on. Our economy is global. It affects not only every human but also every animal, our climate and […]

Aramco to Restart IPO Preparations

Saudi Arabia is restarting preparations for a potential initial public offering of oil giant Aramco, months after putting the planned listing on hold, people familiar with the matter said. Aramco, the world’s most profitable company, recently held talks with a select group of investment banks to discuss potential roles on the offering, according to the […]

Peak Oil Demand Is Coming, Will Transform Exploration Sector

The global trend toward alternative energy sources and shifting stakeholder sentiments could mark the demise of the oil and gas exploration sector. It may also represent an opportunity to transform. This is according to a new report published by Wood Mackenzie, a global research firm that has been analyzing the oil and gas industry since […]

Opec Is Not Dead Yet, But It Has Lost Control Of The Oil Market

The death of Opec, the oil-producers cartel, has been predicted many times in the past, but rarely from a member of the club which is why this time it might be correct. So, when Iran’s Oil Minister, Bijan Zanganeh, warned earlier this week on the sidelines of a meeting of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting […]

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