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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

Coming ‘oil glut’ may push global economy into deflation

OPEC spare capacity set to reach levels last seen in the depths of the financial crisis in 2009, analysts say One piece of the jigsaw puzzle is missing to complete the deflation landscape across the West: a slide in oil prices. This is becoming more likely each month. Turmoil across the Middle East and parts […]

China’s natural gas demand slows oil consumption

Growth in China’s oil consumption slowed to an annualized rate of 1.7 percent in 2013 as stricter requirements on environmental protection drove natural gas demand, according to a report released on Wednesday. The country’s total consumption of oil reached 498 million tonnes last year. The 1.7-percent increase marked a decline of 2.8 percentage points compared […]

Earth May Already Be Running Out of Grain

We have all heard of peak oil, but peak grains? A study released by the Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln suggests we may be heading in that direction — if we’re not already there. The UNL study indicates that about 30% of major global cereal crops — including rice, […]

Collapse? Maybe not.

It’s all a matter of perspective. In a previous post I argued that economic contraction is necessary and in fact underway.  Is this “Collapse” — that scary term that so many authors love to throw around? I find the C word to be counterproductive.  Depending on where you are standing as the grand cascade of […]

Dmitry Orlov: In Praise of Nomads

For the past couple of months we have been living with a tent pitched over our boat. It is what most people who live on boats in northern climates choose to do. When the weather starts turning cold, people erect frames, usually consisting of a ridge pole that runs the length of the boat, sloping […]

India keen on buying oil, LNG from Canada on long-term basis

Eager to diversify its energy sources, India is keen on buying crude oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Canada on long-term contracts to meet its vast growing energy needs. Oil Minister M Veerappa Moily used the sidelines of the Petrotech 2014 conference to court energy ministers of hydrocarbon rich nations of UAE, Bahrain, Canada, […]

Why EIA, IEA, and Randers’ 2052 Energy Forecasts are Wrong

What is correct way to model the future course of energy and the economy? There are clearly huge amounts of oil, coal, and natural gas in the ground.  With different approaches, researchers can obtain vastly different indications. I will show that the real issue is most researchers are modeling the wrong limit. Most researchers assume […]

Coal Makes a 2014 Comeback

While environmental regulations and cheap natural gas have worked together to kill off coal in the United States, coal is not dead yet. The rapidly unfolding shale gas revolution brought prices down so significantly in recent years that natural gas began to capture market share from coal in a meaningful way. In particular, coal’s share dropped from […]

How Much Energy is Needed for the Sochi Winter Olympics?

As we move into the second week of 2014, most of us start to veer away from our New Year’s resolutions.  (Who enjoys counting calories, anyway?)   Instead, we shift our focus toward what’s really important: the Winter Olympics!  Hosting this year’s Games is Sochi, Russia, and in order to arrange the best Olympic Games we’ve […]

Oil tanker trade growth is fastest in a decade

Oil tanker trade is growing at its fastest rate in a decade as the boom in US production forces exporters that in the past supplied the American market to seek new customers further afield. The number of oil tonne-miles – a proxy for the global oil trade that captures both the volume traded and the […]

A Future for the Rest of Us

A Guest Post by Bill Hays Editor’s Note: Part 11 of this series discussed the concept of peak oil and our transportation system’s dependency on cheap and abundant energy. Part 2 explored some of the non-oil constraints on the future transport system of the US. Here Part 3 Outlines some of the options we have […]

American Chemical Society launches Sustainable Food toolkit

As the world’s population swells beyond 10 billion people later this century, what can we do to sustain the farmland, energy and water supplies needed to keep everyone fed? That’s the challenging question that Sustainable Food, a web-based toolkit, addresses with an anchor video and dozens of resources. The toolkit is a project of the […]

Arctic chill exposes weakness of U.S. natural gas system

Brutally cold weather this week laid bare critical weaknesses in the Northeastern U.S. natural gas system, leaving some states paying vast sums for supplies as arctic weather enveloped the region. Despite its location alongside the biggest natural gas deposit in the country, the northeast region saw record price spikes on Monday as an unprecedented surge […]

Peak Oil and sustainable agriculture in Cuba

Image by Adam Jones, Ph.D. – Global Photo Archive/Flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0) Franka Schmidt is nutritionist and food economist. She is also a creator of the blog called ‘The Truth About Food’ with latest news and background information on healthy food and sustainable farming. Currently she is also initiating ‘Veggie Travel Guide’, a travel blog […]

UK families ‘face food shortages as the world’s population soars’

More families in Britain risk being plunged into “food poverty” shortages and price rises as the global population soars, experts warned today. The Food Standards Agency stressed demand for food supplies would rise as the world’s population spirals from seven billion now to nine billion by 2050. “This increase could weaken  resilience in the food […]

Don’t Worry, Drive On: Fossil Fuels & Fracking Lies

I designed and animated half of this piece in collaboration with Monstro. I did not choose the name. Producer: Dalton Crosthwait Design & Animation: Alexander Perry, Michael Wilson Sound: Ben Roider Software used: Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe After Effects, Maxon Cinema 4D

Kunstler: Burning Down The House

Many of us in the Long Emergency crowd and like-minded brother-and-sisterhoods remain perplexed by the amazing stasis in our national life, despite the gathering tsunami of forces arrayed to rock our economy, our culture, and our politics. Nothing has yielded to these forces already in motion, so far. Nothing changes, nothing gives, yet. It’s like […]

Global agro-picture: No complacency please

Where is the march towards feeding the world population at a reasonable cost? The overall situation on the food front has, in the recent past, remained far from being satisfactory with food prices ruling high all over the globe. Food prices are going up on a continuous basis with demonstrations as well as social unrest […]

Which Nations Drive, Fly, Cycle, and Take the Train Most?

Scroll down to see, and hover.  It’s interactive. Read more at http://shrinkthatfootprint.com/travels-most

UN State of Energy Report

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has set a target of achieving 5% of its energy mix from renewable energy by 2030 while also seeking to reduce energy intensity by 30%, according to a new 200-page report released Monday.  Like a number of countries in the Arab region, it seeks to place sustainable energy solutions at […]

Inflation is Already Here… But It’s Being Masked

Since 2007, the world’s Central Banks have collectively put more than $10 trillion into the financial system since 2008. To put that number into perspective, it’s equal to roughly 15% of global GDP. This kind of money printing is literally unheard of in modern history. And it has set the stage for a roaring wave […]

A Bet, Five Metals, And The Future Of The Planet

Listen 7:17 This famous bet — between a biologist and an economist — was over population growth. It started three decades ago, but it helped set the tone for environmental debates that are still happening today. The biologist at the heart of this bet was Paul Ehrlich at Stanford. He wrote a best-selling book in […]

Two Cheers for ‘First World Problems’

When United Parcel Service and FedEx missed last-minute Christmas deliveries, gift givers who’d relied on rush service were upset. But instead of public sympathy, their outrage and disappointment elicited ridicule and lectures. Commenters called the procrastinating shoppers “spoiled and entitled.” Waiting so long, they suggested, was foolish and self-indulgent. The incident, many declared, was a […]

Why a Finite World is a Problem

Why is a finite world a problem? I can think of many answers: 1. A finite world is a problem because we and all of the other creatures living in this world share the same piece of “real estate.” If humans use increasingly more resources, other species necessarily use less. Even “renewable” resources are shared with […]

2013: The Year Bike Sharing Came of Age

Five million rides were taken on New York’s new bike share system in the first five months of service. (Photo courtesy of People for Bikes) 2013 is the year when the sharing economy—the recent rediscovery of the economic advantages of mutual cooperation—came to public attention. It was also the year that bike sharing, one of the […]

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