The Final Breath Of The US Economy

As expected, the final breath of the United States economy will not be one heard by citizens of the world. Instead, the colossal gap between the ultra rich and the ultra poor will expand both drastically yet quietly, ultimately swallowing up any assertion of recovery lest radical changes are imposed. But even with radical changes, […]

Saudi Prince Alwaleed warns against falling oil demand

Saudi billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal warned that the Gulf Arab kingdom needed to reduce its reliance on crude oil and diversify its revenues, as rising U.S. shale energy supplies cut global demand for its oil. In an open letter to Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi and other ministers, published on Sunday via his Twitter account, […]

Cheaper Oil: Chaos or Prosperity?

Could “Falling oil prices could spark global turmoil?” Steve Hargreaves seems to think so in his piece by that name published on CNNMoney. While mentioning some economic benefits of falling oil prices, the article focuses on how a significant drop in oil prices could lead to geo-political instability, especially in OPEC nations and other oil […]

Iran on verge of electricity shortage, again

Iranian Energy Ministry warned that, if citizens do not decrease electricity consumption, electrical outages will be inevitable, Jahanesanat daily quoted Iran’s Energy Ministry as saying. Reserve power capacity at Iran’s power plants currently stands at 500 megawatts, which indicated a 3000 to 3500 megawatts fall compared to the first three weeks of the summer, the […]

China, OPEC and the future of energy

Already guzzling more energy than the United States to feed its power-hungry manufacturing sector, China is expected to use twice as much energy as the United States by 2040. This from the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s latest International Energy Outlook, released Thursday. The central theme, which hasn’t changed much in the last several years, is […]

Peak oil? What peak oil?

Graph courtesy of Jean Laherrere (units are barrels per capita per year) Cassandra’s Legacy

Can Natural Gas Contribute Towards a More Sustainable World?

In recent years the natural gas industry has developed technologies which have opened up the possibilities of tapping into gases previously considered to be too difficult or too costly to utilise. Last year at the 25th World Gas Conference one of the key topics for conversation centred on continual innovation and how natural gas could […]

Energy Demand Soars as Asia, Africa Drive World Population Growth, Says U.N./Worldwatch

The current world population of 7.2 billion will grow to somewhere between 6.8 billion and 16.6 billion by the end of this century, according to a recent look at population growth by the United Nations’ demographers. Elements in the future mix include unexpectedly high fertility in a number of developing countries, as well as current […]

Changing fortunes

The world is changing or to borrow the Kaptaan’s phrase it has changed. In 1990, the US accounted for a quarter of the world’s GDP and China only four percent. Today the US’ share is less than one-fifth, while China’s has grown to 15 percent. Overall, the developed world accounted for 65 percent of the […]

Energy and the Economy–Basic Principles and Feedback Loops

Does a fish know that its nose is wet? Probably not. It swims in water, and assumes that is the only way any animal lives. We live in an economic world. Economic models that were developed years ago were created based on observations of how the economy seemed to work at the time. As time […]

World will use 56 percent more energy by 2040

Developing countries are driving the consumption of inexpensive fossil fuels, according to the US Energy Information Administration. Government intervention and international exchanges of low-carbon technology could help mitigate the effects of climate change, experts say. A laborer shovels coal at a local storage site in Jiande, Zhejiang province, in China. China and other emerging economies […]

The Brief, Tragic Reign Of Consumerism—And The Birth Of A Happy Alternative, By Richard Heinberg

You and I consume; we are consumers. The global economy is set up to enable us to do what we innately want to do—buy, use, discard, and buy some more. If we do our job well, the economy thrives; if for some reason we fail at our task, the economy falters. The model of economic […]

City Farming

The ancient practice of agriculture meets modern city as we explore groundbreaking farms in Japan, the US and Norway. Monocle Films visits the people bringing green growth to their thriving metropolises. Monocle

US Oil Demand Peak was in 2007

Detroit’s Motown legacy has put the spotlight on the vulnerability of the American car culture. Despite an oil shale boom and years of money printing US oil demand has hit a wall. Expenditure for oil as a percentage of GDP exceeded a critical threshold of 4% pa impacting on oil demand, vehicle kms traveled, the […]

Green Weenie of the Week: Peak Water

As noted here a few days ago, the beloved “peak oil” hypothesis has gone poof, but if you’re an enviro-doomster, you’ve got to have peak-something to grab on to, because Malthus.  Looks like the new peak obsession will be . . . water.  Yes—the stuff that falls regularly from the sky, the bulk of which […]

Peak oil lives, but will kill the economy

Hype around peak oil’s demise is premature, though you wouldn’t know that if you believed BBC misrepresentations Last Monday’s BBC News at Ten broadcast a report by science editor David Shukman arguing that concerns “about oil supplies running dry are receding.” Shukman interviewed a range of industry experts talking up the idea that a “peak” […]

The Energy Cost of Food

At the grocery cooperative nearest my home I can buy kale from California, grapes from Argentina, olive oil from Italy, miso from Japan, and apples from New Zealand. I can enjoy a diet that’s utterly dissociated from Vermont’s Champlain Valley where I live, one that renders my local climate, the character of the local soil […]

US Oil Imports Hit 13 Year Lows

Imports Down 3 Million (barrels per day) since 2006 Oil imports are trending down and stand approximately 7.5 million barrels per day, which is the lowest level since the year 2000. This number hit its highest on a 4-week average basis of around 10.5 million barrels being imported back in 2006. This is a reduction […]

U.S. Solves Its Oil Glut Dilemma

For the first time in nearly three years, the price of crude oil is higher in the U.S. than in Europe. And, believe it or not, that’s great news. Energy investors closely track the difference, or spread, between the so-called West Texas Intermediate spot price in the U.S. and the Brent price in Europe. The […]

Does the American dream still exist for American boomers?

Paul Solman frequently answers questions from the NewsHour audience on business and economic news on his Making Sen$e page. Today’s query is about the lasting value of the American dream as baby boomers approach retirement. As we’ve been documenting here on Making Sen$e and on our new site “New Adventures for Older Workers,” retirement looks […]

Stanford, UCSC study predicts oil demand to peak around 2035

Fears of depleting the Earth’s supply of oil are unwarranted, according to new research, which describes instead a coming peak and decline in demand for oil. “Peak oil” prognosticators have painted pictures of everything from a calm development of alternatives to calamitous shortages, panic and even social collapse. But, according to the study by researchers […]

Egypt’s future crude oil import requirements for 3 population scenarios

Egypt sits on a key strategic location between North Africa and the Middle East, where almost 4 mb/d of oil transit through the Sumed pipeline and the Suez canal. Shipping firms brace for Suez disruption as Egypt turmoil mounts http://www.voanews.com/content/shipping-firms-brace-for-suez-disruption-as-egypt-turmoil-mounts/1690698.html   http://www.sumed.org/docs/front.aspx 20 years after its oil peak this country is now embroiled in a […]

Mainline U.S. Media Ignores Connection between Gasoline Prices and Exports. Why?

The mainline U.S. media cites several alleged reasons for increasing gasoline prices, including refinery outages, increased summer driving, tension in the Middle East, etc. Recent news headlines below provide more detail about gasoline price hikes except for U.S. gasoline exports. The graph below shows that gasoline exports have increased by nearly a factor of 3 […]

Gold, Oil & Natural Resource Depletion

Someone once said that it takes money to make money. In this day and age where we advance quickly on the depletion of natural resources, it might be wise to say that it takes energy to make energy. We could expand that thought further by saying that as energy sources become scarce, it takes more […]

Peak oil, not climate change worries most Britons

Most people in Britain want to reduce reliance on fossil fuels, but due more to fears of shortages and rising prices than to fears about climate change, according to a poll developed by researchers at Cardiff University and funded by the UK Energy Research Centre. Nearly 2,500 people were surveyed across England, Scotland and Wales […]

Has Peak Oil Been Vindicated Or Debunked?

I will admit that I’ve always found the “Peak Oil” debate to be a little bit confusing, especially because both the words “peak” and “oil” turn out to have some ambiguity to them. But recently a couple of my favorite bloggers were debating the implications of the “unconventional oil” boom for the debate, with Karl […]

Why gas prices are likely to keep climbing

Gas prices are significantly higher and likely to go higher still, which could make this the most expensive summer at the pump in five years. The AAA daily tracking of gas prices rose another penny Thursday to $3.66 for a gallon of self-serve regular, the 11th straight day of rising prices. Gas is up nearly […]

Electricity Prices Soar Past $200 per Megawatt-hour as Heatwave Hits Eastern United States

Or a (really hot) day in the life of the power grid With a heatwave settling across the northeastern and midwestern United States, electricity systems across some of the nation’s most densely populated areas strained to meet peak demands today, sending power prices spiking. Wholesale electricity prices briefly touched as high as $230 per megawatt-hour […]

On China, Episode 10 transcript: The Chinese Dream

This episode’s guests include Wu Jianmin, Former Chinese Ambassador to the United Nations; Evan Osnos, Former Beijing Correspondent, The New Yorker; and Jing Ulrich, Chairman, Global Markets, China, JP Morgan. Kristie Lu Stout: Jing Ulrich, Ambassador Wu Jianmin, and Evan Osnos, welcome to On China. Now one question, the very top: what are we going […]

Permaculture: The Big Rock Candy Mountain

PLEASE DOWNLOAD PDF TO SEE ILLUSTRATIONS Let me say at the start that I am an old hand with some claim to know what I’m talking about. I have a background in the life sciences, and for many years worked professionally in horticulture. I have been in the ‘alternative’ tribe all my life. I am […]

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