Adding and removing complexity

An article on the difficulty of building truly green buildings and recent discussions about the healthcare system triggered thoughts about a major transition problem that is occurring over and over again—the problem of a complex hierarchy that demands feeding with extra energy. Previous posts about the added complexity that digitization brings are pertinent here, but […]

Super-efficient laptop, high-speed electric car to be reality

A laptop that runs for eight hours without a recharge or a high-speed electric car covering around 300 km in one fill may appear a distant dream for many Indians. But, it would soon be a reality with India set to enter the highly competitive world of ‘super-energy efficient’ appliances. The government would be announcing […]

30,000 Greek Households Lose Electricity Each Month

Since the Greek government enacted the remarkable law that property taxes will be enforced via the electricity providers in the beleaguered country, an incredible 30,000 households per month have seen their power supply cut off. Ekathimerini reports that some 700,000 customers have now had their debts restructured (with payment plans) as part of the billing […]

Kunstler: That Dreadful Day

For the moment, the trend seems pretty clear. Money from far and wide rushes into the US stock markets because every other conceivable place to stash money produces no return, no interest, no increase, at a time when the value of central bank currencies is slip-slidin’ somewhere south of Palookaville. The rush into equities gooses […]

Fuel Consumption has Fallen more than 20% in the UK Due to High Oil Prices

Petrol stations in the UK have noticed the volume of fuel that they sell fall significantly over the past five years as high prices have forced people to buy more fuel efficient cars, and drive less, in order to reduce their fuel bill. Petrol sales have fallen by more than 20% as oil prices have […]

Peak Oil Not Dead: America’s Next Top Gamble

Apparently, we’ve been “dead wrong.” “Those behind the [peak oil] theory appear to have been dead wrong, at least in terms of when the peak would hit, having not anticipated the rapid shift in technology that led to exploding oil and natural gas production in new plays and areas long dismissed as dried up,” says […]

Climate Change, peak oil and economic collapse

Humanity faces serious challenges as climate change, resource depletion and overpopulation are changing the earth and its ecosystems. What if….there was a new way forward? This short promotional video is designed to get people thinking about a new way forward….that of one…. Thanks to archive.org and sockfootageforfree.com

Uncharted Territory: A Modern Peak Oil Theory

Peak oil theories have been around for decades. Marion King Hubbert accurately predicted a peak in U.S. oil production in 1956, in the first widely published peak oil theory. Since then, people have been predicting when demand would exceed supply and the dire economic consequences that will come along with it. But what if the […]

The 21 Key Statistics About The Explosive Growth Of Poverty In America

If the economy is getting better, then why does poverty in America continue to grow so rapidly?  Yes, the stock market has been hitting all-time highs recently, but also the number of Americans living in poverty has now reached a level not seen since the 1960s.  Yes, corporate profits are at levels never seen before, […]

Qatar confident of future gas demand

The conference “Peak Oil: Challenges and Opportunities for the GCC Countries” in Doha, Qatar, has ended. It was a very interesting Peak Oil conference and was the first to be held in the Middle East. I was given the honour of summarizing the conference and will write a summary when I am back in Sweden. […]

How Oil Exporters Reach Financial Collapse

Recently, I explained how high oil prices can bring on financial collapse for oil importers. In this post, I’ll discuss the flip side of the situation: how oil exporters reach financial collapse. Unfortunately, we have many examples of countries that were oil exporters, but are dealing with collapse situations. Egypt, Syria, and Yemen all have […]

Feeding a Population vs. Climate Change: Global Food Security by 2050

On April 3rd, the Energy, Resources and Environment Global Leaders Forum at the John Hopkins University Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies welcomed Dr. Robert L. Thompson to speak on the important matter of global food security within the next 40 years. The question posed in Dr. Thompson’s speech was one of growing […]

How I’ve Responded to the Financial Crisis

Since reading Herman Daly’s “Nationalize Money, not Banks,” my head has been whirling with notions of how to help restructure the financial system to support a steady-state economy that respects ecological limits. The current system creates debt-based money by allowing banks to hold only a very small fraction of demand deposits while lending out the […]

Crescent Group: Global energy demand undergoing rapid change

The world’s energy demand is growing with increasing population and rapid development in emerging markets. Today, about 1.1 billion people in the developed world consume 110 million barrels of oil equivalent per day (boe/d) in primary energy. The developing world’s 5.8 billion people consume 140 million boe/d. What this means is that if the developing […]

China to Surpass U.S. as World’s Top Crude Importer, OPEC Says

China is on course to overtake the U.S. as the world’s top crude importer by 2014, as the Asian country’s growing refining capacity boosts demand and America’s fracking boom cuts the need for foreign oil, OPEC said today. Imports to China may surpass 6 million barrels a day by the end of this year, according […]

Cheap Natural Gas Draws European Manufacturers to US

 A number of European steel, chemical, and manufacturing companies are increasing their investments in the United States, driven in large part by a steep decline in U.S. natural gas prices. According to The Washington Post, German chemical giant BASF has announced wide-ranging expansion plans for the United States, thanks to natural gas prices that are […]

The Myth Of U.S. Energy Independence

Let’s begin with the Federal Reserve. Adding $1 trillion a year to its balance sheet sounds like big money. The Congressional Budget Office recently projected an $845 billion federal deficit in 2013. States and localities will likewise disburse more than they take in taxes — so altogether let’s say it adds up to $2+ trillion […]

Natural gas makes Iowa rich ground for fertilizer

Iowa, it seems, has become a destination for companies that want to produce ammonium nitrate fertilizer. Gov. Terry Branstad has announced two such deals, one in Lee County and one in Woodbury County, each requiring more than a $1 billion in corporate investment in the past 12 months. There’s also talk of a third potential […]

Peak Oil is Near – Ross Jackson

OccupyWorldStreet Peak Oil is Near – Ross Jackson  

The Coming Crash: Our Addiction to Endless Growth on a Finite Planet

If you want to understand how much energy costs, don’t look at your electric bill; instead get a copy of the new book Energy: Overdevelopment and the Delusion of Endless Growth. This massive coffee table book contains hundreds of arresting images showing the effects of our energy choices, including oil spills, nuclear accidents, massive solar arrays, […]

Peak demand theory shakes up oil debate

Peak oil was a major area of debate in the energy market in the early 2000s. Now peak oil theory is back, although from a dramatically different point of view: rather than the peak in supply, discussions focus on the possibility of a peak in demand. “The substitution of natural gas for oil combined with […]

Saudi Arabia’s Al-Naimi Sees Demand Holding Strong in Asia

Saudi Arabian Oil Minister Ali al- Naimi said demand for crude will hold strong from Asian buyers as the U.S. produces more of its own fuel. “The expectations of energy demand and growth are still positive,” al-Naimi said today in a speech in Doha, Qatar, carried by official Saudi Press Agency. “I was in Hong […]

How Is the World Price of Oil Determined?

I used to be an oil trader a while ago (trading mainly in oil ETFs/funds). It is one of the most stressful experiences, as oil prices change throughout the day. I used to wake up in the middle of the night to see how Singapore and Tokyo are closing and how London is opening. There […]

New EIA Data Reveal U.S. Coal Use Rising Again

New data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) reveals a troubling trend: Coal-fired power generation—and its associated greenhouse gas emissions—were on the rise as 2012 came to an end. According to the data, which was released yesterday, natural gas prices have risen significantly since April of 2012, prompting a rise in coal-fired electric generation […]

Kunstler: Are You Going To Entropy Faire?

Things are breaking loose. Holes have appeared in the fabric of fraud and lies that passes for the world money system. They are black holes, gravitationally sucking in the things breaking loose, and as these things cross their event horizons, they will never be seen again. These things I speak of are the collateral for […]

Ugo Bardi: Peak eggs debunked

Today, a press release from the egg industry commented on the traditional egg hunt of this year’s Easter, denying that “peak eggs” took place last year. “Eggs are still abundant,” maintains the industry’s press release, “and the new technology of egg fracking is creating a “new age of eggs” that will last decades”. The press […]

Why Abundant Oil Hasn’t Cut Gasoline Prices

For the first time since 1995, the U.S. will likely produce more oil than it imports. That’s great for the country’s trade balance, but the benefits of all that cheap domestic crude still haven’t shown up at the one place it matters most: the gas station. Even as fuel consumption has fallen to 16 percent […]

Waiting for peak oil: a paradox

As an enthusiastic proponent of fracking, Gene sent me a link to this NBC article Power shift: Energy boom dawning in America that argues, among other things, that due to fracking, the U.S. will leapfrog Saudi Arabia and Russia to become the #1 fossil fuel producer by 2020. Already today, we see amazingly dropping prices […]

Egypt, Short of Money, Sees Crisis on Food and Gas

A fuel shortage has helped send food prices soaring. Electricity is blacking out even before the summer. And gas-line gunfights have killed at least five people and wounded dozens over the past two weeks. The root of the crisis, economists say, is that Egypt is running out of the hard currency it needs for fuel […]

Pain at the pump: Have gas prices peaked for 2013?

The pain at the gas pump that you’ve been feeling may not hurt as much the rest of the year. After surging nearly 60 cents a gallon from late December to a recent peak of $3.79 on Feb. 27, prices have fallen for 25 of the past 29 days. Nationally, regular grade gas averages $3.65 […]

« 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