Can we invest our way out of an energy shortfall?

The world has many ideas for solving our energy shortfall, but they all seem to involve investment: Drill for more oil and gas; Develop alternative energy sources; Build more efficient gas-powered cars or electric cars; Fix homes and offices so they are more energy efficient. I thought I would check through government data to see […]

US on track to be an oil exporter

The contentious debate in Congress over the Keystone XL pipeline obscures one significant detail many Americans don’t realize: In the first three quarters of 2011, we exported more oil than we imported. This means it’s highly likely that this year will be the first time in more than six decades that the United States will […]

Jack Keller: Understanding Peak Water

“A very, very large amount of our total food production is depending on a diminishing supply of water,” remarks Jack Keller, one of our own regulars here in the CM.com community and an accomplished world expert on water management. Similar to oil and other key natural resources that are mined and consumed, water is subject […]

Natural Gas Fueling Stations Popping Up Around The Country

It had to happen sooner or later. Natural gas is considered a much cleaner fuel than petroleum. Now a company called NCI is building natural gas fueling stations in Lee County, Florida for the general public and businesses. The fist will be a service station near Southwest Florida International Airport. Earlier this year, the city […]

Still no sign our oil addiction is ebbing

In a move reminiscent of drug dealers peddling their addictive wares to school kids in order to guarantee, um, future market growth, Saudi Arabia’s Prince Alwaleed bin Talal recently opined that the world’s largest producer of crude would like to maintain a target price of around US$70 to US$80 a barrel for its crude lest […]

China: Country in City

Guillermo Munro / China Daily     This happy rooftop farmer is a trendsetter, and if the “garden city” concept takes off, many more will reap the rewards of self-sufficiency in the city. Zhang Yanlin / for China Daily     Some cities have already started greenings campaign, like this apartment in Chongqing. Planting food […]

Ants, Angels and Armor: Further Conversations on Human Nature

“The big system can be pretty overwhelming. We know that we can’t beat them by competing with them. What we can do is build small systems where we live and work that serve our needs as we define us and not as they‘re defined for us. The big boys in their shining armor are up […]

John Michael Greer: The Future Can’t Pay Its Bills

I want to expand here on some of the points raised in last week’s post, because they deal with factors in our situation that operate well below the surface. One of the things that makes the predicament of industrial society so difficult for most people to notice, in fact, is that its effects are woven […]

The Global Village Construction: LifeTrac Design Challenge

The LifeTrac Design Challenge is now live at GrabCAD: Pass this on to any engineer friends. This is our first attempt to solve a technical issue by means of a crowd engineering platform. I am hoping that this platform will be a significant contributor to the Global Village Construction Set (GVCS) development effort. We will […]

Rob Hopkins: Announcing the publication of two new Energy Descent Action Plans

Like buses, you wait for ages for Energy Descent Action Plans to come along, and then two come along at once. This month sees the publication of two new EDAPs, from Llambed in mid-Wales, and Dunbar in East Lothian, Scotland. For a crash course in EDAPs and a taste of those published thus far, see […]

The Coming Global Water Crisis

Our planet is running out of usable, potable water. This could be a greater disaster than Peak Oil Learn more about future trends at http://www.futuremoneytrends.com

India must ramp up energy consumption for 9 p.c. growth: Manmohan

India needs to rapidly increase energy consumption to achieve the ambitious target of 9 per cent economic growth in the 12th Five-Year Plan (2012-17), Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday said. “We have set for ourselves an ambitious target of 9 per cent annual growth in GDP in the 12th Five-Year Plan. This high rate […]

Oil prices, 0% growth and the environment

In this video Chris Martenson – economic analyst at chrismartenson.com and author of The Crash Course – and Alasdair Macleod of the GoldMoney Foundation talk about the implications of rising oil prices for economic growth. They wonder what effect it would have on pension portfolios when the predicted returns of 7-8% cannot be realised anymore […]

Mapping Australia’s energy future

Despite benefits from a new “golden age of gas”, the world must immediately slow carbon emissions or it will not be able to keep global warming to a two-degree increase, a Brisbane audience was told today. International Energy Agency chief economist Fatih Birol gave his only public speech in Australia as part of the Energy […]

China poised to become world’s largest LNG importer

China became a price setter on the iron ore market within the last 3 years, and China could become a future price setter for natural gas, Edward L. Morse, managing director of commodities research at Citigroup Global Markets Inc., told an energy conference at Rice University’s Baker Institute. “China has risen to being a big […]

China Nov implied oil demand 2nd highest on record

China’s implied oil demand in November increased to the second highest in history, as refineries in the world’s second-largest oil consuming country ramped up production to record high levels to ease domestic diesel shortages. Implied oil demand, a combination of crude runs and net oil product imports, rose 1.7 percent from a year earlier to […]

Who Killed Economic Growth

Richard Heinberg propose a startling diagnosis: humanity has reached a fundamental turning point in its economic history. The expansionary trajectory of industrial civilization is colliding with non-negotiable natural limits. ** Please understand that we fit all we could into a five minute video. Yes, there are many issues and nuances left out. You’ll find most […]

Here’s The Only Food Pyramid That Matters In A Peak Oil Future

Food crises will become more common over the next century, according to a new report from the UN Food and Agriculture Organization. It’s easy to see why. The report cites predictions that global food demand will increase 50% by 2030. Meanwhile global demand for energy and water will increase 40%. As you may remember from […]

Let’s carefully use our power supply to invest in new sources

Two weeks ago, a new manufacturing facility in Eastern Idaho was connected to Idaho Power’s grid. At 82 megawatts, it’s a hefty load, requiring as much power as Micron did during its peak needs in Idaho. The fact that manufacturing requires a lot of energy isn’t surprising. What did catch some folks as interesting, at […]

Exxon See Natural Gas Reshaping Global Demand through 2040

Demand to be about 30 percent higher in 2040 versus 2010 as population grows and global GDP doubles; demand in developing nations rises nearly 60 percent. Less-carbon-intensive fuels, particularly natural gas, gain market share, while coal peaks and begins a decline for the first time in modern history. Gas from shale and other unconventional rock […]

With 140 Million Automobiles, China Stokes Global Energy Fears

The number of automobiles in China has shot past the 100 million mark. And it is expected to double within the next decade given that some 50 million cars were registered in the country from 2006 to 2010 alone. As of last month, the total number of registered vehicles amounted to 140 million in the […]

World Energy Demand Growth is Cause for Economic Optimism, Says Tillerson

Future growth in world energy demand is a cause for optimism because it will signal economic recovery and progress, Rex W. Tillerson, chairman and chief executive officer of Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM), said today. ExxonMobil is forecasting the global economy to more than double in size between 2010 and 2040, and during that time energy […]

How low can oil prices really go?

With the global economy teetering, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries is coming under pressure to lower the price of oil before another worldwide recession does it for them. Every recession since the 1970s has been preceded by a spike in oil prices, and it would appear as though we have just experienced another such […]

High oil prices may threaten growth: BP

The fragile economic recovery could be negatively affected by high oil prices, especially in the United States, BP’s (BP.L) chief executive said on Tuesday. Despite the looming threat of a sharp economic slowdown in Europe affecting demand for oil around the world, oil prices have remained above $100 for most of 2011 thanks largely to […]

Peak Oil and the Effects on Public Health

This is an educational video discussing the issue of peak oil and the effects on public health.

The era of decadence: it’s all downhill from here

LET’S not exaggerate. This is not the end of days. It is merely the end of civilisation as we know it. That is the sobering argument made in Decadence: Decline of the Western World. Five years in the making, the Australian documentary proposes that the West peaked in 1969 and is now dying. ”The West […]

US FAO: Food Production Must Cut Fossil-Fuel Dependence

The global food system needs to cut its dependence on fossil fuels to feed a growing world population, the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization said. Reliance on fossil fuels to grow, process and store food could limit the ability to meet increasing demand as the world population expands, the Rome-based UN agency said in […]

MPG of a human

On Do the Math, three previous posts have focused on transportation efficiency of gasoline cars, electric cars, and on the practicalities of solar-powered cars. What about personal-powered transport—namely, walking and biking? After stuffing myself over Thanksgiving, I am curious to know how potent human fuel can be. How many miles per gallon do we get […]

“Demand-side” economics and the liberal denial of reality

When, after 9-11, George Bush told us to “go shopping” he in fact demonstrated a correct understanding of mainstream economics, liberal and conservative alike. As all economists know, a decline in consumer spending, confidence, and optimism, can plunge an economy into recession. This entirely uncontroversial view is one step away from its categorical version which […]

New ways needed to grow food

– In another 40 years, many parts of the world will have run out of water for farming, say a new authoritative analysis of the state of the world’s land and water resources. “It is now estimated that more than 40 percent of the world’s rural population lives in river basins that are physically water […]

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