Lab-grown meat would ‘cut emissions and save energy’

Meat grown using tissue engineering techniques, so-called ‘cultured meat’, would generate up to 96% lower greenhouse gas emissions than conventionally produced meat, according to a new study. The analysis, carried out by scientists from Oxford University and the University of Amsterdam, also estimates that cultured meat would require 7-45% less energy to produce than the […]

Peak oil is ‘getting closer’ but the world is not ready

The end of cheap oil has got governments panicking to control prices rather than planning for a post-oil era. The Ecologist reports Was it a sign of desperation or show of strength? In a surprising move, the major oil consuming countries, principally Europe and the US, agreed last week to release some of their emergency […]

Global Ranking of Top 10 Resilient Cities

Resilient cities, those that are working to transition towards a low-carbon economy while also preparing to avert the worst of climate change, are gaining interest and attention from policy makers, city councils and others worldwide. In fact, today, leaders from the public and private sector, supported by ICLEI (see below) and the U.S. Green Building […]

Why the world faces a massive traffic jam

Sustainability is the biggest issue facing global business in the 21st century. While breakthroughs like improved battery technology will likely provide a solution to the CO2 challenge, another issue — “Global Gridlock” — is quietly taking its place. Global gridlock can be defined by numbers. The world’s population is growing and is becoming more affluent. […]

Bill Ford at TED 2011: The Issue of Global Gridlock

Bill Ford believes sustainability is the biggest issue facing business in the 21st century. While breakthroughs made in recent years have made him confident that technology will provide a solution to the CO2 challenge, another issue – “Global Gridlock” – is quietly taking its place. The problem can be defined by numbers. The world’s population […]

U.S. gas is artificially cheap

What’s the true price of gasoline? This animated feature from the Center for Investigative Reporting explores the “external costs” of gasoline use in the U.S. — including pollution and the health problems caused by it. “The Price of Gas” video was reported by me, produced by Carrie Ching and Sarah Terry-Cobo, and illustrated by Arthur […]

Kingdom Must Curb Its Energy Appetite

The Kingdom needs to curb its energy appetite and redouble its efforts to use alternative energy streams, a leading investment banker told oil-industry professionals in Alkhobar. Gulf One Investment Bank founder and CEO Nahed M. Taher made the remarks to the Society of Petroleum Engineers and cautioned them about the consequences about Saudi Arabia’s current […]

Learning from the Community of the Land

A word to the wise: let a chicken be your guide. Photo: Will Merydith via Flickr. While recently shoveling aged horse manure around berry vines on my small organic farm to fertilize them, which gives me great pleasure, I thought about what I have learned about the community of the land by farming over the […]

EIA analysis: demand heads back up

US refined oil product demand climbed 231,000 barrels per day (b/d) to 19.037 million b/d the week ending June 17, but overall, product stocks increased on higher refiner output, an analysis of US Energy Information Administration (EIA) data showed Wednesday. This analysis and commentary is provided by Linda Rafield, Platts senior oil analyst and editor […]

China’s Oil Demand Up 8% YOY

China’s apparent oil demand in May reached 39.4 million metric tons (mt) or an average of 9.31 million barrels per day (b/d), which was 8% higher year on year, as state-owned enterprises continued to increase output to meet local market supply needs, according to a Platts analysis based on recent statistics released by the Chinese […]

One Village Envisions a Post-Oil Food System

Image credit: Transition Forest Row We’ve already seen one British village aiming to go 100% solar. And we’ve seen one British farm trying to plan for agriculture after peak oil. Now here’s a neat video about a community that is trying to plan for a post-peak oil food system on the village scale—and they are […]

The Death of Demand – The Post-Consumer Debt Economy

Keynesians claim more debt will goose “demand;” they’re wrong. Boosting debt has distorted the economy for 40 years, and the end-game is finally approaching. Keynesians are constantly demanding more debt be taken on to spark “demand” for more stuff. What if debt-fueled demand is dead, expired of natural causes? If so, then the Keynesians are […]

Strike Forces Power Cuts in Greece

Greece’s state-owned electric utility, Public Power Corp. SA, Monday began limited power cuts to selected towns across Greece as a strike by workers forced nearly a third of the company’s generating capacity offline. “We have started to implement selective power cuts because of the shortage in our available output,” a PPC official said. “Right now, […]

Record Food Prices Linked to Biofuels

Reports from the WTO and USDA show that corn supplies are influenced by biofuel subsidies and mandates. The biofuels industry is being blamed for record food prices and high price volatility. Earlier this month a report from the World Trade Organization and other international agencies recommended that governments cut support for biofuels to ease that […]

Solar storms, EMP and the future of the grid

In late August 1859 the most severe solar storm ever witnessed began and lasted through the first few days of September. It produced vivid auroras in the night sky as far south as Cuba and was so bright campers in the Rocky Mountains got up in the middle of the night thinking daylight had arrived. […]

Denial of Peak Oil Grows Dangerous

Does it seem like we’ve been here before? A barrel of Brent Crude (the truest indicator of worldwide oil scarcity) sits at $118, up from $75 per barrel in July 2010 – a 57% increase in 11 months. In the U.S., the average price of gasoline is $3.69 per gallon this week, up 37% in […]

Europe Braces for Serious Crop Losses and Blackouts

One of the driest spring seasons on record in northern Europe has sucked soils dry and sharply reduced river levels to the point that governments are starting to fear crop losses and France, in particular, is bracing for blackouts as its river-cooled nuclear power plants may be forced to shut down. French Agriculture Minister Bruno Le […]

John Michael Greer: Profligacies of Scale

The logic applied in last week’s post to photovoltaic solar power can be applied more generally to a fairly wide range of technologies that can, under the right circumstances, provide a modest supply of electricity to power those things for which electricity is really the most sensible power source. I want to talk about a […]

Could We See A Summer Oil Shortage? This Economist Says Yes.

Oil prices might be high, but there’s no shortages around the world, right? Think again, says Anas Alhajji, chief economist at NGP Energy Capital Management in Dallas. The U.S. might be getting all the oil it demands, but the story is different in places like China and Iraq, where because of electric power shortages governments […]

Misunderstanding Peak Oil

There’s a common and very annoying misunderstanding about peak oil. One that leads all sorts of people to worry about it a great deal more than they ought to: The government was warned by its own civil servants two years ago that there could be “significant negative economic consequences” to the UK posed by near-term […]

Transition Towns – Where Innovation Takes Place At A Certain Pace

What really drives changes in people’s lives? When I wrote about innovation policy challenges yesterday I noted how important towns and cities are in forging the new economy. Places are extraordinary compounds of activity and while some of the big ideas that emerge at conferences like TED arise in traditional academic/big company  culture, ideas about […]

Freewheeling: Bicycling and the art of being broke

More and more of us have less and less money these days. Fortunately, there are a lot of things you don’t need money to do, and bicycling is one of them. When you’re broke, a bicycle can help a lot. Financially, for starters. Cars are expensive beasts. If you make less than $70,000 a year, […]

Farming Needs ‘Major Shift’ as Food System Fails

World farming needs a “major shift” to more sustainable practices as intensive crop production since the 1960s has degraded soils, depleted ground water and caused pest outbreaks, the United Nations said. More farmers need to reduce ploughing and alternate cereals with soil-improving plants, and use an “ecosystem approach” based on natural systems to promote crop […]

China battles power shortage for summer’s peak

China will face its most severe power shortage this summer. Some regions are already facing power blackouts even before the peak season for power consumption arrives. What has caused the power shortage? How can the electricity crunch be solved? These questions have aroused discussion to determine the best way to conquer the problem. China Daily […]

Ron Paul: inflation will hit 50 percent

Texas congressman Ron Paul on Friday predicted that inflation will hit 50 percent in the next couple of years, thanks to the massive debt the country has accumulated. Paul, who spoke to admirers and Republican activists at a Manchester house party, said the inflation will act like default. Social Security checks will still be cut […]

Ford to Triple Hybrid Production, Introduce Plug-In

Ford is taking aim at two of its biggest competitors with a hybrid and plug-in hybrid based on the C-Max model it sells in Europe. The two cars roll into showrooms next year as part of the automaker’s aggressive plan to triple production of hybrid and electric vehicles by 2013. The second-largest U.S. automaker has […]

Shell Chief Says World to Face 40 Percent Water-Supply Shortfall

Royal Dutch Shell Plc (RDSA) Chief Executive Officer Peter Voser said global demand for fresh water may outstrip supply by 40 percent in 20 years. Shell, together with the International Energy Agency and World Business Council for Sustainable Development, is conducting research on water use in the energy industry, Voser said yesterday in London. The […]

Roundtable on China’s Energy Future

I was recently asked to participate in an energy roundtable at Focus on China’s Energy Future and the Shale Gas Question. It is no secret that I feel that China’s moves stand to continue sending shock waves through the energy markets over the upcoming years. In fact, energy news from China warranted inclusion in My […]

The world gets back to burning

NOT since 1973 has world energy use increased by as much, in percentage terms, as it did in 2010. According to BP’s annual Statistical Review of World Energy, published today, 2010’s energy consumption was up by 5.6% on the year before. In part this is thanks to recovery from the economic crisis; in part it […]

Sailing craft for a post-collapse world

Land transport will be costly, difficult and dangerous after the industrial system has broken down. Moving goods and people by water will be a better option even for quite short distances but what sort of boats will be needed and what materials will be available to build them? At present, whether you need to move […]

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