China’s Coal Consumption Fell in 2014

For the first time this century China’s coal consumption has fallen, according to preliminary data from both the Chinese Coal Industry Association and the National Energy Administration. The amount by which coal use declined last year remains an open question, with the Coal Industry Association reporting a reduction of around 3.5% but NEA data showing a […]

Al Gore Wants to Spend $90 Trillion to Create World Without Cars

If you ever wanted to live in a giant slum with no way to get anywhere except by waiting on the poorly operated local public transit system in hock to municipal systems, you can have it for just $90 trillion. Come on. That’s pocket change. And just think, you’ll be able to live in a […]

Planning for peak oil and Detroit’s future

  According to Time Magazine, in an interview with Thomas Hoenig, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas, “Global Food prices have risen 25% this last year and many nations are starting to hoard commodities” (corn, wheat, rice etc.). Whatever the reasons for this, and I don’t understand many of them, this trend is […]

Peak Oil Pulled a Fast One on Me

I’ll admit that I was completely caught off guard by the recent (and ongoing?) crash in oil prices. It’d be a stretch to say I’m embarrassed by my lack of foresight, although perhaps “dumb-ass” would be a bit deserving. I would say I’m well enough versed with the reality of peak oil: I’ve read perhaps […]

Boston leaking $90 million worth of natural gas

It is no secret the networks of aging underground pipes in many big cities can be dangerous. Now, a new study has found they are also bad for the environment. Focusing their attention on Boston, a group of Harvard researchers writing in current issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found that […]

Low prices to delay ‘peak oil demand’ past 2030

The recent rout in oil prices could delay the onset of “peak oil demand,” or zero global demand growth, by around five years to beyond 2030, Bank of America Merrill Lynch (BofA) said. The bank had earlier expected that the continuation of high oil prices above $100 per barrel since 2011 would result in peak […]

200 million people moved to cities in East Asia in decade

Almost 200 million people in East Asia moved to urban areas in the decade to 2010, the World Bank said Monday, creating a massive challenge to the region’s planners. About 36 percent of people in the region — which under the World Bank’s definition includes Northeast and Southeast Asia — were living in urban areas […]

Power breakdown plunges Pakistan into darkness

Pakistan was plunged into darkness after a key power transmission line broke down early on Sunday in an incident blamed on a rebel attack, the latest reminder of the country’s crippling energy crisis. The power failure, one of the worst Pakistan has experienced, caused electricity to be cut in major cities throughout the country, including […]

A New Theory Of Energy & The Economy

How does the economy really work? In my view, there are many erroneous theories in published literature. I have been investigating this topic and have come to the conclusion that both energy and debt play an extremely important role in an economic system. Once energy supply and other aspects of the economy start hitting diminishing […]

OPEC’s El-Badri Says Oil Will Rebound Rather Than Fall to $20

Oil prices will rebound rather than extend their decline to as low as $20 a barrel because a collapse since June isn’t merited by global supply and demand, OPEC’s Secretary-General said. Producers outside the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries should be first to reduce their output amid a surplus that’s pushed crude below $50 a […]

The Price of Milk

I have recently been listening to the bad news about the price of milk while actually milking cows, as my herdsman took a break over Christmas and the New Year. Experiencing at first hand the economic impact of the climate in which dairy farmers are operating gives the issue a whole different meaning. It seems […]

Natural gas to unseat coal as generation king by 2035

Information Administration predicts that natural gas will dethrone King Coal by 2035, and a number of market forces are at work that may assure that ascension. Coal through the first three quarters of 2014 provided roughly 51 percent of the nation’s electricity, and Wyoming supplies about 40 percent of that coal. Comparatively, natural gas through […]

A Population Perspective on the Steady State Economy

A steady state economy is defined by a constant population and a constant stock of physical capital. In a way it is an extension of the demographer’s model of a stationary population to include non living populations of artifacts, with production rates equal to depreciation rates, as well as birth rates equal to death rates. […]

The Circular Economy. Great Idea, But Can It Work?

Is there a more sustainable way to drill a hole?  Consider that power drill stored at the back of a cupboard at home. On average it’s used for six minutes a year.  Surely it would be better to rent one when you need to fix that wonky door?  But this would require us to reconsider […]

Former oil exec: $5-a-gallon gas on the way

John Hofmeister attracted national attention in 2010 when he predicted that average U.S. gasoline prices would soar to $5 a gallon in 2012, thanks to rising crude oil prices. His forecast fell short, as the cost of filling up flirted with $4 in 2012, but never went higher. Now, with gasoline prices at $2.14, their […]

Plunging oil prices could kill electric and hyrbid cars

Gas-guzzling cars are gaining favor once again, as low oil prices are cheapening petrol, driving consumers away from more economic and expensive eco-friendly models. Both Brent and West Texas Intermediate crude have fallen below $50 per barrel, greatly cheapening the cost of refined products such as gasoline and petroleum. In the US, gasoline for cars […]

Former Saudi oil boss says it can cope with low price

Saudi Arabia can cope with low oil prices for “at least eight years”, Saudi Arabia’s minister of petroleum’s former senior adviser has told the BBC. Mohammed al-Sabban said the country’s policy was to defend its current market share by enduring low prices. “You need to allow prices to go as low as possible in order […]

Plunging oil prices won’t solve China’s economic problems

Falling oil prices are typically seen as great news for major energy importers, but even rock-bottom prices won’t be enough to lift China’s economy out of its current malaise. China is the world’s largest net importer of oil, and plunging crude prices should cut costs for consumers and businesses. It is also expected to help […]

What’s So Bad About Cheap Oil?

The sharp drop in oil prices will benefit American consumers, many of the nation’s businesses and the economy as a whole. So why are stock market investors behaving as though oil under $50 a barrel and gasoline prices hovering around $2 a gallon are bad news? The overall market’s recent decline reflects more than just […]

Price of Electricity Hit Record High

Even as gasoline prices plummeted and the overall energy price index calculated by the Bureau of Labor Statistics declined, electricity prices bucked the trend in the United States in 2014. Data released today by the BLS indicates that the electricity price indexes hit all-time highs for the month of December and for the year. 2014 […]

Price of Meat, Chicken, Fish, and Eggs Hits Record High

Despite a decline in the overall Consumer Price Index (CPI) in December, the food index increased and the price index for meats, poultry, fish and eggs hit a record high, according to data released today from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). A basket of grocery goods. (AP) According to the BLS, “The Consumer Price […]

Falling Oil Price: An Opportunity for Asia?

The major cause of the recent oil price fall is the increasing oil production in the United States as advanced technology enables US oil companies to extract previously untapped shale oil and gas. Although remaining a major oil importer, the US now produces more than half of the oil it consumes. One salient consequence which […]

IEA Sees Oil-Price Recovery; Cuts 2015 Non-OPEC Output Estimate

Non-OPEC oil producers will increase output this year at a slower rate than previously forecast, aiding a recovery in crude prices, the International Energy Agency said. The adviser lowered its non-OPEC supply growth estimate by 350,000 barrels a day, the first cut since the 2015 forecast was introduced in July. Half the cut is from […]

Renewable Resources Reach Their Limits

Can the world continue expanding its use of renewable resources at an increasing rate? Most likely not. Using a data set of over 25 resources researchers at the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ), Yale University and Michigan State University demonstrate that several key resources have recently passed, at around the same time, their “peak-rate […]

Declining Population Could Reduce Global Economic Growth By 40%

Declining population growth that shrinks the pool of available labor over the next 50 years will reduce by 40% the rate of growth in global economic output for the world’s 20 largest economies compared to the past 50 years, according to a new study. The report from the McKinsey Global Institute says that to compensate […]

The Unintended Consequences of Cheap Oil

Cheaper oil is  good for the economy — it’s basically the equivalent of a tax cut. Unless it’s bad for the economy, which can be the case if falling prices spur deflation and hurt countries and companies that depend on oil exports. Whether the impact is good, bad, or a little of both, will depend on how […]

What Is Behind the Drop? Simple Economics

The oil industry, with its history of booms and busts, appears to be in the early stages of its latest downturn. The price of oil has plunged more than 55 percent to under $50 a barrel since June. That is the lowest price since the depths of the 2009 recession. Oil analysts predict that the […]

The Oil Price Fall: An Explanation in Two Charts

Don’t worry.  It’s not complicated. I offer a simple explanation for the recent fall in oil prices in just two charts. Oil prices move up and down in response to changes in supply and demand.   If the world consumes more oil than it produces, the price goes up.  If more oil is produced than […]

Saudi prince: $100-a-barrel oil ‘never’ again

Saudi billionaire businessman Prince Alwaleed bin Talal told me we will not see $100-a-barrel oil again. The plunge in oil prices has been one of the biggest stories of the year. And while cheap gasoline is good for consumers, the negative impact of a 50% decline in oil has been wide and deep, especially for […]

The oil price collapse: what’s so special about it?

  As I said in a previous post of mine, strong price oscillations are expected at or near the production peak. Prices can go up and down, but the drops don’t last for long and the overall trend is clear: it goes up.  Graph by Frances Coppola.  Cassandra’s legacy by Ugo Bardi

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