Oil Depletion Analysis Centre

The Oil Depletion Analysis Centre (ODAC) is an independent, UK-registered educational charity. The centre is working to raise international public awareness and promote better understanding of the world’s oil depletion and peak oil problem. It is based in London and belongs to the New Economics Foundation. ODAC was founded in June 2001 on the belief […]

A Moral Code For The Post-Collapse World

Popular media today, including television and cinema, are rife with examples of what is often referred to as moral relativism — the use of false and fictional moral dilemmas designed to promote the rationalization of an “ends justify the means” narrative. We are also bombarded lately with entertainment depicting an endless array of “anti-heroes,” protagonists […]

Fooling peak oil one more time: can we find new sources of liquid hydrocarbons?

The world peak of conventional oil production took place in 2005-2006, but the supply of combustible liquids did not decline, mainly because of the contribution of the newly developed “shale oil” (or “tight” oil) fields. With the impending worldwide peak of “all liquids” it is likely that the industry will try a new, all out […]

Extinct—Extincter—Extinctest

This blog is dedicated to the idea of presenting the big picture—the biggest possible—of what is going on in the world. The abiding areas of interest that make up the big picture have included the following: 1. The terminal decay and eventual collapse of industrial civilization as the fossil fuels that power it become more […]

Follow the Energy to Find the Money

Peat, an early yet minor fossil fuel (image by Umabatata) While the phrase “follow the money” is common parlance in progressive circles these days, a more relevant line of investigation for these peak oil times of ours might be, I think, “follow the energy.” For as it is, the suggestion of “following the money” generally […]

Twelve ways the world could end

  What are the chances of all human life being destroyed by a supervolcano? Or taken over by robots? A new report from Oxford university assesses the risks of apocalypse Since the dawn of civilisation people have speculated about apocalyptic bangs and whimpers that could wipe us out. Now a team from Oxford university’s Future […]

Post Carbon Society And Transition

The Industrial Society or the Carbon Society The present social system that we are living is called Industrial Society. It began with the Industrial Revolution (1760 -1830) in the West and was followed by social revolution in various countries – Holland, France, England and the USA, ending the age old feudal society and ushering in […]

Fourth Turning: The Shadow Of Crisis Has Not Passed

 In Part One of this article I explained the model of generational theory as conveyed by Strauss and Howe in The Fourth Turning. In Part Two I provided an overwhelming avalanche of evidence this Crisis has only yet begun, with debt, civic decay and global disorder propelling the world towards the next more violent phase […]

The Problem of Debt as We Reach Oil Limits

(This is Part 3 of my series – A New Theory of Energy and the Economy. These are links to Part 1 and Part 2.) Many readers have asked me to explain debt. They also wonder, “Why can’t we just cancel debt and start over?” if we are reaching oil limits, and these limits threaten […]

A Brief History of Peak Oil

How technological advances in exploration and production have pushed back the date when oil output will max out, creating an opportunity for the development of alternative energy sources. With apologies to Stephen Hawking for the title of this blog and an acknowledgement of a recent Wall Street Journal article on the subject, here’s a summary […]

Peak Oil Causes Global Recession, Depression

Peak oil will cause recessions and even a great depression, at least this is the common understanding of peak oil’s impact on the global economy. Economist Richard Douthwaite discusses the impact of peak oil on the world economy.  

Our Shitty Situation

In this sedition we look at the economic clusterfuck enveloping the globe, the mega drop in oil prices and the Greek political party that has the left screaming like Justin Beaver fans, plus some uplifting hip hop to help you pull through from your shitty situation.

As Night Closes In

I was saddened to learn a few days ago, via a phone call from a fellow author, that William R. Catton Jr. died early last month, just short of his 89th birthday. Some of my readers will have no idea who he was; others may dimly recall that I’ve mentioned him and his most important […]

“The Moral Case for Fossil Fuels”. Really?

I first heard about Alex Epstein’s book ‘The Moral Case for Fossil Fuels’ via an unsurprisingly fawning review over at the SkeptEco blog.  Its premise is so ludicrous that normally I wouldn’t read it, never mind review it.  There is no “moral case for fossil fuels”, just as there was no “moral case for slavery” […]

The Transition Agony Aunt on how to talk about peak oil

“Dear Agony Aunt.  Given that we are now seeing oil at below $50 a barrel, how is my Transition group meant to talk about ‘peak oil’? Peak oil has always been one of the foundations of Transition, but should we drop it now, or how else do we explain it?  Does so much cheap oil […]

Heinberg: After the Peak

Nearly 17 years ago the modern peak oil movement began with the publication of “The End of Cheap Oil” by petroleum geologists Colin Campbell and Jean Laherrère in the March, 1998 issue of Scientific American. Campbell coined the term “peak oil” to describe the inevitable moment when the world petroleum industry would produce oil at its historic […]

I quit my job to set up a post-apocalyptic commune

In early 2006 I was 39, living in Bristol and working at one of the best robotics labs in the world. I had become increasingly obsessed with what life would be like if civilisation collapsed, and thought that I could find out by setting up a community that acted as if it already had. I […]

The Time Machine in Australia

The massive brain rot that is observable in the US can perhaps be explained by the “fracking fluid in the drinking water” theory; but what about the rest of the English-speaking world? This is a guest post by Gary Flomenhoft that offers some clues. I’ve been in Australia (pronounced “Straya”) for four months now. I […]

Lessons from the Soviet Collapse: A Conversation with Dmitry Orlov

“They can’t really grasp the fact that everything they’ve built has stopped working, because their ideology forbids them from doing it. So that’s identical with what was going on in the Soviet Union.” -Dmitry Orlov LISTEN TO THE SHOW Length (59:24) Click to download the audio (MP3 format)  On the Global Research News Hour this […]

Peak Oil, World Oil Production Decline Acknowledged

John Hofmeister, Founder & CEO, Citizens for Affordable Energy and Joshua Saks, Legislative Director, National Wildlife Federation discuss the XL Pipeline Hofmeister, the former president of Shell Oil, acknowledges what perilously few in the general public know or choose not to accept which is that Peak Oil is real and it is here now. The […]

How we went from peak oil to too much oil

It’s not the worry we’ll run out of fossil fuels that’s the problem any more. Quite the opposite. Al Gore at Davos: “Companies are insisting on their right to use our atmosphere as an open sewer.” A third of oil reserves, half gas reserves and over 80% of coal must remain in the ground. If […]

Yergin: Peak Oil Is Followed by Glut

IHS Vice Chairman Daniel Yergin speaks with Bloomberg’s Tom Keen about oil prices. They speak at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland on “Bloomberg Surveillance.” How many victory laps? Do you feel like yes, i got it right? It is hard. Here, i remember people say you do not believe in peak oil. Not […]

Mutiny Of The Soul

Depression, anxiety, and fatigue are an essential part of a process of metamorphosis that is unfolding on the planet today, and highly significant for the light they shed on the transition from an old world to a new. When a growing fatigue or depression becomes serious, and we get a diagnosis of Epstein-Barr or Chronic […]

Saudi Aramco CEO says oil market will rebalance itself

It will take some time for the oil market to rebalance, but the market will balance itself, the head of Saudi Arabia’s state oil company Saudi Aramco said on Wednesday. Expectations of higher oil prices by many investors have been shaken to a large degree, said Saudi Aramco Chief Executive Khalid al-Falih, speaking at the […]

Is “resilience” the new sustainababble?

Suddenly, “resilience” is everywhere. It’s the subject of serious books and breezy news articles, of high-minded initiatives and of many, many conferences. After Superstorm Sandy, it was triumphantly plastered on city buses, declaring New Jersey “A State of Resilience.” What’s going on? Does all this talk about resilience mean that we’ve basically given up on averting climate change and other environmental […]

World Economic Forum Report Cites ‘Interstate Conflict’ as #1 Risk

The World Economic Forum Global Risks 2015 report, released at a press conference in London yesterday, singled out potential “interstate conflict with regional consequences” as the number one global risk in terms of likelihood, and the fourth most serious risk in terms of impact. Water crises were ranked highest in terms of impact. The report […]

The Newly Launched Commons Transition Plan

The P2P Foundation recently launched a new website, the Commons Transition Platform,  as a central repository for policy ideas that help promote a wide variety of commons and peer-to-peer dynamics.  The site represents a new, more coordinated stage of activism in this area – collecting practical policy proposals for legally authorizing and encouraging the creation […]

It’s Time To Become More Resilient & More Engaged

If there’s one message to take away from this newly-updated Crash Course video series, it’s this:  It’s time for you to become more resilient and more engaged. Things are changing quickly and nobody knows how much time we have before the next economic, ecological or energy related crisis erupts.  Nobody knows when, but we do have a pretty good idea […]

Carolyn Baker and Dmitry Orlov: Interview on the Lifeboat Hour

Carolyn and Dmitry Orlov discuss collapse, US-Russia relations, climate change, the future of oil prices, and what we can expect in 2015

The central contradiction in the modern outlook: ‘Planet of the Apes’ vs ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’

 When talking about the perils of climate change or resource depletion, soil degradation or fisheries collapse, water pollution or nuclear waste–how annoying it is to have one listener respond dismissively, “They’ll figure something out. They always have.” It’s a nonsense rejoinder and yet, it often gains the assent of many–as if this assertion were a […]

« 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