News from November 2010

Middle East OPEC reserves revisited

According to the BP statistical review of world energy 2010, the big six Middle East OPEC oil producers (Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Unite Arab Emirates (UAE) and Qatar) had 743 billion barrels (Gbs) of proved oil reserves (1P) between them, representing 56% of reported proved global oil reserves. Knowledge of this bounty provides OECD [...]

Why the Smart Meter Backlash Story Isn’t Going Away

Earth2tech has a look at some of the reasons why there has been significant resistance to smart meter rollouts – Why the Smart Meter Backlash Story Isn’t Going Away. This story seriously won’t go away. And here’s why: 1. People don’t like PG&E. PG&E has a long and contentious relationship with California residents. The utility [...]

Some Updated Peak Oil Facts To Consider

As has been reported on a number of other Peak Oil-related websites, the International Energy Agency, in its World Energy Outlook 2010, has finally come around to admitting what many have been stating for some time: Peak Oil is no longer a challenge to be faced in the distant (or even not-so-distant) future. The IEA [...]

Music Video: Beyond Peak Oil Be the Sustainablity

After reading Chris Turner’s “The Geography of Hope (A tour of the World we Need), and of course knowing very well the zero-pollution Resource Based Economy of The Venus Project, i became inspired to create this video. The superb music in this video is from: Jamiroquai, The Beatles, Tracy Chapman, Bruce Cockburn,DubTribe, Rush, Eric Pryde, [...]

Peak oil and four principles of PR

At the ASPO Conference in early October 2007, Robert Hirsch presented his view of the impact of peak oil on the economy and society. While most of his assertions are readily supportable, the historical record is nevertheless perhaps more nuanced and deserves consideration in thinking about future events. Peak oil activists and the mass media [...]

Peak Coal Is The Next Energy Crisis You Need To Start Paying Attention To

While everyone knows about the threat of peak oil, peak coal is looming, but for somewhat different reasons. Peak coal would be the product of an adjustment in demand brought on by green energy programs worldwide, according to a presentation by Kjell Aleklett is the president of The Association for the Study of Peak Oil [...]

WikiLeaks: Saudi king urged U.S. to attack Iran

Saudi King Abdullah has repeatedly urged the United States to attack Iran’s nuclear program and China directed cyberattacks on the United States, according to a vast cache of U.S. diplomatic cables released on Sunday in an embarrassing leak that undermines U.S. diplomacy. The more than 250,000 documents, given to five media groups by the whistle-blowing [...]

Chavez looks to sell Citgo

President Hugo Chavez is promising to build new public housing complexes, boost social programs and renovate the long-neglected Caracas subway – and he needs money. The ambitious plans will squeeze Venezuela’s coffers at a time when oil earnings have slipped and Chavez is sending his foreign allies generous amounts of crude on credit. So he [...]

Kurt Cobb: Literature and Limits

Aristotle wrote that the desires of humans are unlimited. This is completely consistent with the modern notion proposed by Howard Odum of the Maximum Power Principle which states that biological systems seek to maximize their power intake. In the context of evolution it makes sense that those human beings who gathered the most energy to [...]

Peak Oil in Pennsylvania

The first commercial oil well was completed in Pennsylvania in 1859 under the supervision of Colonel Edwin Drake. Williamson and Daum’s The American Petroleum Industry: The age of illumination, 1859-1899, p. 75 have this colorful description of how Drake earned his colonel’s eagle: Following [Pennsylvania Rock Oil Company President James] Townsend’s instructions literally, Drake’s first [...]