News from March 2011

When the Fukushima Meltdown Hits Groundwater

Fukushima is going to dwarf Chenobyl. The Japanese government has had a level 7 nuclear disaster going for almost a week but won’t admit it. The disaster is occurring the opposite way than Chernobyl, which exploded and stopped the reaction. At Fukushima, the reactions are getting worse. I suspect three nuclear piles are in meltdown and we will [...]

Fukushima Dai-ichi status and prognosis

The disjointed news flow from Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco) continues to provide a confusing picture of the status of the 4 crippled nuclear power stations at Fukushima Dai-ichi on the East coast of Japan. This is leading to a very broad spectrum of opinion on the actual status and future consequences. The spectrum of [...]

Too Much Energy?

One of the bits of mental flotsam that very often drifts to the surface in discussions of peak oil is the assumption, as common among diehard peakniks as it is among the most delusionally cornucopian of their opponents, that the “lottle” principle applies to energy: that is, if a little is good, a lot’ll always [...]

Bahrain Shia leader says Saudi force must go

Ali Salman says he does not want Bahrain to “turn into a conflict zone” between Saudi Arabia and Iran. More than 60 per cent of Bahrainis are Shia, and most are campaigning for a constitutional monarchy [AFP] Bahrain’s Shia opposition leader has demanded that the Saudi-led force that was invited into the country to help quell anti-government protests [...]

Eco-Friendly Cities of Tomorrow

The Earth’s human population is ever growing. By 2050 it’s set to approach 9 billion. Considering our constantly increasing demands for energy and the emergence of less developed countries becoming the new superpowers we, as a race, need to develop sustainable cities and fast! PARIS French President, Nicolas Sarkozy, has a vision for a Paris [...]

Oil Reveals Where the Next Bombs Will Fall

When President Obama explained America’s involvement in Libya’s civil war, he didn’t mention oil once. Instead, he used euphemisms like “national interest” and “strategic interest.” Yet it’s hard to imagine that the United States or its European allies would be mounting airstrikes in Libya if the African nation weren’t one of the world’s top 20 [...]

Peak Oil on CBC News : Why are you paying more for gas?

Did you know you are paying more for gas than any other month of March in history. Is it global turmoil? Or are we running out of oil? A CBC Manitoba special news series examines the concept of peak oil. Part 1 A CBC News special four-part series airs: Monday, March 28 — Thursday, March [...]

Joel Salatin: Breaking Free From Factory Farms

In this twelfth video in the series “Peak Oil and a Changing Climate” from The Nation and On The Earth Productions, American farmer, lecturer and author Joel Salatin outlines the key issues America faces as its citizens increasingly rely on factory farms, concentrated animal feeding operations that require cheap energy in order to operate profitably. [...]

EROEI at one CA ethanol plant is now up to 2.6 to 1

n this edition of the Domestic Fuel Cast, we hear from Ricardo, an internationally recognized automotive and engineering firm, about the results of studies on the use of E15 in older vehicles. Subscribe if you haven’t already and enjoy. Listen to the Domestic Fuel Cast Domestic Fuel Cast Archives

Obama will say the U.S. must find a way to cut U.S. oil imports by one-third.

President Barack Obama, under pressure to respond to rising gas prices, will outline Wednesday a series of initiatives to cut the nation’s reliance on foreign oil, including new initiatives to expand oil production, increase the use of natural gas to power vehicles and increase production of ethanol. Mr. Obama’s latest attempt to take the initiative [...]