Arctic oil spill is certain if drilling goes ahead

A serious oil spill in the Arctic is a “dead cert” if drilling goes ahead, with potentially devastating consequences for the pristine region, according to a leading marine scientist who played a key role in analysis of BP’s Deepwater Horizon oil spill. The warning came as Russia filed court orders this week to have Greenpeace […]

What’s on the Table in Iran Talks

Negotiators from the major global powers reconverge on Geneva on Wednesday for a second try at an interim deal to curb Iran’s nuclear weapons program. After the heated rhetoric of the past 10 days, it is vital to understand what is on the table and why a deal should be done. The recent flurry of […]

The human health costs of losing natural systems

On the island of Madagascar, a team of researchers from University of California, Berkeley, Harvard School of Public Health, and the Wildlife Conservation Society has found that the loss of access to wildlife for sustenance can lead to …more A new paper from members of the HEAL (Health & Ecosystems: Analysis of Linkages) consortium delineates […]

Fukushima engineers begin removing fuel rods from damaged reactor

Workers started removing radioactive fuel rods from a reactor building at the wrecked Fukushima nuclear plant on Monday, plant owner Tokyo Electric Power Co. said. The painstaking and risky task is a crucial first step toward a full cleanup of the earthquake- and tsunami-damaged plant in northeastern Japan. The removal of the rods is the most […]

Is Your Car Going to Spy on You?

To repair America’s crumbling roads and bridges, several states and the federal government are toying with the idea of charging drivers by the mile, using data sent from black boxes in every vehicle. It’s a laudable idea, in principle. But supporters are going to have to give more thought to the privacy issues raised by […]

World powers, Iran make new attempt to clinch nuclear deal

World powers aim to clinch a preliminary deal to curb Iran’s nuclear program in politically charged talks resuming in Geneva on Wednesday to end a long standoff and head off the risk of a wider Middle East war. The United States, Russia, China, France, Britain and Germany came tantalizingly close to winning concessions from Iran […]

What 11 Billion People Mean for Food Security

By the end of this century, Earth may be home to 11 billion people, the United Nations has estimated, earlier than previously expected. As part of a week-long series, LiveScience is exploring what reaching this population milestone might mean for our planet, from our ability to feed that many people to our impact on the […]

A Scarcity of Rare Metals Is Hindering Green Technologies

A shortage of “rare earth” metals, used in everything from electric car batteries to solar panels to wind turbines, is hampering the growth of renewable energy technologies. Researchers are now working to find alternatives to these critical elements or better ways to recycle them. With the global push to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, it’s ironic […]

Imminent peak oil could burst US, global economic bubble

A new multi-disciplinary study led by the University of Maryland calls for immediate action by government, private and commercial sectors to reduce vulnerability to the imminent threat of global peak oil, which could put the entire US economy and other major industrial economies at risk. The peer-reviewed study contradicts the recent claims within the oil […]

IEA World Energy Outlook 2013

The IEA World Energy Outlook was published the 12th of November. The report is available on line, in PDF form, for 120 Euros. But a friend a friend of mine at the brokerage firm of Dewey, Cheatem and Howe lent me access to his copy. As discussed, adding unconventional oil into the equation does not have large […]

Saudi Arabia Won’t Make ‘Sharp’ Oil Output Cuts

Saudi Arabia is not expected to make “sharp” cuts to its crude production in November and December, Al Rajhi Capital said. “Any meaningful decline in the kingdom’s oil production will take place only when the majority of Libyan oil production comes back and Iranian oil production starts rising,” the investment arm of the nation’s biggest […]

The Decline of Oil

So-called environmentalists never tire of predicting the end of oil. They’ve been talking about “peak oil” for decades, after which annual production would inevitably decline as we drain the world’s finite supply. In fact, proven reserves (oil that we know is there and is recoverable with current technology and under current law) have been steadily […]

Fight begins over privatizing Mexico’s oil monopoly

The fight to revamp Mexico’s moribund, state-run oil industry could start as early as this week with a Senate proposal to allow private access to the country’s oil, a nationalist symbol that for decades has been fiercely protected by the constitution from possible profiteering by foreign companies. Legislators from the two parties supporting an oil […]

Shale 2.0, Going Global

How quickly the shale revolution spreads from North America to the rest of the world is the single most important factor affecting the outlook for oil and gas markets over the next two decades. For pessimists, the conditions that made the shale revolution possible in the United States will be difficult to replicate, slowing the […]

Oil Drillers Rush Back to the Gulf of Mexico

The Gulf of Mexico has been left for dead more than once over the past half-century. It’s now roaring back to life with at least 10 recent mega-discoveries that have renewed oil explorers’ enthusiasm for the region. Billions of dollars are being poured into new wells in the ultra-deep waters off Texas and Louisiana, fueling […]

Peak Oil : A Look At “Peak Demand” # 6

Peak oil demand is a provocative theory and would rely on some unanswered questions being met: namely on the  development of large-scale gas-fired trucks, rail and shipping vessels; the sustainability of the US shale boom; and policy action to support improved fuel-mileage and to phase out oil subsidies. [1] DAMNED FACTS A Citi Research report […]

The Coming Bust Of The Great Bakken Oil Field

There has been a lot of Fanfare on the huge increase of oil production coming from the Bakken Field located in North Dakota.  There are many stories of people moving to the state to take advantage of the new OIL BOOM.  It seems like everyone is going there to start a new life and make […]

When is the oil going to run out – and should we worry about it?

Lack of UK gas reserves underlines the fragility of fossil fuels Energy experts have warned recently that Britain currently stores enough natural gas for only thirteen days of supply. Such a stark reality indicates how little reserve actually exists to fall back on. The news also brings to mind the concept of energy and fossil […]

Are Solar Panels Facing the Wrong Direction?

West-facing rooftop solar panels produced 49 percent more electricity during peak demand compared to south-facing panels, according to a new study from Pecan Street Research Institute. The research is the first of its kind to evaluate the energy production of solar panels oriented in different directions. Pecan Street analyzed 50 homes in the Austin, Texas […]

What Collapse Feels Like, Part 5: Hijacking Joy: The Civilized Cerebesphere And New Age Nausea

Perhaps the last emotion a collapse-aware reader would expect to see in a series on “What Collapse Feels Like” would be joy. Fear, anger, grief, and despair yes, but not joy. Yet I believe we have every reason to expect that the end of life as we have known it will be attended by joy […]

Ugo Bardi: The Lady doesn’t wear Gold

This Byzantine Madonna comes from the 8th century AD and is kept today in the Church of S. Marco in Florence. Image courtesy of Umberto Fedele.  This post is part of a series on gold as currency that originates from the study of mineral resources done for the book “The Plundered Planet“. Previous posts were: […]

Japan abandons plan to reduce environmental pollution in wake of nuclear energy shutdown

(http://www.nytimes.com)According to the New York Times, Japan will no longer be able to meet its earlier goal in cutting greenhouse gas emissions, citing nuclear plant shutdowns following the Fukushima disaster. Japan is one of the world’s leading polluters (along with China, the U.S., Russia and India), but they previously had a plan to cut emission […]

Israel Working With Saudi Arabia On Iran “Contingency” Attack

When last week’s Iran nuclear talks were blocked by France, it provided a useful glimpse into just who it was that would benefit politically from a continuation of the regional confrontation. But while the French sabotage was an amusing distraction, it revealed a curious shift in middle-east alliances, namely old “enemies” Israel and Saudi Arabia, […]

Self-Regenerating Polymer

  Transmaterial has a post on a polymer that can repair itself – Self-Regenerating Polymer. Researchers at Spain’s Center for Electrochemical Technologies (CIDETEC) have created a polymer capable of self-repairing at room temperature without the need of any catalysts or any external stimulus. After being cut in half, the material is able to regenerate itself […]

Iraq’s Delays in Finishing Pipeline Defer Iran Gas Exports

While some Iranian energy officials had earlier said Iran’s natural gas exports to Iraq would begin by mid-March 2014, higher consumption in Iran during the cold season and Iraq’s delays in constructing its side of the pipeline will defer the project by a few months. Iran, which has the largest gas reserves in the world, […]

U.S. should better leverage natural gas in Asia trade negotiations

This week, Salt Lake will host negotiators from 12 Pacific Rim nations working on a new U.S. Asia-Pacific trade agreement. These talks are critical for states like Utah that have seen rapid export growth – Asian nations have historically been the most closed markets to U.S. goods. A new free trade agreement would promote innovation, […]

update on Peak Oil

I summarized my attitudes to Peak Oil in an (anonymous) contribution to the Azimuth discussion a couple of years ago, reproduced below. It seems right [except the dubious comment on shale oil was way off]. World economic growth continues to be constrained by the fact that we can only slowly change infrastructure. Fossil fuel use […]

Peak Oil, A Brief Description

You will find hundreds of articles written about Peak Oil but to the casual reader this term probably has little meaning. Most people take oil for granted with little more than a thought that it exists. We are told from birth that oil came from decaying plants and dinosaurs from millions of years ago. That […]

Will the real International Energy Agency please stand up?

It was as if the International Energy Agency were appearing on the old American television game show To Tell the Truth last week as it offered a third contradictory forecast in the space of a year. You may recall that on To Tell the Truth the host would begin by reading a statement from a […]

New Hampshire: Wood, pellets gain steam

There’s renewed enthusiasm in heavily forested New Hampshire for the idea of homegrown heating sources, primarily wood and — more recently — wood pellets. For the first time, the state’s Office of Energy and Planning is posting the cost of wood pellets to compare to the other main heating sources. That outreach combined with a supportive […]

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