Don’t Let Oil Zombies Eat Your Brain

They are counting on you believing resistance is futile. Very soon, it will be. Ideology is a fancy word, much debated by philosophers. But, in the spirit of the Halloween season, it can be explained nicely with zombies. What is the ideology of zombies? Easy: “Brains!” Or, more accurately: “Braaaaaains…” In short, a zombie exists to […]

Fossil Fuels as the Whale Oil of the Future

Amory B. Lovins, the longtime efficiency guru, has a new book out that analyzes the possibility of converting the nation to almost total reliance on renewable sources of energy. The conclusions may not win instant acceptance, but it is certainly in the running for the best-blurbed energy book of the year. Chelsea Green Publishing “Reinventing Fire: […]

Beijing in fresh South China Sea warning

China could again be giving ExxonMobil the jitters after the former reiterated its stance against companies drilling in the disputed South China Sea. The warning from China’s foreign ministry on Monday comes shortly after ExxonMobil revealed it had struck hydrocarbons in a disputed region off Vietnam. “China has indisputable sovereignty over the Spratly Islands and adjacent waters,” […]

“When Money Dies” (Hyper)Inflation In The Past, In The Present And In The Future

When it comes to discussing monetary history, and specifically what happens when it all goes horribly wrong, there are two must read tomes: one is “The Dying of Money” by Jens Parsson (pdf link) and the other one is “When Money Dies” (pdf link) by Adam Fergusson. Today, we are lucky to bring to you […]

Has America Become an Oligarchy?

The Occupy Wall Street movement is just one example of the sudden outbreak of tension between America’s super-rich and the “other 99 percent.” Experts now say the US has entered a second Gilded Age, but one in which hedge fund managers have replaced oil barons — and are killing the American dream. At first, the […]

ESAI: Russia aligned to globally ‘enhance market power’

Changes in Russia’s taxation policies will have a positive effect on the country’s upstream development, enabling a high level of exports for years to come, according to a report by ESAI Energy LLC. “Key tax policy decisions will favor upstream development over the refining sector, eliminating competing objectives that have heretofore threatened to undermine Russia’s […]

Not so much: Shale gas shows its limitations

              If you live in the United States and bother to turn on your television, it’s almost impossible to avoid ads telling you that natural gas from shale is both abundant and environmentally safe to develop. In these ads, so many happy people seem to enjoy burning natural gas […]

China to maintain its family planning policy

China will adhere to its family planning policy so as to maintain a low reproduction rate, said the country’s family planning chief on Sunday, expected to be the eve of the world’s population reaching seven billion. “Over-population remains one of the major challenges to social and economic development,” said Li Bin, director of the State […]

World’s 7 billionth baby expected Monday in Indian village

– At least two villages in India’s most populous state of Uttar Pradesh are preparing to celebrate Monday the arrival of the world’s 7 billionth baby, media reported. The United Nations recently declared that the world’s population would touch 7 billion on October 31, although the exact moment or place where the child would be […]

Orvlov: Stages of Collapse Revised: Joined at the Wallet

My neat and tidy taxonomy of collapse, “The Five Stages of Collapse,” has been read more than 70,000 times just on my blog alone since I first published it in February of 2008. It continues to be popular: there were over 10,000 hits to the page in the last year alone. People must still be […]

The Transition Show, Interview with Rob Hopkins

A special show to celebrate the launch of the new ‘Transition Companion’ book, featuring an interview with the author and co-founder of the Transition Movement, Rob Hopkins – down the line from Transition Town Totnes. Due to some technical issues at Stroud FM, we sadly don’t have the first 15 minutes of this show available […]

Eric Janszen: We Are Witnessing The Death Of The Dollar

What do you get when the producer of the world’s reserve currency takes on too much debt? Nothing less than the end of the US Treasury-based monetary system. So says Eric Jansen, economic and financial market analyst and proprietor of iTulip.com. In chronicling the decline of the global economy over the past decade, Eric has […]

How Fast Can Offshore Wind Be Deployed? What Are Its Infrastructure Requirements?

One anti-nuclear argument that’s frequently made is that nuclear is slow to deploy – that renewables can make inroads into carbon production rather faster than can building new nuclear stations. I was recently provoked into taking a look at this, in the context of the UK’s 2020 and 2030 CO2 and Renewables targets, and out […]

About that Iraq withdrawal

Glenn Greenwald has a cynical look at the announcement that US troops will be out of Iraq by year end (if you don’t count a division of mercenaries operated by the state department that is) – About that Iraq withdrawal. President Obama announced today that all U.S. troops will be withdrawn from Iraq by the end of the year, and […]

The Future of Energy and the Interconnected Challenges of the 21st Century

The Club of Rome, in collaboration with the Dept. of Environment and Energy of the City of Basel, Switzerland, recently convened a two-day international conference entitled The Future of Energy and the Interconnected Challenges of the 21st Century. The meeting was held October 17 and 18, 2011, at the Hôtel des Trois Rois in Basel. The conference […]

Preparing for Peak Oil

One family prepares for “peak oil” by converting their home to a net-zero solar powered home. The world oil supply crisis may cause global inflation, unemployment, and depletion of other energy sources.

Invitation to the International Conference on Degrowth in the Americas, Montreal 2012

Dear friends, We are pleased to invite proposals for workshops, panels, papers, posters, artistic presentations, symposia and special sessions for the Montreal International Conference on Degrowth in the Americas from May 13-19, 2012. A voice is rising among those who are deeply concerned with global environmental degradation and escalating poverty and inequality. A root of […]

Cheap Oil Isn’t Coming Back

As the world urbanizes, demand for oil could outstrip many nations’ abilities to get it out of the ground. Most new discoveries have been made in difficult territory, where the costs of extraction dwarf inexpensive Middle Eastern crude. Consumers may have to get used to high prices at the pump, with or without the threat […]

1 MW Cold Fusion Plant Supposedly To Come Online

“Andrea Rossi is scheduled to bring his 1MW plant online Oct. 28th. This will likely either be the point where ‘unexpected technical difficulties’ unmask this for the scam it is, or the presence of an actual 1MW plant with no chemical fuel source will silence a lot of skeptics. What would you do if it were real?”   […]

Saudi King Names Interior Minister Crown Prince

Saudi King Abdullah late Thursday named his conservative half brother and interior minister, Prince Nayef, as the crown prince following the recent death of the heir-apparent to the kingdom’s throne. Prince Nayef is one of the most powerful princes in the world’s top oil-producing nation. He became the crown prince after a special committee, set […]

Chevron Announces Natural Gas Discoveries Offshore Western Australia

 Chevron Corp. (NYSE: CVX) today announced further drilling success by its Australian subsidiary in the Carnarvon Basin offshore Western Australia, Australia’s premier hydrocarbon basin. The Acme West-1 well encountered approximately 377 ft (115m) of net gas pay, while Acme West-2 well encountered 184 ft (56m) of net gas pay. The two wells, located in the […]

EIA shale predictions need closer scrutiny, peak oil group says

ederal oil and gas forecasters have not fully considered factors affecting future US supplies in their recent estimates, members of the Association for the Study of Peak Oil & Gas USA (ASPO-USA) warned on Oct. 26. US Energy Information Administration predictions of significantly greater production from US shale resources may be overly optimistic, they said. […]

5 Myths About Energy in America

It’s probably not possible to overestimate the importance of energy to America’s future. We’re currently in the midst of spirited debates over global warming and high gas prices. And there are sharp differences of opinion over the safety of nuclear power and offshore drilling. Energy is fundamental to everything we do, and Americans have very […]

Asia’s colliding giants

Tensions are growing in the South China sea, where India, China and other countries have spared over drilling rights. Even in an age of 24-hour globalised news, some important events only come to light well after the fact. Something of this sort happened several months ago in the South China Sea – and may shape […]

Carsharing The Future Of Driving? GM, Ford, Toyota Say Yes

Earlier this month, General Motors announced it will help millions of GM vehicle owners to rent out their cars. The new peer-to-peer car sharing service—a partnership with a start-up company called RelayRides—is intended to “reduce traffic congestion in America’s largest cities and address urban mobility concerns,” according to Stephen Girsky, GM vice chairman. What?! GM is encouraging people to reduce […]

Peak Oil & Collapse Of The Economy

Peak Oil & Collapse Of The Economy – part 1

The Peak Oil Crisis: The Energy Trap

While waiting to see how far the Europeans can kick their can of financial Armageddon down the road, let’s revisit the damage being caused by high oil prices to life here in America. Although the price of gasoline so far this year has not reached the rarified levels that we saw three years ago, neither […]

Fukushima’s Fallout Worse Than Thought

“A new study posted for open peer-review suggests that the nuclear reactors at Fukushima Daiichi released far more radiation than the Japanese government initially estimated. The study [PDF] uses global radioisotope and meteorological data to calculate the size of the release from the plant. Nature News reports that, contrary to official claims, the model shows that fuel being stored […]

Why Are Millions Of Preppers Preparing Feverishly For The End Of The World As We Know It?

In America today, there are millions of “preppers” that are working feverishly to get prepared for what they fear is going to happen to America.  There is a very good chance that some of your neighbors or co-workers may be preppers.  You may even have noticed that some of your relatives and friends have been […]

What Happens If We Run Out of Oil

Jeremy Leggett sets out what will happen if we run out of oil or run out of fossil fuels. If the world oil reserves run out, it would cause a global oil crash which would severely affect business and life as we now know it. However, peak oil could lead to a revolution in green […]

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