The Paradox of Housing

As real estate prices spiraled upwards over the last ten years, artificially low interest rates and lax lending standards were not the only factors helping to maintain housing affordability. Just as important were the expectations of future price appreciation and the suppression of the rental market. With these two factors largely reversed, the housing market is much more vulnerable than most people understand.

( Full story here )

The Role of Precious Metals in an Investment Portfolio

While some investors view precious metals as a short-term cyclical speculation, there are actually three important reasons for including precious metals in every investment portfolio. These are: strategic asset allocation, hedging and tactical asset allocation.

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Fission impossible

The Ontario Government is vain enough to think it has made a decision to go nuclear. But let's get something straight. The only decision it can really control is the one to spend up to $40 bil to build and repair plants.

Actually going nuclear is quite another story. The fact is, if the Libs cancel a full-scale enviro and economic assessment and their plan goes ahead, taxpayer cash will be used to fund reactors that will end up auctioned off as cricket stadiums, tourist traps for jaunts through Ontario ghost towns or folk museums for Homer Simpson reruns and memorabilia.

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Green thinking: There's nothing better than Planet Earth

We're all going to die. Horribly. If a stray asteroid doesn't get us, rampaging nanobots will quickly turn the planet into grey goo. That's without even mentioning supervolcanoes, global warming or the coming nuclear winter. As the celebrated astrophysicist Stephen Hawking said at a lecture on 15 June, the survival of humanity now depends on its ability to find new homes far away from this blighted disaster area of a planet.

( Full story here )

'None of us saw this coming'

The Globe and Mail recently ran an article reporing that city road work budgets are being squeezed by high petroleum prices (thanks to John on the TLC list for sharing this link).

Liquid asphalt, the "black" in blacktop, is made from petroleum, and petroleum prices have been hovering around $70 per barrel since last summer. As a result, materials prices have risen, contractors' profits have narrowed, and cities are having to scale back and push out their road work schedules.

( Full story here )

Our Government Forecasts the Future

Last week the US Government released the International Energy Outlook 2006 (IEO). As it has been doing annually since 1985, the Energy Information Administration uses this document to expound its view of world energy supply and demand for the next 25 years.

( Full story here )

ENERGY WARS

Today’s Wall Street Journal Europe [subscription only] carries an article entitled “Russia’s oil wealth raises political hurdles for U.S.”.

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Iran – the International Community at the Crossroads

The interest of the developed Western states is clear although a different picture is presented to the general public. There should be no global economic crisis since that would have negative implications practically for the whole world. Perhaps only some non-democratic dictatorship regimes would profit from such crisis as they are anyway in a poor economic situation and would only celebrate the fact that others are doing bad, too.

( Full story here )

Balance of trade deficit widens again

Oil’s a part of the problem.Up until last year, the UK had enjoyed years of positive trading in oil. It helped reduce our balance of trade deficit, and tax receipts boosted the chancellor’s coffers.

( Full story here )

Oil Crisis Flows Deeper Than Pump Prices

Skyrocketing oil prices translate into an unprecedented increase in the cost per gallon at the pump. Many have rearranged their monthly budgets in order to accommodate the bigger hit on their pocketbooks.

( Full story here )

BIG MONEY AND MOTHER NATURE

THE ANNOUNCEMENTS WERE REMARKABLE for many reasons, not the least of which was their coincidence in time. Last week, Anadarko Petroleum Corp., a large, independent oil company, announced a $21 billion deal to take over two other oil and gas firms, Kerr-McGee Corp. and Western Gas Resources Inc. And then this week began with Phelps Dodge Corp., a large mining concern, announcing a $40 billion deal to take over two Canadian mining companies, Inco Ltd. and Falconbridge Ltd. Welcome to the world in which big money meets Mother Nature.

( Full story here )

Peaksters on the Potomac

For five years the peak oil movement has been largely the province of internet conspiracy buffs, church basement conferences and esoteric debates among petroleum geologists and scientists about statistical data few can understand. Last month, however, oil “peaksters” seemed to break out of their policy doldrums when they journeyed to the banks of the Potomac for what may have been their first mainstream conference in the nation's capital.

( Full story here )

Overview: Peak oil fears drive search for alternatives at the pump

Washington - Scientists scrambling for better ways to fuel the world's automotive fleet are racing against an uncertain deadline - the date when the Earth runs out of easily obtained crude oil.

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peek at peak oil with ‘Syriana’ and ‘The Deal’

Syriana, Stephan Gaghan’s intellectual thriller from last year, can’t help but get more relevant with every passing moment, because with every passing moment, we’re closer to the day the oil supply starts getting really tight and the gloves finally come off, like they are here. This is a quietly terrifying flick, with its deep web of encouraged corruption and extralegal collusion among governments and corporations in a global race to secure the last remaining drops of oil for those unwilling to give up the hegemony they’ve worked so hard to gain -- to wit: the United States.

( Full story here )

Oil Dependency and Gas Prices Prompt Legislative Proposal

The price at the pump and a skyrocketing increase in demand for foreign oil has lead to a legislative proposal by an American citizen that is creating a groundswell of support.

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A realtor's view from Hubbert's Peak

The End of Cheap Oil and Cheap Money

Hubbert's Peak is the peak of global oil production as estimated by the fossil-fuel geologist W. King Hubbert. At this peak (which could take place in a few years) the world's oil drum, so to speak, will be half empty, with a lot of sludge and poor-quality oil at the bottom of the barrel. As the two-billion-plus Chinese and Indians increasingly drive cars rather than ride bicycles, the competition for the remaining resources will be intense. Oil prices will rise, and along with them transoceanic and transcontinental transport costs for goods of all kinds. Industrial agriculture, with its diesel-fueled tractors and irrigation pumps and its petroleum or natural-gas based fertilizers and pesticides, will no longer be producing cheap food. The petroleum-based plastics that are ubiquitous in today's world will suddenly no longer have a cheap feedstock for manufacturing.

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The maturation of Matt Simmons, energy-industry investment banker and peak oil guru

"Maybe the enemy is us... Grow food at home."

- Matthew R. Simmons, June 20, 2004, at the Pentagon-sponsored seminar series Energy: A Conversation About Our National Addiction

( full story here )

Fun while it lasted

I. Could This Be the End of Civilization As We Know It?

My friends will tell you that I have a peculiar fascination with doomsday scenarios. Living in expectation of this civilization’s collapse, which I do, can be isolating. It’s like having historical-epochal halitosis. You don’t get invited back to dinner parties after trying to engage people on the topic of our imminent decline and fall.

( Full story here )

Portland blazes new trails for the Peak Oil world

A trip to the progressive city reveals why its citizens are leading the world in awareness of Peak Oil issues

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End of the oil age in sight?

First there was wood. Then it was replaced by coal. Then coal was replaced by oil. Is it now the turn of oil -- which currently accounts for some two-thirds of the world's primary energy -- to be pushed aside by other energy sources and devices?


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Peak Oil Passnotes: Time for Basic Facts

To the general public a move of a dollar in a day seems big. It is not the fault of the general public that they feel like this. The way the media, certainly the mass media, like to phrase stories leads people to think this way.

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Gender, peak oil and culture (part 3): Working together

I thank the Energy Bulletin readers who responded to Parts One and Two of this essay on gender, Peak Oil, culture, and related issues. We received responses from Singapore, London, Sydney, and Canada, as well as from both American coasts, the Southwest, and the Midwest. Parts of these responses will be quoted below and in Part Four.

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Bill Clinton acknowledges peak oil

Bill Clinton gave a speech to the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies in Little Rock Arkansas, on June 17, and according to the Deep Intelligence Index,

Clinton said a “significant number of petroleum geologists” have warned that the world could be nearing the peak in oil production.

( Full story here )

T. Boone Pickens Interview

36th minute of the charlie Rose show

( Click here )

Italy Gears Up for International Peak Oil Conference

ASPO’s fifth annual gathering to showcase top oil depletion experts; governments, industry and media taking notice; new focus on dealing with dwindling supplies.

( Full story here )

Everyone wants India's energy pie

With crude oil touching $70 a barrel and no sign of relief in the foreseeable future, the world is restless for alternative energy. India's own oil consumption, currently at an annual 115 million tonnes, is projected to soar in line with prosperity. While the government mulls its policies on non-conventional energy sources, private and foreign players are already off the mark.

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Flationed Out

I HAVE BEEN pondering the word "stagflation." Nearly everyone but me seems to think we are in it or headed for it. What exactly does stagflation mean anyway?

Let's take a look at two definitions and a comment:

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SAILING WITHOUT AN ANCHOR!

by Puru Saxena
Editor, Money Matters
June 16, 2006

RECENT HISTORY – Up until the early 1970’s, our planet followed the Bretton Woods agreement of international monetary management. This system sought to secure the advantages of the gold standard without its disadvantages. The US dollar was linked to gold at the rate of $35 per ounce of gold and other nations pegged their currencies to the US dollar. At this fixed rate of US$35 per ounce, foreign governments and central banks were able to exchange dollars for gold. Bretton Woods established a system of payments based on the dollar, in which all currencies were defined in relation to the dollar, which was itself convertible into gold. The U.S. currency was now effectively the world currency, the standard to which every other currency was pegged. As the world's key currency, most international transactions were denominated in dollars.

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Agency says oil demand will leap

World oil demand should soar 37 percent from this year's almost 86 million barrels per day to 118 million barrels per day by 2030, even though higher fuel prices will cut back some consumption, the U.S. government's energy forecasting agency predicted Tuesday.

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THE COMMODITY BOOM

The commodity boom currently underway in all areas is due to shortages. Shortages are the result of different circumstance depending upon the commodity. Different commodities will be examined but all stem from a common thread and will only be amplified by its shortages: Energy.

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Free Peak Oil Conference in London

A free-to-attend conference looking at many aspects of Peak Oil is taking place on Saturday 15 July 2006 at the BedZed development in Hackbridge, just outside London. The event, Peak Speak 2, is the follow up to the successful Peak Speak 1, held at the same location last year. Organised by PowerSwitch.org.uk, and run in a friendly and informal manner, it is designed to give plenty of opportunity to discuss an issue that will dominate the 21st century – the ongoing decline of global oil supplies, how it will affect all lives and what we can do about it. Along with Climate Change, it will make this century very different to the last.

( Full story here )

A Crude Awakening

Interview with Swiss television journalist Basil Gelpke on his new 90-minute documentary on peak oil.

( Full story here )

The great Inflation debate ( Audio )

Click the subject line for the mp3 file

Coming soon: Pickens sees $80 a barrel oil

Boone Pickens, the Dallas hedge-fund manager who has made billions of dollars betting on higher energy prices, said crude oil will reach $80 a barrel this year as global economic growth spurs demand.


( Full story here )

Meeting the challenge of Peak Oil

Peak oil is described as the point where oil production stops rising and begins its inevitable long-term decline. No one knows when that will be, but many experts believe we have already reached the peak. Others say it will occur within the next few years. But what will happen after Peak Oil. Here, Lester Brown, President of the Earth Policy Institute, outlines his own vision of the challenge - and the necessary response.

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Peak Oil Passnotes: The Oil Wave Ripples

The Dow, the Nasdaq and the FTSE have all been centre stage. The rises, the dramatic falls, then the slight respite as we go to press. How the U.S. markets have seen 9% falls off of their heights. How it affects shareholders, business, investment. Everyone has been talking about it, the mass media have been all over it.

But here sits a primary problem of the way markets both act and are reported. All of which is centred around the reality of oil and energy and the way it is underreported on big networks and newspapers. Because if you watch, listen or read these news organs you might think that this problem was just something that affected the floor on Wall Street. But it is not so.

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America's untested management team

All top posts in the management team of the world's biggest economy are now headed by untested appointees with little high-level experience in government or proven policy predilections.

First Ben Bernanke, a respected academician with little market experience, replaced Alan Greenspan as chairman of the US Federal Reserve in February. So far, every time the new Fed chairman has made a public statement about his resolve on price stability, a technical euphemism for inflation and deflation, the market has shown its lack of confidence by a substantial price correction.

( Full story here )

A personal discovery of peak oil process, part II

(Ed. Note: This is Part II of a two-part series. Part I chronicled the process by which John Rawlins discovered the scale and extent of the coming peak oil crisis. Part II details the steps he has taken to prepare for a world of diminishing oil resources.)

We live on the west side of Cascade mountains in Washington state, a moist and moderate climate where everything grows fast. Our ten acre [four hectare] plot is about half forested and half open field with grass that a local farmer cuts for his cows.

( Full story here )

Author sees oil crisis coming

-- It may be time to start riding your bike to work, if you believe what author and academic Richard Heinberg said Friday at the Crowne Plaza hotel in Albany.

Heinberg is author of "The Party's Over," a book about the impending oil crisis and is a faculty member at New College of California in San Francisco. He was at the hotel to address the Capital Region Energy Forum. The event was organized by the Center for Economic Growth, an Albany-based economic development group.

( Full story here )

Recognizing the Peak

It is conventional wisdom among students of peak oil that worldwide peak oil production will not be recognized, and certainly not "officially" certified by some organization or other, until some years after the event has passed. The exception to this, of course, is if some natural or man-made catastrophe shuts down a lot of oil production in a manner not likely to be restored for many years.

( Full story here )

Resilient oil climbs back toward $70

Oil climbed back toward $70 a barrel on Thursday as the market focused once more on resilient demand from the world's biggest consumer the United States and global supply risks.

( Full story here )

Jim Rogers Gives Kudos to Agricultural Commodities

Former George Soros partner in the Quantum Fund, Jim Rogers talks to Classic Business Day about his bearish outlook for the U.S. markets and the dollar, and his bullish commodities views especially with regards to agriculture.

LINDSAY WILLIAMS: When Classic Business Day spoke to Jim Rogers in December 2005 he had some fairly strong things to say about the U.S. stock market, the U.S. economy, the dollar, and incoming U.S. Federal Reserve head Ben Bernanke: “I’m not too optimistic about the U.S. stock market in 2006 - the economy will slow down, the market will slow down. The market’s been flat for a couple of years now, basically. Ben Bernanke will be a disaster for the U.S. Federal Reserve - his solution to everything is to print money. I’m not optimistic about the dollar, the stock market or the economy in the U.S. next year.” Jim, good evening.

( Full story here )

Gold: Psychology & Interest Rates at Work, Magnified by Speculation

The past month or so has seen a marked downturn in the gold price, coming hot on the heels of an equally marked run upwards. What is happening? Why have the swings in the gold market of late been of such great amplitude?

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Peak Oil 2010

The North Sea oil fields as a model for global oil depletion

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Spiralling petrol & local community planning

As petrol prices rise and with a Land Transport Study now under way on Magnetic Island we thought a letter from Cedar Vale-based, Peak Oil activist, Kim Bax, would stimulate the thinking on the over-arching issues which are likely to impact on Magnetic Island and, of course, the world at large.

( Full story here )

Chevron CEO doesn't see oil crisis looming

The title is misleading. But the Chevron CEO doesn't deny peak oil but, touts other hydrocarbons like Coal. Is it a passive admission that Peak oil is upon us ? Read on

-Oil Shock

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Jeffrey J. Brown: Has oil peaked?: Yes

The Texas oil industry knows all about peak oil, because we've already gone through it.

In 1972, Texas was king of the oil world. We had increased our oil production by 40 percent during the previous 10 years at relatively low prices. Texas producers were poised for surging production as oil prices exploded and rose tenfold by 1980. The state underwent its biggest drilling boom in history. The number of producing wells jumped 14 percent by 1982. The industry consensus was that oil production would increase dramatically. To general astonishment, it fell instead, despite dramatically higher prices, frantic drilling and improving technology. By 1982, production had dropped to almost exactly what it had been in 1962.

( Full story here )

State, local officials consider energy future

Learning to live with less oil is one of the keys to the energy future of the Pacific Northwest, business and government leaders say.

World oil production will eventually peak and sharply decline, according to a 2005 report to the U.S. Department of Energy.

( Full story here )

Question of how much oil is left lingers in industry

Houston, a city built on cheap oil but now thriving on expensive energy, offers an interesting backdrop for the debate about whether after a century of growth global oil production is nearing a "peak" or has even begun an irreversible decline.

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Inflation : What the heck it is

Inflation has at least 8 distinctly different definitions that I can readily find, and probably a whole lot more that I have not yet found.Commonly Used Definitions
Decline in purchasing power of the currency held
Rising prices in general (essentially the same as #1 although some might disagree)
Rising consumer prices (CPI)
Rising producer prices (PPI)
Rising prices due to expansion of money supply
Rising prices due to expansion of money supply and credit
Expansion of money supply
Expansion of money supply and credit

( Full story here )

End of Cheap oil

The human race depends on energy, period. Our planet consumes around 84 million barrels of oil daily whilst supply is around 84.5 million barrels per day. Global demand has increased by roughly 2% per annum over the past 50 years. Most of the recent growth in oil demand has come from, you guessed it, China . At the beginning of 2000, China used to consume 4 million barrels per day and now it consumes 6.5 million barrels each day! In other words, China ’s demand has appreciated by 62.5% over the past 6 years! Despite this exceptional growth, the average Chinese still consumes only 1.82 barrels of oil in a year. Just for the record, the average American consumes 25 barrels in a year!

( Full story here )

Saudi Arabia struggles to maintain production

Saudi Aramco admits that the natural decline of its old fields is now running at 8% a year. Infill drilling can of course help offset the decline but it is a losing battle. Overall it begins to sound as if Saudi Arabia has passed its Peak (see Item 713 below for a re-evaluation of this country).

Saudi Aramco's mature crude oil fields are expected to decline at a gross average rate of 8%/year without additional maintenance and drilling, a Saudi Aramco spokesman said Tuesday.

( Full story here )

The Greater Depression – it's coming

I recently shared some updated thoughts on the prospects for a Greater Depression with readers of our International Speculator newsletter. Given the increasing levels of volatility sweeping global markets, I decided to give those thoughts a broader airing, below, if for no other reason than to help those of you in a position to rig for stormy weather get a sense of the gathering storm.

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Is Saudi Arabia Running Out of Oil?

Latest comments from oil minister on declining production lead “peak oil” theorists to say “I told you!

( Full story here )

Peak Oil Passnotes: Zarqawi Don't Drive

So Zarqawi is dead, oil drops by a buck and a half and suddenly the world seems a great place again. Not.

If ever there was a pointer to the underlying fundamentals of the oil and products market right now it was this one incident. Zarqawi had supposedly been the head of Al-Qaida in Iraq, although the whole idea of Al-Qaida even having a head seems faintly ridiculous to those who have studied the transient grouping.

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In oil crisis, bio-energies are only part of the answer

Biomass and biofuels are set to cover an ever-increasing share of the EU's future transport and heating needs. But it is certainly not the magical solution, according EU environment chief Stavros Dimas.

( Full story here )

Commodity deflation? Not likely

If the dollar collapses (say it corrects on the USX index down to the 70s) who knows what that will do to commodities? Commodities are priced internationally in dollars. It will throw the markets into utter confusion if no one really knows what a dollar is worth (if anything). Could commodity markets be created in other currencies? Yes, but these markets will be regional markets, not global ones.

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One Year in Review

As the world oil situation is rather quiet at the minute, it's a good time for a review. The price of oil continues to bounce around $70 a barrel and shows no sign of moving very far in either direction until the next big development occurs. The Iranians are busy trying to decide how much they really want an atomic bomb (or at least the ability to make people think they have one). The wrong decision by either side could impact world oil supplies and prices for years to come. Finally, the Nigerian militants have managed to abduct and probably ransom a group of foreign oil workers from an exploration platform 40 miles offshore.

( Full story here )

A dangerous world in which our only defense is good information...

I've known about and followed Greg Palast's important work for some time. I read his eye-opening book 'The Best Democracy Money Can Buy' a few years ago and have mentioned it several times in some of my other writing.

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U.S. must develop oil alternatives

The year was 1956, and the head of Shell Oil Companies' research lab, M. King Hubbert, made a prediction that peak production of oil in the United States would occur in the year 1972. He was wrong. Peak oil production in the United States occurred in 1970.

( Full story here )

Imperfect Future

It's odd, but strangely plausible, that a man who isn't an architect, doesn't have any training in urban planning, and has no real background in geology would become the unofficial spokesperson for a new movement towards global sustainability. Perhaps it's unlikely, or perhaps it's a sign that people in North America are increasingly looking to someone for leadership, ideas, solutions-and in the absence of political leaders who acknowledge the importance of sustainable development, economics and communities, someone had to fill that place.

( Full story here )

Gender, peak oil and culture: part 2

(This is the second in a series. Part One focused more on gender, especially the growing contributions of women to Peak Oil work. This part focuses more on culture and includes some responses from readers to Part One. Part Three will focus on men and women of different cultures “Working Together” on our common problems and opportunities as energy descent gradually unfolds and will include more reader comments. Please send your candid responses to either Part One or Two to sb3@pon.net.)

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A 70s revival

It looks as if the new Federal Reserve board chairman will face the traditional baptism of fire, writes William Keegan

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What if all the Chinese start drinking

What if all the Chinese start drinking Coca-Cola?

Believe it or not, this is a question that has been bugging me since attending business school in Philadelphia during the early 1970's. From a capitalist's point of view, this would be a good thing. For the CEO of Coca-Cola's point of view, this would be a great thing. But the question that has always bugged me is where oh where are all those cocoa beans going to come from?

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Panel ponders life after oil

The third local showing of the film "The End of Suburbia" took place Sunday afternoon at the Campus Theater, drawing about 75 people.

The 2004 documentary takes a hard look at the future, when the rising cost of oil may threaten much of what Americans take for granted, at least according to several experts seen in the film.

( Full story here )

Iran Threatens New Oil Crisis

Iranian Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, supreme leader of the world's fourth-largest oil exporter, said Sunday that if the United States makes a "wrong move" toward his country, energy flows in the region would be endangered, triggering a new oil crisis.

( Full story here )

THE GREATER DEPRESSION—AN UPDATE

I recently shared some updated thoughts on the prospects for a Greater Depression with readers of our International Speculator newsletter. Given the increasing levels of volatility sweeping global markets, I decided to give those thoughts a broader airing, below, if for no other reason than to help those of you in a position to rig for stormy weather get a sense of the gathering storm.

Hopefully, I’ll be wrong about what’s coming. But the way I see it, being aware and prepared follows the same basic logic as personal gun ownership: better to have one and not need it, than to need one and not have it. You get the idea.

( Full story here )

ARE THE ANGELS LISTENING?

“The solution is to pray. Pray for mild weather and a mild winter. Pray for no hurricanes and to stop the erosion of natural gas supplies. Under the best of circumstances, if all prayers are answered there will be no crisis for maybe two years. After that it's a certainty.”

( Full story here )

Chinese take to solar-powered water heaters

His company has earned a fortune manufacturing solar heaters, relatively low-tech rooftop devices which capture the sun’s energy to provide water for baths and washing and are at the forefront of a renewable energy drive.

( Full story here )

Oil Sands' Natural Gas Demand Expected to Triple

A massive rise in crude production from Canada's oil sands region over the next decade will nearly triple the area's call on strained natural gas supplies, Canada's national energy regulator said Thursday.

( Full story here )

Peak Oil Passnotes: Is Oil Heading Back to Reality?

If you have been watching the oil markets over the past few years - and here on board the Resource Investor yacht in Monaco we suppose you have been - you will have noted a couple of fundamental changes. Things like Brent costing more than the NYMEX WTI.

But apart from that, one of the major changes has been the way high oil prices have supported equity indexes. That high oil price translated into extra performance from the majors and then has slushed around billions of dollars of liquidity. It did it basically by overwhelming the size of the indexes in terms of company volume.

( Full story here )

Time for real action on oil dependence

High gasoline prices have jump-started a long overdue national conversation on the consequences of U.S. dependence on foreign oil.

Since gas prices crossed the magic $3-a-gallon threshold a few weeks ago, we've seen a rush of proposals on Capitol Hill and in the state capitals seeking to provide relief to an angry electorate. Conspicuously absent from most of the schemes being put forward is any serious plan to address the underlying problem; increasing fuel consumption.

( Full story here )

Easing oil crisis falls on senators

It was the right thing to do, and the House of Representatives has approved oil exploration in a very small part of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR).

Now it remains for the Senate to take similar action, but don’t hold your breath.

( Full story here )

Ethanol: Not a Kernel of Science in It

Ethanol is an excellent substance to tank up on. Just don't drive on it. It slows reaction time, impairs judgment, and it's illegal. In excess, it can make you giddy, stupid, mean, sour, depressed, and violent. It might even make you President.

Here we will inform you what ethanol is, why it is a worse than stupid way to replace our oil dependency, and why development of nuclear power is the only sane way to provide ourselves an economic future.

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Coal's resurgence sparks debate

At a time when oil is $70 per barrel and worldwide energy demand is escalating faster than ever, coal seems to have emerged as America's answer to the nation's energy future.

Production is on the rise nationwide -- even more so in Wyoming, where federal regulators have churned out billions of tons of new coal leases in recent years. And a growing number of conservationists who once rallied against coal are now embracing the possibility of transitioning America's fleet of old coal power plants to cleaner gasification technologies.

( Full story here )

Tainted Love

Any kind of plastic closure is using an unsustainable, non-replenishing resource. End of Oil author Paul Roberts estimates that we’ve used up about 875 billion barrels of oil during the industrial revolution. He says the US Geological Survey estimates there are still a guaranteed 1.7 trillion barrels of oil left in the ground and another 900 billion barrels of undiscovered oil. Whether or not these figures are accurate, the oil that’s left is being gobbled up by the carbon-hungry industrial world and it is becoming increasingly difficult (read 'more expensive') to extract. Optimists say we’ve got 60 to 100 years before oil production peaks and prices become prohibitive. Pessimists say we’ve got 20 years before the biggest crisis to face the industrial world finally arrives.

( Full story here )

District Prone to Suffer During Oil Crisis

Because we love rankings, we now find that even though the District is doing well on sustainability indicators, it may not do too well if an oil crisis hits.

( Full story here )

Oil: black gold

Oil is often referred to as black gold: its economic value is immense. The Dubai Mercantile Exchange will be opening its doors in the fourth quarter of this year and will be listing Oman-backed physical crude oil futures.

( Full story here )

The day after peak oil

You know that place alongside I-85? Or was it I-75? Maybe State Road 400? Could have been I-20.

Well, it doesn't really matter what stretch of concrete because the environs are all the same. Mass-produced cul-de-sac subdivisions are surrounded by cookie-cutter malls, all laced together with endless ribbons of car-clogged roadways.

( Full story here )

Viewpoint: Are we building highways to oblivion?

Most Americans remain in denial or only somewhat aware of the reality of peak oil, climate change and the fiction of unlimited growth. Government is doing little to dispel those notions.
While the fact of finite resources is immutable, the politicians plan to build more and bigger roads, pledging hundreds of billions of dollars to expanding the interstate highway network.

( Full story here )

Energy Strategies for the Mining Industry: A Strategic Perspective

While mining companies understand that oil prices and energy costs have an enormous impact on their bottom line, few companies have focused in a coherent way on both the challenge and the opportunity presented by the current energy price environment to the mining industry.

( Full story here )

Gender, Peak Oil, and Culture: Part One

Have you noticed that so far all the major books on Peak Oil are by men? These good thinkers also seem to be mainly Caucasians, like this reporter. I saw the film “The End of Suburbia: Oil Depletion and the Collapse of the American Dream” again last year. I viewed it in a place where the majority of people are not of European descent. Hawai’i County is the most ethnically diverse county in the nation. It also has a long tradition of female leadership, going back to Pele, the Volcano goddess, and to its current woman governor. But those interviewing and being interviewed in the film appear to be exclusively men of European ancestry. This contrast stimulated this article.

( Full story here )