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Sorting out the wheat from the chaff of new energy ideas, while paying close attention to energy-efficiency and conservation.

Magical thinking: Kunstler and Berman on natural gas euphoria

By February 13, 2012
Fracking Cartoon

In Episode #192 of the Kunstlercast which aired February 2nd, James Howard Kunstler and Duncan Crary have done us all a great favor by interviewing noted petroleum geologist, Arthur Berman. Berman’s popular in the peak oil world. In addition to his day job as a petroleum geologist and consultant, he's on the board of the Association for the Study of Peak Oil and an editorial board member of the Oil Drum. He occasionally makes appearances on CNN and maintains his own blog at Petroleum Truth … [Read more...]

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Solar panels face cloudy views

By January 25, 2012
Solar Installation

After months of wrestling with the local County Building Department about permits and codes, excruciating financial gymnastics and down and dirty back-breaking spadework, we finally got our solar installation up. It’s a massive 3 kw (stc) photovoltaic pole mount. We feel like we created the best of two worlds, too, since we live way back in the woods while, at the same time, we're generating a lot of electricity. Inscribed around the base of the installation is a sun mantra, OM Suryaya … [Read more...]

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What do triple digit oil prices mean for growth?

By January 11, 2012
gas station sign

Can we still expect to see sustained economic recoveries when oil, the world’s principal source of energy, is trading in triple digit range? As I argued several years ago in my book, Why Your World Is About To Get A Whole Lot Smaller, triple digit oil prices will redefine our notion of an economic recovery because as soon as the global economy picks up, oil prices will quickly soar to levels that challenge growth. Last year was a case in point. In the second full year of recovery from … [Read more...]

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Wipe out waste

By December 27, 2011
Linen Napkins

Just before Christmas I was shopping in my local Goodwill store, scouting, as always, for good quality linen napkins and kitchen towels. As luck would have it I found a lovely set of six white cotton napkins with a rainbow of stripes that has a sort of beachy feel to it. This was a perfect addition to my collection since I didn't have a "summery" set. At 50 cents, they were a must have. For the same price I picked up some periwinkle blue cotton kitchen towels with a shell weave at the border. … [Read more...]

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Peak oil gets pepper sprayed

By November 22, 2011
Peak oil curve with Hubbert and pepper spray cop

How many Saudi Arabias did you say that was? It's hard to keep up these days with claims by oil and gas drillers about how many Saudi Arabia-sized reserves of tar sands oil/shale oil/deepwater oil/hydrofracked gas that North America is now allegedly able to access due to the smarts of petroleum geologists and the tenacity of oilmen. "Because of better technology, notably breakthroughs in drilling, the US all of a sudden realizes it is sitting on a century’s worth of gas supply," writes … [Read more...]

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WTI-Brent spread costing Canadian producers over $1 billion a month

By November 14, 2011
Pipeline Monument, Cushing, OK

Facing growing political and environmental opposition in the US to the proposed Keystone XL pipeline (now indefinitely delayed, a victory for pipeline opponents -- ed.), Canada’s landlocked options for exporting its oil have never appeared more costly. Not only has deadheaded oil in Cushing, Oklahoma, the present terminus of the pipeline, put a crimp on expansion plans in the oil sands, but the ballooning price spread between West Texas Intermediate (WTI) and world oil prices has cost … [Read more...]

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Who will sound the peak oil alarm?

By November 9, 2011
Postcard of Paul Revere's ride

Don't expect to hear that the age of cheap oil might be coming to an end in President Obama's next State of the Union speech. Don't expect Energy Secretary Steven Chu to announce gas rationing to begin in January so America can gradually prepare for more expensive oil. And don't expect ExxonMobil, the American Petroleum Institute or OPEC to apologize for cooking their books all these years and admit that it turns out they really can't extract another 100, 50 or even 20 years of cheap oil. … [Read more...]

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Top 5 ways to Occupy Big Oil

By October 31, 2011
big oil profits first quarter of 2011

Wall Street is the best immediate target for a huge protest movement, since it was the freewheeling gambling of big banks that pushed the economy over the edge in 2008 and started the Great Recession. Now, as Occupy movements pop up around the US and across the globe to draw attention to economic inequity and the government corruption that abets rule by the top 1%, Occupiers should not forget that ExxonMobil is as guilty as Goldman Sachs in buying politicians and squeezing the 99%. The New … [Read more...]

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A peak oil movie you can skip

By October 19, 2011
cheap oil poster

When my friends with green groups dismiss peak oil as a propaganda campaign run by the oil industry to scare the public into chanting "drill, baby drill," I smile. Hey, I care about peak oil but I'm also an environmentalist from way back, I protest. The Sierra Club card -- I won't leave home without it. Climate change scares the crap out of me. Bill McKibben and Jim Hansen are my heroes. And most of my peak oiler friends feel the same way. They fear that greenhouse gases could fry the … [Read more...]

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Chinese billionaire crushes perfectly good Mercedes to protest driving

By October 14, 2011
Chen crushing a Mercedes

To prepare for peak oil, I've argued that nations need to rely less on imports and bring their manufacturing back home. But here's an import from China that I'd like to see come to the West. In advance of China's National Car-Free Day in September, Chen Guangbiao, a flamboyant but green-friendly billionaire, staged a publicity stunt where he had a Mercedes-Benz sedan crushed. After an excavator crushed the luxury car at his corporate headquarters in Nanjing, Chen, who purchased hundreds of … [Read more...]

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