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

Human health: return of the four horsemen?

By May 14, 2012
The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse

In the arena of human health, living in the post-industrial Stone Age will force us to deal with the biblical Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. And I’m not thinking metaphorically. During the time of Christ, in the Mediterranean region, the population of humans was viewed through the same lens as other populations. As such, human deaths often occurred in large numbers, as a result of war, conquest, famine, and pestilence -- these are the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, as described in the … [Read more...]

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Peak cycling? Bikes are oil hungry beasts

By May 7, 2012
bicycle built for two 1886

I am a keen cyclist. When I lived in Vancouver last year I would cycle the four miles to and from work six days a week during the warmer months. Unfortunately my job here back in New Zealand doesn't allow for cycling (I spend weeks out at sea on fishing boats) but I still try to get out on my bike as much as possible. Cycling has many advantages over other forms of transport: it's free exercise, it's fun, in many cases it's faster (I could easily beat the bus over my bike commute) and it's … [Read more...]

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Seven myths used to debunk peak oil, debunked

By May 3, 2012
Peak oil deniers embrace Hydra

Peak oil is a fact, not a theory. From US conventional oil production peaking in 1970 to global conventional oil production peaking in 2006 the figures are indisputable. Even institutions such as the International Energy Agency (IEA) and publications like The Economist that are not known for alarmism have admitted that oil production from conventional sources has peaked. So why are there still commentators who refuse to believe peak oil? Similar to the phony global warming "debate," … [Read more...]

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Deepwater what?

By April 20, 2012
peak oil chart

How soon we forget. Today marks the second anniversary of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. But don't expect to hear much about it. The largest environmental disaster ever in American history, the BP oil spill dumped nearly 5 million barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico and its consequences continue to reverberate in the area. But unless you're a Louisiana shrimper or a fan of dolphins -- more than 700 have washed up on Gulf shores since the spill -- does it really … [Read more...]

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Historic preservation vs. clean energy

By April 18, 2012
historic facade in Louisville

After years of enduring energy-wasting apartments in various big cities -- Chicago, Los Angeles, Washington, DC -- I feel blessed to be able to inhabit my own house in a very cute, well preserved small city in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. Apartment living, with its drafty windows, walls and ceilings free of any shred of insulation, and shared utility bills split equally among tenants regardless of who turns down the heat and who doesn't, galled the energy geek in me. But since I didn't … [Read more...]

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Peak oil denial: How does this help?

By April 2, 2012
boy with dunce cap

Whether or not peak oil is true cannot possibly be in doubt. Within anything other than a geological frame of time, oil is a finite substance. When it is burned, it is gone. Without stretching our brains very far, it is easy to conclude that anything that is finite and consumed will someday be gone. Peak Oil, then, is really an observation, not a theory. If only! What most four-year olds would agree is not much more than minimal common sense continues to confound some, who just cannot … [Read more...]

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The bike as a lens

By March 28, 2012
bike tweed

Culturally we believe that the car is a symbol of personal freedom. But the truth is that car ownership can be oppressive on several levels. Personal mobility represents freedom to the individual, but it's the form it takes that tells the story of freedom. Susan B. Anthony said: Let me tell you what I think of bicycling. I think it has done more to emancipate women than anything else in the world. It gives women a feeling of freedom and self-reliance. I stand and rejoice every time I see a … [Read more...]

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Peak oil, keeping reality in mind

By March 21, 2012
Biking

Ponder what it means that half of all the oil ever burned has been burned over the past 22 years and ask yourself where the supplies will come from to fund the next 22 years. Thanks to Adam Smith and those who followed him, especially the current neoclassical economic theologians, we've seen such an increase in the world’s wealth and population that it's hard to imagine life before the industrial revolution. Then the world moved slowly, mostly by human and animal muscle power. But with the … [Read more...]

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A bold win against big oil

By February 24, 2012
Bold Nebraska

In modern life, a David versus Goliath conflict rarely ends as neatly as the story—especially when the Goliath is a $7 billion energy project backed by major oil-industry multinationals. But this year, a broad coalition of environmental activists, citizens from conservative ranch and farm communities, Obama supporters, and celebrities (such as Daryl Hannah, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, and Mark Ruffalo) shot down the Keystone XL pipeline. The proposed 1,700-mile pipeline would have carried … [Read more...]

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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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