29 December , 2007
Peak Oil And Dunbar's Number
By Peter GoodchildWithin modern capitalism there is no solution to the problem of oil depletion. Oil energy cannot be replaced with the equivalent amount of "alternative" energy in the required time, so the consequences of oil depletion will be disastrous. Those disastrous consequences are beyond the range of the normal or acceptable issues of political debate. No political contender can win votes by saying that the world is coming to an end. The "end" may be real, but there is no political mechanism to deal with it in the over-crowded and overly complex modern state
22 December , 2007
The Post-Oil Economy: After The Techno-Fix
By Peter GoodchildThe path beyond petroleum begins by considering five principles: that alternative sources of energy are insufficient; that hydrocarbons, metals, and electricity are inseparable; that advanced technology is part of the problem, not part of the solution; that post-oil agriculture means a smaller population; and that the basis of the problem is psychological, not technological
21 December , 2007
Hydrocarbons And Funny Money
By Peter GoodchildOne can say that the future will be one of diminishing fossil fuels, and hence diminishing gasoline, plastic, paint, asphalt, fertilizer, and electricity. Or one can say that it will be a period of stagflation: rising prices and falling wages — since rising oil prices "drag up" all other prices. Eventually faith in the dollar will collapse, and money will be replaced by barter
17 December , 2007
Dealing With Peak Oil Depression
By Peter GoodchildFor many who have experienced the epiphany of the petroleum bell-curve, a sense of despair is the common after-effect. How does one accommodate oneself to that realization of dwindling material resources? And oddly enough, it is often the most astute, those who have the most to offer, who are in that very position of having to navigate the darknessWhy Peak Guarantees Conservation
By Jeff BergThe Peak Energy thesis clearly demonstrates that the massive energy conservation efforts that our ecology, and climate, so dearly and clearly need, are guaranteed to happen. Whether or not they will happen in time to be of any good to us is still very much up in the air
12 December , 2007
Growing Food When The Oil Runs out
By Peter GoodchildMost people in modern industrial society get their food mainly from supermarkets. As a result of declining hydrocarbon resources, however, it is unlikely that such food will always be available. The present world population is nearly 7 billion, but food supplies per capita have been shrinking for years. Food production will have to become more localized, and it will be necessary to reconsider less-advanced forms of technology that might be called "subsistence gardening."
11 December , 2007
The Danse Macabre Of Success And Hubris
By Case Wagenvoord America sits atop an industrial and financial behemoth made possible by a geological flicker known as the “Age of Oil.” In our heart of hearts we believe it will last forever because we represent the end point of history. The sweet irony of it all is that when the dust finally settles, the Age of Oil, and the Industrial Age it spawned, will barely register as cosmic farts in the grand scheme of things
08 December , 2007
Peak Oil And The Vision In The Mirror
By Aaron WissnerPeak oil is not simply an issue of learning to conserve or finding ways to do more with less. It isn't simply about the possibility of economic collapse, war, starvation or global pandemic. It isn't just about changing our behaviors or our beliefs. It is about turning ourselves inside-out, and not only surviving the transformation, but also being and living equal and in harmony with all the rest
06 December , 2007Peak Oil And Musical Chairs
By Jon Loux
We are all playing a game of musical chairs with the world’s oil supply. Every time the price of oil goes up five dollars or so, one chair gets moved away and someone, or some entire country, is politely escorted out of the oil game. Just kidding about the politely part
05 December , 2007
Alternative Energy And The Pollyanna Principle
By Peter GoodchildThe problem of explaining "peak oil" does not hinge on the issue of peak oil as such, but rather on that of "alternative energy." Most people now have some idea of the concept of peak oil, but it tends to be brushed aside in conversation because of the common incantation: "It doesn’t matter if oil runs out, because by then everything will be converted to [whatever] power." Humanity’s faith in what might be called the Pollyanna Principle — everything will work out right in the end — is eternal.The critical missing information in such a dialogue, of course, is that "alternative energy" will do little to solve the peak-oil problem, although very few people are aware of the fact
30 November , 2007
The First Days Of Petro Collapse
By Peter GoodchildWithout hydrocarbons, the darkness closes in, literally and metaphorically. Yet instead of dealing with the issue in a realistic manner, we sit around and hope that magic and superstition will solve the problems
22 November , 2007
Handy Hints For Post-Petroleum
By Peter Goodchild
The priority of these "hints" will vary as the years go by, but most of them will remain relevant over the course of the century. The slight bias toward northern North America is partly due to the fact that the area meets most of the criteria
16 November , 2007
Peak Oil And Silence
By Peter Goodchild
Perhaps the silence will never end. Most people will never personally see the oil wells running dry, so they will never really know who or what to blame. Modern surveillance techniques will ensure that no protester gets more than half a mile down a street. The process of erosion will be so slow at first that people will wonder if they are imagining the whole thing: higher costs for food and fuel, lower quality of goods and services, a general third-world ambience to what were supposed to be first-world cities. One day, however, there will be a realization that the Grand Plan is not forthcoming, and that staying alive will depend on the Small Plan, person by person, family by family
15 November , 2007
Gwyn Don't Know Dyer
By Jeff Berg
Richard Gwyn’s November 13, 2007 article “Pessimistic Fuel Report too Bright” comes tantalizingly close to understanding the full peril that the energy question presents to development, our collective wealth and the planet’s health. For this he deserves kudos. Though at this point in the energy and emissions narrative it is hardly news to say that if India and China were to consume like North America we would fry the planet
14 November , 2007
Peak Oil Doomsday:Ahead Of Schedule
By Peter Goodchild
When we try to predict the effects of oil decline, we may assume that human "die-off" will follow a gradual but steady curve from about the year 2000 or 2010 to about 2030, which will then flatten out toward about 2050. But such events will probably happen much more quickly than that, because there is a "synergistic" effect due to the fact that the two forces of oil depletion and human population are now heading in opposite directions
01November , 2007
Peak Oil: Time's Up
By Jeff Berg
The fact of peaking oil and peaking energy clinches the argument for conservation and speeding up the timetable on renewables . It is past time environmentalists and socialists use its reality at least as effectively as has the military industrial class
30 October , 2007
Why Did We Invade Iraq Anyway?
By Michael Schwartz
As worldwide demand for hydrocarbons soared, the United States was left with three policy choices: It could try to combine alternative energy sources with rigorous conservation to reduce or eliminate a significant portion of energy imports; it could accept the leverage conferred on OPEC by the energy crunch and attempt to negotiate for an adequate share of what might soon enough become an inadequate supply; or it could use its military power in an effort to coerce Middle East suppliers into satisfying American requirements at the expense of everyone else. Beginning with Jimmy Carter, five U.S. presidents chose the coercive strategy, with George W. Bush finally deciding that violent, preemptive regime change was needed to make it work. The other options remain unexplored
29 October , 2007
Peak Oil And Famine:Four Billion Deaths
By Peter Goodchild
Population growth is soaring, whereas oil production is plunging. If, at the start of any year, the world’s population is greater than its carrying capacity, only simple arithmetic is needed to see that the difference between the two numbers means that mortality will be above the normal by the end of that year. In fact, over the course of the 21st century there will be about 4 billion deaths (probably about 3.6, to be more precise) above normal
16 October , 2007
Peak Moment For Peak Oil In Queensland
By Stuart McCarthy
Until recently the peak oil debate in Australia has been largely confined to internet forums. Those who have dared elsewhere make the obvious point that production of the finite resource upon which our entire economy is based will soon peak and decline, have usually been labeled as doomsayers, conspiracy theorists, socialists or rabid greenies. That situation has changed dramatically in recent weeks with the release of the Queensland Government’s long-awaited Oil Vulnerability Taskforce Report. World oil production is peaking – it’s official, at least here in Queensland
15 October , 2007
A Three Way For The Real Third Way
By Jeff Berg
If we fail again and let consumption manage us and not us it, I’m guaranteeing here and now that energy fascism is the jackboot that we will all be ground under. Most of the rest of the world gets this already. They do not hate us for our freedoms they hate us for the insane recklessness and abuse of freedom that our everyday fossil fuel lifestyle screams at them. And who can blame them?
08 October , 2007
We Are In A Bad Fix
By Mathew Maavak
What began as sub-prime woes in the US housing sector may ripple into something we cannot yet imagine. Will there be a severe global recession, or worse? If wars are yet contained, bidding wars will yet emerge over wheat, water, fish, medicines and oil. What will the future hold in this ecology of crises?
22 September , 2007
Agriculture In A Post-Oil Economy
By Peter Goodchild
The future will be just like today, only tougher. Oil depletion is basically just a matter of overpopulation — too many people and not enough resources. The most serious consequence will be a lack of food. The problem of oil therefore leads, in an apparently mundane fashion, to the problem of farming
08 September , 2007
Peak-Oil Awareness And The Larger Community
By Peter Goodchild
Is it possible to deal with peak oil on a broad demographic scale?
19 August , 2007
Entering The Tough Oil Era
By Michael T. Klare
A spate of high-level government and industry reports have begun to suggest that the original peak-oil theorists were far closer to the grim reality of global-oil availability than industry analysts were willing to admit. Industry optimism regarding long-term energy-supply prospects, these official reports indicate, has now given way to a deep-seated pessimism, even in the biggest of Big Oil corporate headquarters
16 August , 2007
Why ‘Peak Oil’ May Soon Pique Your Interest
By David R. Francis
World oil production peaked in 2005, says one expert, and that presents serious problems in the future
03 August , 2007
Demand Destruction - Market Failure
By Bill Henderson
Demand destruction will occur in those countries that can't afford oil.Demand destruction will occur in farmers fields and Third World slums. America will eat turkey, watch football and give thanks to the Lord while millions starve, while millions starve outside a privileged world where oil is still fungible
22 July , 2007
Oil And Gas May Run Short By 2015
By Geoffrey Lean
Humanity is approaching an unprecedented crisis when not enough oil and gas will be produced to keep industrial civilisation running, the world's top oilmen warned last week. The warning – which is being hailed as a "tipping point" – marks the first time that the industry has accepted that it may soon no longer be able to meet demand for its products
30 June , 2007
A Pipeline Into The Heart Of Europe
By M K Bhadrakumar
Russian President Vladimir Putin, a published expert in judo, has used his skills to throw the US off balance in the competition for energy. In the past few weeks he has defeated all Western-backed projects to bring gas from Central Asia into Europe, and now he is aiming at the Balkans. As any judo expert can confirm, brute force is not required. The bigger they are, the harder they fall
16 June , 2007
The Pentagon v. Peak Oil
By Michael Klare
How Wars of the Future May Be Fought Just to Run the Machines That Fight Them
15 June , 2007
A World Without Oil
By Daniel Howden
Scientists challenge major review of global reserves and warn that supplies will start to run out in four years' time
01 May , 2007
True Costs Of Fossil Fuels
By Rand Clifford
when we pump that $3-a-gallon gasoline into our tanks, we should keep in mind that gasoline is in reality the most expensive fuel imaginable—the most heavily-subsidized commodity in history
25 April , 2007Summer, 2017
By Stephen Hren
It would have been impossible to convince anyone ten years ago that such would be the case, but the sprawling tract housing that surrounds most of America's cities has been almost completely abandoned and the reason might be peak oil