Insight and inspiration in turbulent times.
Numerous prominent petroleum geologists have been warning for years about the resources limitations of oil both in the U.S. and globally. It’s now looking like the wolf is nearing the door.
In 2023, wind and solar combined added more new energy to the global mix than any other source, for the first time in history, according to Carbon Brief analysis of newly released data. Nevertheless, record global demand for energy saw coal and oil use also reaching new highs last year, the Energy Institute Statistical Review of World Energy 2024 finds.
Because of the power of the House Energy and Commerce Committee and its subcommittee, Dr. Birol has to keep responding to the invitations and queries. Whatever his responses, however, he’s in for a beating at the hands of the MAGA-minded with future US contributions to the IEA on the line. It’s a fine example of Cardinal Morton’s Fork.
Should Trump re-take the presidency, he’ll have vengeance in his soul and six conservatives on the high court bench. None of this bodes well for the future of US climate policy.
Hurried pursuit of a liquefied natural gas windfall in B.C. and Alberta will squander a key component of Canada’s long-term energy security while causing environmental devastation, according to a new report.
In the case of renewable energy, given that renewable electricity generation facilities are so cheap, why isn’t the global energy system switching rapidly to renewables? Because, Christophers shows, the economics of energy (like the economics of everything else in the modern world) isn’t driven by price, but by profit.
Now that I have a demographic tool, I can ask questions relating to when we might hit peak power as a civilization. I use power (rate of energy use) as a proxy for all manner of resource dependencies, as energy usage correlates strongly with materials use and ecological impact. Plus, it is a readily-available measure.
As global society advances further and further into its energy, resource and climate predicament, we can count on the creation of ever more ingenious boondoggles. This is because truly effective responses would require sacrifices and much more intensified cooperation. It is much easier and more fun to contemplate how our myriad boondoggles are going usher in an era of plenty and a stable environment.
None of those hand-me-downs from the last century, including air conditioning, is consistent with the sweeping climate-mitigation policies that will need to be put in place in the coming decades.
Today’s conversation with economics journalist Ed Conway focuses on the six essential resources that underpin our modern economies – sand, salt, iron, copper, oil, and lithium – and dives into the (often unseen) environmental and human costs of extracting them, as well as the surprisingly fragile global supply chains they fuel.
Fast-forward: If many of these young individuals translate anxiety into action, this could initiate a great global fossil-hunting stampede, triggering a rough rocking motion for the fossilized apparatus of governments still beholden to fossil fuel dependencies and obsolete grids minus a plan.
The term “out over your skis” means careening forward, a little out of control, very likely headed for a faceplant. This is the position humanity is in when it comes to energy demand.
