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Many more articles are available through the Energy Bulletin homepage
The Distant Sound Of Drumming- Birth of TOD:Australia/New Zealand
Big Gav, The Oil Drum: Australia/New Zealand
The Oil Drum Australia / New Zealand will be launching in the next week or two.
Co-editor Phil Hart from ASPO Australia will be editing reader submitted articles and hopefully contributing some articles of his own in the not too distant future.
I’ll be doing a fairly regular (hopefully daily) antipodean equivalent of Leanan’s Drumbeat posts, focusing on energy news from Australia, New Zealand and the nearby region.
For those who are aware of it, my regular home at Peak Energy will still remain active, and will continue to see a lot of material that veers far away from the core topics that I’ll concentrate on here (ie. I won’t be cross-posting between the 2 sites except on those rare occasions that I write material of my own as opposed to summarising the day’s news).
If you’ve got an article that you’d like to post (or relevant links that you think are appropriate for the daily Drumbeat) please get in touch…
(21 October 2007)
Big Gav is the indefatigable editor of Peak Energy (Australia).
Just Ask Robert: Your Energy Questions Answered
Robert Rapier, The Oil Drum
Not too long ago, I nearly quit writing, because I was losing control of my free time. I came to a compromise solution that has worked out well for me: I have continued to write, but I have reduced time dedicated to debates, correspondence, and addressing questions or criticisms about my essays. It is now apparent that it was not the writing, but instead the peripheral stuff that was really eating up all my time.
However, as a result of the change, some comments and questions that are directed at me go unanswered. Sometimes someone will make a criticism or comment that I would like to address, but I know it will lead to several more responses. In order to “catch up” with some of this without once again getting involved in protracted exchanges, on my way out of town for a business trip I put up a brief post inviting readers to ask questions or make comments. I hadn’t originally intended to post it here, but there were quite a few topics that have been discussed at length here at TOD. So, I went through, picked out some of the questions, and took a stab at answering them.
There are questions on biobutanol, gasoline inventories, refinery margins, debunking, ethanol, investing, the future of the oil industry, where to live to ride out Peak Oil, and whether I have now lost hope. I sometimes excerpted the questions, but I linked to the originals so you can see them in complete context.
(21 October 2007)
New Peak Moment transcripts: Cuba and PO’s social effects
Global Public Media
Volunteers have transcribed two episodes of Peak Moment Television: Learning from Cuba’s Response to Peak Oil and The Social Effects of Peak Oil. Thank you Katherine and April, your efforts are greatly appreciated! Transcriptions and translations of our content help spread GPM’s important message to an even wider audience. To volunteer, please read the information page, then contact us.
(19 October 2007)
TOD:Local needs your contributions…
Prof. Goose, The Oil Drum
We need to hear about people’s energy and environmental policy ideas, experiences, and solutions at the local and state level so we can compare notes and learn about policy successes and failures, and learn about how to be better participants in the local political process.
That is what we envision with TOD:Local…a place where you can discuss your experiences and and learn about ideas and insights about local solutions.
Something that we’ve known for a while is that most of the changes that occur in energy policy are going to occur at the state or local level–that’s where a lot of the changes that are going to most affect our daily lives are going to take place–whether they are good policy or bad.
Please send your posts or story ideas to the editors box (right sidebar) and I’ll forward them to Glenn.
(21 October 2007)
The Energy and Environment Round-Up: October 21st 2007
Stoneleigh, The Oil Drum: Canada
We have seen much attention paid lately to the potential for large sea level rises due to climate change, but global warming also has other effects on water systems – most significantly a potentially substantial reduction in the amount of fresh water available to sustain human populations.
In Australia, Tim Flannery pointed out some time ago that a 10% drop in rainfall resulted in a 70% drop in available water due to increased evaporation from warmer temperatures, which is why Australia is currently experiencing such severe water shortages. Other areas could be set to experience something similar, especially if the glaciers supplying major river systems in populous regions melt. In a world of falling water tables, and less energy available for pumping water from ever-increasing depths, this is a trend to watch, and not just for the purpose of making money from scarcity as investment newsletters would have you believe.
Also in this Energy & Environment Round-Up, we follow the on-going resource royalty debate in Alberta, the row over equalization payments and resource ownership in the Maritimes, and the opening of a token hydrogen refueling station in Ottawa. On the international stage, we look at China’s tidal wave of growth and increasing energy demand, and the developing geopolitical tensions that are combining with rampant speculation to push the price of oil to record highs.
Finally, check out the October 2007 Special Tar Sands Issue of The Dominion.
(21 October 2007)
ODAC News — Saturday 20 Oct
Douglas Low, Oil Depletion Analysis Centre
ASPO-USA Peak Oil Conference 17-21 Oct.
1a/ Peak Oil Conference Consensus: Crude Demand Outpacing Supply (Energy Intelligence [Oil Daily], Fri 18 Oct)
1b/ Houston ASPO – the Workshop day (The Oil Drum, Thu 18 Oct)
1c/ ASPO Houston :Day 1, part 1 (The Oil Drum, Fri 19 Oct)
1d/ ASPO Houston :Day 1, part 2 (The Oil Drum, Sat 20 Oct)
Economy – UK and Europe
2a/ UK house market is ‘heading for crash’ (The Times, Thu 18 Oct)
2b/ New mortgage approvals plummet by 12% (The Times, Thu 18 Oct)
2c/ Eastern Europe to reap its own subprime crisis (The Telegraph, Thu 18 Oct)
2d/ UK housing: How storm clouds gather [podcast] (Telegraph, Wed 17 Oct)
Geopolitics – Caspian
3/ Energy-rich Caspian becomes center of U.S.-Russia power struggle (International Herald Tribune, Wed 17 Oct)
Coal / China / Kyoto Protocol
4/ China’s drive for wealth means end of our low-carbon dreams (The Times, Wed 17 Oct)
Natural Gas – Iran
5/ Iran plans $130bn gas investments (Arabian Business, Thu 18 Oct)
Russia – Wheat Exports
6/ Wheat Export Tax to Soar Fivefold (FC Novosti, Fri 29 Oct)
ASPO-USA P.O. Conf. – Media Response
7a/ Global Oil Output Has Already Peaked, Pickens Says (Bloomberg, Fri 19 Oct)
7b/ Saudi Aramco may miss production goals, says Simmons (Business Intelligence Middle East, Fri 19 Oct)
Videos – Oil Prices in the News
8/ Three videos on the price of oil (The Oil Drum, Thu 18 Oct)
Economy – USA
9/ Wall St caught in a perfect storm (The Telegraph, Sat 20 Oct)
(20 October 2007)
