Insight and inspiration in turbulent times.
The summer holidays brought no relief on oil prices with Brent climbing back to $115/barrel. Sanctions on Iran and hurricane Isaac are having an effect, but recent reports from Barclays Capital and Citigroup point to more fundamental issues.
The second book in our Community Resilience Guides series with Chelsea Green Publishing, Power From the People illustrates how communities across the country are already generating their own energy at the local level. From citizen-owned wind turbines to co-op biofuel producers to community-wide initiatives combining multiple resources and technologies, Pahl outlines the steps necessary and plan, organize, finance and launch community energy projects.
When it comes up in casual conversation that I do not generally heat or cool my house, people either move to another seat or look at me with some mixture of admiration and disbelief.
-The energy-water nexus, 2012 edition
-Treading water
-The U.S. Drought and Electricity Generation
-US and EU must change biofuel targets to avert food crisis, says Nestlé chief
-Debunking wind energy myths – At a glance
-Merkel’s Other Crisis Spurs German Quest For Energy Holy Grail
-Dark clouds gather over China’s once-booming solar industry
-US solar PV market more than doubles to topple Europe
-Biofuel fails EU sustainability test, German researchers claim
-Keiser report: Monopolies, Military, Mayhem
-In Drought, Should Corn Be Food Or Fuel?
-Drilling permits decline sharply for the Pennsylvania Marcellus formation
-University of Texas Compounds Conflict Question in Review of Gas Report
-Fracking Hazards Obscured In Failure To Disclose Wells
-Natural Gas and Its Role In the U.S.’s Energy Endgame
-Destroying Precious Land for Gas
-Fracking is too important to foul up
-Shale gas failure offers rescue for EU green energy drive
-China to spend $372 billion on cutting energy use, pollution
-China’s mega coal power bases exacerbate water crisis – in pictures
-Thousands being moved from China’s Three Gorges – again
-China and its controversial carbon appetite [Book review]
In Extraenvironmentalist #47 we discuss the global energy picture with Chris Nelder as he describes the energy stories we tell ourselves and explains exactly how many natural gas wells it will take for the United States to gain energy independence. Then, we speak with Gregor MacDonald about the recent blackout in India that cut electricity to 10% of Earth’s population.
At this writing, the Tres Hombres schooner-brig is just reaching the Netherlands, on its way back from Copenhagen.
This we are sure of: as petroleum dependence continues to wreak havoc on our Earth’s sensitive environment, and the energy alternatives do not comprise an immediate solution, sail power emerges as the most viable energy source for trade and travel.
Batteries fail—as certainly as death and taxes. Rechargeable batteries at least offer the possibility of repeating the cycle, so are in this sense more like recurrent taxes than death. But alas, the story cannot repeat indefinitely… Add to their inevitable demise an overall lackluster performance in battery storage technology, and we have ourselves the makings of a blog post on the failure of batteries to live up to their promises.
-Every Household in India to Have Electricity in 5 Years: Indian PM
-India’s other power failure (and its opportunity)
-Smart Grid Solutions in India [White Paper]
-Asia’s real power struggle
We talk about the possibility of reducing fossil fuel use by 80% by 2050 and ramping up renewables at the same time, to help prevent climate change. If we did this, what would such a change mean for GDP, based on historical Energy and GDP relationships back to 1820?
