Insight and inspiration in turbulent times.
Governments, expolration companies, and even the U.N. are striving for the next fossil fuel technological leap – accessing the huge gas reserves in methane hydrates. If they are successful, shale gas may pale in comparison.
Commercially exploiting gas hydrates on any significant scale may prove to be extremely challenging—but if successful,it would prolong our dependency on fossil fuels and contribute to ever-growing greenhouse gas emissions.
•Fracking is draining water resources, especially in the West •Whatever you think of fracking, this isn’t the way forward •Are Methane Hydrates Really Going to Change Geopolitics? •California Fracking Rules Plan Stirs Trade Secrets Fight
Okay, I’m going to give you the shortest course ever in energy abundance: Energy abundance depends entirely on the RATE of energy flow.
-Americans would pay more for green energy
-Carbon capture leak simulated in sea off Scotland
-US claims ‘unprecedented’ success in test for new fuel source
-Colorado farms planning for dry spell losing auction bids for water to fracking projects
-UK shale gas firm doubles estimates, seeks partner
-Shale Boom in Europe Fades as Polish Wells Come Up Empty
-Gas Industry Spin Can’t Cover Up Air, Water Problems Caused by Fracking
-Government drops water pollution charges against Range
We have a brand-new entrant to the oil-eating-bug-runs-amok tradition: the self-published novel Petroplague. It’s a Crichton-esque thriller written by microbiology professor-turned author Amy Rogers, who says she aims to “blur the line between fact and fiction so well that you need a Ph.D. to figure out where one ends and the other begins.” The plot involves a batch of experimental, oil-hungry bacteria inadvertently loosed upon Los Angeles, which proceed to wreak a near biblical swath of destruction. Part ecology lesson and part cautionary tale, Petroplague is an entertaining entrée into the subject of oil depletion and its implications for society, human health and the environment.
– NPR: Ex-Shell CEO and Peak Oil Researcher Face Off Over America’s Energy Future
– WaPo: Has the United States beaten peak oil? Not so fast.
– Much ado about Hotelling: Beware the ides of Hubbert (Hubbert curve is a major determinant for oil prices)
– ¿Cuánto petróleo hace falta para extraer un barril de petróleo? (Charles Hall intervista)
– Roland Vially, géologue à l’IFP : “les hydrates de méthanes pourraient constituer une nouvelle source de gaz à l’horizon 2030”
Bill McKibben’s latest book is a well-chosen and arranged collection of climate-related writings by the likes of James Hansen, Al Gore and George Monbiot, which McKibben edits and introduces. Significantly, the book contains writings by Inhofe and his ilk as well, the better to understand “the lines of attack climate deniers have used over and over,” in McKibben’s words,
User’s Guide to the Crisis of Civilization shows how our major crises share the same root causes and thus can be solved only by taking into account their complex interactions. Ahmed acknowledges that in this age of specialization it’s understandable for issues like climate change and oil depletion to be studied and discussed separately—indeed, he observes that this mode of inquiry into the causes of specific phenomena has enabled many of our greatest scientific advances. But it’s also, he argues, beginning to seem like an increasingly antiquated method, preventing experts from seeing the whole picture and the public from receiving consistent information.
– Deep Oil From Diamonds? Maybe, Says A New Report
– Romney blames high prices on insufficient supply
– Nuclear waste: Keep out – for 100,000 years
– Former nuclear safety official says Swiss plant should be shut down
-BG warns over demand for gas
-Don’t Count on Natural Gas to Solve US Energy Problems
-Chesapeake’s move brings cheer to gloomy US gas sector
