Platinum: It doesn’t have to run out to become unavailable
The first stage of scarcity is not running out, but having less and less available. Platinum may end up being a good example in the coming year.
resource limits
Resource Limitations
How do we know at what level our consumption is sustainable, and when we’re in planetary overshoot? How do we quantify what the planet’s capacity is to meet human demands, and how much of that capacity is renewable, and how much of it is just being permanently depleted? And once we had a way to quantify that, what would we do with that information?
An Updated Version of the “Peak Oil” Story
The Peak Oil story got some things right.
A Personal Appreciation of M. King Hubbert
A recent vacation afforded me the opportunity to read The Oracle of Oil, Mason Inman’s excellent new biography of Marion King Hubbert.
Only Less Will Do
Violin playing constitutes an ecologically benign hobby, right?
Italy: Adapting to Collapse
Tourism is also quickly gaining a new status of fundamental resource in the Italian economy.
Does Peak Oil Matter?
Chris Nelder discusses the story of peak oil and whether it has any validity.
Exploring the “why” behind extreme energy
Thus far the debate around unconventional gas/fracking has focussed on pollution, flammable water, earthquakes, noise, toxic fumes, climate change, etc. As a result people mainly focus on the "what?", or at a local level the "where?", of the issue. My research leads me toward one single question… "why?".
Energy: Thriving On Five Percent?
The modern city has been shaped by the availability of cheap oil and resources, and plentiful credit.
COUNTDOWN: Slowing Population Growth Our Last, Best Hope for a Future on Earth
Alan Weisman answers questions on his new book. Weisman traveled to 21 countries asking politicians, scientists, family planning specialists, doctors, and religious leaders, crucial questions about how we can successfully deal with the size of human population.
Supply Shock
In Extraenvironmentalist #71 Brian Czech discusses his new book Supply Shock: Economic Growth at the Crossroads and the Steady State Solution. Then, Karl Fitzgerald of the Renegade Economists joins us to talk about Henry George, land bubbles and real estate speculation.
Bubble and Beyond
With economist, historian and author Michael Hudson of ‘The Bubble and Beyond’ and Nate Hagens, the former lead editor of the Oil Drum and an expert on global resource depletion.