peak oil
beware journalism, peak advertising is like peak oil
In his latest post on Reality Sandwich, Charles Eisenstein draws a connection between advertising and oil that is clever and timely, Don’t get me wrong — I am not proclaiming the demise of advertising (I am an optimistic person, but even my optimism knows limits!). I am suggesting, rather, the advent of Peak Advertising, and [...]
backyard chickens in Vancouver?
I’m all for the fowl jokes but did CTV really have to throw so many puns into their coverage of the topic? This piece has some of the worst puns I’ve heard from news media in years. Or maybe I just don’t watch enough TV news… Distribution of food sources is a key component of [...]
end of the coal age
Regardless of the consequences of peaking oil extraction rates, coal is the often overlooked driver of global economic growth. Coal provides the majority of the electricity responsible for our way of life and for consistent industrial production, around 49% of the electricity generated in the US comes from coal. When I worked for a coal-based [...]
how Cuba survived peak oil, a model for the US and Canada?
On Tuesday night I attended a screening of How Cuba Survived Peak Oil at the Simon KY Lee Global Lounge at UBC. I’ve had this video on my computer for a while but haven’t had a chance to actually watch through it so having the opportunity to do so with a group was great. The [...]
the plot from the prequel to James Cameron’s Avatar
Energy analyst and author Michael Klare has the plot for the prequel to Avatar all written out, It’s the torrid summer of 2144, just a decade before Avatar begins. (That movie takes place in summer 2154, after a flight from Earth that, we’re told, involves six continuous years of sleep, which helps us backdate Jake [...]
in case you think there’s an alternative energy
John Michael Greer’s latest blog post has some information for you. Our energy problem and societal decline isn’t occurring only because we are losing net energy rapidly (energy returned on energy invested), global civilization is in rapid decline because all our alternatives to oil are much less energy dense. From the blog post,
the latest on peak oil
Today I was listening to this great rundown of the global oil supply situation on the Financial Sense Newshour with guest Jeffrey Brown VP of Global Oil Supply Analysis for Logi Energy (featured on the first 48 mins of this audio track. Some key facts I learned from the podcast and elsewhere: 25% of the [...]
what I struggle with when I consider a career in clean energy technologies…
…is Jevons’ Paradox. From a recent post on The Oil Drum, In his 1865 book “The Coal Question: An Inquiry Concerning the Progress of the Nation, and the Probable Exhaustion of our Coal-Mines,” English economist William Stanley Jevons made the observation “Of the Economy of Fuel” that when improvements in technology make it possible to [...]
permaculture: a short film
Jane and I just finished watching this outstanding short film on the problems facing the UK (and ultimately the world) in supplying food while facing the reality of declining energy supplies. Unfortunately so much of the dialogue around peak oil centers on “Collapse” but the more I learn about permaculture, the more I think the [...]
a Copenhagen recap
I was fortunately able to ignore most of the hype about the Copenhagen climate talks while they were occurring. The world’s governments will never be able to find a solution to climate change because it is simply too large for any consortium to decide upon and enforce. However, I’m glad I read through Richard Heinberg’s [...]
