In an interesting article on the Obama approach to Peak Oil, The Huffington Post reports that ExxonMobil have declared that U.S. Gasoline Consumption peaked in 2008. Even the oil patch’s biggest cheerleaders, ExxonMobil, who earlier helped frighten a public and a market to $147/bbl oil, now finds itself obligated to acknowledge that that U.S. consumption of gasoline [...]
Archive for the ‘News’ Category
3 Apr
George Monbiot on the G20 and Peak Oil
From today’s Guardian – “G20 forgets the environment“: “We, the Leaders of the Group of Twenty, will use every cent we don’t possess to rescue corporate capitalism from its contradictions and set the world economy back onto the path of unsustainable growth. We have already spent trillions of dollars of your money on bailing out [...]
23 Dec
Mexico to be hit by Peak Oil
Just a short post to flag an article on Mexico reaching Peak Oil production and ceasing to be an oil exporting economy by the end of 2009. This has major implications for the stability of Mexico’s economy – where’s it going to get those export dollars from now? And also for US energy security as the [...]
11 Sep
Transition: Lewes Pound launched by Mayor of Lewes
The new Lewes Pound has just been officially launched by the Mayor of Lewes in front of an audience of over 450 people. Speakers included Rob Hopkins from Transition Totnes and Polly Toynbee from the Guardian. I’m a little ambivalent about the long-term impact of local currencies, but their introductory paragraph gives a good feel for the reasons they [...]
9 Sep
Background: Oil to hit $300-a-barrel
A really interesting interview with Charles Maxwell has just been published by Barrons, in which he explains why he thinks we’re heading for $300-a-barrel oil. He is predicting peak oil arriving in 2015: At some point, doesn’t it come down to lowering consumption or tapping alternative sources of energy? Right, and we will probably do both. [...]
28 Aug
Background: The Peak Oil Media Guide
The learned folks over at the Association for the Study of Peak Oil and Gas have published a really clear, well thought-out Guide to Peak Oil by Chris Nelder. This differs from a lot of Peak-Oil stuff I’ve seen, in that it doesn’t immediately suggest arming yourself and heading for the hills. It takes a powerful message [...]
27 Aug
Benefits of Descent: Increased fuel prices save lives
Great reports in The Guardian and Independent recently talking about how rising fuel prices are driving cars off the road, and forcing people to drive more slowly and carefully. In the UK this has resulted in the first recorded drop in congestion, and an actual increase in average speeds as people sit in less fuel-sapping traffic jams. The [...]
22 Aug
Signs: “household fuel bills soar again”
More energy companies increasing bills – http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2008/aug/22/energy.householdbills. The Guardian are saying that for the average customer, annual bills are £1,211-£1,328 a year, 5.4 million people are paying more than 10% of their income just for energy. I love the comment from uSwitch: Ann Robinson, uSwitch.com’s director of consumer policy, said soaring bills posed “a huge threat” to [...]
