Lester R. Brown: On Energy, We’re Finally Walking the Walk
The United States has entered a new energy era, ending a century of rising carbon emissions. As the U.S. delegation prepares for the international climate negotiations in Copenhagen in December, it does so from a surprisingly strong position, one based on a dramatic 9 percent drop in U.S. carbon emissions over the past two years and the promise of further huge reductions.
…For a country where oil and coal use have been growing for more than a century, the fall since 2007 is startling. Last year, oil use dropped 5 percent, coal 1 percent and overall carbon emissions 3 percent. Projections for this year, based on Energy Department data for the first eight months, show oil use down by an additional 5 percent. Coal is estimated to fall by 10 percent. Altogether, carbon emissions from burning fossil fuels, including natural gas, dropped 9 percent over the two years.
In the past, I’ve been considered a pessimist in my work on mounting population pressures and looming food crises. I’m still very concerned about these issues. But today the improving numbers on carbon emissions are not debatable.
Squeezing the last bit of oil from Mother Earth: As the debate rages over how much longer the flow will last, valuable time is wasted
It follows as night the day that the unquestionably finite nature of fossil fuels inevitably will cause significant changes in the global economy and our way of life.
But the continued lack of absolute certainty – which will continue for many years – about the timing and severity of the crisis offers room for diehard “denialists” to continue with their arguments that a world without oil that can be extracted viably is a myth.
With the final week of August marking the 150th anniversary of commercial oil development, peak-oil deniers have become even more forceful in their arguments.
Oil Crisis was a Peak into the Future
The stuff in the Arctic is a drop in the bucket. You are losing sight of what the Cambridge Energy Research Associates and Exxon don’t tell you about. They hold big press conferences to talk about, ‘Oh we just discovered the Jack Field – 10,000 feet under the hurricane-ravaged waters of the Gulf of Mexico, isn’t that fantastic.’
They don’t hold press conferences [to announce], ‘See this field here? It has been producing for 50 years. It’s about to run dry.’
Oil, gas should not be shoved aside for alternative energy
Over a career that spanned 15 years as a newspaper reporter starting at The Courier to more than 20 years in my current position at the Louisiana Mid-Continent Oil and Gas Association, I have heard about the demise of the oil-and-gas industry more times than I can count.
Just recently, I read an article about the peak-oil theory. There is a compulsion among some to determine when the world will reach its peak oil-production point. From that point on, the production curve will go downward, forcing us to abandon oil as a major fuel source and building block.
Freedom from foreign oil might be a mirage
Inflated union contracts didn’t cripple Detroit but shortsighted energy policies did and the same thing could happen again unless the U.S. as a nation adopts a more rational approach to energy policy.
I don’t know if we’ve reached “Peak Oil” but the discussion is probably irrelevant. The larger fact is the U.S. economy will continue to face serious difficulties unless it finds a way around the OPEC blockade.
Energy independence, security? How about energy realism
Even with major increases in efficiency and conservation efforts, the world must triple its energy supplies over the next 40 years. Where will this energy come from? The answer is — where it comes from now: mostly conventional fossil fuels (coal, oil and natural gas), with a limited amount coming from boutique “renewable” sources such as solar, wind and biofuels.
Fossil fuels will remain pre-eminent for a simple reason: They are abundant, cheap and offer energy superior to so-called renewables. One pound of gasoline, for example, has 100 times more energy than a 1-pound lithium ion battery, which is one of the reasons why electric cars still aren’t very practical.
Russian Bear vs. OPEC: A battle of wits!
With the global energy equation undergoing another adjustment-albeit a temporary one-a battle royal seems on the cards. For the first time since the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia has surpassed Saudi Arabia as the top oil exporter. Exports of crude oil and refined products from Russia have risen to 7.4 million barrels a day in the second quarter of this year, up from 7.25 million in the first quarter, according to the Russian Energy Ministry. Russia ‘s crude oil production climbed 1.3 percent in August from the same month in 2008, to 9.97 million barrels a day. Exports grew 5.9 percent in the same period.
‘Big players face output struggle’
Credit Suisse expects the major US and European integrated oil companies to struggle to boost output to 2020, saying the sector is unlikely to see any volume growth over the coming cycle.
New oil finds in West Africa lure investors
DAKAR: The prospect of new oil finds in West Africa will lure big investors to the region but firms can expect regulatory headaches and other obstacles in countries still recovering from years of war and instability.
Big Oil Goes Green for Real
Remember back in 2001 when BP went “Beyond Petroleum”? It was a brilliant marketing campaign, but it had less to do with changing the company’s business model than positioning Lord John Browne as the Teflon oil executive. All but a tiny fraction of BP’s revenue came, and still comes, from oil. So how should we take the spate of new green announcements from the world’s major oil firms? In July, ExxonMobil announced big plans to grow green algae to fuel cars; last week, Chevron unveiled the world’s largest carbon-sequestration project in Australia; and in recent months, Valero, Marathon, and Sunoco carried out a series of acquisitions that resulted in Big Oil controlling 7 percent of the U.S. ethanol business.
The rise and fall of BP boss John Browne
Stung by the ambiguous attitudes towards Bad Big Oil, Browne pondered how to rebrand BP, consolidating the new acquisitions, and to rid the industry of the legacy of the Exxon Valdez spill and Brent Spar decommissioning controversy. At the same time he had become preoccupied by his latest passion: to save the planet from global warming. The energy companies, he believed, could lead the campaign to limit climate change.
Energy security is national security
My first command in the Navy was the guided-missile fast frigate USS Samuel B. Roberts. It was a ship that had been heavily damaged during the Iran-Iraq War and was saved only by the heroism of its crew, many of whom were injured.
It had struck an Iranian mine while escorting oil tankers in the Persian Gulf. Under my command it returned to the gulf and again we were protecting oil tankers in dangerous waters.
That’s what I think of first when I think of the energy crisis — the American military extending itself to protect the vulnerable supply lines of foreign oil that keeps this nation afloat. We cannot consider ourselves secure if we do not have a secure American energy supply.
How the Libyan connection will keep our lights on
Could the release of Adelbasset Ali Al-Megrahi, the alleged Lockerbie bomber, be connected to Britain’s energy crisis?
Pakistan: Likely gas supply cut in winter irks owners of CNG stations
KARACHI: The owners of compressed natural gas (CNG) stations have taken a strong exception to reports that the government intends to switch off gas supply for CNG to meet burgeoning domestic and power sector requirements in coming winter.
Malik Khuda Bux, the Chairman of CNG Station Owners Association, told a press conference on Saturday that news reports and television interviews of gas industry officials have created a lot of scare among its members who had bitter memories of last year fresh in their minds.
Southeast Asian oil firms scout for foreign assets
Tokyo: Southeast Asia’s major oil and gas firms are gearing up for an aggressive expansion to overhaul local operations and snap up foreign assets to meet the needs of a fast-growing, power-hungry region.
From the archipelagos of Indonesia and the Philippines to the rapidly developing economies of Malaysia and Thailand, energy firms are signing loans or tapping fixed income markets to finance expansion plans at a time when some Western oil majors such as Royal Dutch Shell Plc are scaling back spending.
Left behind by Iraq’s oil rush
Critics of the US invasion six years ago often said its ultimate aim was to control Iraq’s vast deposits of oil.
So it is ironic, perhaps, that the first foreign oil company to start drilling operations in the country since 2003 should be from America’s growing rival, China.
‘Crude’ tactics in Ecuador
For director Joe Berlinger, the painstaking road to making the powerful documentary “Crude,” all started with what he dubs his “toxi-tour” of a contaminated swath of Ecuador’s Amazonian rain forest. After massive oil exploration that began in the mid-1960s by Texaco (in a consortium formed with Gulf), the area — approximately the size of Rhode Island — is now home to some of the world’s most heinous environmental destruction.
Eco-dystopia: Trendy Cinematic Vision for the Planet?
“Reams of depressing data, loads of hand-wringing about the woeful state of humanity,” that’s how film critics described Leonardo DiCaprio’s The 11th Hour. So where are we two years later? If the environmental documentaries screened at Toronto International Film Festival, closing tonight, are any indication, catastrophe is inevitable if we don’t fix things asap. Ticking clocks provides great suspense in movies, train wrecks grab attention, horror sells. So does this account for the doom and gloom of the latest wave of eco-film fare?
Warm, fuzzy dictatorship
When Prime Minister Stephen Harper meets with U.S. President Barack Obama tomorrow in Washington, they will not be discussing the following hypothetical news story:
WASHINGTON–The U.S. National Energy Corp., recently created by the Obama administration to secure America’s long-term energy security, will today announce a takeover bid for all the shares of Suncor Energy of Calgary.
Put a terrorist in your tank
Citgo is not just a gas station run by a Marxist-Leninist dictator who hates America, calls George Bush the devil and believes Jesus is a socialist.
Citgo Petroleum Corp. — a wholly owed subsidiary of Hugo Chavez’s Venezuela — is a company that cares.
Perhaps you’ve seen Citgo’s most-recent television commercials featuring its independent station owners as they fuel local economies, provide needed jobs and donate to causes in their all-American communities.
A Day in the Park(ing Space)
The installations in New York were part of an international annual event called Park(ing) Day in which people in 100 cities in 20 countries turn parking spots into “human-friendly places” for a day. The goal, organizers say, is to inspire discussions about alternate visions of urban living and how cities divvy up common assets.
Tuna Town in Japan Sees Falloff of Its Fish
But now the town faces a looming threat, as the number of tuna has begun dropping precipitously in recent years because of overfishing. This has given Oma another, less celebrated distinction, as a community that has stood out by calling for greater regulation of catches in a nation that has adamantly opposed global efforts to save badly depleted tuna populations.
Just a decade or two ago, each boat here could routinely catch three or four tuna a day, fishermen say. Now, they say Oma’s entire fleet of 30 to 40 boats is lucky to bring in a combined total of a half-dozen tuna in a day.
Health Ills Abound as Farm Runoff Fouls Wells
MORRISON, Wis. — All it took was an early thaw for the drinking water here to become unsafe.
There are 41,000 dairy cows in Brown County, which includes Morrison, and they produce more than 260 million gallons of manure each year, much of which is spread on nearby grain fields. Other farmers receive fees to cover their land with slaughterhouse waste and treated sewage.
In measured amounts, that waste acts as fertilizer. But if the amounts are excessive, bacteria and chemicals can flow into the ground and contaminate residents’ tap water.
Obama Seeks National Oversight of Waters
The Obama administration called Thursday for a comprehensive national system for regulating the use of federal waters along the nation’s marine and Great Lakes shores, now administered by a hodgepodge of federal, state or other agencies with often-conflicting goals.
Author Heinberg to discuss post-carbon food system
Richard Heinberg, senior fellow in residence at the Post Carbon Institute and author of eight books, will speak at three locations around the state this week. He is regarded by many as one of the world’s foremost Peak Oil educators.
Life without toilet paper is better than you’d think
Anyone who decides to give up electricity for an entire year to draw attention to climate change has to be a little crazy, right? So how crazy would someone have to be to give up electricity and elevators and toilet paper, along with a million other comforts we take for granted?
Not that crazy at all, Colin Beavan would tell you. The author, blogger and self-described “guilty liberal” says he did the experiment not as a way to save money or “stick it to the man,” but to answer some fundamental questions.
Zeta to Mass-Produce Efficient Homes
The same economic downturn that wreaked havoc on home manufacturers appears to be creating opportunities for Zeta Communities, a hopeful purveyor of ultra-efficient multifamily housing.
California Unveils TV Efficiency Standards
California today unveiled energy-efficiency requirements for televisions, becoming the first state in the nation to devise regulations for one of the largest users of energy in American households.
T.V.A. to Pay Million on Projects in Spill Area
The Tennessee Valley Authority said Monday that it would spend million on economic development projects in Roane County, Tenn., the site of a huge coal ash spill at one of the authority’s power plants last December.
The spill devastated property values, brought tourism virtually to a halt and diverted the stream of retirees who were supposed to be settling down on Watts Bar Lake.
Next issue: energy sprawl?
The study – “Energy Sprawl of Energy Efficiency: Climate Policy Impacts on Natural Habitat for the United States of America” – has surprised a lot of people who think it’s a warning against turning to sustainable energy. It isn’t – but it is a candid look at an issue policymakers need to be thinking about: how much land will be required to develop projects such as large-scale solar and wind farms compared to traditional energy plants.
As Tennessee Sen. Lamar Alexander pointed out the other day in an op-ed piece in the Wall Street Journal, nuclear energy requires one square mile; coal plants require four square miles including mining. Solar requires six square miles, while wind farms need 30 square miles or more.
Getting real on electricity challenges
Vermont currently has the lowest electricity prices in New England and the second-lowest per-capita carbon emissions rate of any state in the country. A key reason for this is the low-cost power provided by Vermont Yankee.
These are among the basic facts ignored in the recently released “study” by the Vermont Public Interest Research Group about Vermont Yankee and the state’s energy future. In fact, the VPIRG study is rife with unrealistic notions, major omissions and misleading information, and should be dismissed completely.
Danish Conservative Prepares for Climate Debate
COPENHAGEN — Connie Hedegaard, Denmark’s minister of climate and energy, feels little kinship with the green end of the political spectrum — people who stage sit-ins at power plants or vote for the Green parties in elections.
“I’ve never understood why the environment should be a left-wing issue,” said Ms. Hedegaard, with an exasperated sigh. “In my view there is nothing as core to conservative beliefs — that what you inherit you should pass on to the next generation.”
Billion-Dollar Floodgates Might Not Save Venice
The construction of mobile floodgates aims to safeguard the 1,300-year-old island city of Venice. It’s an ambitious engineering project, but some scientists say it may not be sufficient to protect Venice from rising sea levels due to climate change.
White House quietly lobbies Senate as climate bill stalls
Climate-change legislation has stalled on Capitol Hill, but the White House’s unofficial “Green Cabinet” is quietly trying to revive the effort by lobbying dozens of senators.
President Obama has dispatched Energy Secretary Steven Chu, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar and Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa P. Jackson to Capitol Hill. White House aides said that they and other executive branch staffers, such as climate-change czar Carol Browner, have met with “dozens” of senators.
Group sees dangerous heat waves in Ill. by 2050 due to climate change
“The Midwest climate is already changing. Over the past 50 years, we’ve seen higher average annual temperatures, more frequent downpours, longer growing seasons, and fewer cold snaps,” said Don Wuebbles, a climate scientist at the University of Illinois who co-authored the UCS report.
“They think, ‘That’s not going to affect me. That’s going to be polar bears and the coastal cities,’ ” added Burke. “But we’re talking about completely transforming the face of the earth if we don’t reign in global warming.”
Japan to offer green technology, funding
Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama will unveil a plan to support developing countries in technology and funding to fight climate change at a UN meeting this week, Japan’s environment minister said on Sunday.
Kenya rainmakers called to the rescue
MASENO, Kenya (AFP) – Long vilified as sorcerers, Kenya’s Nganyi rainmakers — with meteorological equipment consisting of trees, pots and herbs — are being enlisted to mitigate the effects of climate change.
A chilling message to the global warming lobby
Meg Whitman, the former CEO of eBay who is running for governor in 2010, has promised that, if elected, she will immediately suspend the job-killing, economy-retarding Global Warming Solutions Act, Assembly Bill 32.
A world of mass disaster
Professor McMichael is giving the annual Florey Lecture at the University of Adelaide at 5.30pm.
He will warn that society has a “rather naive and false view” of the main determinants of human health, stating: “Ninety-nine per cent of the discussion has been about what individuals do, whether they smoke, drink, practice unsafe sex, whether they wear their seatbelts, whether they’ve inherited good or bad genes.
“We’ve forgotten that the big deal is the wider environment out there as the support structure for the health of population.”
General Motors, while downsizing its company in general, has decided also to downsize its next generation of fuel cell system by 220 pounds. The 5th generation fuel cell stack, GM says will be ready for prime time (production status) by 2015, which is the same time frame several other hydrogen car manufacturers have given for production rollout of their fuel cell vehicles.
