Straight out of a cyberpunk novel: Russia is to build floating nuclear power stations. That seems like a bad idea in so many ways.
Straight out of a cyberpunk novel: Russia is to build floating nuclear power stations. That seems like a bad idea in so many ways.
French oil company Total Fina is warning we’ll hit peak oil in 2020. With the big guys now talking about oil production limits, hopefully more people will take their head out of the sand.
The BBC asks leading experts for their forecasts on cities of the future. Recurring themes are polarisation between those who have and those who don’t, climate change and energy problems.
Our old friend coal is coming back with a vengeance.
Have we already reached peak oil? Some experts believe the oil crisis is only 3 years away.
The world has gone insane on a nuclear level.
A former National Iranian Oil Company executive says the global oil production peak has been reached.
An Open Letter to Greg Palast on Peak Oil
Hold on to that cathode ray tube TV a bit longer if you can.
Plans announced for Belgium’s largest offshore wind farm
Is the war on Lebanon another oil war?
Following oil from the pump back to its origins and the crisis it involves.
Interesting short film by Greenpeace on decentralised energy, a better solution that going all-out on nuclear and keeping bad habits.
Could global warming kill the Internet? Yup.
Looks like the oil production plateau is upon us. And with the Cantarell field presenting signs of decline, the first symptoms may be showing…
Is BP’s Prudhoe Bay pipeline shutdown more serious than it seems or is it just smart timing?
A retired senior energy expert from the National Iranian Oil Co. says no more business as usual, peak oil is here now but politicians ignore bad news and the media ignore it for reasons of income.
That’s impressive: if half of British homes buy a plasma-screen TV, two nuclear power stations would have to be built to meet the extra energy demand.
This guy tells it exactly how it is: Honey, We Killed the Planet
The BBC is running a great radio series concerning oil politics called Driven By Oil. The first episode talks about peak oil. Well worth a listen.
Mass-production of biofuels could trigger more intensive agriculture on a worldwide scale and end up doing more harm than good to the environment.
An interesting post on peak oil and how everyone sees a mirror of sorts in it, with their post-peak vision basically being a form of wishful thinking based on their personal worldview.
The city of Oakland, California aims to be oil independent by 2020. I have difficulty imagining a Belgian city making a bold move like that.
Are today’s suburbs destined to become the slums of the future? Watch the end of suburbia, a very interesting documentary on peak oil which is now viewable for free online.
Interesting article at Wired on the future of solar power.
Placing a wind turbine on your roof will make a great fashion statement to your neighbours but won’t help much in reducing your emissions. On the other hand, the less sexy option of insulation will have a much stronger effect.
Las Vegas, city of lights denial.
Another depressing hint at the future for Saudi oil production
French examples of how many companies/agencies basically prostitute the environment in their advertising messages.
French examples of how many companies/agencies basically prostitute the environment in their advertising messages.
The modern automobile uses just one percent of its energy to move its occupants, the rest is used to move the big hunk of metal and glass that it is, power the gadgets, and a big chunk is simply lost as heat.
Peak Oil gets mainstream and hits the pages of Nature magazine.
A small decrease in oil prices doesn’t mean oil is suddenly plentiful again.
Scientists and economists have been offered $10,000 each by an Exxon-funded lobby group to undermine a major climate change report due to be published today.
Good energy-saving move from Microsoft on getting sleep mode right in Vista. It’s a shame they’re selling it in a plastic box though.
A sobering if not downright alarming view from Dmitry Orlov of the possible future that awaits us in a world of resource depletion and global warming
As if things weren’t crazy enough, some people are installing snow-making machines in their gardens.
Australia is the first country to make a move against incandescent light bulbs, banning them completely by 2009 in favour of energy-saving compact fluorescents.
Abu Dhabi is going to build a large-scale 500 megawatt solar power plant. If even people in the world’s biggest oil exporting territory are acting now, you know the signs are here.
Belgian minister for Energy Marc Verwilghen has just [got himself a giant gas-guzzling Audi Q7][1] (pdf) that emits between 282 to 326 grammes of CO2 per km. Meanwhile, Europe is trying to get emissions down to 120g/km, nice example from above. Oh yeah, and Al Gore has [the electricity bill][2] of a small village.
[1]: http://www.4x4info.be/pdf/20070228_CP_4x4info_Verwilghen_FR.pdf (Le Ministre de l'Energie s'offre un 4x4 energivore (PDF) [site language: French]) [2]: http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/article2311302.ece (Gore faces up to inconvenient truth over his electricity bill [site language: English])
Energy efficiency labelling for all electronic goods is not a bad idea. I can’t count the number of times when I’ve had to try and peer behind equipment to find an indication of its power usage.
A collection of audio and video covering Peak Oil, some of it on mainstream media such as CNBC, that you should go and check out right now.
Organic food is better for our health. On the flipside, some of it is less energy efficient, producing more emissions.
Thought-provoking article on a post-peak oil future and the cyclical patterns of descent that will follow.
Cheap solar power may be a reality within the next few years.
A screen saver for Windows computers that helps reduce your power consumption and CO2 emissions. Every little bit helps…
Why was The Great Global Warming Swindle so persuasive? Indeed, I regularly see people using that show as an excuse to keep the energy squandering utopia alive.
Belgian bus builder Van Hool has introduced a hydrogen-powered bus. It’s subsidised like crazy though, so it remains to see when we’ll spot a fleet of them somewhere.
Nuclear power plants requires massive amounts of cool water and, in the face of global warming, they could be vulnerable.
The Association for the Study of Peak Oil has a Belgian branch (a French-speaking one anyway).
The United Nations say clean energy could provide almost a quarter of the world’s electricity by 2030. Many are sceptical.
Interesting article on the city of Vaxjo in Sweden where fossil fuels are on their way out.
A Europe-wide wind-powered electricity grid could be in our future.
The reports keep coming in on upcoming energy shortages and water scarcity but the world seems to happily truck on in complete denial.
Potential future energy sources for Europe: a string of giant solar power stations along the Mediterranean desert shores and a a 5,000-mile wind-powered electricity supergrid, stretching from Siberia to Morocco and Egypt to Iceland.
Big oil quietly drops out of the greener side of energy.
Low-cost film solar panels are now a reality, bringing costs in line with coal generation.
The body heat from commuters passing through Stockholm Central Station each day will be used to heat a new office building nearby.
The body heat from commuters passing through Stockholm Central Station each day will be used to heat a new office building nearby.
Use the fuse to switch off energy-wasting shop signage at night. Seems a bit self-righteous to me but the on/off photos are nice.
Use the fuse to switch off energy-wasting shop signage at night. Seems a bit self-righteous to me but the on/off photos are nice.
I’m always trying to explain to people who think hydrogen is the magic fuel of the future that it’s just a storage medium, not an energy source. This clear description is now bookmarked.
Nothing new but an accurate snapshot of the oil situation at this time. Love the quote from the IEA.
Spain implements heavy measures to reduce energy consumption. The population's reaction is pretty much what you'd expect and explains why limits of this type are rarely implemented elsewhere.
Spain implements heavy measures to reduce energy consumption. The population’s reaction is pretty much what you’d expect and explains why limits of this type are rarely implemented elsewhere.
Google responds to the stats on emissions generated by a search mentioned in the previous link.
Google responds to the stats on emissions generated by a search mentioned in the previous link.
Sounding off: One planet, one million DJs.
Europe’s first electricity grid dedicated to renewable power will become a political reality this month, as nine countries formally draw up plans to link their clean energy projects around the North Sea.
The graphs in this article are terrifying. Our energy use is constantly growing while simultaneously pushing the percentage of renewables in use to insignificance. We are definitely on the path to catastrophe.
I just got round to reading this exhaustive investigation of the Nord Stream pipelines sabotage. It's quite a story and also a political powder keg.
Behind the scenes, though, you get clearer statements. Investigators from the BKA, the Federal Police and the Office of the Federal Prosecutor have few remaining doubts that a Ukrainian commando was responsible for blowing up the pipelines. A striking number of clues point to Ukraine, they say.
