Peak Oil News & Message Boards

• End Of Cheap Oil, End Of Road For Ruinous Lifestyle

  ..."Every serious discussion of the environment ... is ultimately about oil, whether it specifically mentions oil or not," Owen writes. The explosive growth and general prosperity of the past century have been made possible by the "prodigious abundance" of oil; the problems of the coming century will involve "oil's increasing" [...]
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  Posted: November 07, 2009, 10:18pm EST
  

• The great global land grab

  The global food crisis has prompted various rich countries to start buying up land in the poorer world to secure their food supplies. As well as affecting domestic food supplies in the countries affected, Sue Branford says it could be a time bomb for the world’s ability to cope with [...]
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  Posted: November 07, 2009, 9:18pm EST
  

• Shrinking to grow: Is Conoco plan a model for industry?

  Although one company doesn’t represent a whole industry, a shrink-to-grow strategy adopted by ConocoPhillips illustrates pressures on the biggest operators in a world of shrinking opportunity.

  ConocoPhillips has disclosed plans to cut capital spending next year to $11 billion from $12.5 billion this year and $14-15 billion in earlier years and [...]

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  Posted: November 07, 2009, 8:25pm EST
  

• Report Argues for a Decentralized System of Renewable Power Generation

  Most states could meet their demand for electricity with renewable energy sources inside their own borders, according to a new report from the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, a nonprofit group in Washington that advocates for local sustainability solutions.

  The report, called Energy Self-Reliant States, examined the commercial potential for wind, rooftop [...]

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  Posted: November 07, 2009, 7:22pm EST
  

• Marooned on Sea of Iraqi Oil, but Unable to Tap Its Wealth

  BASRA, Iraq — The orange glow of the giant natural gas flares in the oil fields around Basra represents this bustling city’s wealth of natural resources. But for the impoverished people who live near them, the flames only serve as a reminder of their inability to share in the riches [...]
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  Posted: November 07, 2009, 4:45pm EST
  

• In Texas, oil sands firms fight for their share

  There is an air of disquiet along the Gulf Coast of the United States, an industrial strip that could have a profound influence on the future of Canada's oil-fuelled economy.

  The refineries that dot the coast represent a major new market that could fuel the expansion of Canada's oil sands producers, [...]

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  Posted: November 07, 2009, 3:40pm EST
  

• Military still revamping S. Ind. training site

  BUTLERVILLE, Ind. - The military is continuing to transform a former facility for the developmentally disabled in southern Indiana into an urban combat training site.

  The once-quiet grounds of what is now the Muscatatuck Urban Training Center now include a simulated Middle Eastern marketplace and devices used to replicate natural [...]

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  Posted: November 07, 2009, 3:17pm EST
  

• Organoponico! Cuba's response to food security

  Cuba's no democratic paradise, but the country could certainly teach the west a thing or two about sustainable, secure food production, as this new film demonstrates

  Organoponico! begins with a summary of life after the start of the Special Period. In Cuba, the Special Period refers to the period of economic [...]

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  Posted: November 07, 2009, 11:40am EST
  

• Civil Unrest Has a Role in Stopping Climate Change, Says Gore

  Ahead of Copenhagen summit, former US vice-president says 'non-violent lawbreaking' is legitimate in persuading governments to cut emissions

  Al Gore has sought to inject fresh momentum into the Copenhagen build-up, saying he is certain Barack Obama will attend and predicting a rise in civil disobedience against fossil-fuel polluters unless drastic action [...]

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  Posted: November 07, 2009, 10:37am EST
  

• Chris Nelder: Insights from the ASPO Peak Oil Conference

  One of the more interesting themes that emerged from this year's ASPO peak oil conference was the problems of maintaining complex systems, and the role that energy plays in them.

  Dr. Jason Bradford, the biology brains behind Farmland LP (more on that here), ticked off a few of the key vulnerabilities [...]

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  Posted: November 07, 2009, 9:19am EST