Peak Energy

• Coal seam gas must prove its real worth

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  The SMH has an article on the Australian coal seam gas industry, saying that it is time it lived up to the hype regarding LNG exports - Coal seam gas must prove its real worth.
  FOR the past three years the coal seam gas industry has been the [...]
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  Posted: December 07, 2009, 4:09am EST
  by Big Gav

• An Affordable Truth

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  The NYT has an article by Paul Krugman on the cost of switching to clean energy - An Affordable Truth.
  Maybe I’m naïve, but I’m feeling optimistic about the climate talks starting in Copenhagen on Monday. President Obama now plans to address the conference on its last day, which [...]
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  Posted: December 07, 2009, 2:13am EST
  by Big Gav

• Chevron Signs Export Deal For Wheatstone LNG

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  Chevron's Wheatstone gas field has long been the subject of a tug of war between Chevron (who want to develop it themselves - at one point talking up the possibility of building a GTL plant) and Woodside, who want to use the gas as feedstock for their second [...]
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  Posted: December 06, 2009, 4:03pm EST
  by Big Gav

• Australian Government Warning on gas leases

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  The SMH reports the government is pressuring oil and gas companies to develop long held gas reserves - Warning on gas leases.
  THE Federal Government has thrown down the gauntlet to a group of multinational oil companies to approve the development of the $30 billion Browse liquefied natural gas [...]
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  Posted: December 06, 2009, 3:45pm EST
  by Big Gav

• Extreme oil: Scraping the bottom of Earth's barrel

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  David Strahan has an article in New Scientist about peak oil and the Canadian tar sands - Extreme oil: Scraping the bottom of Earth's barrel.
  EIGHTY-FIVE million barrels. That's how much oil we consume every day. It's a staggering amount - enough to fill over 5400 Olympic swimming pools [...]
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  Posted: December 06, 2009, 2:15pm EST
  by Big Gav

• Kurdistan: A lot of oil, a lot of risk

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  The Toronto Globe and Mail has an interesting update on the state of the Iraqi oil industry - Kurdistan: A lot of oil, a lot of risk.
  In the bright, open lobby of the Erbil International Hotel in the Kurdistan region of northern Iraq, Western businessmen in blue [...]
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  Posted: December 06, 2009, 7:39am EST
  by Big Gav

• Six Things We Learned from 'Climate Gate': Rob Hopkins on the CRU Hack

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  TreeHugger has a post about Rob Hopkins recent look at the "Climategate" "scandal" - Six Things We Learned from 'Climate Gate': Rob Hopkins on the CRU Hack.
  Rob starts his excellent Six Things We Know for Sure in the Wake of 'Climate Gate' by confessing that he too has [...]
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  Posted: December 06, 2009, 4:10am EST
  by Big Gav

• Will Vibrations Power Your Next Cell Phone?

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  Fast Company has a post on mobile phones use vibration power - Will Vibrations Power Your Next Cell Phone?
  We've covered the concept of kinetic energy before and have even seen it put to work at a Sainsbury grocery store, where vehicles in the parking lot power the checkout' [...]
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  Posted: December 06, 2009, 3:31am EST
  by Big Gav

• How Robber Barons hijacked the "Victorian Internet"

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  Ars Technica has a look at how an earlier communications revolution was monopolised - How Robber Barons hijacked the "Victorian Internet".
  It was 1879, and investor Charles A. Sumner sat at his desk, frustration pouring onto the page through his ink pen. Sumner, business partner to the radical economist [...]
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  Posted: December 06, 2009, 2:47am EST
  by Big Gav

• Desertec Asia - A Pan-Asian Energy Infrastructure Proposal

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  Stewart Taggart of Desertec Australia and the solar thermal desalination company Acquasol, has recently started a new branch of Desertec for Asia.
  
  
  
  The Desertec Asia plan (linking Australian solar thermal power, geothermal power and wind / wave [...]
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  Posted: December 05, 2009, 8:37pm EST
  by Big Gav

• Cash prizes for catching CCTV criminals In UK

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  The BBC has a report on a plan that sounds like a cross between Big Brother (1984 style) and Amazon's Mechanical Turk - Cash prizes for catching CCTV criminals.
  There are 4.2 million CCTV cameras in Britain watching our every move. In London, there are more CCTV cameras than [...]
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  Posted: December 05, 2009, 5:16pm EST
  by Big Gav

• Utility-scale Solar Power

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  REW has a set of brief profiles of "key players in the utility-scale" solar thermal power industry - Utility-scale Solar Power.
  Santiago Seage, CEO of Abengoa Solar
  
  Abengoa Solar: Equipment suppliers, plant constructors and operators
  
  This technology company is over 25 years old, and has secured [...]
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  Posted: December 05, 2009, 5:02pm EST
  by Big Gav

• Greenland challenge to Chinese over rare earth metals

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  I've seen some investment newsletters touting a Greenland based mining development that is "foil China's master plan" to achieve dominance in rare earth mineral production - this article from The Times back in October discusses the company being promoted - Greenland challenge to Chinese over rare earth metals.
  An' [...]
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  Posted: December 05, 2009, 4:53pm EST
  by Big Gav

• Al Gore: Super grid is critical to combating the climate crisis

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  C;eantech.com reports that Al Gore has been talking up smart and super grids at a recent venture capital conference - Al Gore: Super grid is critical to combating the climate crisis.
  The used-to-be next president of the United States, as he calls himself, is all for putting a price [...]
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  Posted: December 05, 2009, 4:38pm EST
  by Big Gav

• Chinese commit to PNG gas deal

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  The Herald Sun reports that the PNG LNG project has signed a major customer - Chinese commit to PNG gas deal.
  THE Papua New Guinea liquefied natural gas project, in which Santos and Oil Search are involved, has settled a deal with a Chinese company to take two million [...]
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  Posted: December 05, 2009, 12:55am EST
  by Big Gav

• Papua New Guinea Gas Heats Up

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  The WSJ's Environmental Capital blog has a post on gas discoveries in PNG - Ample Archipelago: Papua New Guinea’s Gas Groove.
  Papua New Guinea is shaping up to be one of the world’s hottest natural-gas plays.
  
  That may seem like a pretty bold statement considering that the South [...]
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  Posted: December 05, 2009, 12:31am EST
  by Big Gav

• The Cocky and Kookaburra

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  Off topic but I liked this photo from my regular daily Bondi surf report from Aquabumps - The Cocky and Kookaburra.
  
  

  
  

  [...]
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  Posted: December 05, 2009, 12:25am EST
  by Big Gav

• Ice Could Be Key To Storage of Renewable Energy

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  TreeHugger has a post on storing excess wind power in the form of ice - Ice Could Be Key To Storage of Renewable Energy .
  75% of our electricity goes into buildings, and much of that runs air conditioning. The entire system is built to try and cope with [...]
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  Posted: December 04, 2009, 8:29pm EST
  by Big Gav

• Pakistan's energy sector and the great game

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  ABC Radio Australia has an interesting segment on energy issues in Pakistan - Pakistan's energy sector and the great game.
  QADRI: Pakistan is not just a gateway to mineral resource wealth in Central Asia and the Middle East, it is itself rich in minerals and fossil fuels. According to [...]
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  Posted: December 04, 2009, 4:20pm EST
  by Big Gav

• La Paz Water Supply Under Threat

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  The BBC reports that shrinking glaciers have the residents of La Paz worried - Glacier threat to Bolivia capital.
  Fears are growing for the future of water supplies in one of Latin America's fastest-growing urban areas - Bolivia's sprawling capital of La Paz and its twin El Alto.
  
  [...]
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  Posted: December 04, 2009, 4:11pm EST
  by Big Gav

• Turning Heat to Electricity

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  Renewable Energy World has an article n harvesting waste heat and turning it into power - Turning Heat to Electricity.
  In everything from computer processor chips to car engines to electric powerplants, the need to get rid of excess heat creates a major source of inefficiency. But new research [...]
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  Posted: December 04, 2009, 6:08am EST
  by Big Gav

• James Hansen: Copenhagen climate change talks must fail

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  The Guardian has an article on James Hansen, who thinks the Copenhagen "summit talks are so flawed that deal would be a disaster" - Copenhagen climate change talks must fail, says top scientist.
  The scientist who convinced the world to take notice of the looming danger of global warming [...]
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  Posted: December 04, 2009, 6:04am EST
  by Big Gav

• Sodium-Ion Cells for Cheap Energy Storage

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  Technology Review has an article on the development of low-cost sodium-ion batteries - Sodium-Ion Cells for Cheap Energy Storage.
  A new type of sodium-ion battery could prove cheaper than lithium-ion batteries for storing power from wind and solar farms, says Jay Whitacre, a professor of materials science and engineering [...]
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  Posted: December 03, 2009, 3:44pm EST
  by Big Gav

• U.S. Antitrust Investigation of Monsanto

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  The Washington Post reports that Monsanto's dominance in industrial seed production has drawn the attention of anti-trust regulators in the US - U.S. Antitrust Investigation of Monsanto (via Cryptogon, who thinks no useful action will come of it).
  For plants designed in a lab a little more than [...]
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  Posted: December 03, 2009, 2:41pm EST
  by Big Gav

• UK energy smart meter roll-out is outlined

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  The BBC has an article on a national smart meter rollout in the UK - UK energy smart meter roll-out is outlined.
  Energy suppliers are to be responsible for installing smart meters in all households in the UK by 2020. Plans for smart meters for millions of homes have [...]
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  Posted: December 03, 2009, 2:35pm EST
  by Big Gav

• Hot debate demands cool heads

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  Ross Gittins has an article in the SMH on the myriad of phony arguments being made against putting a price on carbon emissions - Hot debate demands cool heads.
  The Rudd Government's emissions trading scheme, over which the Liberals have torn themselves apart, is very similar to the scheme [...]
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  Posted: December 02, 2009, 4:05pm EST
  by Big Gav

• Geothermal exploration permits on offer in Nothern Territory

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  The ABC has a report on an upcoming Northern Territory geothermal energy permit offering (noting that as the Territory isn't connected to the national grid, initial scope for large scale production is limited) - Geothermal exploration permits on offer.
  A geothermal energy analyst expects the Northern Territory's hot' [...]
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  Posted: December 01, 2009, 6:20am EST
  by Big Gav

• The Real Costs of Cellulosic Ethanol

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  Technology review has a post on production costs for cellulosic ethanol made from corn cobs - The Real Costs of Cellulosic Ethanol.
  Ethanol giant POET says it can make ethanol from cellulosic sources--rather than the corn grain it's usually made from in the United States--for costs that are approaching [...]
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  Posted: December 01, 2009, 4:50am EST
  by Big Gav

• MAD Architects’ Urban Forest Skyscraper For China

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  Green building of the week from Inhabitat is this strangely familiar skyscraper proposed for China - MAD Architects’ Urban Forest Skyscraper For China.
  Urban Forest is a commercial high-rise building that takes the form of an urban mountain with over 70 floors, each one different and unique. Each floor [...]
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  Posted: December 01, 2009, 2:50am EST
  by Big Gav

• Germany Faces Solar Power Component Shortage

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  Energy Matters has an article on the success of solar power programs in Germany, driven by their feed in tariff - Germany Faces Solar Power Component Shortage.
  The solar energy industry will invest nearly 10 billion euros in Germany over the next four years according to research conducted on [...]
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  Posted: December 01, 2009, 2:29am EST
  by Big Gav

• An Upbeat Perspective on Peak Oil: Bart Anderson on Coming Challenges

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  TreeHugger points to an interview with Energy Bulletin editor Bart Anderson - An Upbeat Perspective on Peak Oil: Bart Anderson on Coming Challenges .
  With last year's high gas prices fading in our memories, and with the Copenhagen climate talks grabbing the headlines, the peak oil meme seemed, [...]
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  Posted: December 01, 2009, 2:27am EST
  by Big Gav

• 4 Legs Good, 2 Legs Better

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  Slate has an article complaining its hard to find actual communists in communist China - and that the government is worried the people would try to redistribute property if the country were to adopt democracy - Karl Who?. I think some guy wrote a book about this once...
  [...]
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  Posted: December 01, 2009, 2:15am EST
  by Big Gav

• The Mad Monk Wins

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  As predicted, Liberal leader Malcolm Turnbull lost the party leadership today, to (surprisingly) Tony "The Mad Monk" Abbott rather than dithering "consensus candidate" Joe Hockey. Unfortunately Malcolm is saying that rumours he will set up his own liberal party are science fiction, but you never know - science [...]
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  Posted: December 01, 2009, 2:12am EST
  by Big Gav

• Why Dubai's Troubles Won't Hurt Masdar

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  Technology Review has a post outlining the case that Dubai's financial meltdown won't affect the Masdar project in the neighbouring emirate of Abu Dhabi - Why Dubai's Troubles Won't Hurt Masdar.
  Dubai, one of the emirates in the United Arab Emirates, has been all over the news lately because [...]
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  Posted: December 01, 2009, 2:07am EST
  by Big Gav

• Bureaucracy trips up renewable energy projects

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  The San Francisco Chronicle has an article on red tape holding up renewable energy projects in California - Bureaucracy trips up renewable energy projects.
  California's renewable power boom is off to a slower start than planned.
  
  Delays have hit more than half of the big solar, wind and [...]
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  Posted: November 30, 2009, 4:20pm EST
  by Big Gav

• Expanding Indonesia’s geothermal development

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  The Jakarta Post has an article on plans to expand geothermal power generation in Indonesia - Indonesia’s geothermal development.
  Indonesia, which lies on the Pacific Ring of Fire, holds approximately 40 percent of the world’s geothermal reserves, equivalent to about 27,000 megawatts of electrical power. Most of the [...]
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  Posted: November 30, 2009, 4:18pm EST
  by Big Gav

• Newtongate: the final nail in the coffin of Renaissance and Enlightenment ‘thinking’

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  Carbon Fixated has an amusing spoof of the "ClimateGate" scandal - Newtongate: the final nail in the coffin of Renaissance and Enlightenment ‘thinking’.
  If you own any shares in companies that produce reflecting telescopes, use differential and integral calculus, or rely on the laws of motion, I should start [...]
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  Posted: November 30, 2009, 5:26am EST
  by Big Gav

• Kenyans plan a 300 MW wind and solar power project

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  Reuters has an article on yet another renewable energy project proposed for Kenya - Kenyans plan a 300 MW wind and solar power project.I'm not sure how many of these developments are actually getting built, but interest seems high at least.
  A group of Kenyan investors want to start' [...]
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  Posted: November 30, 2009, 4:18am EST
  by Big Gav

• Nissan to double electric car battery power

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  AFP has a report on a new electric car battery being developed by Nissan - Nissan to double electric car power: report
  Japan's Nissan Motor Co. is working on a lithium-ion battery that can power an electric vehicle for 300 kilometres (190 miles) on a single charge, the business [...]
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  Posted: November 30, 2009, 3:14am EST
  by Big Gav

• The CPRS set to claim one victim - Malcolm Turnbull

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  While the proposed Australian emissions trading scheme (aka the CPRS) looks like achieving nothing in terms of reducing carbon emissions, it has wreaked havoc on the opposition Liberal party, with relatively enlightened leader Malcolm Turnbull facing revolt from the troglodyte wing of the party Crikey has a good set [...]
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  Posted: November 30, 2009, 2:11am EST
  by Big Gav

• Peak oil: the summit that dominates the horizon

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  The Guardian seems to be running a lot of peak oil articles lately - one recent example declares "Crude is still being discovered; existing fields are not being exploited to the full. So it's hard to predict the exact point at which the world's dwindling reserves will precipitate a crisis." [...]
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  Posted: November 29, 2009, 5:47am EST
  by Big Gav

• The Big Green Idea

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  The British Council is offering grants for green projects as part of an initiative called "The Big Green Idea". Entries close on December 4, so get one in quick if you are interested.
  The Big Green Idea is a new funding initiative from the British Council designed to help [...]
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  Posted: November 29, 2009, 5:44am EST
  by Big Gav

• British company to help India harness the power of the sea

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  The Times has an article on British efforts to enter the tidal power market in India - British company to help India harness the power of the sea.
  A small British-based tidal energy company has won a landmark contract to attempt to harness the power of the sea [...]
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  Posted: November 28, 2009, 9:49pm EST
  by Big Gav

• Another Day, Another Dust Storm

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  When I headed out this morning and saw the air quality here I immediately wondered if yet another dust cloud had rolled over Sydney - according to the SMH the answer is "yes" (maybe those conservative climate skeptics don't ever go outside to notice the new weather patterns - too' [...]
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  Posted: November 28, 2009, 9:43pm EST
  by Big Gav

• Pitchfork-wielding mobs encircle smart meters

  Number of comments: 2
  The Register has an article on the controversy surrounding one smart meter rollout in California - Pitchfork-wielding mobs encircle smart meters.
  A push by California's electricity provider to modernize its power grid is turning into a public relations disaster, as allegations mount that it's responsible for stratospheric overcharges.
  
  [...]
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  Posted: November 28, 2009, 9:01pm EST
  by Big Gav

• Australia renewable energy certificate futures stall on take-off

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  Reuters has a report on the thus far unsuccessful launch of futures trading for Renewable Energy Certificates (RECS) on the ASX - Australia renewable energy futures stall on take-off.
  Australian securities exchange operator ASX Ltd's plans to take a lead in the renewable energy market stalled on Tuesday when [...]
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  Posted: November 28, 2009, 6:32am EST
  by Big Gav

• Peak oil panic? Dubai or not Dubai?

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  ZDNet has a post linking the Dubai debt crisis to post-peak oil periods in one time oil exporting economies - Peak oil panic? Dubai or not Dubai?
  Could the mushrooming Dubai debt crisis be a preview of what peak oil will produce among the oil-selling nations?
  
  Dubai–meaning the [...]
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  Posted: November 28, 2009, 6:16am EST
  by Big Gav

• Scottish invention promises wind power revolution

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  The Times has an article about a Scottish design innovation that allows wind turbines to be built without gearboxes, potentially resulting in large reductions in ongoing maintenance costs - Scottish invention promises power revolution.
  A radical new design of electrical generator that solves an engineering quandary and promises to [...]
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  Posted: November 27, 2009, 11:25pm EST
  by Big Gav

• Blasphemy

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  Jamais at Open the Future has a post on the dodgy rhetorical tactics used by climate skeptics and the underlying belief systems that guide them - Blasphemy.
  Superfreakonomics author Steven Levitt has been fighting against the myriad critics going after him for the many, many mistakes in (at least) [...]
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  Posted: November 27, 2009, 11:22pm EST
  by Big Gav

• The world's first osmotic power plant

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  Gizmag has an article on the world's first osmosis power plant - The world's first osmotic power plant from Statkraft.
  The principle of harnessing osmosis has the potential to produce enormous amounts of energy anywhere that salt water and fresh water meet. We looked at some of the [...]
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  Posted: November 27, 2009, 11:12pm EST
  by Big Gav

• The Copenhagen Diagnosis: Sobering Update on the Science

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  Yale Environment 360 has an article on the latest climate research summary released in the lead up to the Copenhagen summit - The Copenhagen Diagnosis:
  Sobering Update on the Science.
  Ahead of talks in Copenhagen, a group of leading climate scientists has issued a new report summarizing the most [...]
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  Posted: November 26, 2009, 5:49am EST
  by Big Gav

• Inelastic Russian Oil

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  Stuart Staniford has returned to the blogging world with a new blog called "Early Warning", with this post on Russian oil production being one example of his new style - Inelastic Russian Oil.
  It's interesting to look at a few of the larger producer countries through the lens [...]
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  Posted: November 26, 2009, 5:47am EST
  by Big Gav

• Magnus Larsson: Turning dunes into architecture

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  One of a number of interesting new TED talks - Magnus Larsson: Turning dunes into architecture.
  
  

  
  

  [...]
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  Posted: November 26, 2009, 5:26am EST
  by Big Gav

• A living laboratory for energy efficiency

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  The Jakarta Post has an article on a green building experiment in Singapore - A living laboratory for energy efficiency.
  Changes start at home, they say. And Singapore’s Building and Construction Authority (BCA) Academy lives up to that adage with its recently opened Zero Energy Building.
  
  At first [...]
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  Posted: November 23, 2009, 6:33pm EST
  by Big Gav

• Kenya to Boost Geothermal Output by 4,000MW in Two Decades

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  Bloomberg has a report on efforts to expand geothermal energy output in East Africa - Kenya to Boost Geothermal Output by 4,000MW in Two Decades.
  Kenya plans to boost geothermal generation capacity by 4,000 megawatts over the next two decades to ensure East Africa’s biggest economy has [...]
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  Posted: November 22, 2009, 7:22pm EST
  by Big Gav

• Western Australia sea level rising fast

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  The BBC reports that WA is seeing a much larger than average rise in the level of the ocean - W Australia sea level rising fast.
  New figures have revealed that sea levels along the coast of Western Australia are rising at a rate double that of the world [...]
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  Posted: November 22, 2009, 5:19pm EST
  by Big Gav

• Nuclear power: less effective than energy efficiency and renewable energy?

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  The LA Tmes has a post on the effectiveness of nuclear power for mitigating global warming - Nuclear power: less effective than energy efficiency and renewable energy?.
  The Environment California Research & Policy Center concluded that launching a nuclear power industry nearly from the ground up is too slow [...]
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  Posted: November 22, 2009, 5:11pm EST
  by Big Gav

• Energy Positive House to Supply Power to Grid in Sweden

  Number of comments: 1
  Green Building of the week from Inhabitat is this energy-positive house in Sweden - Energy Positive House to Supply Power to Grid in Sweden.
  Karin Adalberth, a doctor of building physics, partnered with local green utility company E. ON when she designed the plans for Villa Akarp, which is [...]
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  Posted: November 22, 2009, 7:58am EST
  by Big Gav

• A New Route to Cellulosic Biofuels

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  Technology Review has an article on a pilot plant being built by Zeachem to make ethanol using termite microbes - A New Route to Cellulosic Biofuels.
  Biofuel startup ZeaChem has begun building a biofuel pilot plant that will turn cellulosic feedstocks into ethanol via a novel approach that uses [...]
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  Posted: November 22, 2009, 4:35am EST
  by Big Gav

• Leaked UK government plan to create "Pirate Finder General" with power to appoint militias, create laws

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  Boing Boing has a post on the bizarre lengths the British government is going to to try and eradicate file sharing - Leaked UK government plan to create "Pirate Finder General" with power to appoint militias, create laws.
  A source close to the British Labour Government has just given [...]
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  Posted: November 21, 2009, 4:32pm EST
  by Big Gav

• U.S. Army’s New Research Center Puts Fossil Fuels on Notice

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  Gas 2.0 has a report on efforts by the US military to reduce their dependence on oil - U.S. Army’s New Research Center Puts Fossil Fuels on Notice.
  If we need just one more reason to be convinced that the era of fossil fuels is quickly winding down, 30,000 [...]
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  Posted: November 21, 2009, 6:29am EST
  by Big Gav

• The New World Of Ordos

  Number of comments: 0
  Urban Photos has an interesting post on an unsettling indication (for Australian raw material suppliers anyway) that China's infrastructure building boom may be a house of cards - Inner Mongolia's Empty City.
  In August, I came across an intriguing photo in Tokyo’s Mori Museum — a group of what [...]
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  Posted: November 21, 2009, 5:55am EST
  by Big Gav

• Benjamin Franklin on Global Warming

  Number of comments: 1
  The New York Times has an article on historical observations of anthropogenic climate change - Ben Franklin on Global Warming .
  In the 1780s, Thomas Jefferson opined in his “Notes on Virginia” that “both heats and colds are become much more moderate within the memory even of the [...]
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  Posted: November 21, 2009, 1:26am EST
  by Big Gav

• A Turning Point for Geothermal: DOE Funding Wins Industry Approval

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  REW has a report on US DOE funding for geothermal energy R&D - A Turning Point for Geothermal: DOE Funding Wins Industry Approval.
  DOE's October 29 announcement awarding $338 million in stimulus funding to geothermal energy research and development projects is the largest injection of funding into new [...]
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  Posted: November 20, 2009, 9:21pm EST
  by Big Gav

• The CRU Hack

  Number of comments: 2
  The climate tinfoil world is abuzz with discussion of a large volume of emails hacked out of the University of East Anglia's email servers recently (funny how these sorts of things tend to happen just before large climate summits like Copenhagen). RealClimate casts an eye over the chatter and notes [...]
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  Posted: November 20, 2009, 7:26pm EST
  by Big Gav

• Intel sees opportunities in wind, electric cars

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  Reuters has a report on Intel's interest in clean energy technology, particularly sensor technology to help optimise wind power generation - Intel sees opportunities in wind, electric cars.
  Technology giant Intel Corp is seeing big opportunities in wind forecasting for power generation, and in information management for electric vehicles, [...]
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  Posted: November 20, 2009, 4:19pm EST
  by Big Gav

• Global temperatures could rise 6C by end of century, say scientists

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  The Guardian has a report on climate forecasts for the coming century - Global temperatures could rise 6C by end of century, say scientists.
  Global temperatures are on a path to rise by an average of 6C by the end of the century as CO2 emissions increase and the [...]
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  Posted: November 20, 2009, 7:37am EST
  by Big Gav

• Peak Oil Files: Why Is Saudi Aramco Building Supercomputers?

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  The WSJ's Environmental capital blog has an interesting post on Saudi Arabia's interest in supercomputers - Peak Oil Files: Why Is Saudi Aramco Building Supercomputers?.
  So, what to make then of Aramco’s recent interest in supercomputers?
  
  The biannual list of the world’s 500 fastest computers was released on [...]
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  Posted: November 20, 2009, 5:40am EST
  by Big Gav

• What They Really Believe

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  Tom Friedman has another installment of his geo-green, "green is the new red, white and blue" / "the world is getting hot, flat and crowded" sermon in the NYT - What They Really Believe.
  I am a clean-energy hawk. Green for me is not just about recycling garbage but [...]
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  Posted: November 20, 2009, 5:13am EST
  by Big Gav

• If Nothing Else, Save Farming

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  George Monbiot is giving the peak oil story another run, in typically gloomy fashion, declaring "It’s probably too late to prepare for peak oil, but we can at least try to salvage food production" - If Nothing Else, Save Farming .
  I don’t know when global oil supplies will [...]
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  Posted: November 20, 2009, 5:04am EST
  by Big Gav

• Uber-Thin Modular Solar Panels Energize Any Building

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  Inhabitat has a post on some pleasant looking new thin film solar panels - Uber-Thin Modular Solar Panels Energize Any Building.
  The recent evolution of solar technology has been nothing short of amazing, and we are continuously impressed by all the products hitting the market that make it [...]
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  Posted: November 20, 2009, 4:52am EST
  by Big Gav

• Why Exercise Makes You Less Anxious

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  The NYT has a post on the effect of exercise on the brain - Phys Ed: Why Exercise Makes You Less Anxious.
  Researchers at Princeton University recently made a remarkable discovery about the brains of rats that exercise. Some of their neurons respond differently to stress than the neurons [...]
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  Posted: November 20, 2009, 4:48am EST
  by Big Gav

• Gor-gone?

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  The SMH has an article pondering how much of the investment being made into the Gorgon gas project will be spent in Australia - Gor-gone?.
  It has been dubbed Western Australia's own stimulus package. However, the value of most contracts awarded so far in the $43 billion Gorgon liquefied [...]
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  Posted: November 20, 2009, 3:35am EST
  by Big Gav

• Geothermal power plans for Qld

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  The ABC has a report on more interest in geothermal energy in Queensland - Geothermal power plans for Qld.
  A Brisbane-based company wants to build a geothermal power plant in Queensland's north-west, which it says would be of national significance.
  
  Clean Energy Australasia is planning a pilot [...]
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  Posted: November 20, 2009, 1:31am EST
  by Big Gav

• To those who say “beaudy nuke”: why should taxpayers suffer?

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  Crikey's Bernard Keane has the next installment of his series on why nuclear power is unlikely to be seen in Australia - To those who say “beaudy nuke”: why should taxpayers suffer?
  What would it cost Australia to go nuclear? Good question. Excellent question, in fact, because no one [...]
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  Posted: November 20, 2009, 12:28am EST
  by Big Gav

• The case for higher oil prices

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  The SMH has part 3 of their series on peak oil and the oil price out - The case for higher oil prices.
  In the first two instalments of this three-part series we considered peak oil theory, the importance of the marginal cost of production and the clear trend [...]
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  Posted: November 19, 2009, 6:31am EST
  by Big Gav

• Plastic Made With Wheat Straw Cuts Ford’s Petroleum Use

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  Tripe Pundit has an article on Ford's use of bioplastic in their cars - Plastic Made With Wheat Straw Cuts Ford’s Petroleum Use.
  For years, Ford has been experimenting with materials to cut its petroleum use, and the 2010 Ford Flex will showcase the latest fruits of its [...]
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  Posted: November 19, 2009, 5:56am EST
  by Big Gav

• 'Road trains' get ready to roll

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  The BBC has a report on European plants to improve car fuel economy by assembling "road trains" of cars on long distance trips - 'Road trains' get ready to roll.
  Road trains that link vehicles together using wireless sensors could soon be on European roads. An EU-financed research project [...]
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  Posted: November 19, 2009, 5:53am EST
  by Big Gav

• Thin-Film Solar with High Efficiency

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  Technology Review has an article on thin film solar company Solexant's process for "printing inorganic solar cells with nanomaterials" - Thin-Film Solar with High Efficiency.
  Solar cells made from cheap nanocrystal-based inks have the potential to be as efficient as the conventional inorganic cells currently used in solar [...]
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  Posted: November 19, 2009, 5:41am EST
  by Big Gav

• Famous Last Words

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  Dave Roberts at Grist has a blast from the past - Exxon boasting how burning fossil fuels will melt glaciers (when they changed their mind about this remains unclear) - Oil: enough energy to melt glaciers! .
  From a sharp-eyed reader comes this ad for Humble Oil (which later [...]
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  Posted: November 19, 2009, 5:35am EST
  by Big Gav

• The nuclear option: too slow, too costly

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  Crikey's Bernard Keane has given up covering the CPRS but he does still have the energy to consider the nuclear power industry's long, painful attempt to maintain some relevance by claiming it is a solution to climate change - The nuclear option: too slow, too costly.
  The spruikers [...]
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  Posted: November 19, 2009, 5:27am EST
  by Big Gav

• European Commission Projects 80% Renewable Energy by 2050

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  REW reports that confidence in rolling out renewable energy projects in Europe remains high - European Commission Projects 80% Renewable Energy by 2050.
  More than 550 high-level political decision makers at EU, national and regional level, representatives of the renewable energy industry, NGOs and scientists gathered in Brussels for [...]
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  Posted: November 18, 2009, 4:44am EST
  by Big Gav

• The Plantagon

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  While I remain unconvinced any of the vertical farming schemes proposed within cities will ever be viable, this latest one from Inhabitat looks like something Bucky Fuller would approve of - Plantagon.
  Lots of cities have farmers markets, but most — if not all — of the produce [...]
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  Posted: November 18, 2009, 4:37am EST
  by Big Gav

• When oils ain't oils

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  The SMH is continuing their series on peak oil and the oil price - When oils ain't oils.
  In this article, we examined why, for investors at least, ''peak oil'' theory was inconsequential. What really matters is the cost of getting the stuff out - or the ''marginal cost' [...]
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  Posted: November 18, 2009, 3:25am EST
  by Big Gav

• Shale-Gas Skeptic’s Supply Doubts Draw Wrath of Devon Energy

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  Bloomberg has an article on the interesting saga of Arthur Berman and hos views about unconventional gas production from shale - Shale-Gas Skeptic’s Supply Doubts Draw Wrath of Devon.
  Arthur Berman runs a one-man energy consulting firm out of his home near Houston, producing research that says forecasts for [...]
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  Posted: November 17, 2009, 4:14pm EST
  by Big Gav

• Software: the glue that will hold cleantech together

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  Cleantech.com has a column noting the foundation of the clean energy economy is a whole lot of software - Software: the glue that will hold cleantech together.
  The transition to a low carbon economy will lead to a more decentralised energy infrastructure whereby energy will be generated from far [...]
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  Posted: November 17, 2009, 4:33am EST
  by Big Gav

• Surveillance State, U.S.A.

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  TomDispatch has an article on tactics used in the "war on terror" (cough) making their way back to the US (an idea that has been discusses for some years now)- Surveillance State, U.S.A..
  For the past six years, confronting a bloody insurgency, the U.S. occupation of Iraq has [...]
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  Posted: November 17, 2009, 4:24am EST
  by Big Gav

• Feeding the world sustainably by 2050 ?

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  Grist has an article on a study on the scalability of sustainable agriculture - Feed the world sustainably by 2050? Yes, we can!.
  Adding a bit more data to food system reformers’ arguments, a new study led by Germany’s prestigious Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research takes on the [...]
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  Posted: November 17, 2009, 4:23am EST
  by Big Gav

• Copenhagen: Seattle Grows Up

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  The Nation has an article from Naomi Klein on activist actions planned for the Copenhagen summit (the naming of the "bike bloc" grouping made me laugh) - Copenhagen: Seattle Grows Up.
  There is certainly a Seattle quality to the Copenhagen mobilization: the huge range of groups that will [...]
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  Posted: November 17, 2009, 4:23am EST
  by Big Gav

• Why peak oil "doesn’t matter"

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  The SMH has a beginner's introduction to peak oil, claiming geological limits "don't matter" becuase economic limits kick in first - Why peak oil doesn’t matter.
  There’s only one reason why you’d invest in the oil and gas sector; because you’re confident that, over the long term, the price' [...]
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  Posted: November 17, 2009, 12:35am EST
  by Big Gav

• Electric vehicles at the 2009 Beyond Oil conference

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  The INL has a post on the recent Beyond Oil conference held in Redmond - Electric vehicles, infrastructure power 2009 Beyond Oil conference.
  Shiny new electric vehicles, emitting only low-whirring sounds, glistened as they darted among the few sun breaks in Seattle outside a Cascadia Center conference titled Beyond [...]
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  Posted: November 16, 2009, 9:39pm EST
  by Big Gav

• 275 MPG eVARO Electric Vehicle Goes From 0 to 60 in 5 Seconds

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  Inhabitat has a post on yet another electric sportscar - 275 MPG eVARO Electric Vehicle Goes From to 60 in 5 Seconds
  The Progressive Automotive X-Prize is heating up as the May 2010 start date approaches, and one of our favorite entrants is the eVARO, a three-wheeled plug-in hybrid [...]
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  Posted: November 16, 2009, 4:03am EST
  by Big Gav

• The Biggest Wall Street Conspiracies

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  The Big Money has a post on various conspiracy theories about the financial sector - The Biggest Wall Street Conspiracies.
  Once there was a simpler time, when pretty much everything that happened in the financial world had a straightforward explanation.
  
  Take the crash of Oct. 19, 1987. In [...]
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  Posted: November 16, 2009, 3:35am EST
  by Big Gav

• The great global land grab

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  Energy Bulletin has an article on foreign efforts to acquire chunks of Africa for food production - The great global land grab.
  News of another big land deal between a rich nation and a poor developing country is becoming a common occurrence. In August a group of Saudi investors [...]
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  Posted: November 16, 2009, 3:16am EST
  by Big Gav

• Polar Obsession

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  OnEarth has a post on Paul Nicklen's new book - Polar Obsession.
  As a wildlife photographer, Paul Nicklen doesn't like using his telephoto lens. He prefers lying on his belly in the ice. "Then I know I am getting something good," he says.
  
  That philosophy' [...]
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  Posted: November 16, 2009, 3:12am EST
  by Big Gav

• Interview with Ray Anderson of Interface Inc.

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  Alt Energy Stocks has an interview with ex-Interface CEO Ray Anderson on sustainable enterprises - Interview with Ray C. Anderson, of Interface Inc..
  AES: Can you please define for our readers what your vision of a sustainable enterprise is?
  
  Anderson: At Interface, we’ve defined our vision as follows: [...]
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  Posted: November 16, 2009, 2:54am EST
  by Big Gav

• Enter the Elephant

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  TOD commenter memmel's bizarre occasional allusions to elephants seem to have gone viral and infected the editors, with Nate unleashing a herd of elephants in his latest campfire post - Enter the Elephant.
  There are 2 thresholds occurring in resource depletion space. 1)the shifting but low odds on steering [...]
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  Posted: November 16, 2009, 2:42am EST
  by Big Gav

• The Berg

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  Who knows what these people are thinking (hey - maybe Sydney should get one too !) but I find the idea strangely compelling - Inhabitat points to a crazy German scheme to build a mountain in Berlin - The Berg.
  German architect Jakob Tigges has unveiled a plan for [...]
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  Posted: November 16, 2009, 1:51am EST
  by Big Gav

• I'm sick of the CPRS. To hell with you all.

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  Crikey's Bernard Keane has finally given up on commentating on the progress of our laughably ineffective proposed carbon emissions trading scheme (aka the CPRS), something I did a long time ago - I'm sick of the CPRS. To hell with you all. . Ditch the whole thing and implement' [...]
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  Posted: November 16, 2009, 1:49am EST
  by Big Gav

• Mimicking the Building Prowess of Nature

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  Technology Review has an article on the science of biomimicry - Mimicking the Building Prowess of Nature.
  Joanna Aizenberg, a materials scientist at Harvard University, has scoured the natural world for clues to biological building codes. She aims to decipher some of Mother Nature’s unique designs, including dirt-resistant [...]
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  Posted: November 15, 2009, 6:26am EST
  by Big Gav