The twentieth century way of life has been made available, largely due to the miracle of cheap energy. The price of energy has been at record lows for the past century and a half.As oil becomes increasingly scarce, it is becoming obvious to everyone, that the rapid economic and industrial growth we have enjoyed for that time is not sustainable.Now, the hunt is on. For renewable sources of energy, for alternative sources of energy, for a way of life that is less dependent on cheap energy.Â
‘Significant’ geothermal energy reserves discovered Peta Carlyon, ABC July 13, 2010, 12:00 pm Studies of underground water tables in Victoria’s north and west have revealed a significant new store of geothermal energy reserves. Geothermal energy is a clean renewable resource and is generated from hot rocks and aquifers deep below the earth’s surface. Continue Reading →
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The US government has issued a new moratorium on deepwater drilling until November 30, to ensure oil companies implement safety measures following the Gulf of Mexico disaster.
“More than 80 days into the BP oil spill, a pause on deepwater drilling is essential and appropriate to protect communities, coasts, and wildlife from the risks that deepwater drilling currently pose,” interior secretary Ken Salazar in a statement.
“I am basing my decision on evidence that grows every day of the industry’s inability in the deepwater to contain a catastrophic blowout, respond to an oil spill, and to operate safely.”
The move comes days after an appeals court denied the government’s emergency request to stay a federal judge’s ruling to lift its previous six-month moratorium order.
Electric cars and wind turbines face metal supply shortages Ecologist 12th June, 2010 The Government’s much-vaunted ambition for a low-carbon economy could be threatened by shortages in key metals and the environmental cost of developing new mining facilities A rapid increase in electric cars and offshore wind turbines might not be sustained, the Government has Continue Reading →
Business underestimating catastrophic consequences of declining oil, says Lloyd’s of London/ISS report
Greenpeace activists paint over BP logo in a protest against the BP oil spill. Lloyd’s of London has joined dire warnings about peak oil. Photograph: Reuters
One of the City’s most respected institutions has warned of “catastrophic consequences” for businesses that fail to prepare for a world of increasing oil scarcity and a lower carbon economy.
The Lloyd’s insurance market and the highly regarded Institute of Strategic Studies (ISS, known as Chatham House) says Britain needs to be ready for “peak oil” and disrupted energy supplies at a time of soaring fuel demand in China and India, constraints on production caused by the BP oil spill and political moves to cut CO2 to halt global warming.
“Companies which are able to take advantage of this new energy reality will increase both their resilience and competitiveness. Failure to do so could lead to expensive and potentially catastrophic consequences,” says the Lloyd’s and ISS report “Sustainable energy security: strategic risks and opportunities for business”.
The insurance market has a major interest in preparedness to counter climate change because of the fear of rising insurance claims related to property damage and business disruption. The review is groundbreaking because it comes from the heart of the City and contains the kind of dire warnings that are more associated with environmental groups or others accused by critics of resorting to hype. It takes a pot shot at the International Energy Agency which has been under fire for apparently under-estimating the threats, noting: “IEA expectations [on crude output] over the last decade have generally gone unmet.”
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The Federal Government has awarded a grant to an experiment in Queensland’s South Burnett region that uses algae to convert carbon emissions into fuel.
A team of researchers at James Cook University are working with MBD Energy to perfect the algal synthesis method that converts the plant’s carbon emissions into a bio-fuel and a low-cost feed for animals.
MBD Energy spokesman Andrew Lawson says the next step is to try the technology at a one-hectare site at the Tarong Power station, south-west of Gympie.
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Prototype: the aircraft charged its batteries during 14 hours of daytime flight (AFP: Denis Balibouse)
A solar powered aircraft masterminded by a Swiss adventurer has made history as the first manned plane to fly around the clock on the sun’s energy, bringing a step closer the dream of perpetual flight.
After 26 hours in the air the experimental Solar Impulse aircraft with pilot Andre Borschberg onboard made a seamless landing at Payerne airbase in western Switzerland at 9.01am local time, about three hours after daybreak.