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January 26, 2011
During the last 12 months oil prices have risen by 15 percent, much less than either wheat or maize. At the London market they vacillate presently close to € 100 per barrel, about two thirds of the peak price registered in June 2008. There is a priori no reason for concern, the more so as… » read more
The renowned Dutch Clingendael International Energy Programme foresees more future turbulence in the oil markets, an energy crunch by 2010 and potential oil rationing in the Western world. Here are some of the most interesting conclusions of the highly recommended “Oil Turbulence in the next decade” essay: The “oil crunch” predicted by the International Energy… » read more
After EU policymakers’ disenchantment with biofuels (see EurActiv: MEPs seek reduced biofuel commitments), it is time to find the new “silver bullet” to tackle the climate and energy crisis. During two conferences held in Brussels this week, lobbyists for carbon capture and storage (CCS) pulled out all the stops to convince us that governments should… » read more
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Carbon capture and storage, coal, renewable energy, resource depletion, Sustainability |
April 17, 2008
Why is it so hard to accept that our planet’s economy has limits? The puerile excitement of so-called energy experts about Brazil’s new “gigantic” oil find is yet another proof that the world and its media remain in denial about our worsening sustainability crisis. “Surprise discovery off coast of Brazil may confound the oil and… » read more
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energy security, Peak oil, resource depletion, Sustainability |
A few interesting stories caught my eye over the Easter weekend (which was pretty Xmas-like here in Brussels with snow and winter-like temperatures): At the end of last week, the International Herald Tribune reported about a few older “young boys” on some exotic island “plotting to save the planet”, but only if they could make… » read more
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Energy and Climate Change, Global Warming, Population growth, resource depletion |
March 12, 2008
I sometimes complain that our political elites have lost all long-term vision focused as they are on feeding the quick-news-hungry media with sexy soundbites which have little value for the societal challenges these policy makers are supposed to tackle. It is therefore very encouraging that, occasionally , there is a political figure who manages to… » read more
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ecological footprint, Energy and Climate Change, Global Warming, Peak oil, resource depletion, Sustainability |
February 19, 2008
I already argued in earlier posts that population is the big taboo in our climate/energy crisis. Fortunately, there are some organisations which have the courage and leadership to address the issue, although I still feel they lack the political answers to deal with this issue. A new report by the UK’s Optimum Population Trust shows… » read more
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Energy and Climate Change, Population & Sustainability, Population growth, resource depletion |
December 11, 2007
There are so many myths and false assumptions in the climate/energy debate that I always like to highlight authors and articles who/which cut through all the ideology by looking at the raw scientific figures. One author who consistently uses this “reality check” is George Monbiot. In an article published last week, Monbiot has made the… » read more
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Energy and Climate Change, resource depletion, Sustainability |
December 5, 2007
Here, that is, in our own “developed” world and not only in those countries which are traditionally being identified as “developing” countries (the now politically incorrect “third world” in the past). As the economic growth successes and the consumption abundance of our developed countries have been bought on the back of rapid over-exploitation of the… » read more
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Energy and Climate Change, energy security, resource depletion, Sustainability, Sustainable Development |
October 9, 2007
The Energy Bulletin ran an excellent blog post on Tuesday which raised my eyebrows. I hope that some of our EU China connaisseurs would react to it. The post written by David DuByne, who teaches business English in China, states that the Chinese government is preparing to shift from being an export-driven economy to becoming a… » read more
