dagblog - Comments for "World Energy Outlook for 2010"

Here's a series of videos for

Beetlejuice — Sat, 13 Nov 2010 17:00:36 +0000

In reply to World Energy Outlook for 2010

Here's a series of videos for us laymen on the subject of peak oil. I got it from someone on David Seaton's blog. The title is Arithmetic, Population and energy by Dr. Albert A. Bartlett at the University of Colorado, Boulder.

Here's some highlights:

1> The first two prepare you with the simple math necessary to understand where's he's coming from. Very easy stuff...grade school level.

2> In video #3 he talks about a bottle and bacteria...once you catch on to what's going on in the bottle, he opens a new can of worms

3> In videos #4 and #5, this is where he begins to talk about peak oil, Dr. Hubbert, extraction of known reserves and consumption.

a) For example, oil extraction in the US began to fall off in the 1930. That's were demand began to outpace production.

b) We began to import oil in 1976 because demand was greater than production could support.

c) I suspect the videos were made either in the late 90's or early 2000's, because at the time he says we had used up approx 1/2 of the known reserves in the US.

d) Demand far exceeds production. For example, ANWR is estimated to hold 3.2 billion barrels. That's less than 1 year at our present consumption rate.

e) The Gulf of Mexico holds 700 million barrels. That would last about 42 days.

f) Another oil field found holds 1 billion barrels. That would last only 56 days.

g) Our current level of oil output is 8.6 barrels/year, but we consume 3 times as much.

4> In video #6 he discusses substituting ethnol for oil

a) A 43.5 million barrels/year crop produces only 1% of our energy needs.

b) We'd have to increase the number of fields from food crops to energy crops by 100% to meet our current energy demands.

c> The problem with crops-to-energy is the amount of energy necessary to produce a gallon of ethnol is equal to the oil used to produce it....net zero gain.

5> Other interesting facts

a) He uses US oil consumption of 16.6 million brrels a day based on data from 1991.

b) In a global sense, a person use of fossil fuels, either directly or indrectly should not exceed 1.7 liters a day.

c) The average person uses 8.1 liters a day.

It's a series of 8 videos that lasts about an hour, easy to digest and a real eye opener.

http://www.google.com/#q=The+Most+IMPORTANT+Video+You%27Ll+Ever+See+%28p...

It would also explain the

SleepinJeezus — Sat, 13 Nov 2010 09:44:37 +0000

In reply to That nihilism would expolain

It would also explain the almost fevered rush to exploit labor - foreign and domestic - without any substantial concern for the long-term surfeit of any "consumer class" being supported and nurtured. "Maximize profits now whilst you still can" seems to be the driving force of the G20 and the "Common Wisdom" economists. The lack of sustainability seems to be a foregone conclusion, if only because it is so readily apparent but so feverishly ignored.

The Economics of Happiness

we are stardust — Sat, 13 Nov 2010 03:36:21 +0000

In reply to World Energy Outlook for 2010

The Economics of Happiness video was fantastic, Donal; thanks for it.

That nihilism would expolain

Donal — Fri, 12 Nov 2010 22:46:53 +0000

In reply to I read all of the Therramus

That nihilism would expolain the almost complete lack of interest in investing or even maintaining infrastructure.

I read all of the Therramus

moat — Fri, 12 Nov 2010 20:57:28 +0000

In reply to World Energy Outlook for 2010

I read all of the Therramus page and found it very interesting. The interelationship between resource depletion and the "shadow bank" element gives a context for the "grab it while you can" fever of the investment community. The sense that the present economic crisis is not like others can be felt even in journals like the Financial Times: A veneer of business as usual topping an underlayment of not quite expressed nihilism.

Well Donal, it will take a

cmaukonen — Fri, 12 Nov 2010 03:16:03 +0000

In reply to World Energy Outlook for 2010

Well Donal, it will take a major attitude adjustment on the part of a whole lot of people. Both on the left and right they mostly of the mind where they are all for you to make sacrifices for the good of humanity but not at all OK for themselves to make the same sacrifices.