News update


OPEC Chief Claims Oil Could Rebound to $200 a barrel
Oilprice.com
OPEC’s secretary-general says the 7-month-old plunge in oil prices finally may have bottomed out and may be ready to rise again. In fact, Abdullah al-Badri hypothesized that a decision by his cartel to cut production conceivably could lead to oil at $200 a barrel.

The most important thing about the coming oil production cutbacks
Kurt Cobb, Resource Insights
What the current oil price slump means for world oil supply is starting to emerge. “Layoffs,” “cutbacks,” “delays,” and “cancellations” are words one sees in headlines concerning the oil industry every day. But perhaps the most important thing you need to understand about the coming oil production cutbacks is where they are going to come from, namely Canada and the United States. Why is this important? For one very simple reason. Without growth in production from these two countries, world oil production from the first quarter of 2005 through the third quarter of 2014 would have declined 513,000 barrels per day. That’s right, declined.

A new theory of energy and the economy – Part 1
Gail Tverberg, Our Finite World
How does the economy really work? In my view, there are many erroneous theories in published literature. I have been investigating this topic and have come to the conclusion that both energy and debt play an extremely important role in an economic system. Once energy supply and other aspects of the economy start hitting diminishing returns, there is a serious chance that a debt implosion will bring the whole system down.

Forests Precede Us, Deserts Follow
X-Ray Mike, Collapse of Industrial Civilization
…studies have confirmed that the Amazon appears to becoming more unstable in response to the large-scale environmental impact of rising CO2 and the cumulative effects of land degradation by humans… Modern-day Brazil and the entire industrialized world are repeating the same mistake made by past civilizations such as the Mayans who cleared their forests for agriculture and development.

The Mariner’s Rule
John Michael Greer, The Archdruid Report
One of the things my readers ask me most often, in response to this blog’s exploration of the ongoing decline and impending fall of modern industrial civilization, is what I suggest people ought to do about it all. It’s a valid question, and it deserves a serious answer. (Also see the comments section at bottom of page).

Our Renewable Future (Or, What I’ve Learned in 12 Years Writing about Energy)
Richard Heinberg, Post Carbon Institute
Will our energy future be fueled by fossils (with or without carbon capture technology), or powered by abundant, renewable wind and sunlight? Or is our energy destiny located in a Terra Incognita that neither fossil fuel promoters nor renewable energy advocates talk much about? As maddening as it may be, the latter conclusion may be the one best supported by the facts. If that uncharted land had a motto, it might be, “How we use energy is as important as how we get it.”

How ‘The Power to Convene’ can transform Transition
Rob Hopkins, Transition Network
Clearly there is ample evidence that working in partnership with other individuals and organisations can be highly effective as opposed to everyone feeling the need to always start from scratch and reinvent the wheel. But done well, Transition can bring something new, something different, to it. It can be a powerful thing to harness.

Reuse and Repair Centres – a Solution for a Circular economy
Sophie Unwin, REconomy project
“What if we could have a centre where we could reuse and repair different materials instead of sending them to landfill or burning them? Why don’t we have elderly immigrants teaching unemployed bankers something useful?”

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