Posts Tagged ‘Peak Oil’
Peak Oil and Peak Debt
September 18th, 2011 | 
Author: Peak Oil, Peak Debt, and the Concentration of Power
by Charles Eisenstein
When theorists approach the peak oil problem from the perspective of finding a substitute that will allow us to maintain our present energy infrastructure, their conclusion is one of despair. There may be many substitutes for oil as a concentrated form of storable energy, but none of them are nearly as good as oil itself. Those invested in the status quo would, quite understandably, like to maintain it, but it is becoming apparent even to the most highly invested that the status quo is doomed; that it can be maintained only temporarily, and at a rapidly accelerating environmental cost.
The transition before us is not merely a transition in fuel types. It is also a transition in the whole energy infrastructure, both physical and psychological; a transition away from big power plants, distribution lines, and metered consumers; away from capital-intensive drilling, refining, distribution, and consumer fueling stations. More broadly, it is a transition away from centralization, concentration, and all the social institutions that go along with it.
Both the energy system and the money system are based on accumulation and the concentration of power. Not only our energy infrastructure, but our dominant yet invisible way of thinking about energy, presupposes a centralized system of distribution based on a highly concentrated energy source. Many alternative energy technologies have made little headway, not because they are technologically unfeasible, but because they don’t fit into our present physical, financial, and psychological infrastructure.
There is a causal as well as a metaphorical parallel between the concentration of power in oil and in money. A concentrated power source that can be stored allows social and political power to concentrate in the hands of those who control it. It generates very different social dynamics from an energy source that is universally distributed and constantly renewed.
For one thing, the profit potential of the latter is intrinsically less. Once you have sold the geothermal pump or the PV array, the buyer is self-sufficient, unlike the electrical power consumer who has to pay the metered rate in perpetuity. Energy dependency and economic dependency are closely linked.
Posted in Alternative Energy, Go Green, Peak Oil, Renewable Energy, Solar Power | 
Tags: Alternative Energy, Economy, Peak Oil, Solar Power, U.S. Economy | 
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Wireless Power
Wireless Power: Has The Time Come?
Tesla: Reading in the Light of Wireless Power at Pike’s Peak, Colorado, 1899
We fill the fuel tanks of our cars, aircraft and ships with refined oil and then breathe the smoke from these transporters as they burn dirty hydro-carbons along with many toxic chemicals, including some known to cause cancer. Not only that, but when the “black gold” is extracted from deep underneath the sea, we can get the Gulf of Mexico toxic gusher which we can’t seem to stop.
Did Nikola Tesla (1856-1943) — the famous inventor of the alternating current power system deployed worldwide — have the answer?
With the discovery of electricity, everybody expected that all cars would be electric and run on rechargeable batteries. Tesla had gone one step further and actually produced a working automobile that ran on electricity taken from the surrounding air like an antenna picks up radio waves. This would revolutionize travel just like his AC induction motor had fundamentally altered the industrial world.
John Pierpont Morgan, John D. Rockefeller, and Henry Ford were not pleased with Tesla’s wireless power travel solutions. No gasoline engine meant no oil monopoly for the Rockefellers. Their Standard Oil Company was losing its key market of home lighting to Thomas Alva Edison’s electric light bulb.
The legendary investor and banker JP Morgan did not like the idea of wireless energy based travel — road, air or sea — because where would one put the meter to charge? He favored the joint solution of Rockefeller’s Standard Oil and Ford’s modern car based on the internal combustion engine for its clear income stream!Although there is some skepticism surrounding Tesla’s work in wireless power, there is no doubt that he was a towering figure responsible for many key advances that enable the modern electric world.
Shouldn’t we revisit applications of Tesla’s wireless power solutions? As we find ourselves surrounded by 21st century intractable challenges, there is a need to reconsider some of his seminal thinking in wireless power generation and transmission.
We need to incorporate those ideas, systems and solutions into the innovation which humanity collectively seeks for the age beyond oil. Unless we are able to increase energy efficiency during transmission and utilize the power already generated, it is difficult to envisage how we may slowly begin to wean ourselves away from massive oil dependency.
There can be no doubt that there are some vital answers lurking in the closet marked Tesla. This time around, with modern computing technology solutions at our disposal, wireless power might make even more commercial sense whilst reducing our dependence on oil at the same time.
Posted in Alternative Energy, Awesome, Go Green, Oil Spill, Renewable Energy, Technology |
Tags: Alternative Energy, Nikola Tesla, Peak Oil, tesla, Wireless Power |
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Crude Awakening
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — Most of us can’t stockpile barrels of crude oil in the backyard, nor would we want to. Yet with oil prices soaring, many investors are eager to fill their portfolios with this precious fuel.
Accordingly, a specialized group of exchange-traded funds taps into oil rallies. But investors should be aware that while these funds have been posting solid gains, they are complex, risky instruments which don’t fully capture oil-price moves.
At best, these oil-linked ETFs, which trade on an exchange like stocks, are an indirect pipeline to oil. That’s because unlike some gold and precious metals funds, oil ETFs don’t hold the physical commodity. Instead, they trade oil futures contracts, and that can impact investment returns in ways unsophisticated buyers never expected.
“There is no way to directly invest in oil,” said Bradley Kay, an ETF analyst at Morningstar. “Indirect investments such as oil company stocks, futures, and oil ETFs tend to have a lot of complicated moving parts.”
Posted in Economy, Oil Crisis, Peak Oil, Politics, Rich People |
Tags: crude oil, cruide oil futures, Economy, oil, oil investing, Peak Oil, Politics, recession, wall st. |
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Oil Prices Down and Stock Prices Up
Oil Prices Down and Stock Prices Up
NEW YORK – Wall Street at least temporarily shrugged off some of its many concerns Wednesday and bounded higher thanks to a drop in oil prices. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 276 points, or 2.5 percent, posting its best daily gain in three months.
The broader Standard & Poor’s 500 index also gained 2.5 percent, while the technology-dominated Nasdaq composite index surged 3.1 percent. Investors exited government bonds and back into stocks as it appeared that the slowing economy will curtail demand for fuel and, in turn, energy costs.
Light, sweet crude fell $4.14 to settle at $134.60 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, bringing its two-day decline to $10.58.
Posted in Economy, Peak Oil, Stocks |
Tags: american economy, dow average, dow jones, Economy, oil prices, Peak Oil, Stocks |
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Oil Prices Climb to New Record
Oil Prices Continue Climb to New Record
NEW YORK – Crude oil futures swung wildly on Monday, rising to a record and then tumbling as investors wrestled with whether they should put stock in Saudi Arabia’s promise to boost production. Retail gas prices rose to a record $4.08 a gallon.
Light, sweet crude for July delivery fell 25 cents to settle at $134.61 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange after earlier soaring to a trading record of $139.89. Earlier, they dropped as low as $132.84.
With little in the way of news to explain oil’s turnabout, analysts pointed to Saudi Arabia’s weekend decision to boost production and to Tuesday’s expiration of crude options, which are agreements to buy or sell futures at higher or lower prices.