Short Takes  

Posted by Big Gav

Edward Tapamoor's latest Peak Oil Passnotes column is up at Resource Investor - "Peak Oil Is Here, Enjoy. Venezuela's dispute with Exxon has resulted in them dispatching oil that used to go to their shared refinery in the US to China instead. Bloomberg reports that Russian oil output may fall for the first time in a decade in 2008. The Wall Street Journal has a look at "Saudi Arabia's (natural) gas mirage". Oil & Gas Journal is reporting that China faces diesel and petrol shortages.



Joe Romm has a column on Salon, considering the recent discussion of the relative importance of peak oil and global warming - "Peak Oil? Consider It Solved", noting that if we correctly mitigate global warming, we'll solve the peak oil problem (obviously this doesn't include a tactical switch form coal to natural gas, nor various forms of biofuel). Dave Cohen has a very misguided response to this at ASPO USA, blithely ignoring our ability to switch to renewables and instead misinterprets the Hansen-Kharecha scenarios and flirts with nuclear power - something the ASPO's spiritual mentor M King Hubbert would frown on, given his admonition for us to switch to solar power. Dave even trots out the "Easter island" myth (apparently rats were really to blame).

TreeHugger reports on a plan by Southern California Edison to build something a 250-megawatt solar power plant - distributed among many commercial rooftops in Southern California. Green Car Congress reports that EPRI and Ford are partnering to develop approaches for integrating plug in hybrid electric vehicles into the grid. Clean Break reports that the EEStor (ultracapacitor) powered CityZENN electric vehicle is targeted for release in the 3rd quarter of 2009. Forbes has an article on "Jump Starting Electric Car Production", looking at GM's efforts to beat Toyota to plugin hybrid car production.



The Energy Blog has a post on a Belgian proposal to develop a CHP bio-oil plant using jatropha oil - most commenters seem skeptical about this though. The Christian Science Monitor has a report on CHP in New York - Fuel does double duty in N.Y..

The Boston Globe has a look at a proposed biogas project in Boston - Urban decay, redefined. TreeHugger has a post on biochar / terra preta - "Biochar Offers Answer for Healthy Soil and Carbon Sequestration" - pointing to the International Biochar initiative and the Biochar Fund.



Reuters reports that the Navajo Nation plans to develop 500 MW of wind power. AFP reports that wind power briefly accounted for just over 40 percent of all electricity generated in Spain last weekend, before the grid operator asked them to reduce generation. The New York Times reports that the now closed Fresh Kills landfill may become the site of a small wind farm.

Inhabitat has a post on some "Revolutionary Super-Insulating Vacuum Glass", which could help dramatically cut building energy consumption. TreeHugger has another look at "Ecocities of Tomorrow" - "UK's First Planned Ecovillage Gets Go-Ahead". Inhabitat also has a look at a "Clean technology tower" (check out some sustainable towers in Malayisa and Daekwon Park’s Superstructure for Sustainable Skyscrapers as well).





GCaptian has a good post on the "Top 10 Green Ship Designs", which includes SkySails, but has some other nifty ideas.



The FT reports that Egypt has followed the lead of India, Vietnam and Cambodia in banning rice exports. The rice price has soared, with importers like the Phillipines scrambling for supplies.

The BBC reports that glaciers are suffering from record shrinkage.

Jamais Cascio requests that we "Please Don't Kick the Robots", featuring the eerie "packbot" robotic dog most people should have seen by now.

Bruce Sterling has some sarcastic notes on "The USSR and the USSA" - "As the two former superpowers sink inexorably into hideous mires of their own making, they still find the energy to feebly snarl at each other, not that anybody else cares nowadays". Can't argue with that.

2 comments

Anonymous   says 9:19 PM

The sterile structures and landscape depicted remind me of those seen in Dennis Potters "Cold Lazarus"
(can't find a link)

SP

Hmmm - haven't seen it but sounds like a bummer (albeit an interesting one) :

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cold_Lazarus

Cold Lazarus is set in the 24th century, in a dystopian Britain where the ruined streets are unsafe, and where society is run by American oligarchs in charge of powerful commercial corporations. Experiences are almost all virtual, and anything deemed authentic (such as coffee and cigarettes) has either been banned or replaced by synthetic substitutes.

At a cryogenic research institute funded by the pharmaceuticals tycoon Martina Masdon (played by Diane Ladd), a group of scientists led by Dr. Emma Porlock (Frances de la Tour) is working on reviving the mind of the 20th century writer Daniel Feeld (Albert Finney). Unable to see any profit in the project, Masdon considers discontinuing it, but the media mogul Daniel Siltz (Henry Goodman), who has been spying on Masdon, envisages making a fortune from broadcasting Feeld’s memories on TV, and proposes to Porlock that her team work for him. Porlock accepts, and her team begins to gain access to Feeld’s mind.

Porlock is unaware that a member of her team, Fyodor Glazunov (Ciaran Hinds) is a member of the resistance group RON (‘Reality Or Nothing’), which attempts to undermine the reliance of society upon advanced technology by carrying out violent attacks. Glazunov identifies Kaya, another of Porlock’s team, as a potential recruit to his superior Andrew Milton (David Foxxe), but Milton kills Kaya, believing her unsuitable. Angered by Kaya’s murder, Glazunov kills Milton. Porlock then discovers the truth about Glazunov but, to distract him from the possibility of killing her, consults with him about the Siltz deal. Glazunov approves of the broadcast of Feeld’s memories, which he believes might provoke a revolt against the ‘inauthentic’ life propagated by the authorities.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M0x2hX6l8f4

http://www.wings.to/rarevid/potter.htm?gclid=CNnRyvaZt5ICFQFaiAodnl5MMQ

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