Short Takes  

The link hopper is overflowing as I haven't had time to empty it for a while - this is a random selection of new and not so new stories...

Energy Bulletin has an interview with the IEA's Faith Birol, in which he warns once again that it is "time to leave oil before it leaves us".

The Australian reports that 2 major local energy companies, Woodside and Santos, are suffering from Falling oil production (to be fair, both are primarily gas companies).

The BBC has a look at peak oil and "the new survivalists". In a similar vein, The Guardian looks at Natural born survivors contrasting the approaches adopted by Matt Savinar and Rob Hopkins.

Net Oil Exports is a blog tracking global net oil exports - an indicator of the real world manifestation of the export land model.

Jeff Vail has an updated post at TOD, asking "Thoughts on Demand Destruction: Where Is It?".



Also at TOD, Aaron Newton has a post on "The Four Day Work Week: Sixteen Reasons Why This Might Be an Idea Whose Time Has Come" - a variation of the "society of sloth" response to peak oil.

The BBC has a report on reports from Beijing that China is considering buying or leasing foreign farmland to beat rising food prices and replace Chinese farmland lost to expanding cities and pollution - China 'may lease foreign fields'.

The BBC also quotes a slightly bogus Australian study that talks about rising carbon emissions from uranium ming - " Nuclear's CO2 cost 'will climb'". If you move to a fully electric transport system this isn't actually true - and in the meantime it also applies to most renewables projects too (though they don't have the added element of an ongoing extraction proxess required to keep them in fuel).

The Independent has a column from Hamish McRae, declaring "We will never have cheap oil again".

Australian ethanol king and buddy of the Rodent, Dick Honan, is complaining that 'Biofuels need subsidies to survive'.

The rising food prices and food vs fuel stories are still coming thick and fast, with The Australian warning of the "First signs of the coming famine".

The NZ Herald has one in a similar vein - "Mike Moore: Nothing more vital than world's food", using the "Dutch Disease" analogy when looking at the impact of agricultural commodity prices on the local economy.

Democracy Now has an interview with Bolivian President Evo Morales who warns against people and institutions that are "more interested in fueling luxury cars than in feeding human beings."

Grist says "There isn't a food shortage, at least not yet. There is a food price crisis, which is a very different beast".

Grist also reports that Brazilian soy magnate Blairo Maggi has a solution to any potential food shortages - raze the Amazon.

The SMH has a little rant on the Rudd bandwagon and how it is evading peak oil, climate change and other sundry issues - We're at the point where the desire line splits.

Der Spiegel reports that researchers have found alarming evidence that the Arctic ocean floor has started to thaw and release long-stored methane gas - A Storehouse of Greenhouse Gases Is Opening in Siberia.

TreeHugger has a bunch of photos on solar thermal power.



The US DOE is investing $60 million in solar thermal technology over the next 5 years. Just imagine what they could do with the $3 trillion spent on the Iraq war !

Clean Break reports that the long awaited EEStor powered CityZENN electric vehicle is targeted for release in fall 2009.

Renewable Energy World reports the German Government is pushing for a new renewable energy agency - Time for an International Renewable Energy Agency?

Technology Review has an Electric Cars Primer - "Hybrids, plug-ins, and extended-range electric cars are hitting the market. Use this interactive primer to learn how they work".

TreeHugger also has a post on a report card for 12 Battery and Ultracapacitor Companies.

Another post from TreeHugger notes that Hypermiling Is Becoming More Popular as Gas Prices Rise (see this great article from last year for background on hypermiling).

Gizmodo reports that Beijing's Gigantic LED Wall Is Fully Solar Powered.



Ecogeek has a look at a company called Carbon Sciences that is trying to find ways of sequestering carbon dioxide into useful products - thereby turning a waste stream into profit, instead of trying to find a huge magic hole to pour the stuff into.



The Nova Scotia Chronicle has an article on "Tidal power and Henry Ford’s cold feet", looking at Ford's 1916 plan to build a tidal power plant in the Bay of Fundy.

Inhabitat has a look at progress in the world of algae derived biofuels - OILGAE TEST DRIVE: Algae Power Hits the Road. Solazyme seem to be getting the most attention lately.



TomDispatch has a list of 12 Reasons to Get Out of Iraq (item number 4 mentions the infamous proposed Iraq oil law).

Technology Review has a series on soldiers who have suffered Brain Trauma in Iraq.

Chalmers Johnson has a column on the dead-weight the military-industrial complex has become for the US economy - "The Pentagon Strangles Our Economy: Why the U.S. Has Gone Broke" - "It is virtually impossible to overstate the profligacy of what our government spends on the military".

FireDogLake reports that Bush's record low approval rating makes him more despised than CUba or Saudi Arabia. Maybe Fidel should get called up to the White House - at least a few more people would have faith in him to sort out the mess (King Abdullah I'm not so sure about).

The SMH reports that there is a plan to ban toy guns in Iraq "in a bid to curb increasingly aggressive behaviour among children". I guess if you have a black enough sense of humour you could have a good laugh at the idiots who came up with that idea. There is a better alternative guys - it would save a lot of money and a lot of bloodshed. But you'd have to give up the oil...

The CarpetBagger report has some quotes from Lee Iacocca - "‘Some of us are sick and tired of people who call free speech treason’".

Am I the only guy in this country who’s fed up with what’s happening? Where the hell is our outrage? We should be screaming bloody murder. We’ve got a gang of clueless bozos steering our ship of state right over a cliff, we’ve got corporate gangsters stealing us blind, and we can’t even clean up after a hurricane much less build a hybrid car. But instead of getting mad, everyone sits around and nods their heads when the politicians say, “Stay the course.”

Stay the course? You’ve got to be kidding. This is America, not the damned Titanic. I’ll give you a sound bite: Throw the bums out!

You might think I’m getting senile, that I’ve gone off my rocker, and maybe I have. But someone has to speak up. I hardly recognize this country anymore. The President of the United States is given a free pass to ignore the Constitution, tap our phones, and lead us to war on a pack of lies. Congress responds to record deficits by passing a huge tax cut for the wealthy (thanks, but I don’t need it). The most famous business leaders are not the innovators but the guys in handcuffs. While we’re fiddling in Iraq, the Middle East is burning and nobody seems to know what to do. And the press is waving pom-poms instead of asking hard questions. That’s not the promise of America my parents and yours traveled across the ocean for. I’ve had enough. How about you?

I’ll go a step further. You can’t call yourself a patriot if you’re not outraged…. Why are we in this mess? How did we end up with this crowd in Washington? Well, we voted for them — or at least some of us did. But I’ll tell you what we didn’t do. We didn’t agree to suspend the Constitution. We didn’t agree to stop asking questions or demanding answers. Some of us are sick and tired of people who call free speech treason. Where I come from that’s a dictatorship, not a democracy.