Category Archives: Peak oil

The near-term maximum output (or “peak”) of conventional oil, or of “all liquids.”

The Ecological Footprint of Information

Posted on January 20, 2010 by

Declaring e-books to be the future of publishing may be a bit premature. What are the energy requirements of a paper book? They probably aren’t that much. Medieval monks and Gutenberg churned them out, at a much slower rate, long … Continue reading →

Posted in Ecological Economics, History, Limits to Growth, Peak oil | Tagged | Leave a comment

Harder than it looks

Posted on January 10, 2010 by

Suppose that political obstacles to an honest climate change policy were suddenly swept away! Loopholes and equivocations vanish! The world adopts policies to bring CO2 levels back to 350 ppm (and similar levels for methane and other greenhouse gases (GHGs)). … Continue reading →

Posted in Climate change, Ecological Economics, Peak oil, Politics, or the lack thereof | Leave a comment

Lance’s “Passive House”

Posted on December 16, 2009 by

Yesterday I had the opportunity to visit the house of Lance Wright and his wife, built with the German “Passive House” standards as the ideal. It’s called a “passive house” because it relies on retaining natural heat in winter through … Continue reading →

Posted in Climate change, Limits to Growth, Peak oil | Tagged | Leave a comment

The “Renewables Gap”

Posted on November 29, 2009 by

Will renewables like wind and solar power help get us to a renewable energy economy? At the recent ASPO-USA conference, Jeff Vail, a regular at TheOilDrum.com and a former Air Force intelligence officer, presented a thought-provoking paper on “the renewables … Continue reading →

Posted in Ecological Economics, Peak oil, Politics, or the lack thereof | 1 Comment

Vegetarians, Meet Peak Oil

Posted on November 6, 2009 by

  Vegetarians haven’t been much aware of peak oil, and I am continually annoyed at things like “The Vegetarian Travel Issue” in vegetarian magazines. Oil underlies our economy, including our food system. Peak oil means that we are entering a … Continue reading →

Posted in Ecological Economics, Limits to Growth, Peak oil, Simple living, Vegetarianism / Veganism | 1 Comment