I like it when things line up. Syzygy, they call it. What do Mongolia, Iraq, and Venezuela have in common? (Hint: it’s not oil.) It’s that they have all recently bumped into the sharp edge of resource reality. There is something about the discovery of valuable resources that make people and countries take leave of […]
Natural phenomena are causing severe conditions in many countries around the world, causing and in some cases, exacerbating, food shortages that are affecting large populations. The BBC reports that in Guatemala, President Alvaro Colom has sprung into action, declaring a “state of public calamity” and seeking to aid 54,000 Guatemalans whose access to food has […]
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has set up a new registry for food and animal feed companies to report any instance of contamination in their facilities, reports The Wall Street Journal. The incidence of several high profile cases of food-borne illness in the United States, especially in the last two years, have led […]
One of the scenarios that Gore discusses in “An Inconvenient Truth” is the triggering of a massive cooling in the Northern Hemisphere as a consequence of the altering of the “Great Ocean Conveyor.” NASA scientists, among others, have looked closely at this “chilling possibility.” The freezing of the North, the warming of the South, and […]
While I am not a specialist in green technology, I could not help but be depressed by an article in the New York Times Tuesday about China’s rare earth minerals and metals. The Times and many other papers announced Tuesday that China which “currently accounts for 93 percent of production of so-called rare earth elements” […]
Barry Commoner wrote The Politics of Energy in 1979. In it, he called for a transition to renewables – with natural gas as the bridge to the future. 30 years later this still sounds pretty good. One difference, of course, is that we’re so much farther along on renewables than perhaps even Dr. Commoner could’ve dreamed. A […]
Oil giant Chevron says that it had obtained video recordings — and has posted them on its website — that appear to show an Ecuadorean political operative seeking $3 million in bribes, in connection with a $27 billion lawsuit the company. It is the latest wrinkle in the on-going class action lawsuit brought by dozens […]
Central Africa is not the first place energy people traditionally think of when it comes to oil. Now it appears Uganda may have up to 2 billion barrels of the stuff, according to their government. The question is what to do about it. Uganda would like to have a refinery, although some oil companies say this […]
Relative to my post, There Oughta Be a Law, on energy recovery, see this terrific article from Worldwatch, A Bridge to the Renewable Energy Future, fleshing out this “…largely overlooked but potent way to minimize fossil fuel use and the damage it causes.” On the same subject, see also this from earlier in the summer […]
One of the greatest bones of contention about extracting fossil fuels — in the industrialized world anyway — is the damage it can or will do to the environment. The industries resist the idea. Do the costs of environmental protections cripple the production of newer, more unconventional fields, as the industry has long proclaimed? Apparently […]
Three studies of rice genetics were released in major scientific journals this week, and this article from NPR examines how some scientists are harnessing this knowledge into efforts to develop new growing methods for rice plants. One study featured in the NPR piece describes the so-called “deep water” rice plants, which, scientists hope, will help […]
We are in Andalusia and it’s, no surprise, pretty hot and sunny. The Spaniards have long since figured out that it’s going to be good for them to take advantage of the sun and its brother, the wind. Our hotel in Granada had big solar thermal arrays on the roof. On the drive from Granada […]
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