Hydro

Now, if you are wondering why a falling water level in the Venezuelan highlands should be if interest to Americans, the answer is easy. Despite years of political tensions between the Chavez government and Washington, the U.S. is still importing some 800,000 barrels a day of crude from Venezuela.

A midweek roundup of peak oil news, including:
-Prices and production
-Venezuela’s Power Crisis
-UK Peak Oil Summit

Millions of job losses are pushing the U.S. Senate to consider a Jobs and Energy bill, even though Cap and Trade appears to be on life support. What are Five Key Measures that must be in a new Bill to avoid being a "half-ass..d" effort? (term from Sen. Lindsey Graham descrbing limited climate bill)

A weekdly roundup of peak oil news, including:
-Prices and production
-Record Asian demand
-The Alberta oil sands
-Quote of the week
-Briefs

For many centuries, canal boats were propelled by men, horses or mules on the towpath beside the water. Before diesel power took over, engineers developed several interesting methods powered by electricity: trolleyboats, floating funiculars and electric mules. Many of these ecological solutions could be applied today instead of diesel engines.

"as mankind proceeded to get bigger and bigger we silently crossed a threshold"

-The UK Power Generation Expenditure Forecast 2010-2030
-How many cyclists does it take to power a hairdryer?
-Energy bills could rise to more than £2,000, says Ofgem
-Solar industry ‘in limbo’ as grants dry up

Not deterred by the international financial crisis which became widespread in 2008 or by the many recessionary patterns that grip most country economies, financial engineers are massing in København to prepare for the next wave. This one is about the commercial opportunities which renewable energy technologies, country climate funds and sectoral mitigation programmes promise to contain.

Evolution demands short-term thinking focused on individual survival. Most attempts to overcome our evolutionarily hardwired absorption with self are selected against. The Overman is dead, killed by a high-fat diet and unwillingness to exercise. Reflexively, we follow him into the grave.

-'Tilting at windmills: the boy who harnessed the wind'
-The Community Cooker Turns Rags to Riches
-Water powered cable train
-The Weekly Geek: micro-hydro power

For decades the "Holy Grail" of the New Energy Economy has been to find ways to store wind and solar energy. The answers are here, and they are much more plain and simple than we thought. Like Indiana Jones in his Last Crusade, we need to see the Grail that is right before our eyes. The means to enable solar and wind energy to serve as our primary energy supplies are at hand.

-India sets out ambitious solar power plan to be paid for by rich nations
-Asian giants put the West’s targets for solar energy in the shade
-Boom in hydropower pits fish against climate
-Are wind farms a health risk? US scientist identifies 'wind turbine syndrome'

-Energy Shortages, the Monsoon, India and Pakistan
-Foreign Investors Snap Up African Farmland
-Risky price for energy exportation

What do bailouts of failed financial corporations and funding for current fusion power initiatives have in common? If Arnold Toynbee is right, one of the keynotes of our collective failure to respond to the crisis of industrial civilization.

Exxon vs. Obama
Shell dumps wind, solar and hydro power in favour of biofuels
Crude truth behind numbers that govern our lives
Free download of tar sands book