Best of
Peak-Oil

2011

The End of Growth: Adapting to Our New Economic Reality


Richard Heinberg - 2011
    The End of Growth proposes a startling diagnosis: humanity has reached a fundamental turning point in its economic history. The expansionary trajectory of industrial civilization is colliding with non-negotiable natural limits.Richard Heinberg’s latest landmark work goes to the heart of the ongoing financial crisis, explaining how and why it occurred, and what we must do to avert the worst potential outcomes. Written in an engaging, highly readable style, it shows why growth is being blocked by three factors:Resource depletion Environmental impacts Crushing levels of debtThese converging limits will force us to re-evaluate cherished economic theories and to reinvent money and commerce.The End of Growth describes what policy makers, communities, and families can do to build a new economy that operates within Earth’s budget of energy and resources. We can thrive during the transition if we set goals that promote human and environmental well-being, rather than continuing to pursue the now-unattainable prize of ever-expanding GDP.Richard Heinberg is the author of nine previous books, including The Party's Over, Peak Everything, and Blackout. A senior fellow of the Post Carbon Institute, Heinberg is one of the world's foremost peak oil educators and an effective communicator of the urgent need to transition away from fossil fuels.

The Delinquent Teenager Who Was Mistaken for the World's Top Climate Expert


Donna Laframboise - 2011
    Devastating" - Matt Ridley, author of The Rational Optimist"...shines a hard light on the rotten heart of the IPCC" - Richard Tol, Professor of the Economics of Climate Change and convening lead author of the IPCC"...you need to read this book. Its implications are far-reaching and the need to begin acting on them is urgent." - Ross McKitrick, Professor of Economics, University of Guelph----The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) performs one of the most important jobs in the world. It surveys climate science research and writes a report about what it all means. This report is informally known as the Climate Bible.Cited by governments around the world, the Climate Bible is the reason carbon taxes are being introduced, heating bills are rising, and costly new regulations are being enacted. It is why everyone thinks carbon dioxide emissions are dangerous. Put simply: the entire planet is in a tizzy because of a United Nations report.What most of us don't know is that, rather than being written by a meticulous, upstanding professional in business attire, the Climate Bible is produced by a slapdash, slovenly teenager who has trouble distinguishing right from wrong.This expose, by an investigative journalist, is the product of two years of research. Its conclusion: almost nothing we've been told about the IPCC is true.

The KunstlerCast: Conversations with James Howard Kunstler


Duncan Crary - 2011
    The KunstlerCast is based on the popular weekly podcast of the same name, which features Kunstler in dialogue with author Duncan Crary, offering a personal window into Kunstler's world view.Presented as a long-form conversational interview, The KunstlerCast revisits and updates all the major ideas contained in Kunstler's body of work, including:The need to rethink current sources of transportation and energyThe failure of urban planning, architecture, and industrial societyAmerica's plastic, dysfunctional cultureThe reality of Peak OilWhether sitting in the studio, strolling city streets, visiting a suburban mall, or even "happy motoring", Kunstler's grim predictions Kunstler makes about America's prospects are leavened by his signature sharp wit and humor. This book is rounded out by commentary, footnotes, and supplemental vignettes told from the perspective of an "embedded" reporter on the Kunstler beat.Readers may or may not agree with the more dystopian of Kunstler's visions. Regardless, The KunstlerCast is bound to inspire a great deal of thought, laugher, and, hopefully, action.Duncan Crary is a journalist, editor, independent communications specialist, and new media consultant. He is the host and producer of The KunstlerCast, a popular weekly podcast featuring James Howard Kunstler (author of The Geography of Nowhere, The Long Emergency, and World Made By Hand).

The Limits To Growth Revisited (Springer Briefs In Energy / Energy Analysis)


Ugo Bardi - 2011
    First hailed as a great advance in science, The Limits to Growth was subsequently rejected and demonized. However, with many national economies now at risk and global peak oil apparently a reality, the methods, scenarios, and predictions of The Limits to Growth are in great need of reappraisal. In "The" "Limits to Growth Revisited," Ugo Bardi examines both the science and the polemics surrounding this work, and in particular the reactions of economists that marginalized its methods and conclusions for more than 30 years. The Limits to Growth was a milestone in attempts to model the future of our society, and it is vital today for both scientists and policy makers to understand its scientific basis, current relevance, and the social and political mechanisms that led to its rejection. Bardi also addresses the all-important question of whether the methods and approaches of The Limits to Growth can contribute to an understanding of what happened to the global economy in the Great Recession and where we are headed from there."

Life Without Oil: Why We Must Shift to a New Energy Future


Steve Hallett - 2011
    The authors - an environmental scientist and veteran journalist - make abundantly clear that we must plan for a future without reliance on oil, and make a compelling case that the key determinant of our global economy is not so much the invisible hand of the marketplace but the inexorable laws of ecology. They foresee the coming decades as a time of much disruption and change of lifestyle, but in the end we may learn a wiser, more sustainable stewardship of our natural resources. This timely, sobering, yet constructive discussion of energy and ecology offers a realistic vision of the near future and many important lessons about the limits of our resources.

Peeking at Peak Oil


Kjell Aleklett - 2011
    Now, Peak Oil is used thousands of times a day by journalists, politicians, industry leaders, economists, scientists and countless others around the globe. Peak Oil is not the end of oil but it tells us the end is in sight. Anyone interested in food production, economic growth, climate change or global security needs to understand this new reality.In Peeking at Peak Oil Professor Kjell Aleklett, President of ASPO International and head of the world's leading research group on Peak Oil, describes the decade-long journey of Peak Oil from extremist fringe theory to today's accepted fact: Global oil production is entering terminal decline. He explains everything you need to know about Peak Oil and its world-changing consequences from an insider's perspective. In simple steps, Kjell tells us how oil is formed, discovered and produced. He uses science to reveal the errors and deceit of national and international oil authorities, companies and governments too terrified to admit the truth. He describes his personal involvement in the intrigues of the past decade.What happens when a handful of giant oil fields containing two thirds of our planet's oil become depleted? Will major oil consumers such as the EU and US face rationing within a decade? Will oil producing nations conserve their own oil when they realize that no one can export oil to them in the future? Does Peak Oil mean Peak Economic Growth? If you want to know the real story about energy today and what the future has in store, then you need to be "Peeking at Peak Oil".