The relationship with Russia, in particular, is of fundamental importance for German access to oil and gas, the study says. … Peak oil would also have profound consequences for Berlin's posture toward the Middle East, according to the study.
Oil will determine power: Increasing importance of oil exporters: Politics in place of the market: Market failures: Relapse into planned economy: Global chain reaction: Crisis of political legitimacy:
The study appears to be deep and honest. What does surprise us, however, are three things:
1. Der Spiegel does not make reference to all of the same studies done in the 1970's that were ignored by policymakers and politicians.
2. Der Spiegel and the study appear to confuse existing governments with legitimacy, rather than honest effective governance with legitimacy. If there is a revolution in any of these countries, it will be to throw the corrupt rascals out and re-set democracy. Revolutions are NOT expected in the Nordic countries or BENELUX.
3. No one seems to understand that the time has come for a global Manhattan Project to simultaneously address the ten high level threats to humanity by harmonizing spending and policies by all players across the twelve core policies and in consonance with a futures council led by the future powers: Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Iran, Russia, and Venezuela as well as Wild Cards such as Malaysia and Turkey.
The Japanese company Blest has developed one of the smallest and safest PLASTIC-to-OIL conversion machines out on the market today. It's founder and CEO, Akinori Ito is passionate about using this machine to change the way people around the world think about their plastic trash. From solving our landfill and garbage disposal issues to reducing our oil dependancy on the Middle East, his machine may one day be in every household across Japan.
While holding up a bag of trash, he states, “It's a waste to throw away, isn't it? This is a treasure.”
Comment: a comment from a YouTube viewer asking the energy-use of this machine is highly relevant, especially for poorer regions and it would have been better to have included much more info in the video. However, it's interesting to think that those in the trash recycling business may have received a new economic prospect.
The contest between coal-fired energy production and water demand is a mismatch. Mining and burning coal accounts for half of all water withdrawals in the United States, which is the same amount of water that pours over Niagara Falls in five months. Burning coal in power plants also is the source of more climate-changing carbon emissions than any other industrial sector. Here’s a look at the economically essential and ecologically damaging accord between coal and water.
The philosophical foundation for The WRSC is in its founding premise stated as a question posed in R. Buckminster Fuller's World Game™ simulation:
“How do we make the world
work for 100% of humanity
in the shortest possible time
through spontaneous
cooperation without
ecological damage or
disadvantage to anyone?”
The World Resources Simulation Center (WRSC) will be a non-profit visualization facility where you can literally “see” the critical trends of global and regional issues, the relationships between issues, and the consequences of different strategies. For detailed information, begin by downloading the proposal documents to learn more about the specifics of the project. Next, explore several quick demonstrations of new technologies and how data and mapping information can be utilized in powerful new ways. (videos follow, continue with post) Continue reading “Event: 7-30 Sept 2010, San Diego CA, World Resources Simulation Center Demo”
Where Wind and Solar Power Make Sense
GOOD Blog > Andrew Price on February 15, 2010
How much energy we can generate with wind and solar power projects depends, of course, on the wind and the sun. So being smart about where we put solar panels and turbines is pretty important. A company called 3TIER has made a business out of providing “prospecting tools” for renewable energy.Here's their latest map for where solar power can be harvested in the western hemisphere:
See the graphic and the process by the Beehive Design Collective
After two years of collaborative research, storysharing, metaphor crafting, and meticulous illustrating, the bees have completed an epic illustration about mountaintop removal coal mining.
See the graphic and process by the Beehive Design Collective
Can Kevin Costner's Machines Really Help the Gulf Cleanup?
The oil-separating centrifuges will work, but they would have worked better months ago
By Dave Levitan / July 2010
14 July 2010—After 85 days, the oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico is now partially contained, and relief wells to stem the flow are inching closer to completion. Once the leak is fixed, the focus will shift to removing the oil that’s already in the water. The actor Kevin Costner has appeared on TV and in front of the U.S. Congress to tout his oil cleanup machines, but can they actually make a dent in the still-spreading environmental disaster?
Costner’s testimony on 9 June may have provided comedic fodder for late-night talk-show hosts, but according to David Meikrantz, a chemical engineer at Idaho National Laboratory who developed the technology in the early 1990s, the machines are no joke. He says there is no reason that the devices, essentially liquid-liquid separation centrifuges, shouldn’t work in the Gulf. They performed so well in BP’s initial tests that as many as 32 of them could be spinning in the Gulf in the coming weeks. But even though the technology is proven, Costner’s devices are no silver bullet.
