Methane hydrates

Bill McKibben's latest book is a well-chosen and arranged collection of climate-related writings by the likes of James Hansen, Al Gore and George Monbiot, which McKibben edits and introduces. Significantly, the book contains writings by Inhofe and his ilk as well, the better to understand “the lines of attack climate deniers have used over and over,” in McKibben’s words,

User’s Guide to the Crisis of Civilization shows how our major crises share the same root causes and thus can be solved only by taking into account their complex interactions. Ahmed acknowledges that in this age of specialization it's understandable for issues like climate change and oil depletion to be studied and discussed separately—indeed, he observes that this mode of inquiry into the causes of specific phenomena has enabled many of our greatest scientific advances. But it’s also, he argues, beginning to seem like an increasingly antiquated method, preventing experts from seeing the whole picture and the public from receiving consistent information.

- Deep Oil From Diamonds? Maybe, Says A New Report
- Romney blames high prices on insufficient supply
- Nuclear waste: Keep out – for 100,000 years
- Former nuclear safety official says Swiss plant should be shut down

-BG warns over demand for gas
-Don’t Count on Natural Gas to Solve US Energy Problems
-Chesapeake’s move brings cheer to gloomy US gas sector

- Peak oil article in Portuguese newspaper Expresso
- Japan to drill for controversial 'fire ice' (methane hydrate)
- Report for the French government: "The Effects of High and Volatile Oil Prices" (NEW)
- CAE: Les effets d’un prix du pétrole élevé et volatil
- World unprepared for "convergent crisis", international force needed?

More than 100 countries around the world have found deposits of "combustible ice." "Combustible ice" reserves on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau are estimated to equal at least 35 billion tonnes of oil, which could supply energy to China for 90 years. [Provincial Governor] Luo Huining said tapping this new energy resource should be given high priority in China's energy strategy.

Fuel cell company Bloom Energy made quite a stir over the weekend, with a spot on the CBS "Sixty Minutes" TV program in the United States (The Bloom Box: An Energy Breakthrough? - see the link for the video and transcript).

I recently received an e-mail from the normally level-headed National Academy of Sciences alerting me to the great potential of methane hydrates in fixing the climate and meeting our future energy needs.

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

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.

-As Arctic Ocean warms, megatonnes of methane bubble up
-Ocean Temperature Record and Other Clues: What Is Your Response?
-A ‘Dow Jones’ For Climate: The Case for a Warming Index
-Africa seeks climate change cash
-Top U.N. climate scientist backs big CO2 cuts, 350-ppm goal
-Think health costs are hot now? Factor in global warming
-The fallacy of climate activism

Everyone agrees: our economy is sick. The inescapable symptoms include declines in consumer spending and consumer confidence, together with a contraction of international trade and available credit. Add a collapse in real estate values and carnage in the automotive and airline industries and the picture looks grim indeed.

Book Review: Green Algae Strategy
Mining "Ice That Burns"
Human sewage to power thousands of homes

A coming world that's 'a whole lot smaller' (Jeff Rubin's new book)
Raymond James: Don’t ‘underestimate’ oil’s coming 1980s-style down cycle
Why oil shortages may cause price decreases, rather than increases
The race to harness hydrates

Report: Climate change will bring big problems for small number of countries
Moscow warns of future energy wars
King Abdullah of Jordan's ultimatum: peace now or it’s war next year
Pipelineistan goes Af-Pak