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Energy

Jeremy Rifkin: “The Zero Marginal Cost Society”

Posted by Matt Beer - May 20, 2014 - Economics, Economics Level 4, Energy, Level 4, Sustainable Economy
2

In this talk at Google HQ, serial big picture author Jeremy Rifkin talks about how the internet is changing our society and our economy. More specifically, how the internet surrounding information communication has radically changed how our economy functions and how this will spread into a future “Internet of Things”, doing the same thing to the economy of physical goods. In other words, a fundamental driving force that will rebalance the foundations of capitalism, potentially making it unworkable and create a world that is hard to envisage today.

The term “marginal cost” refers to the cost of producing an additional unit of a product and capitalism is all about reducing those cost to maximise profits. Unfortunately when these costs are driven down to near zero, the product can them become free. Think of the internet. It doesn’t really matter if the website serves 100 people or a million, the (relatively) fixed costs of production remain the same and each additional person served costs virtually nothing. This is having a profound impact on people’s quality of live in two ways. 1) people are able to access that service for free or very little, in theory making their lives better. But it is also 2) causing many people who were traditionally employed in that industry to not have a job anymore. Near zero marginal costs combined with the ability to easily access the related service is wiping out middlemen and this phenomenon is set to continue as it spreads from industry to industry.

Here lies the fascination in this concept, just how will the world adapt to a new economic paradigm? Will it be a bumpy road or a smooth one? Will this make our quality of life richer or poorer? Will we need to foster the creation of government or co-op organisations to provide the more critical functions (such as journalism)? It is a very big idea and is one that is worth being aware of when trying to envisage the future.

Natural Gas Fracking Process – ConocoPhillips

Posted by Matt Beer - May 7, 2014 - Energy, Level 3, Natural Gas, Peak Oil, Peak Oil Level 3
0

This video developed for the oil & gas company ConocoPhillips gives a very good visual overview of the drilling process involved in hydraulic fracturing, AKA fracking. You’ll just have to take a few pinches of salt to compensate for the sickly sweet perfection in which this video presents the drilling process and how it couldn’t possibly impact the surrounding environment. The process isn’t as clinical as a well rendered animation and biased PR friendly narration.

Confronting the Status Quo – Dr Susan Krumdieck

Posted by Matt Beer - January 28, 2014 - Economics, Economics Level 3, Energy, Level 3, Oil, Peak Oil Level 3
1

In this great little talk Dr Susan Krumdieck speaks about our energy conundrum through a lens that is rarely used: financial return. Presumably talking to business leaders she quickly dismisses the relevance of peak oil, climate change and sustainability as reasons to change and goes straight to the formula for a resource base that is consumed by exponential growth and how everything inevitably follows a path of boom and bust. In other words the same curve as what peak oil describes.

She then goes into depth about the falling levels of EROI (Energy Return on Investment) and has some great sankey diagrams showing how as the rate of return drops so to does the amount of energy available to service the economy, particularly the energy levels needed to grow the economy. Her conclusions are clear and stark. Economic growth will not continue and economic survival will be dependant on the ability to adapt. The communities/companies/people who change the most to a low energy consumption pattern will be the most successful in the future.

The Crisis of Civilization

Posted by Matt Beer - March 8, 2013 - Climate Destabilisation, Climate Level 4, Economics, Economics Level 4, Energy, Geo-politics, Level 4, Oil, Peak Oil Level 4
0

This 77 min pseudo documentary “The Crisis of Civilization” is based on the Book by Nafeez Mosaddeq Ahmed of the same name. It goes through multiple parts each exploring various elements of our interconnected world, namely Climate Catastrophe; Peak Energy; Peak Food; Economic Instability; International Terrorism; and the Militarization Tendency with some final thoughts on a Post Peak World. I have mixed feeling about this one and I still can’t figure out if I like it. For starters it really is just a long talk done in an interview style with some old stock footage and the occasional custom animations to provide some visual distraction. I don’t have a problem with this, but that is what the pseudo documentary refers to.

What it does do well is take a holistic view of the world and the many problems we are currently facing and pulls them together. I am in broad agreement of most the overall stuff that Nafeez talks about, especially highlighting the link between our current neo-classical economic model and energy use. But the scientific/academic side of me cringed a few times at some of the statements he made and I was inwardly saying “that’s not technically correct”. It just made me question his thinking when he said this and this and therefore that. There was certainty some cherry picking of data and some logical inconstancies that made his truth more obvious than it fact it likely is.

For example he talked about how the world oil production would peak (I agree), then he said that nuclear energy uses oil (yes) and therefore oil peaking would make uranium mining unviable (which I cannot agree with). Yeah sure it might not work under the exact market conditions of today, but if I was a head of state with an oil crisis on my hands I would sure as hell prioritise getting oil to critical economic functions like electricity generation. Lets not confuse peak oil with running out all together and there is a hell of a lot of waste in the system so making just a small saving in domestic transport will free up more than enough to make nuclear energy viable (or building renewables for that matter). There certainly is a risk of what Nafeez talks about coming true, but there is probably a bigger likelihood that collective human effort and technology will be directed into solving some of these energy problems. That side of things doesn’t really get a mention. I could go through another few examples but I won’t.

What I will say to you watch this to get an overview of our problems from holistic viewpoint. You should certainly be aware of the broad areas that this film covers and how they fit together. As for the details I would say don’t take them as the gospel truth even there is a lot of truth in there. This is still basically another opinion film and I generally always have a problem with pure opinion as broad statements can be made without the viewer knowing the truth behind them. This is why I will continue to stick to keeping data at the centre of any videos and articles that I make.

Peak Oil Files – 5 – Future Story of Oil

Posted by Matt Beer - November 29, 2012 - Economics, Energy, Level 3, Oil, Peak Oil, Peak Oil Files, Peak Oil Level 3
0

This particular chapter takes a more detailed look at the various oil demand projections by comparing each organisation’s take on the main economic forces that shape their final numbers. Despite the huge uncertainty, there is near universal agreement on some of these forces. But opinion is divided on the biggest question of all – will supply be able to meet demand.

Crude Oil, Economics, Economy, fossil fuel, GDP, Growth, Oil, Peak Oil, Transport, Video

Peak Oil Files – 4 – Future Demand

Posted by Matt Beer - November 29, 2012 - Economics, Energy, Level 3, Oil, Peak Oil, Peak Oil Files, Peak Oil Level 3
0

This chapter looks at the recent history of the many organisations that make energy demand forecasts. Their track record has a lot to be desired but understanding the huge uncertainties involved highlights just how easy they are to get wrong.

Crude Oil, Economics, Economy, fossil fuel, Oil, Peak Oil, Transport, Video

Peak Oil Files – 3 – In High Demand

Posted by Matt Beer - November 29, 2012 - Economics, Energy, Level 3, Oil, Peak Oil, Peak Oil Files, Peak Oil Level 3
0

This chapter attempts to cover the last 150 years of oil consumption with the aim of discovering the main economic forces that have helped shape how and where oil is used today. By understanding these forces we can begin to understand how future oil demand will unfold.

Crude Oil, Economics, Economy, fossil fuel, GDP, Oil, Peak Oil, Transport, Video

Peak Oil Files – 2 – Energy Security

Posted by Matt Beer - November 26, 2012 - Economics, Energy, Level 3, Oil, Peak Oil Files, Peak Oil Level 3
0

This chapter attempts to explain why oil depletion is not simply a problem of “will we run out” but rather a more complicated supply and demand problem concerning energy security. The size of the tap is more important than the size of the tank.

Crude Oil, Economics, Economy, fossil fuel, Oil, Peak Oil, Transport, Video

Peak Oil Files – 1 – The Importance of Oil

Posted by Matt Beer - November 24, 2012 - Economics, Energy, Level 3, Oil, Peak Oil Files, Peak Oil Level 3
0

This is the first chapter in an in depth, multi part, info-graphic based series that attempts to explain all the ins and outs of peak oil, why it is inevitable and what is likely to happen in the coming years. It is intended to be much like a book with separate, complimentary chapters that help properly educate people on all the ideas and issues surrounding the topic so that whoever watches will have a good enough understanding to be able to make some sensible decisions/comments. The emphasis is on “properly educate”, I want to help create a definitive guide that people can turn to when they want to learn about this incredibly important issue.

This particular chapter attempts to explain why oil is the lifeblood of today’s modern economy and how any major fluctuations in oil price can expose the many inherent weaknesses in this globalised system that feeds, clothes and houses us.

Crude Oil, Economics, Economy, fossil fuel, GDP, Oil, Peak Oil, Transport, Video

Coal Seam Methane Gas ABC TV Science Catalyst

Posted by Matt Beer - November 24, 2012 - Climate Destabilisation, Climate Level 4, Coal, Energy, Level 4, Natural Gas
0

While slightly out of audio sync, this 8 min video covers the technologies of coal gas boom in SE Queensland, Australia.

Coal, Coal Seam Gas, Natural Gas, Unconventional Gas, Video
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