Dark Optimism

Dark Optimism http://www.feedmingle.com/mingle/9306 2010-01-12 Created with FeedMingle.com en-us Logging Off For the Summer… http://transitionculture.org/2010/07/30/logging-off-for-the-summer/ Fri, 30 Jul 2010 14:08:12 UTC Transition Culture will be closing down for most of August as I stop work and take time out with my family, sit on a beach in Cornwall for a while, visit family, leave my laptop at home, and try not to think about Transition very much (well I can try).Á> The last few days has [...] UK Gov't Department of Energy and Climate Change Pathways 2050 report - July 30 http://www.energybulletin.net/node/53636 Fri, 30 Jul 2010 11:27:01 UTC -2050 Pathways Analysis -UK energy scenarios: working with a flawed model -DECC publishes plans for achieving 2050 targets -DECC lays out six possible futures for low-carbon energy <a href="http://www.energybulletin.net/node/53636">read more</a> ODAC Newsletter - July 30 http://www.energybulletin.net/node/53629 Fri, 30 Jul 2010 10:23:26 UTC <img src="http://energybulletin.net/sites/default/files/images/ODAC.thumbnail.JPG" alt="" title="" class="image image-thumbnail" width="100" height="45" />Another week on and there has been no further leak from the BP Macondo well. Officials are now "optimistic" about preparations for a new attempt at a, with the initial step of pumping mud into the top of the well likely to begin as soon as Sunday. With the leak apparently under control, BP chose this week to announce the inevitable departure of its CEO Tony Hayward, whose replacement by the American Bob Dudley was vital for the companyá��s damage limitation efforts in the US... <div></div><a href="http://www.energybulletin.net/node/53629">read more</a> Something I didn’t show you before… Low Carbon Communities Challenge… http://transitionculture.org/2010/07/30/something-i-didnt-show-you-before-low-carbon-communities-challenge/ Fri, 30 Jul 2010 10:20:59 UTC As a follow-up to the previous post, here is a short film that was made for the event that announced the 20 winners of the Low Carbon Communities Challenge, which features Transition Streets among the winners. First Results from Transition Together evaluation http://transitionculture.org/2010/07/30/first-results-from-transition-together-evaluation/ Fri, 30 Jul 2010 10:12:34 UTC ‘Transition Together’, the street-by-street behaviour change programme developed by Transition Town Totnes and now being piloted in 10 other communities, has just completed analysing the data that has come back from the first 4 groups, comprising 32 households in Totnes.Á> They have completed all 7 of the sessions set out in the workbook, [...] How long will the Chinese put up with coal? http://www.energybulletin.net/node/53627 Fri, 30 Jul 2010 10:12:14 UTC <img src="http://energybulletin.net/sites/default/files/images/chinacoal2.thumbnail.jpg" alt="" title="" class="image image-thumbnail" width="100" height="64" />Exxon Mobil today issued an impressive second-quarter earnings report, with much of the good news again involving a surge in liquid natural gas production from Qatar. It's further proof that Exxon -- along with the rest of Big Oil -- has made a big bet that natural gas will be a growth engine for the company in the absence of opportunities in oil. Fast-growing Asia is the big market, with China leading the way. <div></div><a href="http://www.energybulletin.net/node/53627">read more</a> ‘Localism’ or ‘Localisation’? Defining our terms http://transitionculture.org/2010/07/30/localism-or-localisation-defining-our-terms/ Fri, 30 Jul 2010 07:28:47 UTC There is often confusion within the peak oil/Transition movement about the distinction between the terms ‘localism‘ and ‘localisation‘.Á> On Energy Bulletin yesterday, Richard Moore’s piece, ‘The Emergence of Localism” was actually referring, I would argue, to localisation, not localism.Á> In the UK, in the context of the government’s Big Society agenda, the two definitely mean [...] Gulf of Mexico reconsidered: building your house on salt http://www.energybulletin.net/53621 Thu, 29 Jul 2010 17:37:40 UTC A strategically timed item in the New York Times presents an overview of the geology that makes the Gulf of Mexico so rich in oil, how new technology has enabled us to track these deposits - and the risks we run to extract them. It was published Wednesday [July 28], one day before a special judicial panel in Boise, Idaho began to consider á��how to bring order to the hundreds of civil lawsuitsá�� stemming from BPá��s Gulf of Mexico oil disaster. The seven judges will á��consider which U.S. court, or courts, should oversee hundreds of spill-related suits by injured rig workers, fishermen, investors and property owners,á�� <a href="http://www.energybulletin.net/53621">read more</a> A critical examination of Matt Simmons’ claims on the Deepwater spill http://www.energybulletin.net/node/53616 Thu, 29 Jul 2010 15:42:59 UTC Matt Simmons, author of Twilight in the Desert, has long been one of the most famous and influential voices on the subject of peak oil. After the release of his book, Simmons rose to fame as Saudi Arabian oil production declined and global oil prices skyrocketed. However, Simmons has lately been making hyperbolic claims related to the deepwater spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Based on the scenarios Simmons has outlined, he argues for responses such as using a nuclear explosion to seal the well and evacuating 20 million people from the Gulf Coast. Extraordinary responses such as these would impact a great many people, so The Oil Drum staff felt that a critical look at some of Simmonsá�� claims was in order. <a href="http://www.energybulletin.net/node/53616">read more</a> Beyond the limits to growth http://www.energybulletin.net/node/53614 Thu, 29 Jul 2010 12:18:38 UTC <img src="http://www.energybulletin.net/sites/default/files/images/cover_PCI-Reader_med1.thumbnail.jpg" alt="" title="" class="image image-thumbnail" width="73" height="100" />In 1972, the now-classic book Limits to Growth explored the consequences for Earthá��s ecosystems of exponential growth in population, industrialization, pollution, food production, and resource depletion. That book, which still stands as the best-selling environmental title ever published, reported on the first attempts to use computers to model the likely interactions between trends in resources, consumption, and population. It summarized the first major scientific study to question the assumption that economic growth can and will continue more or less uninterrupted into the foreseeable future. <div></div><a href="http://www.energybulletin.net/node/53614">read more</a> Seamless Facebook applications http://eulogik.com Sat, 31 Jul 2010 16:25:10 UTC