Notes Today, a principal tenet of geology is that a vast majority of the world’s oil arose not from lumbering beasts on land but tiny organisms at sea. It holds that blizzards of microscopic life fell into the sunless depths over the ages, producing thick sediments that the planet’s inner heat eventually cooked into oil. It is estimated that 95 percent or more of global oil traces its genesis to the sea. Unfurl
NotesJournalist Richard Martin discusses thorium as a potential nuclear fuel and looks at the efforts to promote it as a new form of green energy.Unfurl
NotesIs thorium the silver-bullet that we have been looking for to solve the energy crisis? We don’t know yet, but the research has certainly been promising. Scientists have shown how a small amount of thorium could power an automobile for its entire lifespan, hopefully it can be scaled for the world’s power grids.Unfurl
Notes The decision, a milestone in the much-delayed revival of plant construction sought by the nuclear industry, involves the Westinghouse AP1000, a 1,154-megawatt reactor with a so-called advanced passive design. It relies more heavily on forces like gravity and natural heat convection and less on pumps, valves and operator actions than other models do, in theory diminishing the probability of an accident. Unfurl
Notes"The assumption behind Transition Towns is that we’re reaching a convergence of three crises: 1) a moment when oil production can’t meet demand, forcing us to confront a future of dramatically lower energy use; 2) climate change, which requires a drastic reduction in carbon emissions; and 3) worldwide economic instability. The Transition Towns movement is all about preparing communities to retool for this future, and the 12-step program is an outline of how to do that."Unfurl
Notes"Nuclear power will have to form part of a comprehensive post-carbon energy infrastructure, and its downsides are greatly overstated, according to a group of experts."Unfurl
Notes"Are we running out of oil? The question seems silly. "Yes" is the obvious answer. Or is it? That there is less oil in the ground today than there was yesterday is true. That there was less oil in the ground yesterday than there was in 1870 is also true. But "running out of oil" is not as much a question of physics as it is one of economics. And economics assures us that we will never run out of oil." So I guess this guy is saying oil will get horrendously expensive before it physically runs out. Isn't that, umm, pretty f'ing horrible too?Unfurl
Notes"We simply cannot pretend, as Senator McCain does, that we can drill our way out of this problem. We need a much bolder and much bigger set of solutions. We have to make a serious, nationwide commitment to developing new sources of energy and we have to do it right away. "Unfurl
Notes"When spun up to very high speeds, a flywheel becomes a reservoir for a massive amount of kinetic energy, which can be stored or drawn back out at will. It becomes, in effect, an electromechanical battery."Unfurl
Notes"Petroleum reserves are limited. Petroleum is not a renewable resource and production cannot continue to increase indefinitely. A day of reckoning will come sometime in the future."Unfurl
Notes"The conclusion is clear: if we do not immediately plan to make the switch to renewable energy ... then civilisation faces the sharpest and perhaps most violent dislocation in recent history."Unfurl