Insight and inspiration in turbulent times.
"We couldn’t outspend the fossil fuel industry – they have more money than God. But we had other currencies that we could find work in – the currencies of movements: passion, spirit, creativity…"
When we inquire who benefits from the fracking frenzy, the intuitively obvious answer is, “the oil and gas industry, of course.” Yet this may be a simplistic assumption.
Having courted economic Armageddon in the financial sector, might we be capable of repeating the trick in the energy sector?
My answer is a resounding yes. We are doing so. On multiple fronts.
Despite the row about green levies the bulk of household energy costs are dictated by the cost of wholesale fuel, and investments in upgrading network infrastructure.
Recognizing that all human economic activity is a subset of nature’seconomy and must not degrade its vitality is the starting point for systemic transformation of the energy system.
What does 100% renewable electricity for the whole of Australia look like?
Energy round-up: breaking through the government’s fracking mantra
•Air Pollution Concerns Halt Enormous Coal Plant In China •Solar power to trump shale, helped by US military •German Utilities Hammered in Market Favoring Renewables •Analyst: Utilities Challenged By Spread Of Solar
George Osborne, the newly appointed minister for shale gas development, might have expected some rough headlines this week, but he could hardly have guessed who would supply the fuel.
This conversation with reporters covering fracking in California and in the US highlights the dangers and potential of the natural gas bonanza.
When Gloria Flora took the helm of Lewis & Clark National Forest in Montana in 1995, she found priceless wildlands threatened by oil and gas speculators. Defying convention, she declared the area off-limits to oil and gas development, adding a definitive new twist to the interplay between community groups, the fossil fuel industry,and the government that is playing out in surprising ways.
•Dick Smith vs Tim Flannery, and the solar revolution •Solar Energy Friendly Communities Help Mitigate Soft Costs •The Energiewende: An introductory look at Germany’s energy transformation •Solar Power Can Provide One-Third of U.S. West’s Energy Needs •Support local communities to install renewable energy systems, urge MPs •Gamechanger: Next Generation Wind Turbines With Storage Are Cheap, Reliable And Brilliant •Pilot Projects Bury CO2 in Basalt •Is Natural Gas the Cheapest Path to Clean Grid Power?
