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Each day America is responsible for consuming 25% of the world’s available oil production. However, America holds only 5% of the world’s population. Our vast suburban expanses and commercial shopping arrays are completely dependent on an ongoing supply of cheap fuel. Furthermore, America’s voracious appetite for oil is being mimicked by emerging industrial nations like China and India. The world’s extraction rate is nearing 1,000 barrels per second. Many of today’s most prominent energy analysts contend that global oil production may be reaching a peak. Many misinformed speculators are touting that America’s energy future will be sustained by oil shale/sand, ANWR or new continental shelf discoveries. However, there is an increasing consensus that these sources will be incredibly hard to exploit and will require decades of lead time. Moreover, many analysts only calculate recoverable reserves-failing to recognize the importance of determining 'probable extraction rates'. The global supply of oil is dictated by flow rates, not by known recoverable reserves.

Luckily, America has an adequate supply of good ideas for the future of energy. This site was constructed in an attempt to archive and expound upon some of these great ideas.

Daily Articles

Obama Urges Senators to Back Cap and Trade Bill
June 29, 2009. The Washington Post
President Obama called on senators to disregard what he called the "misinformation" offered by critics of his energy bill, which passed the House of Representatives late Friday night despite GOP predictions that it will further damage the economy. "We must not be prisoners of the past," he said in his radio and Internet address. "Don't believe the misinformation out there that suggests there is somehow a contradiction between investing in clean energy and economic growth. It's just not true." (read more)
 
'Waterless' Washer Uses Plastic to Clean Clothes
June 22, 2009. reuters.com
As efficient as most washing machines can be, they remain one of the more demanding consumers of energy and water in the home. Enter 21st century laundry -- a new efficient concept developed by Xeros and Cambridge Consultants uses plastic to get stains out while keeping a trim carbon footprint. Using 90 percent less water and minimal detergent, the "virtually waterless" washer utilizes reusable small nylon beads to trap dirt. The beads act like water, tumbling alongside the clothes, and can be used hundreds of times over. (read more)
 
WORLD’S LARGEST ENERGY FAIR TO CELEBRATE ITS 20TH YEAR
June 19, 2009. altenergymag.com
Twenty years ago, when the Midwest Renewable Energy Association (MREA) held its first Energy Fair, few imagined such a small event would have such a big impact on so many. Today, the Energy Fair, which will be held June 19-21, 2009 at the ReNew the Earth Institute in Custer, Wis., is the world’s largest and longest-running energy education event. (read more)
 
U.S. Calls China Climate Talks ‘Fruitful, Productive’
June 9, 2009. Bloomberg
The U.S. said talks with China on clean energy and climate change have been “fruitful and productive” for the world’s largest producers of greenhouse gases as they seek common ground on how to stem global warming. The three-day meetings in Beijing that end tomorrow center on how the countries can work together ahead of a December deadline set by the United Nations to sign a new climate- protection treaty in Copenhagen, David Sandalow, a U.S. energy official, said today in prepared remarks in the Chinese capital. (read more)
 
Mitsubishi unveils $47,000 electric car
June 4 , 2009. Associated Press
Mitsubishi Motors Corp.'s electric vehicle is twice as expensive as popular hybrid cars by rivals Toyota and Honda, but Japan's No. 4 automaker said Friday the i-MiEV will help it survive increasingly intense global competition. "With the electric vehicle, we will challenge global players," said Mitsubishi Motors President Osamu Masuko at a news conference where the company rolled out the new model. The i-MiEV is powered solely by electricity, and can be recharged from a regular home socket. The four-seater vehicle can run up to 160 kilometers (100 miles) after charging seven hours at 200 volts. "It is a zero-emission vehicle. It does not rely on oil, which is different from hybrid cars," Masuko said. A hybrid car switches between a gas engine and electric motor to boost mileage. (read more)
Walter Kohn and Tam Hunt: A Call to Action on Peak Oil
June 4 , 2009. NOOZHAWK
We are being lulled to sleep by temporarily low oil prices caused by the global financial crisis. In fact, low prices may lead to an increased level of consumption and accelerated exhaustion of oil reserves. “Peak oil,” the point at which global oil production peaks and then rapidly declines, is still not sufficiently on the minds of the American public and policymakers. We don’t know exactly when peak oil will arrive, but it is very likely to occur within 10 to 20 years. Some say that it may even be here now — the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, for example, wrote in a 2005 report: “We are at or near a peak in global oil production.” Peak oil should be at the forefront of everyone’s mind — here’s why: (read more)
China to Encourage Solar Use
China said it will introduce a preferential tariff it will pay energy companies that use solar power for their generating capacity, as part of the government's push for greater use of clean technology. The preferential tariff -- the price that China's two state-owned electricity transmission and distribution companies will pay energy companies for their solar power -- aims to make solar power competitive against traditional fuels, such as coal, which accounts for two-thirds of China's electricity. (read more)
 
 
 
 
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