I have been engaged in some non-energy related projects of late, so I haven’t been writing. But I realized that I have been remiss in not alerting my readers to a Peak Oil Reference section that I authored recently for ASPO-USA.  Despite the volumes of material that have been written on peak oil, there still did not exist (to the best of my knowledge, anyway) a single online reference that presents this very complex topic in a form that’s both accessible to newbies, and that links to the deeper data and theory. So I built one, on contract with ASPO-USA, based on some of their existing material and my old “Peak Oil Media Guide” from 2008.

It’s still a fairly skeletal first draft, comprising only 16 web pages, but hopefully it will grow, and serve as a useful guide to the public, the media, and others. It is located here:

Peak Oil Reference

I invite feedback and suggestions for future revisions.

Yesterday I had another web video chat with StockTwits founder Howard Lindzon on the future of energy and its implications for global population, plus related subjects. View the video (32 minutes) below the fold.

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I appeared on the Financial Sense with Jim Pupalava program today to discuss the shifting of oil supply and demand to the developing world and the diminishing influence of the international oil companies; the “energy suicide” of shutting down offshore oil drilling; the long-term production losses due to deepwater drilling rigs leaving the Gulf of Mexico; the slim hopes of new production from tar sands, Saudi Arabia and Iraq; and the urgent need to begin energy transition.

You can download the show (1 hour) here:

RealPlayer WinAmp Windows Media MP3

My segment begins at 47:04.

Energy analyst Chris Nelder sees a chance to get energy policy right in the death of the cap and trade bill. It’s time to put carbon legislation aside and focus on energy transition.
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I had a fun, freewheeling chat with my friend and fellow energy analyst Gregor Macdonald yesterday, which was broadcast today on the Abnormal Returns show on Stocktwits.tv. Gregor and I chat about energy frequently and thought it would be good to share one of our conversations with the public. In this episode, we talk about some of the implications and larger issues around the BP oil spill. (And yes, it was my idea to open with a music bed of “Only The Beginning.”) Video below the fold.

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I appeared on the Financial Sense with Jim Pupalava program today to discuss why officials, the media, and the oil industry have been so lagging in their responses to peak oil; the deep institutional and cultural denial about the implications of peak oil on economics; and the need to reinvent our economic theory and cultural ideals.

For background material on this discussion, see my recent articles:

195 Californias or 74 Texases to Replace Offshore Oil
Another Wake-Up Call for the World’s Biggest Oil Junkie
Officials Wake Up To Peak Oil, Part 1
Officials Wake Up to Peak Oil, Part 2

You can download the show (1 hour) here:

RealPlayer | WinAmp | Windows Media | MP3

My segment is at the top of the program.

Here is a guest post I wrote for the Association for the Study of Peak Oil (ASPO) – USA’s Peak Oil Review, in which I put the Deepwater Horizon oil spill disaster into perspective against the challenges of energy transition and America’s crushing dependence on oil imports. (Cross-posted to HuffPo)

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I had my first guest post at The Huffington Post today, courtesy of Howie Klein (who’s a real mensch).

I weighed in on the Horizon deepwater oil drilling rig disaster, trying to put it in perspective and get people to understand the reality of our energy situation, all politics aside. As my regular readers well know, this was only the latest in a series of wake-up calls we’ve received. Are you listening now, America?

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To my readers: This is my final article for Angel Publishing and its newsletters Energy and Capital and Green Chip Stocks. I can hardly think of a better note on which to end my run with them. It was a privilege write professionally about energy for the last three-plus years, and their platform offered me a much wider readership and higher profile than I had enjoyed previously. But now it is time for me to move on. Please stay tuned to this space as I sort out my next direction.

–C

In this second part of a two-part series for Energy and Capital, energy analyst Chris Nelder reviews several more recent studies indicating that peak oil is upon us. Government officials and industry are clearly worried about it, but not worried enough to tell Americans the truth.
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For Green Chip Stocks two weeks ago, I surveyed some interesting new utility-scale electricity storage applications, and found a $200 billion market just getting started.
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For Energy and Capital last week, I outlined several new studies suggesting that oil production will soon go into permanent decline, and how officials outside the U.S. are beginning to come to grips with it. (Part 1 of a two-part series.)
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For Green Chip Stocks last week, I detailed a few battles in the war breaking out between consumers who want renewable power and the fossil fuel industry.
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For Energy and Capital last week, I took a fresh look at how software is enabling the energy revolution by streamlining rooftop solar design, improving home energy efficiency, and putting the “smart” in smart grid.
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I appeared on the Financial Sense with Jim Pupalava program today to discuss several new reports and warnings about a near-term peak in oil production, the criminal lack of policy response to the threat in the U.S., and the developing oil export crisis.

You can download the show (1 hour) here:

RealPlayer | WinAmp | Windows Media | MP3

My segment begins at 31:00.

A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to do a freewheeling, videotaped chat with StockTwits founder Howard Lindzon on the present and future realities of energy. It was a lot more casual and conversational than any previous media appearances I’ve done  (at 10:30 PM with a glass of Scotch in hand), so it was more fun, if less professional.

Topics included peak oil, the end of economic growth, reversing globalization, oil prices, alternatives, and lots of other topics. View the video (25 minutes) below the fold.

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By special request, my column for Green Chip Stocks last week was a letter to Congress on behalf of the American people, asking for a real energy plan.
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For Energy and Capital last week, I explained why the “peak demand” argument is a good one–but not for the nice reasons.
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For last week’s Green Chip Stocks, I took a critical look at the new Bloom Box fuel cell system, and concluded that it’s a modest improvement over standard natural gas-fired grid power.
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For last week’s Energy and Capital, I drew some lessons from the world’s most beloved sport about how to formulate good energy policy.
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For last week’s Green Chip Stocks, I outlined some of the pieces falling into place, particularly in the area of financing, that are setting the stage for an explosion of distributed rooftop solar in the U.S.
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