Resource Depletion

Biofuel can be produced without clearing rainforest, raising CO₂ emissions or displacing food production, according to the chief executive of D1 Oils, the British company pioneering oil from jatropha curcas in the developing world. And according to Elliott Mannis, the fuel could even work out cheaper than damaging first generation biofuels.

In this new weekly audio feature called "The KunstlerCast," author James Howard Kunstler and interviewer Duncan Crary explore the tragic comedy of suburban sprawl, with oil depletion as its backdrop. The first program takes a critical look at the American drugstore. With transcript.

The Reality Report hosts David Gardner, President of Citizen-Powered Media and producer of the documentary Hooked on Growth: Our Misguided Quest for Prosperity. We discuss what is it like to challenge a core belief of our society, and why is it more important than ever to do so.

Coal prices are predicted to hit $300 per tonne this week, a threefold rise that eclipses even the most bullish forecasts made just a few days ago. Experts say there is still no ceiling in sight and predict further upward pressure on European power prices.

This MuseLetter, and several more during the next few months, will be chapters for a forthcoming book on coal, to be published by Post Carbon Press. This month's issue is the book's Introduction. The world appears poised for a headlong sprint toward greater dependence on coal. This book's purpose is to examine one crucial question that will shape this next great coal rush: How much is left?

All of a sudden coal, so long the Cinderella of fossil fuels, is not just in demand but in desperately short supply. A chance combination of crises in big producing and exporting countries has pushed the price of European imports to almost $140 per tonne – double the level of a year ago. But according to Gerard McCloskey, publisher of McCloskey's Coal Report, there is no quick fix to the coal crunch, and prices may still have a long way to go.

As the European gas market tightens over the next decade, Norwegian supplies will be allocated on a strictly commercial basis, according to Deputy Minister of Petroleum and Energy Liv Monica Stubholt.

It's becoming increasingly clear that 2008 will be a catastrophic year for the US economy, and therefore probably for that of the world as a whole. The reasons boil down to two: continuing and snowballing fallout from the subprime mortgage fiasco (exacerbated by an orgy of debt-leveraging), and record-high, continuously advancing oil prices. This brief portion of the February Museletter is so topical it bears immediate posting.

This morning I was awakened at 6:30 by a robot; - not a wheeled electronic valet named "Robbie" bringing me orange juice and toast, but an automated fax machine dialing my phone number and beeping expectantly into my answering machine, hoping to provide me with some helpful advertisement. While I won't go so far as to say the experience ruined my day, it nevertheless cost me some sleep and provoked me to reflect somewhat darkly on our species' present and future relationship with technology.

The Reality Report hosts Richard Heinberg, covering many of the topics in his latest book, Peak Everything, which more than others considers the social implications of energy decline. The program begins with a review of the connections between energy and society, drawing from the work of cultural anthropologist Marvin Harris. A discussion of relationship between climate change and fossil fuel depletion ensues. The program concludes by offering some perspective on how to cope psychologically with difficult information.