Insight and inspiration in turbulent times.
If companies can collect solar energy in space and transmit it to earth they will have opened up a significant new energy resource. The concept of space based solar power was first proposed in 1941 by science fiction author Isaac Asimov. Most skeptics focus purely on the unfavorable economics.
A weekly review from a UK perspective.
There is more to the sustainability problem than just renewable energy, transportation and food – and that is our infrastructure. Large agglomerations of people living under reasonable conditions in the 21st simply cannot continue in a healthy, sustainable state without clean water, sewage, electricity, communications, a source of warmth and a transportation network to move life-sustaining supplies about.
A weekly review from a UK perspective.
Forecasting Coal Production Until 2100
In search of Lithium
The Future of Oil Prices
Study: low-carbon fuel standards are unlikely to reduce warming
Are you ready for the ‘ZigBee’ world?
Corn ethanol concerns spread to Oregon
Energy Secretary Steven Chu has recast the energy problem to give himself the 20 to 80 years he requires to find a way to replace oil. His long range solution involves applications of synthetic biology to create 4th generation biofuels. Is this a good solution? Is it realistic?
Are we happier in the West?
U! S! A! We’re Number …. 15?
Experts agree giant, razor-clawed bioengineered crabs pose no threat
U.N. raises “low” population projection for 2050
Innovating for a low-carbon age
Minimalist living in Silicon Valley
Jason Bradford: Household and community food security
Maggots as good as gel in leg ulcer treatments
Reuse stores make use of refuse
This content is no longer available. It was a pre-publication draft of a section of “Energy Limits to Growth,” a report that will be published in expanded form by Post Carbon Institute and International Forum on globalization in May.
It should come as no surprise then that efforts to create a sustainable society will require a lot of trial and error. This is true in part because we are still only starting to understand what practices in areas such as building, farming, transportation and energy production might be sustainable in the long run.
I was watching the movie Apollo 13 recently for what was probably the fifth time, consuming it in the manner of a guilty pleasure. I say guilty pleasure because this movie is the paradigmatic technofix movie. And, I have little faith that the mounting challenges of resource depletion and climate change can be addressed by technology alone
