Today, there has been quite a number of news reports coming out after the IEA formally released it’s Energy report.

Back at the end of October, I wrote about the FT reporting on what was possibly a leak of the IEAs report which has just come out.

To quote again from that…

Without extra investment to raise production, the natural annual rate of output decline is 9.1 per cent, the International Energy Agency says in its annual report, the World Energy Outlook, a draft of which has been obtained by the Financial Times.
…
The agency says even with investment, the annual rate of output decline is 6.4 per cent.

SO, my interpretation of that is that no matter what we do geology (global resources) is constraining us.

So, todays official release from the IEA seems to have ‘watered things down’ a bit. I suppose we can’t scare everyone TOO much can we.

The BBC, and Guardian have both reported on it.
Now, the IEA is saying

the era of cheap oil is over and prices could soon be back up to $100 a barrel.

The International Energy Agency (IEA), in its World Energy Outlook for 2008, says prices could soar as high as $200 a barrel by 2030.

The immediate risk to supply, it says, is not one of a lack of global resources.

Instead, it points to a lack of investment where it is needed.

So, those rather telling percentages have disappeared and the IEA is now publically playing down the threat of resource depletion.

Mind you, all this is still scary stuff anyway because they are still reporting that we need to invest more money to ‘develop’ and increase production. Umm, just where is that money going to come from in a world in global recession where the ‘money supply’ is shrinking?

Branson and others, Peak Oil aware?

Again, the Guardian reported on Peak Oil today. This time, it was more UK focused, and what I find more interesting is the companies that have been associated with it.

The report was issued today by the recently established UK industry taskforce on peak oil and energy security, a group of eight companies including transport firms Virgin, Stagecoach and FirstGroup, engineers Arup, architects Foster and Partners, and energy giant Scottish and Southern.

You can see more details here at their own website.

What I think is key is that we are now possibly seeing some companies and businesses reacting to what will become self-evident a few years down the line. This is no longer a bunch of internet-geeks and a few retired oil-geologists talking here.

The folly of growth

Quite an interesting story in New Scientist.

And finally, dodgy vegetables

At last, some bloody common sense!!
In fact, we should scrap these rules now, why wait.