“Peak Oil is not just the end of globalization. I was saying clearly that globalization was dead five years ago. It was obvious. But Peak Oil is potentially the end of the human race and that outcome is perhaps just a few years away unless the human race essentially throws every ideological sacred cow out the window and starts with a fresh piece of paper.

[…]The collapse of industrial civilization within the next five to ten years (perhaps sooner) is inevitable. It is the degree of collapse, what is destroyed in the collapse, how many people will have to die in the collapse, and what will survive the collapse that I and many others are fighting for now. That is what every human being should be concerned about and nothing less. Pursuing options while not rapidly disengaging from the current economic paradigm of infinite growth is the only real issue confronting the entire species. To not do that will be literally to consign unborn generations and those under 40 to death or a living hell.”

Read the whole interview over at Energy Bulletin.

Also watch George Monbiot interviewing Fatih Birol, International Energy Authority’s chief economist, about the new startling and worrying prediction for the date of peak oil.

Photo credit: Bitpicture

Norway Sets 2015 Target
Norway’s Finance Minster, Kristin Halvorsen, has proposed to ban petrol cars by 2015 in order to lower CO2 emissions and encourage car manufacturers to begin making more environmentally friendly models. That would mean only electric, biofuel, hydrogen or hybrid cars could be bought in the Scandinavian country by that date. Speaking about the proposal, Ms. Halvorsen said, “This is much more realistic than people think when they first hear about [it]. The financial crisis means a lot of those car producers that now have big problems know they have to develop their technology, because we also have to solve the climate crisis when this financial crisis is over.” However, the ban would not apply to used cars – petrol or diesel – bought before 2015.

This proposal is both interesting and surprising, as Norway is the world’s sixth-largest oil exporter. Indeed, Ms. Halvorsen ‘s proposition is likely to be subjected to heated debate, as the idea has some opponents, even within the government itself.

Irish Parliament Pushes Government for More Action on CO2
The Irish Government stated last year that it expects 10 percent of the vehicles on Irish roads to be electric-powered by 2020. To bring this about, an agreement has been signed with the Electricity Supply Board to put recharging stations in different locations throughout the country. However, the Oireachtas (Irish national parliament) Joint Committee on Climate Change and Energy Security published a report recently in which it encourages the Government to go even further in its measures to combat CO2 emissions. The authors of the report envisage that by 2020 all new vehicles on the market should be powered by electric engines, with at least 350,000 electric cars already in use by the same date.

To find out more about Norway’s proposed ban on petrol cars and Ireland’s measures to reduce C02, and to see a comprehensive list of quality used cars for sale, visit CBG.ie.

Photo credit: blmurch

Kristin Halvorsen, Finance Minister in Norway, has together with her Socialist Left Party proposed a plan that would forbid the sale of new cars that run solely on gasoline after 2015 in the country.

According to her proposal new cars, bought after 2015, which only uses gas as their power source would be illegal. New hybrids, cars that run partially on gas, on the other hand would still be allowed to be sold in Norway. And cars already on the road would be unaffected by the new proposed law.

“The financial crisis also means that a lot of those car producers that now have big problems … know that they have to develop their technology because we also have to solve the climate crisis when this financial crisis is over,” Halvorsen was quoted as telling Reuters.

The proposal has already met some resistance in Norway where the skeptics say the proposed ban would undermine the country’s economy (Norway is the world’s number six oil exporter). But Halvorsen says that won’t be the case:

“Not at all … we know that the world will be dependent on oil and gas for many decades ahead but we have to introduce new technologies and this is a proposal to support that,” she said.

Halvorsen said that the resistance to the proposal in Norway is mostly based on misunderstandings:

“A lot of people are very fond of their cars, it’s like a member of the family,” she said. “A lot of people thought that this proposal also would go after the cars we already have. That is not the case, it’s the new cars that are bought after 2015.”

The Socialist Left Party in Norway is not alone with proposing a ban on cars that only run on gas. In Sweden the green party (currently the third biggest party in Sweden) has proposed a similar ban on gas cars by 2015. And one of the right-wing parties (Centerpartiet) in Sweden have proposed, just like Halvorsen, that cars that only run on gas would be banned, but not until year 2025.

I think this is a great proposal from Kristin Halvorsen and the Socialist Left Party. The auto companies are too greedy and to slow to adopt to a more eco-friendly business fast enough. And as you probably already know, time is not on our side anymore.

No, instead Governments around the world need to introduce legislations like this one to speed up the process of moving towards a more environmentally friendly and sustainable future. If we don’t and let the corporations and auto companies decide when and how we won’t have the slightest chance to win over man-made climate change.

And I don’t see this as being impossible to accomplish. There is 6 years until 2015, cars that run partially on gas are still allowed and like Halvorsen says: cars already on the road would be unaffected.

Photo credit: World Resources Institute Staff

Al Gore talked about the failing auto industry in USA, “clean coal” and the environmental work being done in China in a recent interview with Newsweek’s Fareed Zakaria.

In the interview Gore said that he thinks that the whole auto industry needs to be “transformed”, and that the auto makers in USA “should make a transition as quickly as possible toward plug-in hybrid electric vehicles.”

ZAKARIA: Would you bail out the carmakers?
GORE: Whatever assistance might be forthcoming should be focused on speeding the changes that are absolutely essential to ensure that our companies are competitive in the global marketplace. When I was vice president, I initiated a program called the Partnership for a New Generation of Vehicles. The federal government invested over a billion dollars in partnership with the Big Three to focus on the accelerated development of advanced high-efficiency vehicles. But as soon as they felt they were off the hook at the end of 2000, they pulled the plug and walked away.

Gore also mentioned that he is in favour of raising the gasoline tax, saying: “I don’t think that’s likely to happen, but that’s my preferred alternative”. If you are a regular Green Blog reader you probably know by now that I am a big supporter of high gasoline taxes. I think it’s a great and easy way to encourage more people to use carpools, take public transportations or bike to work etc. Of course the taxes generated should help pay for something else in return for a higher gasoline tax. This way people and families don’t end up loosing any money and there won’ be so much criticism about rising fuel costs.

Gore also, somewhat, defended developing nations such as China and India:

“China and India and other developing countries all have exactly the same excuse for not moving on the climate crisis. They say, the United States hasn’t done anything. When the U.S. acts it will be by far the most effective way to improve the odds that China and India and other smaller developing economies will also act. They know that it’s in their own interest to tackle this problem.”

Gore especially defended China saying the country “is now actively preparing a version of cap-and-trade legislation” and that “their top leaders appear to get it”. Other things Gore mentioned in the interview were that China has “the largest tree-planting program in the world. They are actively building solar and wind and exploring carbon capture and sequestration”.

But according to Gore these countries “are not doing enough by a long shot [but] the way to encourage them to do more is … for the United States to take the lead”.

Gore also continued to criticize the “clean coal” lie that the fossil companies are foolishly trying to sell to the public and politicians. Gore said in the interview that “clean coal” uses “technology that does not yet exist”, and that “we cannot allow an illusion to be the basis of a strategy for human survival”.

You can read the whole interview here.

How would the world look like? Would we have a war in Iraq? Would we have a better climate? Would we have less terrorism? Would the US economy be in a better shape?

Chris Pummer, from MarketWatch, says that the increased gas prices in USA should be celebrated.

“Americans should be celebrating rather than shuddering over the arrival of $4-a-gallon gasoline. We lived on cheap gas too long, failed to innovate and now face the consequences of competing for a finite resource amid fast-expanding global demand.”

He also believes that $8-a-gallon gas would do the USA, and the rest of the world good.

“A further price rise as in Europe to $8 a gallon – or $200 and more to fill a large SUV’s tank – would be a catalyst for economic, political and social change of profound national and global impact. We could face an economic squeeze, but it would be the pain before the gain.”

But let’s get back to the question I asked first. How would the world look like if USA had similar gas prices as those in Europe?

Well, besides the war in Iraq and terrorism, we don’t really have to wait to see how the world could look like. We can see it already.

SUVs and other gas-guzzling cars have dropped enormous in sales, as well as in value, lately. It’s like they have been put on the endangered species list.

“If gas prices stay where they are at or continue to rise, the body-on frame SUV is an endangered species and the pickup truck as a personal car is an endangered species.”

“When they find out what you think their truck is worth, they think you’re trying to rip them off or something. Small cars are gone within a week; SUVs are sitting here since last summer.”

Americans are already now leaving their cars at home in favour of public transportation or car-pools.

The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) recently released their March 2008 report and it shows a massive decline in driving. In contrast to the trend the past 25 years the 4.4% drop sure says a lot.

“2008 marks the first time since 1979 that there has been a drop in miles travelled in over the month of March. This drop corresponds to 11 billion less miles traveled, according to FHWA. Over the first quarter of 2008, greenhouse gas emissions from the transportation sector have also dropped 9 million metric tons compared to past years, something that no amount of political posturing has yet to accomplish.”

Let’s hope that the gas prices keeps increasing but also that our politicians helps to ease the pain that comes “before the gain” with smart and long lasted solutions (and not short-sighted and stupid ones).

Image credit: Futureatlas.com. Image licensed under a
Creative-Commons Attribution license.

People’s love with huge and gas-guzzling SUVs and cars seems to be loosing its former glory. Cause who would want to pay a fortune for a gas-thirsty climate change monster? Not even Americans seem to do these days.

Small and fuel-efficient vehicles are the future. The Asian automakers understood this several years ago, and now the western automakers are trying to catch up. Well, at least some of them.

Chrysler is, desperately, trying to make a profit from their huge gas-guzzling cars by announcing that they will charge more for their cars and then artificially decrease their customer’s gas prices to $2.99 per gallon for three years after their purchase.

Yeah. Why aim to make your car fleet more fuel efficient and environment friendly when you can “solve the problem” by ignoring it, for three years.

Three years is the expected lifetime for a personal computer. What do you think the consumers who buy a car from Chrysler will do after the three years have passed and they realise that, due to the high gas prices, they can’t afford to fuel their car?

Chryslers press release states that they “protects consumers from rising gas prices for three years.” But the only thing they do is to trick their consumers.

Gas prices will not go down. They will go up and burn a hole in the pocket for people with gas-guzzling cars. The cheap times are over.

Green Blog reported earlier this week that the Swedish gas prices continue to climb to new record heights. One gallon of gasoline (4 litres) will now cost you $8,48 (around 52 Swedish Kronor) in Sweden.

USA is today not even close to such high numbers, and yet people are making a lot of noise about the “high prices”. The presidential candidates even propose gas tax holidays to keep the fuel-inefficient cars rolling for yet another day.

Is it not time that the American car-fetish dream started to cost its true value?

The increase in fuel costs can not be blamed on higher gas taxes, like some political parties in Sweden have discussed to introduce. Experts say the fuel costs are rising because of increasing global demand and because the stock market have started to invest more money in natural resources like oil and food.

The fuel costs are expected to continue to rise and reach new record heights during the summer.

Ulf Svahn, from the Swedish petroleum institute (SPI), don’t think that the current expenses will encourage people to use the car less, saying that the expenses are still too small to make a difference.

Image credit: Pål Berge. Image licensed under a Attribution license.